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Review Date: 12/31/2022
This 2018 book entitled: â21 Lessons for the 21st Centuryâ by Yuval Noah Harari was a thought-provoking look at the future and the impact of technology including artificial intelligence (AI) and bio-technology. The book is worth purchasing and reading but the 21 lessons were a bit obscure, at least to this reviewer, notwithstanding that the book contained 21 chapters. Moreover, whether or not the author is a good prognosticator of the future remains to be seen; none-the-less some of his predictions, may help individuals do contingency planning. Harari veers off into a variety of personal views important to him and undoubtedly of interest to some others. Some will find his historical look at various world religions as academic and informative while others might be offended.
Illustrative of style and content of this book, Harari writes: âMy first book, Sapiens, surveyed the human past, examining how an insignificant ape became the ruler of planet Earth. Homo Deus, my second book, explored the long-term future of life... In this book I⦠zoom in on the here and now, but without losing the long-term perspective.â
Harari writes: âA single mother struggling to raise two children in a Mumbai slum is focused on where she will find their next meal; refugees in a boat in the middle of the Mediterranean scan the horizon for any sign of land... They all have far more urgent problems than global warming or the crisis of liberal democracy⦠Climate change may be far beyond the concerns of people in the midst of a life-and-death emergency, but it might eventually make the Mumbai slums uninhabitable, send enormous new waves of refugees across the Mediterranean, and lead to a worldwide crisis in healthcare.â
Harari writes: âthis book is intended⦠as a selection of lessons. These lessons⦠aim to stimulate further thinking⦠The merger of infotech and biotech might soon push billions of humans out of the job market and undermine both liberty and equality. Big Data⦠algorithms might create digital dictatorships in which all power is concentrated in the hands of a tiny elite while most people suffer not from exploitation but from something far worseâirrelevance⦠Philosophers are very patient people, but engineers are far less so, and investors are the least patient of all⦠Humans think in stories rather than in facts, numbers, or equations, and the simpler the story, the better.â
Harari writes: âSome⦠just don't want to give up their racial, national, or gendered privileges. Others have concluded (rightly or wrongly) that liberalization and globalization are a huge racket empowering a tiny elite at the expense of the masses⦠The liberal political system was shaped during the industrial era to manage a world of steam engines, oil refineries, and television sets. It has difficulty dealing with the ongoing revolutions in information technology and biotechnologyâ¦â
Harari writes: âDemocracy is based on Abraham Lincoln's principle that âyou can fool all the people some of the time, and some people all of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.â⦠Russia is one of the most unequal countries in the world, with 87 percent of wealth concentrated in the hands of the richest 10 percent of people⦠Humans vote with their feet⦠I have met numerous people in many countries who wish to immigrate to the United States⦠But I have yet to meet a single person who dreams of immigrating to Russia⦠For every Muslim youth from Germany who traveled to the Middle East to live under a Muslim theocracy, probably a hundred Middle Eastern youths would have liked to make the opposite journey and start a new life for themselves in liberal Germany⦠throughout the world⦠even if they describe themselves as âanti-liberal,â none of them rejects liberalism wholesale. Rather, they⦠want to pick and ⦠choose their own dishes from a liberal buffet⦠Even some of the staunchest supporters of democracy⦠have become decidedly lukewarm about allowing too many immigrants in.â
Harari writes: âBut liberalism has no obvious answers to the biggest problems we face: ecological collapse and technological disruption... [In] the twentieth century, each generationâ[worldwide]âenjoyed better education, superior healthcare and larger incomes than the one that came before it⦠[But] the⦠prospect of⦠unemploymentâleaves nobody indifferent⦠Some believe that⦠within⦠a mere decade or two, billions of people will become economically redundant. Others maintain that even in the long run automation will keep generating new jobs and greater prosperity for all... Fears that automation will create massive unemployment go back to the nineteenth century, and so far they have never materialized.â
Harari writes: âWhat we are facing is not the replacement of millions of individual human workers by millions of individual robots and computers; rather, individual humans are likely to be replaced by an integrated network⦠AI doctors could provide far better and cheaper healthcare⦠particularly for those who currently receive no healthcare⦠at all⦠a poor villager in an underdeveloped country might come to enjoy far better healthcare via her smartphone...â
Harari writes: âin the long run no job will remain absolutely safe from automation⦠After IBM's chess program Deep Blue beat Garry Kasparov in 1997, humans did not stop playing chess. Rather, thanks to AI trainers, human chess masters became better than ever, and at least for a while human-AI teams known as âcentaursâ outperformed both humans and computers in chess⦠A closer look at the world of chess might indicate where things are heading⦠[In] 2017, a critical milestone was reached, not when a computer defeated a human at chessâthat's old newsâbut when Google's AlphaZero program defeated the Stockfish 8 program. Stockfish 8 was the world's computer chess champion for 2016. It had access to centuries of accumulated human experience in chess... It was able to calculate seventy million chess positions per second. In contrast, AlphaZero performed only eighty thousand such calculations per second, and its human creators had not taught it any chess strategiesânot even standard openings. Rather, AlphaZero used the latest machine-learning principles to self-learn chess by playing against itself. Nevertheless, out of a hundred games the novice AlphaZero played against Stockfish, AlphaZero won twenty-eight and tied seventy-two. It didn't lose even once. Since AlphaZero had learned nothing from any human, many of its winning moves and strategies seemed unconventional to the human eye⦠guess how long it took AlphaZero to learn chess from scratch, prepare for the match⦠against Stockfish, and develop its genius instincts? Four hours. That's not a typo... AlphaZero went from utter ignorance to creative mastery in four hours, without the help of any human guide.â
Harari writes: âeven after self-driving vehicles prove themselves safer and cheaper than human drivers, politicians and consumers might nevertheless block the change for⦠decades⦠Government regulation can successfully block new technologies even if they are commercially viable and economically lucrative⦠For example⦠human âbody farmsâ in underdeveloped countries and an almost insatiable demand from desperate affluent buyers. Such body farms could well be worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Yet regulations have prevented free trade in human body partsâ
Harari writes: âIn the stock exchange⦠algorithms are becoming the most important buyers of bonds, shares, and commodities⦠The Google search algorithm [ranks] the web pages of ice cream vendors⦠the Google algorithm ranks firstâ[NOT] those that produce the tastiest ice cream⦠When I publish a book, my publishers ask me to write a short description that they use for publicity online. But they have a special expert who⦠goes over my text and says, âDon't use this wordâuse that word instead. Then we will get more attention from the Google algorithmâ¦â
Harari writes: âwith the rise of AI⦠cheap unskilled labor will become far less important⦠If AI and 3-D printers indeed take over from the Bangladeshis⦠the revenues that previously flowed to South Asia will now [flow] California.â
Harari writes: âWithin a few decades, Big Data algorithms informed by a constant stream of biometric data could monitor our health 24/ 7. They might be able to detect the very beginning of influenza, cancer, or Alzheimer's disease, long before we feel anything is wrong with us. They could then recommend appropriate treatments, diets⦠custom-built for our unique physique, DNA, and personality⦠by 2050, thanks to biometric sensors and Big Data algorithms, diseases may be diagnosed and treated long before they lead to pain or disability⦠when you apply to your bank for a loan, it is likely that your application will be processed by an algorithm rather than by a human being. The algorithm analyzes lots of data about you and statistics about millions of other people and decides whether you are reliable enough to receive a loan.â
Harari writes: âToday, the richest 1 percent own half the world's wealth⦠the richest one hundred people together own more than the poorest four billion⦠If new treatments for extending life and upgrading physical and cognitive abilities prove to be expensive, humankind might split into biological castes⦠Humans and machines might merge so completely that humans will not be able to survive at all if they are disconnected from the network.â
Harari writes: âthe âclash of civilizationsâ thesis is false. Human groupsâall the way from small tribes to huge civilizationsâare fundamentally different from animal species, and historical conflicts differ greatly from natural selection processes⦠human groups may have distinct social systems, but these are not genetically determined, and they seldom endure for more than a few centuriesâ¦â
Harari writes: âdistortions of ancient traditions characterize all religions⦠The heated argument about the true essence of Islam is simply pointless. Islam has no fixed DNA. Islam is whatever Muslims make of it⦠Species often split, but they never merge. About seven million years ago chimpanzees and gorillas had common ancestors⦠Since individuals belonging to different species cannot produce fertile offspring together, species can never merge⦠Human tribes, in contrast, tend to coalesce over time into larger⦠groups⦠Ten thousand years ago humankind was divided into countless isolated tribes. With each passing millennium, these fused into⦠larger groups⦠remaining civilizations have been blending into a single global civilizationâ¦â
Harari writes: âPeople across the globe are not only in touch with one another, they increasingly share identical beliefs and practices⦠Today, if you happen to be sick⦠you will be taken to similar-looking hospitals, where you will meet doctors in white coats who learned the same scientific theories in the same medical colleges. They will follow identical protocols and use identical tests to reach very similar diagnosesâ¦â
Harari writes: âHumans have been around for hundreds of thousands of years and have survived numerous ice ages and warm spells⦠cities, and complex societies have existed for no more than ten thousand years. During this period⦠Earth's climate has been relatively stable⦠[but now] climate change is a present realityâ¦[and] Humanity has very little time left to wean itself from fossil fuels⦠the mark of science is the willingness to admit failure and try a different tack⦠Over the centuries⦠the⦠world has increasingly become a single civilization. When things really work, everybody adopts them.â
Harari writes: âglobal warming is a fact, but there is no consensus regarding the best economic reaction to this threat⦠Ancient scriptures are just not good guides for modern economics⦠religion doesn't really have much to contribute to the great policy debates of our time⦠Religions still have a lot of political power⦠As more and more humans cross more and more borders in search of jobs, security, and a better future, the need to confront, assimilate, or expel strangers strains political systems⦠about immigration⦠it would perhaps be helpful to view immigration as a deal with three basic conditions or terms: TERM 1: The host country allows the immigrants in⦠TERM 2: In return, the immigrants must embrace at least the core norms and values of the host country, even if that means giving up some of their traditional norms and values... TERM 3: If the immigrants assimilate to a sufficient degree, over time they become equal and full members of the host country⦠When people argue about immigration, they often confuse the four debatesâ¦[and Harari explains... ]â
