Governments

Once again, Bill Bennett has demonstrated his exceptional ability to choose an unfortunately undervalued topic in today's society (in this case, the Founders), and pull together a book which should be required reading in our public schools and which each and every candidate for elected or appointed office should be required to read, then submit to a test which would shame the SATs! Failure to pass with an 'A' would bar the individual from holding or seeking office for a period of 5 years! There is a clear correlation between the increase in our nations material wealth and the trend which finds our historical roots becoming more and more distant. Knowing, understanding, appreciating, and following the precepts of this book will go a long way towards reversing a sad and truly disgraceful trend.

This is one of those rare books that makes you wistful for a more civil age. When I first started the book, I must confess that I didn't want to "waste my time" reading all the essays -- about things that didn't particularly interest me, or from authors from whom I'd already read. However, my biases were quickly squelched after reading -- and re-reading -- the first few essays.

The value in this book comes from Mr. Bennett acknowledging the fact that the men and women writing these essays were not perfect. On the contrary, they recognized their weaknesses. But rather than wearily accept those weaknesses, they held themselves to a "higher standard" and strove to overcome their challenges. They are examples we all can learn from.

This is an excellent resource for teaching your kids that America was founded on Christian Principals by God Fearing men. Provides PROOF that the American History texbooks are lying when they call our founding fathers Diests. Many, if not most of them were in fact devoted Christians.

In this brief and lucid book, Nancy Chang exposes how the USA Patriot Act and other post September 11th responses by the Bush regime constitute a flagrant assault on American civil liberties and constitutional rights. Chang places her findings in a sharp historical context by providing a brief survey of similar events in American history, including the jailing and detention of innocent people as far back as the immediate aftermath of the Revolutionary War. Chang concludes that while the Bush regime's purported anti-terrorist measures definitely provide it with a variety of legal pretexts to persecute American citizens and non-citizens at will, (for example, the authoring of this review could constitute a threat to public safety under several of the USA Patriot Act's broad definitions of "domestic terrorism") it does little or nothing to actually protect people living in the United States from terrorist attacks.

Perhaps the most disturbing part of Chang's study is its revelation that America's theocratic Attorney General, John Ashcroft has detained hundreds of Arabs and South Asians living in America for minor immigration violations. These individuals have frequently been incarcerated under highly abusive conditions and some have died in custody. Ashcroft's goal, according to Chang, is to use immigration violations as a sweeping drag net for capturing any foreign terrorists who, like many of the September 11th suicide bombers, may have violated their visa requirements. Even if one is willing to turn a blind eye to the fate of the hundreds of innocent immigrants who have already suffered under this policy, one cannot ignore its broader consequences for the American people. History has shown that in places like Stalinist Russia, Nazi Germany, and earlier situations in America, providing the government with broad, unaccountable authority generally results in global not local patterns of abuse. A government that is interested in persecuting immigrants today may go after anyone else it doesn't like tomorrow. And even if Ashcroft succeeds in rooting out all terrorists who have visa problems, this will not protect America from the likes of Timothy McVeigh.

Finally, Ashcroft's policy just doesn't add up when you consider Chang's stunning revelation that the Bush administration used provisions of the USA Patriot act to quash a congressional investigation into the fact that in early 2001, the INS extended the visas of two of the September 11th terrorists including the alleged ring leader, Mohamed Atta. That's right, despite the fact that these guys were on terrorist watch lists, our government provided them with the legal means to remain in this country, but George W. Bush says that in order to protect us he can't let our elected officials publicly examine how our government could make such a catastrophic error. It seems that with these new anti terrorist measures, the government isn't interested in protecting us so much as expanding its own power and eliminating any accountability.

My only complaint about this book is that it is written and structured like a tedious legal brief, which is understandable since Chang is a veteran litigation attorney. Despite this minor peccadillo, "Silencing Political Dissent" is an important book that should be read by all U.S. citizens and non-citizens.

Nancy Chang's concise summary of post 9/11 developments is an excellent primer on how dissent has been repressed and silenced in the name of anti-terrorism and how "patriotism" has been twisted into something resembling a Mccarthyite witch-hunt. She focuses on the USA PATRIOT Act, and her legal analysis of the profound unconstitutionality of some of its provisions is chilling. Her legal analysis is acute and accurate (she is the senior litigation lawyer with the Center for Constitutional Rights in NYC). Among other things, attorney-client communications are now being monitored if the client is suspected or accused of "terrorist" activities. The term "terrorism" has been so expanded and amplified by this Act as to make it applicable to many activities not normally considered to be within its ambit, as Ms. Chang details. This is a timely, up-to-the-minute introduction, and urgent reading for everyone concerned with the assault on civil rights now taking place in the guise of fighting "terrorism."

