Western Samoa Business Intelligence Report (World Foreign Policy and Government Library)

Book Description

Design magical vacations with this award-winning travel guide and planning system for everyone's favorite playground. Built-in organizer PassPockets keep plans, maps, and memories all in one place, and the travel guide includes everything you need to plan the perfect vacation. Due to its production process and schedule, PassPorter is the most up-to-date guidebook available for Walt Disney World, and is the only 2003 guidebook to include many recent changes. Many NEW FEATURES, including original photos of Walt Disney World parks, resorts, eateries, and events (the only unofficial guide to include extensive Disney photos!); an elastic band closure; two-color pages (including maps and charts) for enhanced readibility; details on off-property hotels and resorts, updated Allie's KidTips for attractions; age-appropriate ratings for rides; sneak peeks at new resorts and attractions; icons for attractions with age/height restrictions; actual resort room and park pass prices; new reader memories and stories;... plus the entire guide has been checked for accuracy by eleven expert reviewers! All Disney parks and resort hotels are described in depth, with ratings and resort maps. Comprehensive information for planning, traveling, and dining is also included, along with an entire section devoted to extra-special Disney magic... and the authors keep all their information up-to-date via their PassPorter Web site. Also unique is the ability to really craft your vacation with the help of seven planning worksheets and the organizer PassPockets: write your itinerary on the front of each pocket before you go, store guidemaps, brochures, tickets, and receipts inside the pockets while you're there, and record expenses and memories on the back to review and share when you return. This IS the ultimate traveling companion for Walt Disney World!

Customer Reviews:

The ultimate Disney guide.......2005-06-27

This book was excellent in giving us advice for which rides to ride, which rides to skip, which places to eat at, and which places to skip (because of the cost, haha). It even has fold out maps so we didn't have to get them separately and tote them all around, and they were very helpful--we used them every day. It also tells you the costs of all the hotels, if you're looking for that, as well. We especially enjoyed Port Orleans French Quarter. This book even has a special place for character autographs for your children so you don't have to buy one for $10! Buy this book and enjoy your trip even more!

Awsome Find!!!.......2005-04-14

I received my copy today of the Passporter 2005. This will be our first trip to WDW and now we are even more excited after reading through this book!!! I love that it is so compact, yet FULL of helpful information. Also, I like that the book can be closed so nothing will fall out. It is perfect to take into the Parks. It is like the Walt Disney World "Bible". A must for first time travelers to WDW!!!!

Must Have Travel Companion to WDW.......2005-03-14

This is a wonderful book. It is cleverly written and organized with lots of ample room for the reader to journal, take notes and store paper momentos. I can hardly wait to take this with me on our Walt Disney World Vacation in a few short weeks. The authors have provided AWESOME information to make sure that my family has a great vacation. If you are looking for the perfect tour guide to WDW this is it!

Greatest Disney Planning Guide...EVER.......2004-10-08

I LOVE this book!!! I live in FL but hadn't been to Disney in years, so I decided to buy a planning book before our big trip. Well, I sure got more than I bargained for with this book. It has useful information about every resort, restaurant and ride...and more! The passporter pockets make it convenient to store your hotel confirmations, priority seating confirmations and tickets prior to your trip. The fold-out maps are great too!

In addition to the wealth of information provided in the book, Jennifer and Dave have a wonderful website that I highly recommend for more information about Disney, including updates to the book. If you are planning a Disney trip OR if you just love WDW, GET THIS BOOK. I can't say enough about it.

Unconventional reason for loving this book!.......2004-09-30

If you have read any of the other reviews you already know this series inspires strong praise and I agree with all of it. I'd like to add one more reason to appreciate this book- there is NO approximation of the WDW LOGO! you may be wondering why that would be a good thing so I'll tell you. We have a 4year old who can not read yet but has the brand recognition skills of a savant- I have had this book for a few days and not a shread of curiosity about it yet. Which translates into PEACEFUL planning. We won't be tackling the mouse till Dec. and I don't think I can stand almost 3 months of "IS IT TIME YET?????"

Book Description

In this remarkable book Republican Dennis Hastert (R-IL) passes on the lessons he has learned from his students, his players, and politics so that all Americans can achieve their own goals.

Customer Reviews:

Shallowness of intellect is scary.......2005-03-29

The Speaker would be a great neighbor. I'm sure his friends, family, and neighbors are extremely proud of the Speaker and rightly so. He is a good man, the salt of the earth, but he is also a lightweight that has allowed politics over principal to prevail in the House he runs.

We have a divided nation; Rep. Hastert claims to have attempted to work with the opposition but consistently gets the cold shoulder. While I believe his examples are real, there is no real in-depth analysis that presents both sides' arguments fairly; instead we get a shallow apology from the right and what appears to be a highly spun-media release on the perspective of the left. See Bob Rubins' book as Sec. of the Treasury for a great example of a public servant defending his positions while respecting and enlightening us on his position relative to a respectful analysis of his opponents.