Harari writes: âRacism was seen not only as morally abysmal but also as scientifically bankrupt. Life scientists⦠anthropologists, sociologists, historians, behavioral economists, and even brain scientists have accumulated a wealth of data for the existence of significant differences between human cultures⦠most people concede the existence of at least some significant differences between human cultures, in things ranging from sexual mores to political habits⦠consider the way different cultures relate to strangers, immigrants, and refugees. Not all cultures are characterized by exactly the same level of acceptance⦠Norms and values that are appropriate in one country just don't work well under different circumstances⦠[and goes on to suggest] let's imagine two fictional countries: Coldia and Warmland⦠Much the same thing happens to Coldians who immigrate to Warmland⦠Both of these cases may seem to smack of racism. But in fact, they are not racist. They are âculturist.â People continue to conduct a heroic struggle against traditional racism without noticing that the battlefront has shifted. Traditional racism is waning, but the world is now full of âculturists.â⦠Today, in contrast, while many individuals still make such racist assertions, they have lost all of their scientific backing and most of their political respectabilityâunless they are rephrased in cultural terms.â
Harari writes: âThe shift from biology to culture is not just a meaningless change of jargon. It is a profound shift with far-reaching practical consequences, some good, some bad. For starters, culture is more malleable than biology. This means, on one hand, that present-day culturists might be more tolerant than traditional racistsâ⦠In many cases there is little reason to adopt the dominant culture, and in many other cases it is⦠an all but impossible mission⦠A second key difference⦠is that unlike traditional racist bigotry, culturist arguments might occasionally make good sense, as in the case of Warmland and Coldia. Warmlanders and Coldians really have different cultures, characterized by different styles of human relations. Since human relations are crucial to many jobs, is it unethical for a Warmlander firm to penalize Coldians for behaving in accordance with their cultural legacy?â
Harari writes: âThe last few decades have been the most peaceful era in human history. Whereas in early agricultural societies human violence caused up to 15 percent of all human deaths, and in the twentieth century it caused 5 percent, today it is responsible for only 1 percent⦠The greatest victory in living memoryâof the United States over the Soviet Unionâwas achieved without any major military confrontation⦠Like the United States, China, Germany, Japan, and Iran, Israel seems to understand that in the twenty-first century the most successful strategy is to sit on the fence and let others do the fighting for you.â
Harari writes: âAll social mammals, such as wolves, dolphins, and monkeys, have ethical codes, adapted by evolution to promote group cooperation⦠âThou shalt not killâ and âThou shalt not stealâ were well known in the legal and ethical codes of Sumerian city-states, pharaonic Egypt, and the Babylonian Empire⦠A thousand years before the prophet Amos⦠the Babylonian king Hammurabi explained that the great gods had instructed him âto demonstrate justice within the land, to destroy evil and wickedness, to stop the mighty exploiting the weak⦠Many biblical laws copy rules that were accepted in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Canaan centuries and even millennia prior to the establishment of the⦠kingdoms of Judah and Israel.â
Harari writes: âUnfortunately, for other people religious belief actually stokes and justifies their anger, especially if someone dares to insult their god or ignores His wishes⦠As the last few centuries have proved, we don't need to invoke God's name in order to live a moral life. Secularism can provide us with all the values we need⦠many of the secular values are shared by various religious traditions⦠Secular education teaches us that if we don't know something, we shouldn't be afraid of acknowledging our ignorance and looking for new evidence⦠Questions you cannot answer are usually far better for you than answers you cannot question.â
Harari writes: âbehavioral economists and evolutionary psychologists have demonstrated that most human decisions are based on emotional reactions and heuristic shortcuts rather than on rational analysis, and that while our emotions and heuristics were perhaps suitable for dealing with life in the Stone Age, they are woefully inadequate in the Silicon Age⦠As Socrates observed more than two thousand years ago, the best we can do⦠is to acknowledge our own individual ignorance.â
Harari writes: âIn trying to comprehend and judge moral dilemmas people often resort to one of four methods. The first is to downsize the issue⦠The second method is to focus on a touching human story that ostensibly stands for the whole conflict⦠The third method of dealing with large-scale moral dilemmas is to weave conspiracy theories⦠These three methods try to deny the true complexity of the world. The fourth and ultimate method is to create a dogma, put our trust in some allegedly all-knowing theory, institution, or chief, and follow it wherever it leads us. Religious and ideological dogmas are still highly attractive in our scientific age precisely because they offer us a safe haven from the frustrating complexity of reality.â
Harari writes: âEven the most religious people would agree that all religions, except one, are fictions⦠that does not mean that these fictions are necessarily worthless or harmful⦠you cannot organize masses of people effectively without relying on some mythology. If you stick to unalloyed reality, few people will follow you⦠If you want to gauge group loyalty, requiring people to believe an absurdity is a far better test than asking them to believe the truth⦠if all your neighbors believe the same outrageous tale, you can count on them to stand together in times of crisis⦠When most people see a dollar bill, they forget that it is just a human convention⦠We learn to respect holy books in exactly the same way we learn to respect paper currencyâ
Harari writes: âHow can we prepare ourselves and our children for a world of such unprecedented transformations and radical uncertainties?... people need the ability to make sense of information, to tell the difference between what is important and what is unimportant, and above all to combine many bits of information into a broad picture of the world⦠Many pedagogical experts argue that schools should switch to teaching âthe four Csââcritical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity⦠Most important of all will be the ability to deal with change, learn new things, and preserve.â
Harari writes: âPlanet Earth was formed about 4.5 billion years ago, and humans have existed for at least 2 million years⦠As for the future, physics tells us that planet Earth will be absorbed by an expanding sun about 7.5 billion years from now and that our universe will continue to exist for at least 13 billion years more.â
Illustrative of style and content of this book, Harari writes: âMy first book, Sapiens, surveyed the human past, examining how an insignificant ape became the ruler of planet Earth. Homo Deus, my second book, explored the long-term future of life... In this book I⦠zoom in on the here and now, but without losing the long-term perspective.â
Harari writes: âA single mother struggling to raise two children in a Mumbai slum is focused on where she will find their next meal; refugees in a boat in the middle of the Mediterranean scan the horizon for any sign of land... They all have far more urgent problems than global warming or the crisis of liberal democracy⦠Climate change may be far beyond the concerns of people in the midst of a life-and-death emergency, but it might eventually make the Mumbai slums uninhabitable, send enormous new waves of refugees across the Mediterranean, and lead to a worldwide crisis in healthcare.â
Harari writes: âthis book is intended⦠as a selection of lessons. These lessons⦠aim to stimulate further thinking⦠The merger of infotech and biotech might soon push billions of humans out of the job market and undermine both liberty and equality. Big Data⦠algorithms might create digital dictatorships in which all power is concentrated in the hands of a tiny elite while most people suffer not from exploitation but from something far worseâirrelevance⦠Philosophers are very patient people, but engineers are far less so, and investors are the least patient of all⦠Humans think in stories rather than in facts, numbers, or equations, and the simpler the story, the better.â
Harari writes: âSome⦠just don't want to give up their racial, national, or gendered privileges. Others have concluded (rightly or wrongly) that liberalization and globalization are a huge racket empowering a tiny elite at the expense of the masses⦠The liberal political system was shaped during the industrial era to manage a world of steam engines, oil refineries, and television sets. It has difficulty dealing with the ongoing revolutions in information technology and biotechnologyâ¦â
Harari writes: âDemocracy is based on Abraham Lincoln's principle that âyou can fool all the people some of the time, and some people all of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.â⦠Russia is one of the most unequal countries in the world, with 87 percent of wealth concentrated in the hands of the richest 10 percent of people⦠Humans vote with their feet⦠I have met numerous people in many countries who wish to immigrate to the United States⦠But I have yet to meet a single person who dreams of immigrating to Russia⦠For every Muslim youth from Germany who traveled to the Middle East to live under a Muslim theocracy, probably a hundred Middle Eastern youths would have liked to make the opposite journey and start a new life for themselves in liberal Germany⦠throughout the world⦠even if they describe themselves as âanti-liberal,â none of them rejects liberalism wholesale. Rather, they⦠want to pick and ⦠choose their own dishes from a liberal buffet⦠Even some of the staunchest supporters of democracy⦠have become decidedly lukewarm about allowing too many immigrants in.â
Harari writes: âBut liberalism has no obvious answers to the biggest problems we face: ecological collapse and technological disruption... [In] the twentieth century, each generationâ[worldwide]âenjoyed better education, superior healthcare and larger incomes than the one that came before it⦠[But] the⦠prospect of⦠unemploymentâleaves nobody indifferent⦠Some believe that⦠within⦠a mere decade or two, billions of people will become economically redundant. Others maintain that even in the long run automation will keep generating new jobs and greater prosperity for all... Fears that automation will create massive unemployment go back to the nineteenth century, and so far they have never materialized.â
Harari writes: âWhat we are facing is not the replacement of millions of individual human workers by millions of individual robots and computers; rather, individual humans are likely to be replaced by an integrated network⦠AI doctors could provide far better and cheaper healthcare⦠particularly for those who currently receive no healthcare⦠at all⦠a poor villager in an underdeveloped country might come to enjoy far better healthcare via her smartphone...â
Harari writes: âin the long run no job will remain absolutely safe from automation⦠After IBM's chess program Deep Blue beat Garry Kasparov in 1997, humans did not stop playing chess. Rather, thanks to AI trainers, human chess masters became better than ever, and at least for a while human-AI teams known as âcentaursâ outperformed both humans and computers in chess⦠A closer look at the world of chess might indicate where things are heading⦠[In] 2017, a critical milestone was reached, not when a computer defeated a human at chessâthat's old newsâbut when Google's AlphaZero program defeated the Stockfish 8 program. Stockfish 8 was the world's computer chess champion for 2016. It had access to centuries of accumulated human experience in chess... It was able to calculate seventy million chess positions per second. In contrast, AlphaZero performed only eighty thousand such calculations per second, and its human creators had not taught it any chess strategiesânot even standard openings. Rather, AlphaZero used the latest machine-learning principles to self-learn chess by playing against itself. Nevertheless, out of a hundred games the novice AlphaZero played against Stockfish, AlphaZero won twenty-eight and tied seventy-two. It didn't lose even once. Since AlphaZero had learned nothing from any human, many of its winning moves and strategies seemed unconventional to the human eye⦠guess how long it took AlphaZero to learn chess from scratch, prepare for the match⦠against Stockfish, and develop its genius instincts? Four hours. That's not a typo... AlphaZero went from utter ignorance to creative mastery in four hours, without the help of any human guide.â
Harari writes: âeven after self-driving vehicles prove themselves safer and cheaper than human drivers, politicians and consumers might nevertheless block the change for⦠decades⦠Government regulation can successfully block new technologies even if they are commercially viable and economically lucrative⦠For example⦠human âbody farmsâ in underdeveloped countries and an almost insatiable demand from desperate affluent buyers. Such body farms could well be worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Yet regulations have prevented free trade in human body partsâ