You are free to do as we tell you. War is peace. You are free to do as we tell you. Freedom is slavery. You are free to do as we tell you. Ignorance is strength. You are free to do as we tell you. Go back to bed America....

To set expectations this book is heavily slanted towards winning Government business. It is also applicable to large businesses as well as small ones. That said, the information in this unique book can be effectively used by consultants and companies intent on competing for commercial contracts. I am fortunate because I have experience in Government contracting (on both sides of the fence - writing RFPs and evaluating responses when I was a member of DoD, and responding to RFPs when I was in the DoD contracting industry), and in the commercial world where I have been working as a consultant since 1988. From my vantage point I see the value of this book as advice and guidelines for developing effective proposal strategies regardless of whether you are competing for Government or commercial business.

I have used this book as a ready reference since the first edition was published in 1997. This second edition reflects a major update to the original book in that the proposal management tools in the first edition were woefully out of date and the focus was not on some of the Government opportunities for small business, such as Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR)that require a tailored proposal strategy. The second edition also addresses new Government initiatives for e-business and a plethora of other topics that were not present in the first edition.

If you are competing for Government business this is the most complete, accurate book I know of that covers the RFP-Proposal-Negotiation-Award process. Short of memorizing the FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulations), amassing years of proposal writing experience, and gaining the wisdom of knowing what works and what doesn't you will not find a more concise guide to the process. Also, you will benefit greatly from the wealth of tips and pointers that the author provides from his own extensive experience. If you are in the DoD contracting business, regardless of business size, I cannot overemphasize this book's value when it comes to cutting through the maze and providing a clear roadmap. If you are a proposal or capture manager I strongly recommend that you get a copy for every member of your team.

For the book's readers who are in the commercial sector the approach outlined in this book will add process and structure to your proposal writing efforts. The rigorous requirements imposed by the Government are too often lacking in the commercial process, which results in sloppy proposals that meander around issues and miss important client requirements. Also, because the proposal development process can be as large a task in the commercial sector, managing it can be a nightmare without a well thought out strategy for ensuring that all of the "t"s are crossed and "i"s dotted. The approach in this book practically hands you a ready-made process that you can apply to proposal development. This process will not only improve your ability to respond quickly and accurately to RFPs, but do so in an efficient manner. The result will be a significant competitive advantage.

For both sets of readers I think some of the advice, such as using the proposal as a marketing tool as well as a due-diligence instrument for responding to RFPs is excellent. For example, the author emphasizes backing up responses with examples to demonstrate claims. This is a powerful technique that I have used repeatedly to good advantage. It goes a long way towards assuaging client concerns about capabilities versus empty claims, and will turn a proposal that is merely responsive into one that is compelling.

Other things that make this book extremely valuable include the CD ROM of checklists and templates, and the numerous examples from the author's past proposals.

In my opinion this is the best book available for proposal development, and the only one that fully addresses every aspect of managing the proposal process for Government business. It should be on the shelf of anyone who responds to RFPs, and in the library of every company that does Government or commercial contracting.

Robert Frey has done proposal writers a great service by compiling in one volume the disparate information required to navigate the proposal process. Although the emphasis is on small business, most of the material applies equally well to "big" business and large proposals. He not only covers the usual topics of writing and production, but explains the myriad government regulations (it must have taken courage to attempt this!) and legal and financial issues proposal teams must address. Quibbles include the too-brief discussions of multiple-company proposal teams (becoming more and more common) and the respective roles and responsibilities of the acquisition manager, the proposal manager, and the proposed project manager (although for small companies they are just as likely to be one and the same). In addition to its usefulness as a reference, Frey has infused his book with many practical, real-world suggestions that are certain to improve any proposal. On that basis alone, I cannot recommend this book to any future competitor!

Don't let the trade price of this book deter you. Mr. Frey analyzes every aspect of the RFP-proposal process, and he includes a storehouse of resources to place you at a competitive advantage. No other book even comes close.

"A People's History of the United States" forever changed the way I viewed the world and the system I grew up in. Continuing that tradition, "The Zinn Reader..", wakes up a desire in one's soul to rise up and do something about the injustices and hypocrisies that have dominated our past and continued to swallow our present. Professor Zinn write clearly, honestly, and furiously about topics ranging from the distribution of wealth to the ideal uses of scholarship and intellectualism. He lacks no emotion or fury, unlike many other historians. The main challenge Zinn makes it to exercise free thought, and "to be skeptical of someone else's reality." Very few historians, or writers for that matter, dare to look at the world from the perspective of the poor, the disenfranchised, the bombed, the murdered, the jailed, the conquered, the victim, but Zinn does exactly that, and in doing so puts out a masterful collection that not only instructs us in History, but also challenges our humanity and our place in the world.

