Option

In a little over one hundred years, the Catholic Church has undergone a remarkable transformation, from an ecclesiastical model in which the Church is Mater et Magistra, to cite the opening words of the first social encyclical of John XXIII, so that "the Church allies itself with the dominant classes that control the state, organizing projects around these classes, giving rise to colleges, universities, Christian political parties, and the like," to quote Leonardo Boff, one of the key spokesmen of the theology of liberation. Boff continues, "A vast network of assistance programs are established, leading the Church to become a Church for the poor rather than a Church with or of the poor."

Such a conception of the Church as the intermediary par excellence for the poor as an object of charity ultimately derives from the Church-State alliance of the fourth century A.D. and is manifested in the saints as icons of the Church, such as Mother Teresa of Calcutta, St. Vincent de Paul, or St. Peter Claver, who devoted their lives to ministering to the poor and the slaves, respectively, yet did not actively work to change the existing social and political order that was very much the source of their unfortunate condition.

This limited social and political understanding of the condition of the poor pervades the teaching of the Church until the watershed 1891 encyclical of Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum, which criticizes the ideologies and systems that are the source of injustice in industrial society and calls for structural changes, so that, very significantly, the Church for the first time seeks to address the condition of the poor by a means very different from simply the giving of alms, in the metaphorical sense, by bringing about social and political change on a societal scale.

One major culmination of this theological reorientation is the key phrase, "preferential option for the poor," found in the documents of the 1979 Conference of Latin American Bishops at Puebla, Mexico, to express a sea change in the imperative by which the institutional Church sees itself in ministry to the poor. Also often cited is the statement located in the document issued by the 1971 Synod of Bishops, Justice in the World: "Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel, or in other words, of the Church's mission for the redemption of the human race and its liberation from every oppressive situation."

Such a change in "Catholic ethos," to use Dorr's words, may be found in notable contemporary figures such as Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton, for whom action on behalf of social justice were understood to be an integral part of their call to live out their Catholic faith, in particular, the injunction to exercise charity toward others.

Donal Dorr, an Irish missionary priest, discusses with perspicacity this by no means linear transformation in religious ideology, ending with the extraordinary 1991 social encyclical of John Paul II, Centesimus Annus, which commemorates the first social encyclical.

Dorr is very readable yet not in the least simple, interpreting with lucidity the special emphases and profound ramifications of Catholic social teaching, what has been described as the Church's "best-kept secret." With admirable intelligence, he seeks to interpret papal encyclicals according to what he believes is the original intended meaning of the author, to place such teaching in social and political context, and to provide an interpretative framework of ideological development. His closing evaluation is especially enlightening. So informative and helpful is Dorr's exposition that John A. Coleman, S.J. of the Jesuit School of Theology, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, praises it as "classic," "magisterial," "first," "indispensable," and "masterful." Indeed, Dorr's work is the best introduction to Catholic social teaching that I have come across.

However, this 1992 book is a little dated and does not cover the most recent and interesting developments in Catholic social teaching. Moreover, while it is a good introduction to specifically papal and, to some extent, episcopal teaching, it by no means covers the spectrum of theological developments in this area, nor will it provide a sufficiently broad framework for interpreting all the major currents of thought that bear on this weighty topic.

Although this book has the usual first edition imperfections, it stands out as the best book ever written so far on options and exotic derivatives. It is comprehensive and bears superbly the comparison with the other reference in the field, namely Hull.

This book has recently crossed the 5,000 sales mark, despite distribution problems and minimal advertising. The reason is that private investors and market professionals find that it clearly explains what options are, and especially, what they do. It is practical, the language is straightforward, and the math is basic.

I wrote OPS after trading options for ten years in Chicago and London. I have also given many training seminars over the years. The trainees found that all the options books were either too advanced, too theoretical, or poorly written. I finally got fed up and wrote my own.

This book has sold well because it supplies a demand. If you want to read what other investors have said about it, check out amazon.co.uk. And yes, it covers bear market strategies.

Good luck in your trading.

Lenny Jordan

This book captured it all for me: I finally understand -- and can treat -- what has long been a physical problem for me -- and apparently for many others. What really astounds me, though, is that this is no technical or arrogantly medical story -- it is a rich, textured, honest, and practical guide to incontinence. Bravo, Dr. Froe, you have changed my life.