Harari writes: âIn the stock exchange⦠algorithms are becoming the most important buyers of bonds, shares, and commodities⦠The Google search algorithm [ranks] the web pages of ice cream vendors⦠the Google algorithm ranks firstâ[NOT] those that produce the tastiest ice cream⦠When I publish a book, my publishers ask me to write a short description that they use for publicity online. But they have a special expert who⦠goes over my text and says, âDon't use this wordâuse that word instead. Then we will get more attention from the Google algorithmâ¦â
Harari writes: âwith the rise of AI⦠cheap unskilled labor will become far less important⦠If AI and 3-D printers indeed take over from the Bangladeshis⦠the revenues that previously flowed to South Asia will now [flow] California.â
Harari writes: âWithin a few decades, Big Data algorithms informed by a constant stream of biometric data could monitor our health 24/ 7. They might be able to detect the very beginning of influenza, cancer, or Alzheimer's disease, long before we feel anything is wrong with us. They could then recommend appropriate treatments, diets⦠custom-built for our unique physique, DNA, and personality⦠by 2050, thanks to biometric sensors and Big Data algorithms, diseases may be diagnosed and treated long before they lead to pain or disability⦠when you apply to your bank for a loan, it is likely that your application will be processed by an algorithm rather than by a human being. The algorithm analyzes lots of data about you and statistics about millions of other people and decides whether you are reliable enough to receive a loan.â
Harari writes: âToday, the richest 1 percent own half the world's wealth⦠the richest one hundred people together own more than the poorest four billion⦠If new treatments for extending life and upgrading physical and cognitive abilities prove to be expensive, humankind might split into biological castes⦠Humans and machines might merge so completely that humans will not be able to survive at all if they are disconnected from the network.â
Harari writes: âthe âclash of civilizationsâ thesis is false. Human groupsâall the way from small tribes to huge civilizationsâare fundamentally different from animal species, and historical conflicts differ greatly from natural selection processes⦠human groups may have distinct social systems, but these are not genetically determined, and they seldom endure for more than a few centuriesâ¦â
Harari writes: âdistortions of ancient traditions characterize all religions⦠The heated argument about the true essence of Islam is simply pointless. Islam has no fixed DNA. Islam is whatever Muslims make of it⦠Species often split, but they never merge. About seven million years ago chimpanzees and gorillas had common ancestors⦠Since individuals belonging to different species cannot produce fertile offspring together, species can never merge⦠Human tribes, in contrast, tend to coalesce over time into larger⦠groups⦠Ten thousand years ago humankind was divided into countless isolated tribes. With each passing millennium, these fused into⦠larger groups⦠remaining civilizations have been blending into a single global civilizationâ¦â
Harari writes: âPeople across the globe are not only in touch with one another, they increasingly share identical beliefs and practices⦠Today, if you happen to be sick⦠you will be taken to similar-looking hospitals, where you will meet doctors in white coats who learned the same scientific theories in the same medical colleges. They will follow identical protocols and use identical tests to reach very similar diagnosesâ¦â
Harari writes: âHumans have been around for hundreds of thousands of years and have survived numerous ice ages and warm spells⦠cities, and complex societies have existed for no more than ten thousand years. During this period⦠Earth's climate has been relatively stable⦠[but now] climate change is a present realityâ¦[and] Humanity has very little time left to wean itself from fossil fuels⦠the mark of science is the willingness to admit failure and try a different tack⦠Over the centuries⦠the⦠world has increasingly become a single civilization. When things really work, everybody adopts them.â
Harari writes: âglobal warming is a fact, but there is no consensus regarding the best economic reaction to this threat⦠Ancient scriptures are just not good guides for modern economics⦠religion doesn't really have much to contribute to the great policy debates of our time⦠Religions still have a lot of political power⦠As more and more humans cross more and more borders in search of jobs, security, and a better future, the need to confront, assimilate, or expel strangers strains political systems⦠about immigration⦠it would perhaps be helpful to view immigration as a deal with three basic conditions or terms: TERM 1: The host country allows the immigrants in⦠TERM 2: In return, the immigrants must embrace at least the core norms and values of the host country, even if that means giving up some of their traditional norms and values... TERM 3: If the immigrants assimilate to a sufficient degree, over time they become equal and full members of the host country⦠When people argue about immigration, they often confuse the four debatesâ¦[and Harari explains... ]â
Harari writes: âRacism was seen not only as morally abysmal but also as scientifically bankrupt. Life scientists⦠anthropologists, sociologists, historians, behavioral economists, and even brain scientists have accumulated a wealth of data for the existence of significant differences between human cultures⦠most people concede the existence of at least some significant differences between human cultures, in things ranging from sexual mores to political habits⦠consider the way different cultures relate to strangers, immigrants, and refugees. Not all cultures are characterized by exactly the same level of acceptance⦠Norms and values that are appropriate in one country just don't work well under different circumstances⦠[and goes on to suggest] let's imagine two fictional countries: Coldia and Warmland⦠Much the same thing happens to Coldians who immigrate to Warmland⦠Both of these cases may seem to smack of racism. But in fact, they are not racist. They are âculturist.â People continue to conduct a heroic struggle against traditional racism without noticing that the battlefront has shifted. Traditional racism is waning, but the world is now full of âculturists.â⦠Today, in contrast, while many individuals still make such racist assertions, they have lost all of their scientific backing and most of their political respectabilityâunless they are rephrased in cultural terms.â
Harari writes: âThe shift from biology to culture is not just a meaningless change of jargon. It is a profound shift with far-reaching practical consequences, some good, some bad. For starters, culture is more malleable than biology. This means, on one hand, that present-day culturists might be more tolerant than traditional racistsâ⦠In many cases there is little reason to adopt the dominant culture, and in many other cases it is⦠an all but impossible mission⦠A second key difference⦠is that unlike traditional racist bigotry, culturist arguments might occasionally make good sense, as in the case of Warmland and Coldia. Warmlanders and Coldians really have different cultures, characterized by different styles of human relations. Since human relations are crucial to many jobs, is it unethical for a Warmlander firm to penalize Coldians for behaving in accordance with their cultural legacy?â
Harari writes: âThe last few decades have been the most peaceful era in human history. Whereas in early agricultural societies human violence caused up to 15 percent of all human deaths, and in the twentieth century it caused 5 percent, today it is responsible for only 1 percent⦠The greatest victory in living memoryâof the United States over the Soviet Unionâwas achieved without any major military confrontation⦠Like the United States, China, Germany, Japan, and Iran, Israel seems to understand that in the twenty-first century the most successful strategy is to sit on the fence and let others do the fighting for you.â
Harari writes: âAll social mammals, such as wolves, dolphins, and monkeys, have ethical codes, adapted by evolution to promote group cooperation⦠âThou shalt not killâ and âThou shalt not stealâ were well known in the legal and ethical codes of Sumerian city-states, pharaonic Egypt, and the Babylonian Empire⦠A thousand years before the prophet Amos⦠the Babylonian king Hammurabi explained that the great gods had instructed him âto demonstrate justice within the land, to destroy evil and wickedness, to stop the mighty exploiting the weak⦠Many biblical laws copy rules that were accepted in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Canaan centuries and even millennia prior to the establishment of the⦠kingdoms of Judah and Israel.â
Harari writes: âUnfortunately, for other people religious belief actually stokes and justifies their anger, especially if someone dares to insult their god or ignores His wishes⦠As the last few centuries have proved, we don't need to invoke God's name in order to live a moral life. Secularism can provide us with all the values we need⦠many of the secular values are shared by various religious traditions⦠Secular education teaches us that if we don't know something, we shouldn't be afraid of acknowledging our ignorance and looking for new evidence⦠Questions you cannot answer are usually far better for you than answers you cannot question.â
Harari writes: âbehavioral economists and evolutionary psychologists have demonstrated that most human decisions are based on emotional reactions and heuristic shortcuts rather than on rational analysis, and that while our emotions and heuristics were perhaps suitable for dealing with life in the Stone Age, they are woefully inadequate in the Silicon Age⦠As Socrates observed more than two thousand years ago, the best we can do⦠is to acknowledge our own individual ignorance.â
Harari writes: âIn trying to comprehend and judge moral dilemmas people often resort to one of four methods. The first is to downsize the issue⦠The second method is to focus on a touching human story that ostensibly stands for the whole conflict⦠The third method of dealing with large-scale moral dilemmas is to weave conspiracy theories⦠These three methods try to deny the true complexity of the world. The fourth and ultimate method is to create a dogma, put our trust in some allegedly all-knowing theory, institution, or chief, and follow it wherever it leads us. Religious and ideological dogmas are still highly attractive in our scientific age precisely because they offer us a safe haven from the frustrating complexity of reality.â
Harari writes: âEven the most religious people would agree that all religions, except one, are fictions⦠that does not mean that these fictions are necessarily worthless or harmful⦠you cannot organize masses of people effectively without relying on some mythology. If you stick to unalloyed reality, few people will follow you⦠If you want to gauge group loyalty, requiring people to believe an absurdity is a far better test than asking them to believe the truth⦠if all your neighbors believe the same outrageous tale, you can count on them to stand together in times of crisis⦠When most people see a dollar bill, they forget that it is just a human convention⦠We learn to respect holy books in exactly the same way we learn to respect paper currencyâ
Harari writes: âHow can we prepare ourselves and our children for a world of such unprecedented transformations and radical uncertainties?... people need the ability to make sense of information, to tell the difference between what is important and what is unimportant, and above all to combine many bits of information into a broad picture of the world⦠Many pedagogical experts argue that schools should switch to teaching âthe four Csââcritical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity⦠Most important of all will be the ability to deal with change, learn new things, and preserve.â
Harari writes: âPlanet Earth was formed about 4.5 billion years ago, and humans have existed for at least 2 million years⦠As for the future, physics tells us that planet Earth will be absorbed by an expanding sun about 7.5 billion years from now and that our universe will continue to exist for at least 13 billion years more.â
Review Date: 11/25/2009
Product Description
This title is the "New York Times" bestseller - now in paperback. In "America Alone", Mark Steyn uses his trademark wit, clarity of thought and flair for the apocalyptic, Mark Steyn to argue that America is the only hope against Islamic Terrorism. Steyn addresses the singular position in which America finds itself, surrounded by anti-Americanism on all sides. He gives us the brutal facts on these threats and why there is no choice but for America to fight for the cause of freedom - alone.
From the Inside Flap
It's the end of the world as we know it...