How many times can you call a collection of political essays a page turner? Well, how many Howard Zinn books are there?

This is a really comprehensive collection of Zinn's work, and makes a nice compliment to his quintessential "People's History of the US." It picks up on the same subject matter, but in Zinn's voice as an observer to the great political struggles of this century. It is, of course, typical, liberal, activist-minded Zinn, but I view this as a good thing -- he has a great deal of perspective as both an academic and an activist.

As for my favorite parts...I was interested and impressed to read of Zinn's activism during the Civil Rights Movement. This is a great first-hand account from someone who was along for the ride. I also enjoy his discussion of pacifism in the context of WWII, which is a difficult and delicate subject to tackle. I respect that he attempts to explain his anti-war beliefs with respect to this "good war."

I have found this book useful in very practical ways as well. I used some essays as texts in the activist internship class I taught, and I also referenced the list of important and influential books Zinn includes in an appendix.

Howard Zinn is an eloquent but plain spoken writer. His essays are a joy to read, something that cannot be said of so many historians. This is in part because, Zinn is not afraid to admit that he is an interpreter of events, he colors his writings with his own ideals, interprets the past in light of what he has lived through, illuminating events and the lives of people who may have otherwise been forgotten, so that we can learn something of ourselves in their stories. Zinn's writings on events of the twentieth century are special in that he has participated in so many important historical movements, from being a WWII bombardier, to teaching in an all black girls' college during the civil rights movement, through protesting the Vietnam War and beyond. He is not afraid to state his beliefs, but is never condescending. He is a believer in the spirit of humanity, in spite of all the atrocities he has seen and studied. This massive collection spans many years and many topics. There is not an uninteresting essay in the nearly 700 pages, though, making this quite a bargain at that. Don't pass this book up. Even if you don't consider yourself of the "leftist" persuasion, I think you will find Zinn's writings very engaging and enjoyable. I hope you do.

Read it as history or just as the story of a man and a nation. Khomeini appears as a shorthand word for the most dramatic experience that Iran has had in its contemporary history- an experience which would need millions of words to explain. The bleak society that produced Khomeini is depicted with mastery. This is a book that gives you an insight nto the deepest recesses of the Iranian soul and helps you understand the convulsions that have shaken the Muslim world in the poast two decades.

This scholarly biography of the late Ayatollah Khomeini portrays a world that is both far and near to us in the West.
It is far because it is based on values, traditions, practices and common memories that challenge, if not actually violate what we cherish most.
It is so near because today there are more than 25 million Muslims in Western Europe and North America who share many of Khomeini's beliefs, sentiments and prejudices.
Taheri, an Iranian author and scholar, has not limited his book to telling the story of just one man. For him, Khomeini's biography is an excuse, or an opportunity if you prefer, to depict the traditional Islamic society, warts and all.
I see that some reviewers have described the book as " a pleasure to read". In a sense, it may be. But I found it more of a chilling read. PLB. Paris, France

This book is one of the best examples of the art of biography that I have come across in years.
The writer knows his subject deeply and is also gifted with a flowing prose that is easy to follow.
We learn of the ayatollah's sad childhood, when he was known as "badqadam" ( ill-omened) because his father had been killed in a brawl shortly after his birth.
Khomeini tried to pattern his life on that of Islam's Prophet Mohammad, who had also been an orphan.
Like Mohammad he was forced into exile.
And like Mohammad he returned home in triumph to found a new state.
But unlike Mohammad, who had shown mercy to his worst enemies, Khomeini decided to take revenge, often against innocent individuals whose only crime had been their position within the Iranian administration.
Khomeini seized power in an Iran that, though certainly not free and prosperous by WSestern standards, was the freest and mostpropserous of all Muslim countries. But when he died 10 years later, Iran was one of the poorest and most oppressed nations. By one estimate over 1.2 million Iranians died during Khomeini's reign, including those who fell in the eight-year long war against Iraq.
Khomeini is also the father of modern Islamic terrorirsm that later reached its worst manifestations in the Palestinian suicide-bombers and the Saudi- Egyptian Al Qaeda group.
This book is an absolute must by all those who wish to understand radical Islam and the threat that it poses, in diddferent forms, to the civilized world.
A.Keame, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Diversity is the greatewst lie in america today. What does diveristy claim. It claims, as we learn in this fine read, that diversity is essential to success and understanding and tolerance. THis is actually completely false. Diverse workforces and diverse college campuses dont actually make anything better, in fact they make people less tolerant. Diversity is the ideal of the communist left that says everyone(remmember "workers of the world unite you have nothing to lose but your chains!") is the same and that by mixing us all together in some grand social experiment that we will all be happy. That sad part is that 'diversity' and 'tokenism' really mirrors far more what queen victoria did at her diamond jubille when all the 'oddities of empire' the diverse masses from all over were paraded in front of the aristocracy. This is the truth behind diversity. In fact the liberal would love it if every diverse 'oddity' of humanity could come to college dressed in 'traditional garb' so that we can admire and see them as if they are in some museum. But this doesnt help the 'exotic' people we bring in to diversify ourselves, it actually mkaes them feel more like outcasts. Hiring one Sikh and one Hindu and one Pathan and one Gurka and one Jew for your coproation wont help them, in fact they would all be more productive if they worked with eachother against eachother. The idea that they will become more tolerant is also false. In most racially mixed societies(Brazil, south africa, Israel, Australia, America) the many races hate eachother much more then they did prior to the mixing.