"[T]he fight for our planet, physical and spiritual, a fight of cosmic proportions, is not a vague matter of the future; it has already started. The forces of Evil have already begun their decisive offensive.... Even if we are spared destruction by war, life will have to change in order not to parish on its own. We cannot avoid reassessing the fundamental definitions of human life and human society. Is it true that man is above everything? Is there no Superior Spirit above him?" Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Harvard Commencement Address, June 8, 1978.

Since the Orthodox tradition does not have, to my knowledge, a systematic doctrine of just war theory akin the Roman Church, this book is highly useful in formulating an informed opinion on the subject, arguing the Eastern approach has a strong tendency toward justice through peace.

I still struggle with this philosophically and, now that we are in Iraq, the question becomes practical. When does violence ion order to protect become legitamate? This book is VERY helpful for me. As a counterpoint, read C. S. Lewis' essay "Why I am not a Pacifist".

The author, an Orthodox priest and sometimes-military chaplain, is also a Lecturer of Religion at American University.

I just finished reading the e-Book. I found it to be one of Ludlum's best books lately. He is back to his old form. The story held my attention and interest with all the twists and turns. The action is great. I highly recomment this book for anyone who has read Ludlum before and for anyone who wouold like to try him for the first time.

Perilous Options does a nice job of dissecting significant case studies of US covert operations and drawing broad conclusions about the management of covert ops in general; the reader gets the nitty-gritty on the case study incident and broad ideas about covert ops management. The study of the failed rescue mission for the Teheran hostages in 1980 is excellent, and the study of the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 is also good. Also contains studies on missions involving Song Tay and the Mayaguez. Well-written and documented; a great source.

A delicious millenial retransformation of the vowed life as a paradigm for oppositiional values in this age of law and order. O'Murchu defines the vows of religion in their pan-global concept as quintessential guideposts for the people of the 21st Century. Explicating Adrian Van Kamm's broad notion of the vows' "value radiating" essence, O'Murchu defines the vows in the context of guidelines of virtue and as the antitheses of violence. Courageously countering the catatonic obeisance to structure under the aegis of an endemic patriarchy, O'Murchu posits the idea that the male hierarchic structure of religions and cultures must accede to an expansion and an enlivening of the vows as living entities, as opposed to the vows as restrictions upon life. O'Murchu's quixotic example relative to celibacy is that human sexual urges and divine creation come together from the same energy to birth universal life. Repression will bring nothing but void. Essentially developing the positive qualities of vowed life as vows of mutual sustainability (poverty), relatedness (celibacy), and mutual collaboration (obedience). Fr. O'Murchu challenges the reader to reassess their role in living the vows and calls the male hierarchs, of all religions and cultures, to refocus and redefine the violent parameters of the vows as they have been developed over the past ten thousand years, to the pacific, harmonic tranquility of relatedness which calls humankind to virtue. O'Murchu supports and sustains his thesis through an anthropological and paleontological diagnosis of virtues in history and scripture, thereby indicating the original intention of vowed life in Eastern and Western cultures. Taking his hypothesis a major step forward, he argues that civilzation must return to the vowed life according to its original function as the beacon and as the goal for all living.. He argues that we must radically subsume the femininity which has been excluded from the consciousness of humanity these past three millenia. A must read for all male hierarchs, particularly those hierarchs who dominate the major contemporary monotheistic religions. To neglect reassessing vowed virtue and restoration of ideals and goals, O'Murchu asserts, will hasten the demise of Christianity and culture as we know it, due to the unconscionable continued violence of present vowed life, as misdirected against human nature. Reading this work of O'Murchu is a joyful emancipation for all others interested in redirecting the ideals and goals of humankind. Fr. Wm.G.Condon, csc e-mail Billcondon@AOL.com

I found it comprehensive introduction to a difficult field. The author obviously has great experience and in-depth knowledge, which gives the book both credibility and utillity.

Mountjoy-Pepka presents a fresh approach to understanding the stockmarket by taking us on a mystery journey with terrific characters, intriguing plot twists, and a ton of thoughtful insights into how money affects our society, our politics, and our financial future. I look forward to reading the entire series. What a great way to learn about stocks, investing and what the hell is really going on.