Someday soon, you might wake up to the call to prayer from a muezzin. Europeans already are. And liberals will still tell you that "diversity is our strength"--while Talibanic enforcers cruise Greenwich Village burning books and barber shops, the Supreme Court decides sharia law doesn't violate the "separation of church and state," and the Hollywood Left decides to give up on gay rights in favor of the much safer charms of polygamy. If you think this can't happen, you haven't been paying attention, as the hilarious, provocative, and brilliant Mark Steyn--the most popular conservative columnist in the English-speaking world--shows to devastating effect. The future, as Steyn shows, belongs to the fecund and the confident. And the Islamists are both, while the West is looking ever more like the ruins of a civilization. But America can survive, prosper, and defend its freedom only if it continues to believe in itself, in the sturdier virtues of self-reliance (not government), in the centrality of family, and in the conviction that our country really is the world's last best hope. Mark Steyn's America Alone is laugh-out-loud funny--but it will also change the way you look at the world.
This title is the "New York Times" bestseller - now in paperback. In "America Alone", Mark Steyn uses his trademark wit, clarity of thought and flair for the apocalyptic, Mark Steyn to argue that America is the only hope against Islamic Terrorism. Steyn addresses the singular position in which America finds itself, surrounded by anti-Americanism on all sides. He gives us the brutal facts on these threats and why there is no choice but for America to fight for the cause of freedom - alone.
From the Inside Flap
It's the end of the world as we know it...
Someday soon, you might wake up to the call to prayer from a muezzin. Europeans already are. And liberals will still tell you that "diversity is our strength"--while Talibanic enforcers cruise Greenwich Village burning books and barber shops, the Supreme Court decides sharia law doesn't violate the "separation of church and state," and the Hollywood Left decides to give up on gay rights in favor of the much safer charms of polygamy. If you think this can't happen, you haven't been paying attention, as the hilarious, provocative, and brilliant Mark Steyn--the most popular conservative columnist in the English-speaking world--shows to devastating effect. The future, as Steyn shows, belongs to the fecund and the confident. And the Islamists are both, while the West is looking ever more like the ruins of a civilization. But America can survive, prosper, and defend its freedom only if it continues to believe in itself, in the sturdier virtues of self-reliance (not government), in the centrality of family, and in the conviction that our country really is the world's last best hope. Mark Steyn's America Alone is laugh-out-loud funny--but it will also change the way you look at the world.
American Jezebel : The Uncommon Life of Anne Hutchinson, the Woman Who Defied the Puritans
Author:
Book Type: Hardcover
3
Author:
Book Type: Hardcover
3
Review Date: 11/25/2013
Pasted from Amazon:
82 of 89 people found the following review helpful
By Beacon .... July 15, 2007
I'm mystified by the rave reviews here. Hutchinson is indeed a fascinating figure, but LaPlante's oddly-arranged book obscures more than it illuminates. LaPlante presents Hutchinson as a proto-feminist rather than a zealous religious dissident. Although LaPlante acknowledges that Hutchinson exhibited as much moral certitude as her prosecutors -- she believed, for example, that she could personally identify those chosen for salvation by God -- most of the book either downplays the significance of theological dispute in favor of gender politics (suggesting, e.g., that John Winthrop was principally motivated by a desire to keep women in their place), or twists itself into knots trying to recast arch-Calvinist Antinomianism as a progressive movement. Incredibly, there is no serious discussion of theology until 50 pages into the book.
Gender is naturally central to this story. After all, its protagonist is a woman in seventeenth century Boston who brazenly challenged the city's Cambridge-educated male elite. But the reason for Hutchinson's banishment -- like that of the more influential and sophisticated Roger Williams a few years earlier -- was theological, and the faith of Hutchinson and her slippery mentor John Cotton (grandfather of Cotton Mather) was no more rational and no less fanatical than that of John Winthrop, whose conciliatory tendencies actually marked him as a rather moderate fellow by Puritan standards. Unlike Williams, whose radical separatism led him to become one of the first notable advocates of religious freedom, Hutchinson was primarily concerned not with political liberty but with denouncing those who she believed to be under a "covenant of works." This category included all the ministers in Massachusetts except for Cotton and her brother-in-law, John Wheelwright.
LaPlante does not seem to be an expert on Puritan New England, and she has trouble with theology. To give one example, she employs "orthodox" as a general term of abuse -- using it at one point to describe the Puritans' Anglican opponents in England, and at others to describe the Puritan leadership in Boston. Like Howard Zinn, who blurbs the book, she seems to view underdog status as an indication of righteousness. A reader who is more interested in ideas than identity politics will note that Hutchinson's Antinomian theology was no more enlightened than that of her "orthodox" enemies; she was ahead of her time only in her belief that women are as able to interpret scripture as men (no small matter), and in her relatively humane views regarding Native Americans (which she shared with Williams and Samuel Sewall, among others).
Of course, historical figures should not be chastised for every transgression against contemporary sensibilities. But as someone with no dog in the fight between the varieties of seventeenth century English Protestantism, I was irritated by LaPlante's verbal gymnastics on behalf of her ancestor -- especially after she declares in the intro that her work will avoid the "exaltation" found elsewhere. While the reader gets some sense of Hutchinson's admirable qualities, including her sparkling intelligence and stubborn bravery, critical analysis is limited to the occasional throw-away sentence, and the book contains little psychological insight. LaPlante has thus transformed a strange charismatic figure into a cardboard cutout. LaPlante is not, thankfully, the sort of historian who simply dismisses all Puritans as benighted and backwards, but she makes an equally serious mistake in attempting to transform a proud, complex, and extraordinarily devout woman into a digestible hero for contemporary readers.
Three final points: (1) LaPlante has a habit of substituting her own language for that of her subjects, making it hard to determine who is saying what. Quotes sometimes end abruptly, replaced by LaPlante's paraphrasing. I suspected at several points that her summaries were generous to Hutchinson (facilitating Hutchinson's transformation into a Puritan Susan B. Anthony), and less than charitable to her prosecutors. The book is at its best when LaPlante isn't speaking at all, since her commentary adds little to the natural drama. (2) The general tenor of the book is hagiographic. Many of the quotes that LaPlante culls from other histories of the era seem to have been included only because they are complimentary of Hutchinson. LaPlante defends her subject in an almost lawerly fashion, informing us, for example, that "Harvard University" credits Hutchinson with its founding (in fact, one Harvard professor!), and that Hutchinson founded Rhode Island (only technically true, since Williams had established Providence Plantations a year earlier). These are minor details, but combined with the suspicious paraphrasing, they undermined my trust in the author's intentions. An honest defense of Hutchinson would have been fine, but this book seems to lionize its subject using sleight of hand. (3) I learned some things from "American Jezebel" that I had not found in other books on this period. Particularly interesting were LaPlante's discussions of Lincolnshire and Boston, England.
For better books on pre-Revolutionary New England, I recommend Philbrick's Mayflower, Morgan's Puritan Dilemma (on Winthrop), Gaustad's Roger Williams, Lepore's The Name of War (flawed, but erudite and beautifully written), and Richard Francis' wonderful book on Samuel Sewall. American Jezebel isn't worthless, and may be a decent intro to this subject for younger readers, but it would be unfortunate if anyone picked up their whole education on the Puritans here -- as many of the other Amazon reviewers seem to have done.
82 of 89 people found the following review helpful
By Beacon .... July 15, 2007
I'm mystified by the rave reviews here. Hutchinson is indeed a fascinating figure, but LaPlante's oddly-arranged book obscures more than it illuminates. LaPlante presents Hutchinson as a proto-feminist rather than a zealous religious dissident. Although LaPlante acknowledges that Hutchinson exhibited as much moral certitude as her prosecutors -- she believed, for example, that she could personally identify those chosen for salvation by God -- most of the book either downplays the significance of theological dispute in favor of gender politics (suggesting, e.g., that John Winthrop was principally motivated by a desire to keep women in their place), or twists itself into knots trying to recast arch-Calvinist Antinomianism as a progressive movement. Incredibly, there is no serious discussion of theology until 50 pages into the book.
Gender is naturally central to this story. After all, its protagonist is a woman in seventeenth century Boston who brazenly challenged the city's Cambridge-educated male elite. But the reason for Hutchinson's banishment -- like that of the more influential and sophisticated Roger Williams a few years earlier -- was theological, and the faith of Hutchinson and her slippery mentor John Cotton (grandfather of Cotton Mather) was no more rational and no less fanatical than that of John Winthrop, whose conciliatory tendencies actually marked him as a rather moderate fellow by Puritan standards. Unlike Williams, whose radical separatism led him to become one of the first notable advocates of religious freedom, Hutchinson was primarily concerned not with political liberty but with denouncing those who she believed to be under a "covenant of works." This category included all the ministers in Massachusetts except for Cotton and her brother-in-law, John Wheelwright.
LaPlante does not seem to be an expert on Puritan New England, and she has trouble with theology. To give one example, she employs "orthodox" as a general term of abuse -- using it at one point to describe the Puritans' Anglican opponents in England, and at others to describe the Puritan leadership in Boston. Like Howard Zinn, who blurbs the book, she seems to view underdog status as an indication of righteousness. A reader who is more interested in ideas than identity politics will note that Hutchinson's Antinomian theology was no more enlightened than that of her "orthodox" enemies; she was ahead of her time only in her belief that women are as able to interpret scripture as men (no small matter), and in her relatively humane views regarding Native Americans (which she shared with Williams and Samuel Sewall, among others).
Of course, historical figures should not be chastised for every transgression against contemporary sensibilities. But as someone with no dog in the fight between the varieties of seventeenth century English Protestantism, I was irritated by LaPlante's verbal gymnastics on behalf of her ancestor -- especially after she declares in the intro that her work will avoid the "exaltation" found elsewhere. While the reader gets some sense of Hutchinson's admirable qualities, including her sparkling intelligence and stubborn bravery, critical analysis is limited to the occasional throw-away sentence, and the book contains little psychological insight. LaPlante has thus transformed a strange charismatic figure into a cardboard cutout. LaPlante is not, thankfully, the sort of historian who simply dismisses all Puritans as benighted and backwards, but she makes an equally serious mistake in attempting to transform a proud, complex, and extraordinarily devout woman into a digestible hero for contemporary readers.
Three final points: (1) LaPlante has a habit of substituting her own language for that of her subjects, making it hard to determine who is saying what. Quotes sometimes end abruptly, replaced by LaPlante's paraphrasing. I suspected at several points that her summaries were generous to Hutchinson (facilitating Hutchinson's transformation into a Puritan Susan B. Anthony), and less than charitable to her prosecutors. The book is at its best when LaPlante isn't speaking at all, since her commentary adds little to the natural drama. (2) The general tenor of the book is hagiographic. Many of the quotes that LaPlante culls from other histories of the era seem to have been included only because they are complimentary of Hutchinson. LaPlante defends her subject in an almost lawerly fashion, informing us, for example, that "Harvard University" credits Hutchinson with its founding (in fact, one Harvard professor!), and that Hutchinson founded Rhode Island (only technically true, since Williams had established Providence Plantations a year earlier). These are minor details, but combined with the suspicious paraphrasing, they undermined my trust in the author's intentions. An honest defense of Hutchinson would have been fine, but this book seems to lionize its subject using sleight of hand. (3) I learned some things from "American Jezebel" that I had not found in other books on this period. Particularly interesting were LaPlante's discussions of Lincolnshire and Boston, England.