Lets take for example the situation in malaysia when they were building the Petronas Twin Towers. They had Japanese workers building one tower and koreans building the other. The teams hated eachother and competed. If they had been mixed they would have worked slower and they still would have gone to lunch speratly and not 'tolerated' on another. Here is an example where diversity would not have helped in the workforce. Diversity is simply the aristocracies latest social experiment to divide us so that they can keep us all down rather then letting us become tolerant on our own. A great book.

Professor Wood offers a holistic look at this strange new ideology of diversity, particularly in how it has surged from an obscure portion of the Bakke case to an all-encompassing religion for its adherents that continues to encroach on virtually every aspect of public life. His best argument is that diversity, when brought alongside traditional American values of liberty and equality, always seems to trump the latter pair, and we end up forsaking both liberty and our belief in equality to preserve demographiclly correct proportions of essentially manufactured ethnicities.

Wood comes to some strong conclusions, but never commits the near universal sin of hyperbole that currently envelopes both political left and right. That alone should earn him four-and-a-half stars. Anyone interested in a thoughtful, well-researched critque of this concept of diversity need look no further than professor Wood. Please, delete Hannity and O'Reilly from your shopping cart and buy this book first!!!

Peter Wood's book is written in an easy-to-read, logical, and well-reasoned fashion. Before earning my master's degree last year, I attended meetings at the university's "Diversity Task Force". I must admit to using some of Peter Wood's same arguments regarding the superficiality and shallowness of the "Task Force" criteria for measuring the diversity of the student body -- It felt like I was banging my head against the wall! I sensed that my white male status was seen as subtracting from the diversity of the student body, regardless of my diverse life experiences. Maybe if I were raised by a pack of wolves? How come this makes so much sense and many other people don't see it? Thank you Peter Wood for this timely book. I wonder if the logic and science will be enough to deprogram any diversiphiles. In my experience, they are close-minded to any argument, regardless of reason, that may disrupt their delusion. I would also like to add that most of the diversiphiles I met are good people who have good intentions; however, we all know the road to hell is paved with good intentions. This book should be required reading for all people who want to improve "diversity".

I found the character of Harvey Milk fascinating. This was the story not only of Mr. Milks ascendency in the political world, but the development of the San Francisco gay community. Randy Shilts writes with sensitivity and understanding for both sides of any issue. The book ends in the early 1980's and it would be interesting to read an afterword or an update by somebody, even if it cannot be Randy Shilts.

In The Mayor of Castro Street, the late Randy Shilts paints a vivid picture, not only of the life of gay politician Harvey Milk, but of the fight for gay rights in 1970's San Francisco and the nation as a whole. After a description of the events immediately following Milk's death, Shilts begins the book with Milk's youth in New York City. He briefly describes Milk's years in New York, and spends the vast majority of the book on Milk's last five years in San Francisco. It was during his San Francisco years that Milk made his critical contributions to gay history, including encouraging the development of the Castro into a gay Mecca, and running for, and finally winning, elected office as an openly gay man in a time when most thought such things simply couldn't happen.

Shilts is a meticulous reporter. In his section on source material he details how he extensively interviewed Milk's former lovers, including Scott Smith and Joe Campbell. Many of the dialogues for the biography come directly from the personal diary of Michael Wong, a longtime Milk supporter. According to Shilts, dialogues with others who knew Milk virtually always corroborated those in Wong's diary. Shilts's history of the Castro area came from over one hundred interviews he conducted with area residents.

One of the best qualities of the biography is its astonishingly objective posture. Achieving something like objectivity is a tremendous challenge for the author of any modern-day history, and nowhere is this more true than in histories of the gay liberation movement. The living participants in that history inevitably portray it in a range of ways and often fight vigorously for placement of credit where they feel credit is due. Shilts allows those participants to speak for themselves, and focuses on telling the details of the story, rather than interpreting that story for the reader. It is this author's unique degree of commitment to researching and conveying all the details that allows him to present such an apparently unbiased account.

It is also Shilts's attention to detail that makes the book so tough to put down. It reads more like a novel than a history, and each segment leads into the next with a sense of a tremendous plot unfolding. In a style that would come to characterize his later books, such as And The Band Played On, as well as Conduct Unbecoming, Shilts manages to draw the reader into multiple stories of individuals that end in cliffhangers, only to be picked up again in a later chapter. It is these stories that make up the fabric of gay history in San Francisco and a portion of that larger tapestry called gay liberation.

Randy Shilts's intricately researched biography of one of the greatest gay activists of all time, Harvey Milk, is not only a political biography, but a chronology of an entire political movement.
This is the second book I've read by Randy Shilts, the first being And the Band Played On. While there are certainly some differences between the two, Shilts's imaginative narrative writing is the same. The Mayor of Castro Street is proof positive that he [the author] can turn even the most mundane of political machinations into high drama.
Starting out when Harvey Milk was growing up in Woodmere, New York, the book traces his life from there. From his high school athletic career, to his college years, his time with the Navy, and his Manhattan years. When Harvey makes the move from New York to San Francisco, the book changes pace, and a gay political hero is born. The book is filled with snippets of his speeches, and in the back appendices, the eloquent words of Harvey Milk come alive, as some of his more famous speeches are reprinted there.
At a solid 380 pages (including appendices and sources) the book never drags. Everything appears to be cause and effect, which makes for some white-knuckle reading even if the reader is already familiar with the budding gay movement, Harvey Milk's participation in it, and the untimely tragic assassination of he and Mayor George Moscone by a homophobic zealot.
I must admit, there were certain parts of this book that gave me chills: Harvey Milk's beautiful speeches, the candlelight vigils, the many marches, and the White Night Riots. The sheer epic proportions of it all can overwhelming.
However, epic or not, this remains the simple story of a man and his dream, vision, and hope for his gay brothers and sisters, and all of humanity.

This is the work of an angry scholar, not with malice but with justified anger at the institutional decay and rotten leadership across Africa. He has written what many of us, Africans, are afraid to say about our corrupt and murderous leaders. But he is not alone. An increasing number of Africans are risking their lives to demand fundamental change in their countries, and he has struck a responsive chord not only among these courageous individuals but also among those who are afraid to criticize African leaders. Africa is, indeed, in a mess. Even a country like Tanzania, where the author comes from, which has been an island of peace and stability for almost 40 years since independence and is one of the very few countries on the continent which have escaped the scourge of war and ethnic conflict, was rocked by civil strife after the general elections in 2000. And the future of the union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar, which formed Tanzania, remains uncertain, as the author himself and other Tanzanians know very well. The author is also courageous enough to suggest bold initiatives as the only practical solutions to some of Africa's intractable problems, however unpopular. An astute observer of the African political scene where some pundits tend to gloss over problems for the sake of African "unity," he knows, as many of us do as well, that good intentions are not enough. Optimism is not enough. And peace agreements mean nothing when all parties to the conflict do not endorse them, and implement them. That is why he has, although grudgingly, boldly suggested that only separation of the Hutu and the Tutsi, into Hutuland and Tutsiland, will end the spiraling cycle of violence and genocide in Rwanda and Burundi. And it is going to be a Herculean task if this is attempted, not only in logistical and financial terms, but also because of the symbiotic relationship between the two groups. They are inextricably linked. They live on and share the same land; they also share the same culture and the same history, and even the same family ties in many cases, a situation almost unique on the continent. Even in integrated societies across Africa, almost all the tribes have at least what they call their own homeland, their own tribal area, separate from the rest and where they can seek refuge if they are expelled from other areas: as happened in the case of the Ibos in Nigeria when they fled the North where they were being slaughtered by the Hausa-Fulani in the 1960s; in Congo when the people from Kasai Province were massacred in Katanga Province in the 1990s and fled back to their home region; and when the Kikuyu were expelled from the Rift Valley Province, President Daniel arap Moi's home region, also in the 1990s in a campaign of ethnic cleansing characterized by massacres even when the victims were fleeing back to their native Central Province, just as it happened in Nigeria and Congo. But that is not the case in Rwanda and Burundi. There is no place of refuge within those two countries for either the Hutu or the Tutsi. And the author knows that, as he clearly states in his book. In fact, his country Tanzania is burdened in a very special way because it is Rwanda's and Burundi's neighbor and for decades has been home to the largest number of refugees from those two countries. It's also interesting to note that both Rwanda and Burundi were once part of Tanzania (then Tanganyika) before World War I when the colony comprising these three territories - Tanganyika, Rwanda, and Burundi - was known as German East Africa. Reunification of the three countries is a remote possibility at best, although some people may want that. For example, Professor Ali Mazrui, a Kenyan, has eloquently argued that Burundi should become part of Tanzania as a way of ending the ethnic violence in that small African country. Mwakikagile implies just as much in his book, "The Modern African State: Quest for Transformation," when he talks about the need for regional integration and opening up borders of African countries to allow free movement and settlement of people to ease population pressure and reduce ethnic tensions. But that is not very likely, either, and it will remain a distant goal for years to come. So he sees the establishment of separate Hutu and Tutsi independent ethnostates as the only lasting solution. And he is not alone in this. Even a number of African leaders feel the same way, although they don't have the courage to say so in public, as President Moi has, and as the author openly advocates in his book. They're afraid chaos will ensue, as other tribes across the continent also start to demand independence, breaking up African countries. And it is a legitimate concern. But the alternative is not the solution, especially in the case of Rwanda and Burundi. The alternative is war, and more genocide. Even Nelson Mandela's peace initiative has failed to end the conflict in Burundi. The government of national unity formed by the Hutu and the Tutsi is not going to last, anymore than it will in Somalia, another subject the author has addressed in his book, again suggesting bold solutions. Also, his discussion of the enslavementof blacks by the Arabs in Sudan and Mauritania, and even of black children sold by fellow blacks to other blacks in black African countries, is one of the most poignant chapters in the book. It is heart-rending. He takes African governments, and civil rights leaders in the United States, to task for doing nothing about this modern-day slavery. And the civil wars across the continent do, of course, get full attention in the book which ends with a powerful chapter containing many solutions to Africa's numerous problems.It is one of the most poignant studies of the modern African state ever published. It is also one of the most important books of the last decade about this troubled continent.