For better books on pre-Revolutionary New England, I recommend Philbrick's Mayflower, Morgan's Puritan Dilemma (on Winthrop), Gaustad's Roger Williams, Lepore's The Name of War (flawed, but erudite and beautifully written), and Richard Francis' wonderful book on Samuel Sewall. American Jezebel isn't worthless, and may be a decent intro to this subject for younger readers, but it would be unfortunate if anyone picked up their whole education on the Puritans here -- as many of the other Amazon reviewers seem to have done.
Review Date: 1/24/2010
Product Description
For Alexandra Patton, the Time Raiders project sends the reluctant psychic back to 60 AD Britonâa world where she can barely understand the accents, let alone its culture of brutality and superstition. Armed only with her "freakish" ability to talk to the dead, Alex must use all her gifts to entice Caradoc, a savagely sexy Druid warrior, into helping her succeed in her mission.
What they discover along the way is pure passion.
Now, torn between duty and the man of her dreams, should Alex return home if given the chance? Or dare she risk everything to begin anew in this strange and mystical land?
MY NOTES:
The Time Raiders send psychic Alexandra Patton back to 60 A.D. so that she can bring back part of the medallion that will enable Earth to join the alliance of other space-traveling planets. Alex loathes the brutal feral behavior of her hosts; as she speaks to the dead who often are victims of atrocities.
Alex pretends to be a soul speaker priestess to the goddess Andraste when she and Queen Boudica's Druidic cousin Caradoc meet and are attracted to one another. As she falls in love, he helps her adjust to ancient times. However, she knows that Boudica will die in the battle for Londinium, but fears Caradoc will too though she does not know for certain.
The third Time Raiders romantic suspense thriller (see The Seeker by Lindsay McKenna and The Slayer by Cindy Dees) is an entertaining tale that hooks readers from the opening dialogue between Alex and the dead but restful Andred and keeps the audience's attention throughout. The spin to the exciting story line is what the time traveler knows about ancient Britannia and does not as Alex fears her beloved will die alongside his famous warrior cousin. This tale and the saga are winners due to a strong casting leading to readers wanting to accompany the heroes on their treks back in time to find the medallion segments and love.
For Alexandra Patton, the Time Raiders project sends the reluctant psychic back to 60 AD Britonâa world where she can barely understand the accents, let alone its culture of brutality and superstition. Armed only with her "freakish" ability to talk to the dead, Alex must use all her gifts to entice Caradoc, a savagely sexy Druid warrior, into helping her succeed in her mission.
What they discover along the way is pure passion.
Now, torn between duty and the man of her dreams, should Alex return home if given the chance? Or dare she risk everything to begin anew in this strange and mystical land?
MY NOTES:
The Time Raiders send psychic Alexandra Patton back to 60 A.D. so that she can bring back part of the medallion that will enable Earth to join the alliance of other space-traveling planets. Alex loathes the brutal feral behavior of her hosts; as she speaks to the dead who often are victims of atrocities.
Alex pretends to be a soul speaker priestess to the goddess Andraste when she and Queen Boudica's Druidic cousin Caradoc meet and are attracted to one another. As she falls in love, he helps her adjust to ancient times. However, she knows that Boudica will die in the battle for Londinium, but fears Caradoc will too though she does not know for certain.
The third Time Raiders romantic suspense thriller (see The Seeker by Lindsay McKenna and The Slayer by Cindy Dees) is an entertaining tale that hooks readers from the opening dialogue between Alex and the dead but restful Andred and keeps the audience's attention throughout. The spin to the exciting story line is what the time traveler knows about ancient Britannia and does not as Alex fears her beloved will die alongside his famous warrior cousin. This tale and the saga are winners due to a strong casting leading to readers wanting to accompany the heroes on their treks back in time to find the medallion segments and love.
'Believing Women' in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Quran
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
2
Author:
Book Type: Paperback
2
Review Date: 2/24/2014
Trash! ...A pro Muslim propaganda at its best!
Best Loved Fairy Tales: Including Mother Goose Selections With Helpful Guide For Parents
Author:
Book Type: Hardcover
2
Author:
Book Type: Hardcover
2
Review Date: 9/6/2013
Despite the 70' look the book is wonderful treasure!
Review Date: 2/19/2019
From the Inside Flap
Cakes are the edible symbol of life's celebrations, and this comprehensive resource is a celebration of cakes and the love and artistry that go into making them. Tish Boyle, the award-winning author and editor of Chocolatier and Pastry Art & Design magazines, unlocks the secrets to baking great cakes, with nearly 200 irresistible recipes and practical guidance on ingredients, equipment, and techniques.
The Cake Book includes recipes rangingfrom pound cakes and coffee cakes tomeringue, mousse, and ice cream cakes to fillings, frostings, and more. Throughout, color and black-and-white photographs and drawings show you important techniques and spectacular end results. A difficulty rating with each recipe helps you decide which to make, depending on how much timeâor ambitionâyou have. You'll find recipes for traditional favorites, like Deeply Dark Devil's Food Cake and Apple Cake with Maple Frosting, as well as intriguing variations, such as Jasmine and Ginger Plum Upside-Down Cake, Hazelnut Vanilla Cheesecake, and White Chocolate Strawberry Meringue Cake.
Complete with decorating tips and techniques, a troubleshooting table, and a comprehen?sive listing of sources to help you find the best equipment and ingredients, this book is an essential reference you'll always turn to, whether you're new to cake baking or are an accomplished pastry chef looking for fresh ideas, inspiration, and recipes. From simple cakes for everyday get-togethers to layered creations befitting special occasions, The Cake Book will help you bake the perfect cake every time.
From the Back Cover
"There's something magical about the process of makinga cake from scratch, a process that transforms a few simple ingredientsâbutter, sugar, flour, and eggsâinto culinary artistry."
âTish Boyle
Cakes are the edible symbol of life's celebrations, and this comprehensive resource is a celebration of cakes and the love and artistry that go into making them. Tish Boyle, the award-winning author and editor of Chocolatier and Pastry Art & Design magazines, unlocks the secrets to baking great cakes, with nearly 200 irresistible recipes and practical guidance on ingredients, equipment, and techniques.
The Cake Book includes recipes rangingfrom pound cakes and coffee cakes tomeringue, mousse, and ice cream cakes to fillings, frostings, and more. Throughout, color and black-and-white photographs and drawings show you important techniques and spectacular end results. A difficulty rating with each recipe helps you decide which to make, depending on how much timeâor ambitionâyou have. You'll find recipes for traditional favorites, like Deeply Dark Devil's Food Cake and Apple Cake with Maple Frosting, as well as intriguing variations, such as Jasmine and Ginger Plum Upside-Down Cake, Hazelnut Vanilla Cheesecake, and White Chocolate Strawberry Meringue Cake.
Complete with decorating tips and techniques, a troubleshooting table, and a comprehen?sive listing of sources to help you find the best equipment and ingredients, this book is an essential reference you'll always turn to, whether you're new to cake baking or are an accomplished pastry chef looking for fresh ideas, inspiration, and recipes. From simple cakes for everyday get-togethers to layered creations befitting special occasions, The Cake Book will help you bake the perfect cake every time.
From the Back Cover
"There's something magical about the process of makinga cake from scratch, a process that transforms a few simple ingredientsâbutter, sugar, flour, and eggsâinto culinary artistry."
âTish Boyle
Review Date: 2/8/2010
Anthony arrived on the science fiction scene with quite a bang with this novel. So much of a bang that it was nominated for the 1968 Hugo award, losing out on the award itself only to another truly brilliant work, Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light.
Anthony introduces a multitude of ideas in this work: a flower that shows whether or not your significant other truly loves you, a galaxy-spanning `message' that kills humans in its path by hypothermia, a naturally formed inorganic based consciousness, a type of grub that quite literally eats absolutely everything. But the most significant idea is a genetically modified type of human, the minionettes, all physically identical and the very picture of absolute female perfection, who have their emotional circuits inverted, where the kindest thing you can do to them is hate, abuse, deride, and punish them.
Anton Five, knowing nothing of her true nature, has the misfortune to fall in love with one of these minionettes, a love that is an obsession, a mixture of real love and conflicted hate, as the object of his emotions, after only three brief encounters, goes to space. It becomes his mission in life to track her down, even at the expense of his farm and a rejection of freely offered true love by a daughter of the family of Four. And due to this obsession, he eventually is sent to the prison planet Chthon, where the prison is the naturally formed caves and tubes formed by ancient volcanic action and that no one has ever escaped from. Within this prison are real monsters, truly horrifying and very unique, many of which are seen only from offstage or half-seen, and the very indistinctness this lends to these creatures adds to their effect. Some of the images of this section gave me nightmares for years after the first time I read this book.
Anton is a fully delineated character, not very likeable - in fact he's amoral, selfish, a loner, single-minded, and at least something of a psychotic. But there are occasional glimpses of a different man hiding inside, one capable of giving and receiving love, who knows pity and can empathize with other's misfortunes. The story, outside of all the fantastic ideas so casually tossed around, is really about his development into a fully rational human who can allow his emotions full sway when appropriate.
The story construction is rather unique, using both flash-backs and flash-forwards from his time in prison. This is deliberately done, as there are a set of parallels/contrasts between the actions in the prison and the actions at other times in Anton's life, which help illustrate the man and his changes. This construction has the disadvantage of lessening the suspense, but the added meaning given by this structure more than compensates for this. At least part of this book can be viewed as an allegory for the travels of a man through the stages of life, and Anthony buries quite a bit of symbolism inside his creations.
The power of this book resides in the changes Anton goes through and its tremendous imagery coupled with some truly different and unique ideas. Be prepared to put as much effort into reading and comprehending this book as it would take for a classic 'literary' novel - this book is a far cry from the grade-B space-operas of yesteryear.
Anthony introduces a multitude of ideas in this work: a flower that shows whether or not your significant other truly loves you, a galaxy-spanning `message' that kills humans in its path by hypothermia, a naturally formed inorganic based consciousness, a type of grub that quite literally eats absolutely everything. But the most significant idea is a genetically modified type of human, the minionettes, all physically identical and the very picture of absolute female perfection, who have their emotional circuits inverted, where the kindest thing you can do to them is hate, abuse, deride, and punish them.
Anton Five, knowing nothing of her true nature, has the misfortune to fall in love with one of these minionettes, a love that is an obsession, a mixture of real love and conflicted hate, as the object of his emotions, after only three brief encounters, goes to space. It becomes his mission in life to track her down, even at the expense of his farm and a rejection of freely offered true love by a daughter of the family of Four. And due to this obsession, he eventually is sent to the prison planet Chthon, where the prison is the naturally formed caves and tubes formed by ancient volcanic action and that no one has ever escaped from. Within this prison are real monsters, truly horrifying and very unique, many of which are seen only from offstage or half-seen, and the very indistinctness this lends to these creatures adds to their effect. Some of the images of this section gave me nightmares for years after the first time I read this book.
Anton is a fully delineated character, not very likeable - in fact he's amoral, selfish, a loner, single-minded, and at least something of a psychotic. But there are occasional glimpses of a different man hiding inside, one capable of giving and receiving love, who knows pity and can empathize with other's misfortunes. The story, outside of all the fantastic ideas so casually tossed around, is really about his development into a fully rational human who can allow his emotions full sway when appropriate.
The story construction is rather unique, using both flash-backs and flash-forwards from his time in prison. This is deliberately done, as there are a set of parallels/contrasts between the actions in the prison and the actions at other times in Anton's life, which help illustrate the man and his changes. This construction has the disadvantage of lessening the suspense, but the added meaning given by this structure more than compensates for this. At least part of this book can be viewed as an allegory for the travels of a man through the stages of life, and Anthony buries quite a bit of symbolism inside his creations.
The power of this book resides in the changes Anton goes through and its tremendous imagery coupled with some truly different and unique ideas. Be prepared to put as much effort into reading and comprehending this book as it would take for a classic 'literary' novel - this book is a far cry from the grade-B space-operas of yesteryear.
Review Date: 2/8/2010
Anthony arrived on the science fiction scene with quite a bang with this novel. So much of a bang that it was nominated for the 1968 Hugo award, losing out on the award itself only to another truly brilliant work, Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light.
Anthony introduces a multitude of ideas in this work: a flower that shows whether or not your significant other truly loves you, a galaxy-spanning `message' that kills humans in its path by hypothermia, a naturally formed inorganic based consciousness, a type of grub that quite literally eats absolutely everything. But the most significant idea is a genetically modified type of human, the minionettes, all physically identical and the very picture of absolute female perfection, who have their emotional circuits inverted, where the kindest thing you can do to them is hate, abuse, deride, and punish them.
Anton Five, knowing nothing of her true nature, has the misfortune to fall in love with one of these minionettes, a love that is an obsession, a mixture of real love and conflicted hate, as the object of his emotions, after only three brief encounters, goes to space. It becomes his mission in life to track her down, even at the expense of his farm and a rejection of freely offered true love by a daughter of the family of Four. And due to this obsession, he eventually is sent to the prison planet Chthon, where the prison is the naturally formed caves and tubes formed by ancient volcanic action and that no one has ever escaped from. Within this prison are real monsters, truly horrifying and very unique, many of which are seen only from offstage or half-seen, and the very indistinctness this lends to these creatures adds to their effect. Some of the images of this section gave me nightmares for years after the first time I read this book.
Anton is a fully delineated character, not very likeable - in fact he's amoral, selfish, a loner, single-minded, and at least something of a psychotic. But there are occasional glimpses of a different man hiding inside, one capable of giving and receiving love, who knows pity and can empathize with other's misfortunes. The story, outside of all the fantastic ideas so casually tossed around, is really about his development into a fully rational human who can allow his emotions full sway when appropriate.
The story construction is rather unique, using both flash-backs and flash-forwards from his time in prison. This is deliberately done, as there are a set of parallels/contrasts between the actions in the prison and the actions at other times in Anton's life, which help illustrate the man and his changes. This construction has the disadvantage of lessening the suspense, but the added meaning given by this structure more than compensates for this. At least part of this book can be viewed as an allegory for the travels of a man through the stages of life, and Anthony buries quite a bit of symbolism inside his creations.
The power of this book resides in the changes Anton goes through and its tremendous imagery coupled with some truly different and unique ideas. Be prepared to put as much effort into reading and comprehending this book as it would take for a classic 'literary' novel - this book is a far cry from the grade-B space-operas of yesteryear.
Anthony introduces a multitude of ideas in this work: a flower that shows whether or not your significant other truly loves you, a galaxy-spanning `message' that kills humans in its path by hypothermia, a naturally formed inorganic based consciousness, a type of grub that quite literally eats absolutely everything. But the most significant idea is a genetically modified type of human, the minionettes, all physically identical and the very picture of absolute female perfection, who have their emotional circuits inverted, where the kindest thing you can do to them is hate, abuse, deride, and punish them.
Anton Five, knowing nothing of her true nature, has the misfortune to fall in love with one of these minionettes, a love that is an obsession, a mixture of real love and conflicted hate, as the object of his emotions, after only three brief encounters, goes to space. It becomes his mission in life to track her down, even at the expense of his farm and a rejection of freely offered true love by a daughter of the family of Four. And due to this obsession, he eventually is sent to the prison planet Chthon, where the prison is the naturally formed caves and tubes formed by ancient volcanic action and that no one has ever escaped from. Within this prison are real monsters, truly horrifying and very unique, many of which are seen only from offstage or half-seen, and the very indistinctness this lends to these creatures adds to their effect. Some of the images of this section gave me nightmares for years after the first time I read this book.
Anton is a fully delineated character, not very likeable - in fact he's amoral, selfish, a loner, single-minded, and at least something of a psychotic. But there are occasional glimpses of a different man hiding inside, one capable of giving and receiving love, who knows pity and can empathize with other's misfortunes. The story, outside of all the fantastic ideas so casually tossed around, is really about his development into a fully rational human who can allow his emotions full sway when appropriate.
The story construction is rather unique, using both flash-backs and flash-forwards from his time in prison. This is deliberately done, as there are a set of parallels/contrasts between the actions in the prison and the actions at other times in Anton's life, which help illustrate the man and his changes. This construction has the disadvantage of lessening the suspense, but the added meaning given by this structure more than compensates for this. At least part of this book can be viewed as an allegory for the travels of a man through the stages of life, and Anthony buries quite a bit of symbolism inside his creations.
The power of this book resides in the changes Anton goes through and its tremendous imagery coupled with some truly different and unique ideas. Be prepared to put as much effort into reading and comprehending this book as it would take for a classic 'literary' novel - this book is a far cry from the grade-B space-operas of yesteryear.
Review Date: 2/8/2010
Anthony arrived on the science fiction scene with quite a bang with this novel. So much of a bang that it was nominated for the 1968 Hugo award, losing out on the award itself only to another truly brilliant work, Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light.
Anthony introduces a multitude of ideas in this work: a flower that shows whether or not your significant other truly loves you, a galaxy-spanning `message' that kills humans in its path by hypothermia, a naturally formed inorganic based consciousness, a type of grub that quite literally eats absolutely everything. But the most significant idea is a genetically modified type of human, the minionettes, all physically identical and the very picture of absolute female perfection, who have their emotional circuits inverted, where the kindest thing you can do to them is hate, abuse, deride, and punish them.
Anton Five, knowing nothing of her true nature, has the misfortune to fall in love with one of these minionettes, a love that is an obsession, a mixture of real love and conflicted hate, as the object of his emotions, after only three brief encounters, goes to space. It becomes his mission in life to track her down, even at the expense of his farm and a rejection of freely offered true love by a daughter of the family of Four. And due to this obsession, he eventually is sent to the prison planet Chthon, where the prison is the naturally formed caves and tubes formed by ancient volcanic action and that no one has ever escaped from. Within this prison are real monsters, truly horrifying and very unique, many of which are seen only from offstage or half-seen, and the very indistinctness this lends to these creatures adds to their effect. Some of the images of this section gave me nightmares for years after the first time I read this book.
Anton is a fully delineated character, not very likeable - in fact he's amoral, selfish, a loner, single-minded, and at least something of a psychotic. But there are occasional glimpses of a different man hiding inside, one capable of giving and receiving love, who knows pity and can empathize with other's misfortunes. The story, outside of all the fantastic ideas so casually tossed around, is really about his development into a fully rational human who can allow his emotions full sway when appropriate.
The story construction is rather unique, using both flash-backs and flash-forwards from his time in prison. This is deliberately done, as there are a set of parallels/contrasts between the actions in the prison and the actions at other times in Anton's life, which help illustrate the man and his changes. This construction has the disadvantage of lessening the suspense, but the added meaning given by this structure more than compensates for this. At least part of this book can be viewed as an allegory for the travels of a man through the stages of life, and Anthony buries quite a bit of symbolism inside his creations.
The power of this book resides in the changes Anton goes through and its tremendous imagery coupled with some truly different and unique ideas. Be prepared to put as much effort into reading and comprehending this book as it would take for a classic 'literary' novel - this book is a far cry from the grade-B space-operas of yesteryear.
Anthony introduces a multitude of ideas in this work: a flower that shows whether or not your significant other truly loves you, a galaxy-spanning `message' that kills humans in its path by hypothermia, a naturally formed inorganic based consciousness, a type of grub that quite literally eats absolutely everything. But the most significant idea is a genetically modified type of human, the minionettes, all physically identical and the very picture of absolute female perfection, who have their emotional circuits inverted, where the kindest thing you can do to them is hate, abuse, deride, and punish them.
Anton Five, knowing nothing of her true nature, has the misfortune to fall in love with one of these minionettes, a love that is an obsession, a mixture of real love and conflicted hate, as the object of his emotions, after only three brief encounters, goes to space. It becomes his mission in life to track her down, even at the expense of his farm and a rejection of freely offered true love by a daughter of the family of Four. And due to this obsession, he eventually is sent to the prison planet Chthon, where the prison is the naturally formed caves and tubes formed by ancient volcanic action and that no one has ever escaped from. Within this prison are real monsters, truly horrifying and very unique, many of which are seen only from offstage or half-seen, and the very indistinctness this lends to these creatures adds to their effect. Some of the images of this section gave me nightmares for years after the first time I read this book.
Anton is a fully delineated character, not very likeable - in fact he's amoral, selfish, a loner, single-minded, and at least something of a psychotic. But there are occasional glimpses of a different man hiding inside, one capable of giving and receiving love, who knows pity and can empathize with other's misfortunes. The story, outside of all the fantastic ideas so casually tossed around, is really about his development into a fully rational human who can allow his emotions full sway when appropriate.