Professor Godfrey Mwakikagile is unquestionably one of Africa's leading academic and public intellectuals addressing our continent's problems today with intellectual verve. One has only to read his book, "The Modern African State: Quest for Transformation," among others, to appreciate this.

A Tanzanian by birth, but a Pan-Africanist in outlook, he draws inspiration from two African titans, the late former Presidents Julius Nyerere of Tanzania and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, my native land, who saw Africa as one, even if a fragmented whole. Dr. Mwakikagile also takes a continental approach, providing a sharp analysis of the modern African state which, he contends, is deeply flawed. Few would disagree with him. Just come to Africa and see for yourself. Those of us who live here know this to be true, painfully true.

I just wish that his works were more accessible to members of the general public. As hardcover and library editions, the cost is prohibitive; and as college textbooks, accessible to only a few.

His work is outstanding, nonetheless. Africa has many intellectuals of his stature and calibre, but few as committed and analytical, and as compassionate for the masses as he and a few - very few - of his colleagues are. One is also reminded of firebrands such as Wole Soyinka and Ngugi wa Thiong'o and my fellow countryman George Ayittey, an economics professor and author of "Africa Betrayed," and "Africa in Chaos." Africa is indeed in chaos. It is, in fact, chaos!

We wish we had more of such committed intellectuals. And it would be even better if our leaders paid attention to what they say. Unfortunately, they don't. Instead, they destroy them. While other countries highly value their intellectuals and the contributions they make, African countries - the leaders in particular - destroy ours. And you wonder why Africa has lost so many of them to other countries where they have the freedom to think and say what they want to say? And you wonder why so many of those still in Africa end up in the grave or rotting in prison?

Our leaders can stop this brain drain, the carnage, and the persecution of these committed intellectuals and others - just plain ordinary folks - who demand their natural right to be treated as human beings in their own countries. But such fundamental change is impossible without transparency and accountability. And it is impossible without democracy, true democracy, not the counterfeit kind so prevalent across Africa. And the author make this clear, abundantly clear, in his masterpiece, "The Modern African State: Quest for Transformation."

African leaders, nothing but dictators, may hate to hear what Dr. Mwakikagile says in this book and others. But they would at least be of some service to Africa if they heeded Voltaire's advice: "I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to death your right to say it."

Unfortunately, they are not that enlightened, because of the darkness in their mind.

Professor Mahmoud Mamdani, a leading African scholar who teaches at Columbia University, uses Godfrey Mwakikagile's book "The Modern African State: Quest for Transformation," as a textbook for graduate studies. Other professors use the book as an assigned or recommended text for graduate students in African and development studies and international affairs. It is also found in graduate school libraries across the United States like all the other books written by Godfrey Mwakikagile who, himself, is becoming an increasingly influential African scholar.