The story construction is rather unique, using both flash-backs and flash-forwards from his time in prison. This is deliberately done, as there are a set of parallels/contrasts between the actions in the prison and the actions at other times in Anton's life, which help illustrate the man and his changes. This construction has the disadvantage of lessening the suspense, but the added meaning given by this structure more than compensates for this. At least part of this book can be viewed as an allegory for the travels of a man through the stages of life, and Anthony buries quite a bit of symbolism inside his creations.
The power of this book resides in the changes Anton goes through and its tremendous imagery coupled with some truly different and unique ideas. Be prepared to put as much effort into reading and comprehending this book as it would take for a classic 'literary' novel - this book is a far cry from the grade-B space-operas of yesteryear.
Review Date: 2/8/2010
Anthony arrived on the science fiction scene with quite a bang with this novel. So much of a bang that it was nominated for the 1968 Hugo award, losing out on the award itself only to another truly brilliant work, Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light.
Anthony introduces a multitude of ideas in this work: a flower that shows whether or not your significant other truly loves you, a galaxy-spanning `message' that kills humans in its path by hypothermia, a naturally formed inorganic based consciousness, a type of grub that quite literally eats absolutely everything. But the most significant idea is a genetically modified type of human, the minionettes, all physically identical and the very picture of absolute female perfection, who have their emotional circuits inverted, where the kindest thing you can do to them is hate, abuse, deride, and punish them.
Anton Five, knowing nothing of her true nature, has the misfortune to fall in love with one of these minionettes, a love that is an obsession, a mixture of real love and conflicted hate, as the object of his emotions, after only three brief encounters, goes to space. It becomes his mission in life to track her down, even at the expense of his farm and a rejection of freely offered true love by a daughter of the family of Four. And due to this obsession, he eventually is sent to the prison planet Chthon, where the prison is the naturally formed caves and tubes formed by ancient volcanic action and that no one has ever escaped from. Within this prison are real monsters, truly horrifying and very unique, many of which are seen only from offstage or half-seen, and the very indistinctness this lends to these creatures adds to their effect. Some of the images of this section gave me nightmares for years after the first time I read this book.
Anton is a fully delineated character, not very likeable - in fact he's amoral, selfish, a loner, single-minded, and at least something of a psychotic. But there are occasional glimpses of a different man hiding inside, one capable of giving and receiving love, who knows pity and can empathize with other's misfortunes. The story, outside of all the fantastic ideas so casually tossed around, is really about his development into a fully rational human who can allow his emotions full sway when appropriate.
The story construction is rather unique, using both flash-backs and flash-forwards from his time in prison. This is deliberately done, as there are a set of parallels/contrasts between the actions in the prison and the actions at other times in Anton's life, which help illustrate the man and his changes. This construction has the disadvantage of lessening the suspense, but the added meaning given by this structure more than compensates for this. At least part of this book can be viewed as an allegory for the travels of a man through the stages of life, and Anthony buries quite a bit of symbolism inside his creations.
The power of this book resides in the changes Anton goes through and its tremendous imagery coupled with some truly different and unique ideas. Be prepared to put as much effort into reading and comprehending this book as it would take for a classic 'literary' novel - this book is a far cry from the grade-B space-operas of yesteryear.
Anthony introduces a multitude of ideas in this work: a flower that shows whether or not your significant other truly loves you, a galaxy-spanning `message' that kills humans in its path by hypothermia, a naturally formed inorganic based consciousness, a type of grub that quite literally eats absolutely everything. But the most significant idea is a genetically modified type of human, the minionettes, all physically identical and the very picture of absolute female perfection, who have their emotional circuits inverted, where the kindest thing you can do to them is hate, abuse, deride, and punish them.
Anton Five, knowing nothing of her true nature, has the misfortune to fall in love with one of these minionettes, a love that is an obsession, a mixture of real love and conflicted hate, as the object of his emotions, after only three brief encounters, goes to space. It becomes his mission in life to track her down, even at the expense of his farm and a rejection of freely offered true love by a daughter of the family of Four. And due to this obsession, he eventually is sent to the prison planet Chthon, where the prison is the naturally formed caves and tubes formed by ancient volcanic action and that no one has ever escaped from. Within this prison are real monsters, truly horrifying and very unique, many of which are seen only from offstage or half-seen, and the very indistinctness this lends to these creatures adds to their effect. Some of the images of this section gave me nightmares for years after the first time I read this book.
Anton is a fully delineated character, not very likeable - in fact he's amoral, selfish, a loner, single-minded, and at least something of a psychotic. But there are occasional glimpses of a different man hiding inside, one capable of giving and receiving love, who knows pity and can empathize with other's misfortunes. The story, outside of all the fantastic ideas so casually tossed around, is really about his development into a fully rational human who can allow his emotions full sway when appropriate.
The story construction is rather unique, using both flash-backs and flash-forwards from his time in prison. This is deliberately done, as there are a set of parallels/contrasts between the actions in the prison and the actions at other times in Anton's life, which help illustrate the man and his changes. This construction has the disadvantage of lessening the suspense, but the added meaning given by this structure more than compensates for this. At least part of this book can be viewed as an allegory for the travels of a man through the stages of life, and Anthony buries quite a bit of symbolism inside his creations.
The power of this book resides in the changes Anton goes through and its tremendous imagery coupled with some truly different and unique ideas. Be prepared to put as much effort into reading and comprehending this book as it would take for a classic 'literary' novel - this book is a far cry from the grade-B space-operas of yesteryear.
Review Date: 2/8/2010
Anthony arrived on the science fiction scene with quite a bang with this novel. So much of a bang that it was nominated for the 1968 Hugo award, losing out on the award itself only to another truly brilliant work, Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light.
Anthony introduces a multitude of ideas in this work: a flower that shows whether or not your significant other truly loves you, a galaxy-spanning `message' that kills humans in its path by hypothermia, a naturally formed inorganic based consciousness, a type of grub that quite literally eats absolutely everything. But the most significant idea is a genetically modified type of human, the minionettes, all physically identical and the very picture of absolute female perfection, who have their emotional circuits inverted, where the kindest thing you can do to them is hate, abuse, deride, and punish them.
Anton Five, knowing nothing of her true nature, has the misfortune to fall in love with one of these minionettes, a love that is an obsession, a mixture of real love and conflicted hate, as the object of his emotions, after only three brief encounters, goes to space. It becomes his mission in life to track her down, even at the expense of his farm and a rejection of freely offered true love by a daughter of the family of Four. And due to this obsession, he eventually is sent to the prison planet Chthon, where the prison is the naturally formed caves and tubes formed by ancient volcanic action and that no one has ever escaped from. Within this prison are real monsters, truly horrifying and very unique, many of which are seen only from offstage or half-seen, and the very indistinctness this lends to these creatures adds to their effect. Some of the images of this section gave me nightmares for years after the first time I read this book.
Anton is a fully delineated character, not very likeable - in fact he's amoral, selfish, a loner, single-minded, and at least something of a psychotic. But there are occasional glimpses of a different man hiding inside, one capable of giving and receiving love, who knows pity and can empathize with other's misfortunes. The story, outside of all the fantastic ideas so casually tossed around, is really about his development into a fully rational human who can allow his emotions full sway when appropriate.
The story construction is rather unique, using both flash-backs and flash-forwards from his time in prison. This is deliberately done, as there are a set of parallels/contrasts between the actions in the prison and the actions at other times in Anton's life, which help illustrate the man and his changes. This construction has the disadvantage of lessening the suspense, but the added meaning given by this structure more than compensates for this. At least part of this book can be viewed as an allegory for the travels of a man through the stages of life, and Anthony buries quite a bit of symbolism inside his creations.
The power of this book resides in the changes Anton goes through and its tremendous imagery coupled with some truly different and unique ideas. Be prepared to put as much effort into reading and comprehending this book as it would take for a classic 'literary' novel - this book is a far cry from the grade-B space-operas of yesteryear.
Anthony introduces a multitude of ideas in this work: a flower that shows whether or not your significant other truly loves you, a galaxy-spanning `message' that kills humans in its path by hypothermia, a naturally formed inorganic based consciousness, a type of grub that quite literally eats absolutely everything. But the most significant idea is a genetically modified type of human, the minionettes, all physically identical and the very picture of absolute female perfection, who have their emotional circuits inverted, where the kindest thing you can do to them is hate, abuse, deride, and punish them.
Anton Five, knowing nothing of her true nature, has the misfortune to fall in love with one of these minionettes, a love that is an obsession, a mixture of real love and conflicted hate, as the object of his emotions, after only three brief encounters, goes to space. It becomes his mission in life to track her down, even at the expense of his farm and a rejection of freely offered true love by a daughter of the family of Four. And due to this obsession, he eventually is sent to the prison planet Chthon, where the prison is the naturally formed caves and tubes formed by ancient volcanic action and that no one has ever escaped from. Within this prison are real monsters, truly horrifying and very unique, many of which are seen only from offstage or half-seen, and the very indistinctness this lends to these creatures adds to their effect. Some of the images of this section gave me nightmares for years after the first time I read this book.
Anton is a fully delineated character, not very likeable - in fact he's amoral, selfish, a loner, single-minded, and at least something of a psychotic. But there are occasional glimpses of a different man hiding inside, one capable of giving and receiving love, who knows pity and can empathize with other's misfortunes. The story, outside of all the fantastic ideas so casually tossed around, is really about his development into a fully rational human who can allow his emotions full sway when appropriate.
The story construction is rather unique, using both flash-backs and flash-forwards from his time in prison. This is deliberately done, as there are a set of parallels/contrasts between the actions in the prison and the actions at other times in Anton's life, which help illustrate the man and his changes. This construction has the disadvantage of lessening the suspense, but the added meaning given by this structure more than compensates for this. At least part of this book can be viewed as an allegory for the travels of a man through the stages of life, and Anthony buries quite a bit of symbolism inside his creations.
The power of this book resides in the changes Anton goes through and its tremendous imagery coupled with some truly different and unique ideas. Be prepared to put as much effort into reading and comprehending this book as it would take for a classic 'literary' novel - this book is a far cry from the grade-B space-operas of yesteryear.
Review Date: 3/16/2010
Helpful Score: 1
Product Description
Written in an extremely accessible style by bestselling author Robert Spencer, "The Complete Infidel's Guide to the Koran" is a fact-based but light-hearted look at the key elements, values, and beliefs in the Koran.
From the Inside Flap
The Koran: It may be the most controversial book in the world. Some see it as a paean to peace, others call it a violent mandate for worldwide Islamic supremacy.
How can one book lead to such dramatically different conclusions? New York Times bestselling author Robert Spencer reveals the truth in The Complete Infidel's Guide to the Koran: not many Westerners know what's in the Koran, since so few have actually read it -- even among the legions of politicians, diplomats, analysts, and editorial writers who vehemently insist that the Koran preaches tolerance.