But that is not the only reason why his book, "The Modern African State...," got my attention. At a recent academic seminar on Africa, one of the participants cited George Ayittey's work, "Africa in Chaos," together with Godfrey Mwakikagile's "The Modern African State...," in his discussion of civil conflicts on the continent. Most of the participants knew or had heard about Ayittey. But that was the first time some of us heard about Mwakikagile, although quite a few had. His work, "The Modern African State...," equally trenchant as Ayittey's, is a great contribution to the growing literature about post-colonial Africa written by the Africans themselves.

It is interesting to see that more and more African intellectuals are taking an "internalist" approach to Africa's problems instead of always blaming external forces for her plight. Dr. Mwakikagile is one of them.

But such an approach must be balanced with an analysis of external involvement, including colonialism. Africa is still reeling from its devastating impact. However, this does not mean that all of Africa's problems should be placed entirely on the shoulders of her former colonial masters, as many Africans who take the "externalist" approach are fond of doing.

Most of the problems Africa faces today - rampant corruption, mismanagement, brutal repression, ethnic conflicts, hunger, illiteracy, endemic poverty and disease - are either caused or exarcebated by the Africans themselves; not by the former colonial masters who are now even being asked by some Africans to go back and rule them again. Things are that bad. And it is African writers like Mwakikagile who should be commended for taking up the challenge to tell the truth about their continent, however bitter.

It would be even more encouraging if their kith and kin here in the United States, African Americans, also faced this reality, instead of romanticizing Africa. Randall Robinson of TransAfrica is the exception, together with a few others; although their attitude is not the same as the attitude of black conservatives who are sometimes extremely hostile toward Africa and usually don't want to have anything to do with - "that place." Foregetting that white Republicans and others don't care about them either. They don't even want them in the Republic party. Alan Keyes knows that. Brilliant, highly articulate, he should have been the standard-bearer of his party, but still was not nominated as the Republican presidential candidate because he is black. And, yes, African!

But bad as their attitude is, one must not entirely ignore what black American conservatives - they hate to be called African Americans - say about Africa. Africa's problems can only be solved by Africans. We can help them, but the initiative must come from them.

It is also in this context that Dr. Godfrey Mwakikagile's highly acclaimed work, "The Modern African State: Quest for Transformation," must be viewed; although, unlike black American conservatives who hate Africa and by extension hate themselves, he writes out of deep concern for the well-being of his continent as much as his compatriot Professor George Ayittey does, as do many others.

On the whole, this book is disappointing and greatly inferior to Chomsky's similarly theme-ed Manufacturing Consent. Necessary Illusions amounts to little more than an updating of media duplicity in mainstream coverage of Central America and Israel. From the title, I expected a more systematic analysis of methods, mechanics, and reasons that operate behind media coverage. Instead, Chomsky offers a loose model of journalistic propaganda and a few methods for detecting its presence, viz. the Comparison Method. However, the model is neither detailed nor a really very useful one. Thus at a time when tv's propaganda function, for one, is becoming clearer to the public, Necessary Illusions fails to deliver much beyond the usual case studies familiar to Chomskyites. Important as this empirical work may be, especially for newcomers to Chomsky, what is needed is a more thorough-going model of how raw news gets processed into self-serving policy reinforcement. In short, a better model of the communication industry's ideological function.

It's surprising that someone as skilled at theorizing as Chomsky appears to shy away from this next logical step to his many invaluable case studies. Americans by and large recognise that despite being "free", the popular media is not to be trusted. Now we need be persuaded why this is so. Perhaps Chomsky doesn't want to risk credibility by pursuing more abstract formulations where researchable fact is less immediate. Whatever the reason, in this book he has clearly debunked some of America's most prestigious and self-serving institutions, which is always a worthwhile read.

Of all the articles and books of Chomsky that I have read, Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies is without doubt the most exhaustively researched (and footnoted), the most logically structured, and the most convincing. Chomsky reminds us that the majority of the populace rely on the various media institutions for their information about political affairs; both domestic and foreign. One can only hold an opinion on a topic if one knows about the topic. So take, for example, the popular myth of the 'persistent Soviet vetoe' at the UN during the cold war. Why do people believe the USSR was constantly vetoeing any and every Security Council Resolution? Simple! When they did, it generated front page condemnation. When the US or the UK exercised their right of veteo: silence. As Chomsky notes, during the years of 1970 and 1989 the former Soviet Union veteod 8 resolutions. The US veteod some 56. This is what Chomsky refers to as Thought Control. Unless the public examine the factual record of the UN themselves, they will never come by this information, (at least not in the mainstream press). So although Chomsky's title may appear somewhat paradoxical, or oxymoronic, a moments reflection on such facts shows it to be, in fact, extremenly pragmatic and truthful. The question is, have you the honesty and sheer guts to question yourself and challenge the information which has contributed to your beliefs? The crux of Chomsky's argument is that propaganda is to a democracy what violence is to a dictatorship. Chomsky points out that, in fact, propaganda is, contrary to popular postulations, more important and vital to a democratic society because people still have some rights. That is, since people can talk, the powers that be must ensure that only the correct words come out of the peoples' mouths. In a dictatorship it does not really matter too much what people think; for whatever they may think, they have to do what they are told, by pain of death. In countries such as the US (and the UK) other, more subtle, methods are required. People often critisise Chomsky for the sources of his information (the copious footnotes). No such critique can be levelled at this work. Chomsky's sources are declassified internal planning documents, naval proceedings documents, and the very institutions he examines, New York Times, Washington Post etc. If there was one Chomsky book I would suggest you to read, this would be it.

I am influenced by Chomsky more than any other political philosopher (although he seems to encompass much more than a mere career categorization). I've studied him on and off for the past five years, and I find it harder and harder to rely on mass media (TV, radio, movies, increasingly more of the internet) for any information. It's like lost innocence. One can never look at these things the same after reading Chomsky.

In this book, he tackles these themes, but concentrates a great deal on U.S. international relations. The equation is basically this: corporations control the government and own the media. U.S. international relations are directly affected and influenced by the whims of multinationals; namely the desire for [inexpensive] production and [inexpensive] resources, exploiting civilians and foreign lands to achieve these means. The government is in the pocket of the corporations.

The ordinary American has little say. We may vote; but we vote for one party; solely representing the interests of the rich, and the huge corporations.

That's a bit of Chomsky in a nutshell. This book supports these arguments with EXHAUSTIVE research. I admit, I found it exhausting to read, but not from lack of interest. He is detailed; which makes his arguments valid. He uses countless examples, all supported by the contradictory historical actions and propaganda of U.S. foreign relations; where the government lies to the public via the media. There are so many quotes and supportive examples that the bibliography could be 40 pages long!

So, I love Chomsky. However I really don't like reading him; but I try. I find the easiest way to get the big picture of Chomsky's views is by watching the documentary, Manufacturing Consent, reading Z Magazine, and also "The Real Story" series of transcribed interviews with Chomsky.

Perhaps I'm just a lazy reader. However I think this book legitimizes many of Chomsky's views, in a dense, detailed, way. But without these supporting examples and quotes, his views couldn't be seen as valid.

The Kennedys have done a superb job in selecting the poems for this read-aloud. The titles run the gamut of sweetly simple (Langston Hughes' "Piggy Back"), to the powerful (Georgia Roberts Durston's "The Wolf").

There is something for everyone here. Readers will find old favorites-"The Purple Cow"-as well as a few not-so-well-known but soon-to-be favorites such as William Jay Smith's lovely and lyrical "Polar Bear."

The book is divided into nine, themed sections: Plays, Families, Just for Fun, Birds, Bugs, and Beasts, Rhymes and Songs, Magic and Wonder, Wind and Weather, Calendars and Clocks, and, finally, Day and Night.

Making their appearance are, among others, Robert Louis Stevenson, Joan Aiken, Jane Yolen, Gwendolyn Books, A. A. Milne, and Wallace Stevens.

Jane Dyer, as always, does a magnificent job with the illustrations. There are full-page pictures and spot art throughout, extending and enriching the text. Readers will want to linger over the realistic, charming watercolors.

Highly recommended.

Reviewed by the Education Oasis Staff

This has become my favorite gift of all that I received for our now almost 3 year old twin boys. The illustrations are gorgeous and the poems vary widely in subject matter and flavor. It is a perfect introduction to poetry after Mother Goose. I've been reading it to them from about 18 months on, and they've grown to love it. They know many of the poems by heart. I think it is a book that they will read over and over for years to come. I now give this book out as gifts to other new parents.

This is a beautiful book both visually and in content. The watercolor illustrations are in the realistic style painted in fine detail. My daughter loves to look at the pictures closely as we read the poems aloud.

The poems selected cover a wide range of topics, themes, and moods. There are funny poems like limericks, serious poems about the seasons, poems about how children sometimes feel (such as the one about the boy who didn't do anything right yesterday, so he's not getting out of bed today) bedtime poems, and poems about child play.

This book was a gift and I love it so much I've since given it to other parents and children to enjoy. Everyone has been enthusiastic about it. When my daughter selects this book (which is often) it's fun for us to browse through the pages and pick poems based on the illustrations or on our mood. We'll say, let's read about sleepytime poems, or let's read funny poems. She never tires of this book. There are hundreds of poems to choose from, but the scope is not overwhelming either.

I give this book my highest recommendation. Every home should have some poetry on the shelf!