Now, Spencer unveils the mysteries lying behind this powerful book, guiding readers through the controversies surrounding the Koran's origins and its most contentious passages. Stripping out the obsolete debates, Spencer focuses on the Koran's decrees toward Jews, Christians, and other Infidels, explaining how they were viewed in Muhammad's time, what they've supposedly done wrong, and most important, what the Koran has in store for them.
Written in an extremely accessible style by bestselling author Robert Spencer, "The Complete Infidel's Guide to the Koran" is a fact-based but light-hearted look at the key elements, values, and beliefs in the Koran.
From the Inside Flap
The Koran: It may be the most controversial book in the world. Some see it as a paean to peace, others call it a violent mandate for worldwide Islamic supremacy.
How can one book lead to such dramatically different conclusions? New York Times bestselling author Robert Spencer reveals the truth in The Complete Infidel's Guide to the Koran: not many Westerners know what's in the Koran, since so few have actually read it -- even among the legions of politicians, diplomats, analysts, and editorial writers who vehemently insist that the Koran preaches tolerance.
Now, Spencer unveils the mysteries lying behind this powerful book, guiding readers through the controversies surrounding the Koran's origins and its most contentious passages. Stripping out the obsolete debates, Spencer focuses on the Koran's decrees toward Jews, Christians, and other Infidels, explaining how they were viewed in Muhammad's time, what they've supposedly done wrong, and most important, what the Koran has in store for them.
Review Date: 2/10/2010
Product Description
Dr. Rhea Landon knew she'd been thrown into Phobos Prison to die. The most notorious prison in the solar system and one from which there was no escape, Phobos Prison housed the most dangerous predators in the solar system-and the few who survived more than a year were the worst of the worst.
Dragged into the arena where the warden held 'gladiator' games for the entertainment of the staff and inmates, she was stripped naked and chained to a post-offered up as a prize to the winner-the meanest brute among them.
When the dust settled, the iceman, John Raathe, was the last man standing.
Dr. Rhea Landon knew she'd been thrown into Phobos Prison to die. The most notorious prison in the solar system and one from which there was no escape, Phobos Prison housed the most dangerous predators in the solar system-and the few who survived more than a year were the worst of the worst.
Dragged into the arena where the warden held 'gladiator' games for the entertainment of the staff and inmates, she was stripped naked and chained to a post-offered up as a prize to the winner-the meanest brute among them.
When the dust settled, the iceman, John Raathe, was the last man standing.
Review Date: 2/10/2010
Product Description
Six magical, fantasy tales from two major award-winning authors The shriek of the wind, calling the waters to rebel - and a silver man from the sea with a voice like the roar of a seashell...A long-told story of the sea people and their song - and a golden eye, glittering in a pool at the edge of a desert...A ferocious serpent, its body as thick as the trunk of a large tree - and the immense, unknowable Kraken, dark beyond black, cold beyond ice, waking on the ocean floor...A mesmerising collection of short stories inspired by the element of Water - readers will be swept away by the superb storytelling skills of two major award-winning authors.
Six magical, fantasy tales from two major award-winning authors The shriek of the wind, calling the waters to rebel - and a silver man from the sea with a voice like the roar of a seashell...A long-told story of the sea people and their song - and a golden eye, glittering in a pool at the edge of a desert...A ferocious serpent, its body as thick as the trunk of a large tree - and the immense, unknowable Kraken, dark beyond black, cold beyond ice, waking on the ocean floor...A mesmerising collection of short stories inspired by the element of Water - readers will be swept away by the superb storytelling skills of two major award-winning authors.
The Elements of Pizza: Unlocking the Secrets to World-Class Pies at Home
Author:
Book Type: Hardcover
2
Author:
Book Type: Hardcover
2
Review Date: 12/31/2022
I've got some experience making pizza, but I bought this book on the recommendation of a friend. I tried the 48-hour dough to start off, and immediately encountered major problems. First of all, he recommends instant yeast, but I have a pound of active dry on hand. There is no information on what, if anything, to do differently when using active dry yeast, so I went ahead and followed the steps. I know that active dry yeast will activate best at a water temperature of 105° to 110°F, but this recipe calls for 90° to 95°F water. I haven't had good luck using water at that temperature, but I went ahead and "trusted the expert" and followed the steps, using the absurdly small amount of yeast called for. Then I noticed that he says to add "white flour, preferably 00." As if 00 flour is interchangeable with other types of flour with the exact same quantity. It's not. 00 flour requires far less water, otherwise you end up with a soupy mess. I understand his intention of making a wetter dough to withstand the longer bake time in a home oven, but you simply cannot use the same hydration with 00 flour. But, I went and followed the steps. And, I ended up with a soupy mess, and had to spend several minutes adding a large amount of flour just to get the mixture manageable. Made the dough balls, put them in the fridge. 12 hours later, they have not risen at all. The yeast did not activate. A few minutes ago, I tried mixing some yeast with water at 110°F and it activated just fine. Since the yeast is not the problem, it had to be the water temperature. Or maybe the fact that I had to add so much flour. Whatever the issue, I now have to throw out an entire batch of dough because I was foolish enough to ignore what I already knew and blindly follow the vague and incomplete instructions in this book. I considered submitting a return request to Amazon, but will probably hang onto the book and try to incorporate other aspects of the book into my cooking. But now I know better than to blindly follow instructions that I know to be wrong. I will say this: his instructions on how to make the dough balls are very good.
Review Date: 7/29/2009
For the 20th anniversary of Card's Hugo and Nebula Awardwinning novel, Audio Renaissance brings to life the story of child genius Ender Wiggin, who must save the world from malevolent alien "buggers." In his afterword, Card declares, "The ideal presentation of any book of mine is to have excellent actors perform it in audio-only format," and he gets his wish. Much of the story is internal dialogue, and each narrator reads the sections told from the point of view of a particular character, rather than taking on a part as if it were a play. Card's phenomenal emotional depth comes through in the quiet, carefully paced speech of each performer. No narrator tries overmuch to create separate character voices, though each is clearly discernible, and the understated delivery will draw in listeners. In particular, Rudnicki, with his lulling, sonorous voice, does a fine job articulating Ender's inner struggle between the kind, peaceful boy he wants to be and the savage, violent actions he is frequently forced to take. This is a wonderful way to experience Card's best-known and most celebrated work, both for longtime fans and for newcomers.
Review Date: 3/16/2010
Review
Eurabia is one of the most significant books of the current generation. -- Dennis Prager, KRLA, February 22, 2005
Product Description
This provocative and disturbing book is about the transformation of Europe into "Eurabia," a cultural and political appendage of the Arab/Muslim world. Eurabia is fundamentally anti-Christian, anti-Western, anti-American, and antisemitic, while striving for Israel's disappearance and the vilification and isolation of America. The institution responsible for this transformation, and that continues to propagate its ideological message, is the Euro-Arab Dialogue, developed by European and Arab politicians and intellectuals over the past thirty years. With all the drama of a master writer, Bat Ye'or presents a wide range of historical and contemporary documents and facts to tell the story of how the European Union is being subverted by Islamic hostility to the very ethics and values of Europe itself. Readers who seek a fair resolution of the Arab-Israel conflict will be shocked by the evidence produced in these pages of unfair pressures and deliberate distortions. Europe's independence of spirit is shown in the process of being undermined. This book challenges the current demonization of Israel and should be essential reading for everyone interested in true peace in the Middle East
Eurabia is one of the most significant books of the current generation. -- Dennis Prager, KRLA, February 22, 2005
Product Description
This provocative and disturbing book is about the transformation of Europe into "Eurabia," a cultural and political appendage of the Arab/Muslim world. Eurabia is fundamentally anti-Christian, anti-Western, anti-American, and antisemitic, while striving for Israel's disappearance and the vilification and isolation of America. The institution responsible for this transformation, and that continues to propagate its ideological message, is the Euro-Arab Dialogue, developed by European and Arab politicians and intellectuals over the past thirty years. With all the drama of a master writer, Bat Ye'or presents a wide range of historical and contemporary documents and facts to tell the story of how the European Union is being subverted by Islamic hostility to the very ethics and values of Europe itself. Readers who seek a fair resolution of the Arab-Israel conflict will be shocked by the evidence produced in these pages of unfair pressures and deliberate distortions. Europe's independence of spirit is shown in the process of being undermined. This book challenges the current demonization of Israel and should be essential reading for everyone interested in true peace in the Middle East
Review Date: 2/10/2010
The settings of these five tales range from ancient to modern, but they are all united by encounters with magical creatures with an affinity for fire. In "Phoenix," Ellie's love for forests leads her to Dave and Welly, caretakers of the ancient Phoenix, displaced from its Egyptian home to damp, chilly Britain. "Hellhound" features animal-loving Miri, whose choice of a red-eyed shelter dog proves providential when she must face a malevolent spirit. In "Fireworm," Tandin spirit-walks to defeat the fireworm that threatens his clan, though in doing so he develops empathy for the creature and its mate and distances himself from his people. "Salamander Man" finds orphaned Tib caught up in a bewildering chain of events, which results in him taking the form of a flaming giant to free the salamanders and rid his city of corrupt magicians. "First Flight," the longest piece, deals with Ern, who helps a dragon with a missing eye find its way back into the Flame Space, which dragons use to travel quickly through time and space. All of these individuals learn something about themselves in their encounters with the fire beasts, and all are the better for it in the end. This collection of beautifully crafted tales will find a warm welcome from fans of either author, as well as from fantasy readers in general.
Review Date: 6/4/2009
Knowing that her sister's violent death was no accident, Cindy Toland takes her niece and nephew away in the middle of the night to escape their brutal father, but their father is determined to get them back. Original.
Though it has its shades of supernatural, GHOST LIGHT is more of a thriller than horror. Narratively impressive, it deals with the effect of making bad choices and the degree of which one needs to reach to be set free. Between freshly drawn characters and action-packed suspense, Hautala tells a tale of love, responsibility and forgiveness, forgiveness of others, but more importantly of oneself. Adding to the mix a drop of an unearthly apparition and a full-cup of one nasty nasty villain, and you got one exciting read that will surely please seekers of high tension everywhere.
Though it has its shades of supernatural, GHOST LIGHT is more of a thriller than horror. Narratively impressive, it deals with the effect of making bad choices and the degree of which one needs to reach to be set free. Between freshly drawn characters and action-packed suspense, Hautala tells a tale of love, responsibility and forgiveness, forgiveness of others, but more importantly of oneself. Adding to the mix a drop of an unearthly apparition and a full-cup of one nasty nasty villain, and you got one exciting read that will surely please seekers of high tension everywhere.
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