Rep. Hastert does not go into any substantial detail on WHY Gingrich was outsted as Speaker, even though his perspective would be invaluable.

Hastert also provides no real insight on his policy positions or what the driving factors were in the House regarding the policies debated beyond mere vote whipping. Hastert defines himself as a cheerleader more than a coach.

You really don't know all this man has accomplished.......2004-12-22

It seems to me that we overweight the past with a significance it never had when it was the present. Certain events seem more to have a more straight line connection and they are remembered and most else is forgotten or temporarily put aside in our memories until needed to create a new explanation of how we arrived in the present. I bring this up because it is easy to remember the Tip O'Neill or the Sam Rayburn as significant Speakers of the House and to dismiss Denny Hastert, but I think that would be a real mistake.

Certainly, I was one of those who said, "Denny Who?" when Newt stepped down as Speaker (before he would have lost the vote) and Livingston at the last moment succumbed to scandal. In this terrific autobiography, Speaker Hastert shares his life with us in a compact narrative that always lets us know what he thought and felt without ever becoming maudlin or vicious.

Without recounting his life, the first chapter tells of his boyhood through beginning work as a teacher and coach. He shows us through his life experiences how he learned about hard work, developed his religious faith, and developed a love for athletics (especially wrestling). He never claims any special virtues except for his abilities to listen, coach, and help people come together.

I found his transition to politics very interesting and why it is really a fatal experience to underestimate Speaker Hastert. He is very sharp, is able to express his judgments clearly and concisely so you know exactly where he stands without ever sounding mean or vindictive. He knows how to play the games of politics well, but for him it is not the game, it is working towards the things he believes in that matter most.

Frankly, as I learned about his personal political views and what he has been working on in the Illinois State House, as a US Representative, and now as Speaker, I have to say I wish I could vote for him. The last chapter of the book is a quick review of the current issues of the day. There is a brief addendum where Mr. Hastert shares his thoughts on the death of Ronald Reagan.

This is neither a deeply philosophical tome nor a tell-all book to settle scores. It is a simple story of a life that is interesting and easy to read. There will be other histories written that will be more comprehensive. However, we should not dismiss what is happening in our present. It is always good to pay attention so that as the present fades into the past we have a better context for what really happened than the more artificial context dreamed up by historians who were never there or who carefully set up the lighting on the set of facts they present to better support their own agenda.

Good book, good read, good insight into what is going on in Washington today.

A Speaker, Not A Writer.......2004-12-19

I tend to read a lot of political books from both sides of the political spectrum by both politicians and pundits. Due to this I find myself holding these books up against each other in comparison. This comparison process leads me to the less then perfect score I would give this book. The author admits in the first part of the book that he is not much of a reader nor author and tends to almost exclusively rely on verbal communication. Given that he is a politician that is probably not all that bad. Unfortunately for the reader, this lack of experience with the written word tends to lend its self to a somewhat bland and simple story. Just to be clear, I am not attacking the man, just the writing style he uses. And to give him credit, he did not employ a high profile ghost writer to basically write the book like so many of his cohorts tend to do. He states his story with a down home style that is simplistic in the word choice and is rather shallow in detail.

With this criticism said I did find one aspect of his book very pleasing. Unlike so many books of the type, he kept the personal attacks out of the book and remained above the nasty level of partisanship that is all the rage in Washington now. Admittedly this was a surprise to me, I half picked up the book just to read the assumed sniping and caustic shots he would take at the Democrats. This is not to say that he does not let you know how he feels about the leaders of the other party, in very respectful ways he lets you know that he disagrees with the Democratic platform and almost all of their standard bearers. He did liven it up a bit in the last chapter when he starts to lay out his plan for a GOP utopian dream. He throws some punches, but they are almost good natured considering what is said on any given Sunday morning via the talking head shows. He also did a bit of complaining at the end that rang hollow to me given the issues he was so concerned about happen on both sides of the political spectrum.

Overall I found the book average. It lacked real depth to offer anything more then a high level view of the last few years in the house. The book reminded me of an after work conversation with friends on how an average work day went. The author did not take the opportunity to fully explain or expand on his political views other then to let you know he was a Republican. I came away thinking that he was going to do whatever the President asked him to do instead of fighting for what was the best for the people of his state. I do give him some credit for putting out a most positive book, especially in today's political climate. It is easy to read and moves at a fast clip. If you are a GOP'er and are not looking for anything that digging too deep into the mundane inter working of the house, then you would probably enjoy this book.

Quite a book.......2004-12-09

The position of Speaker if the House of Representatives is an interesting one. It's a position very close to the top of the American Political System (Third in line to be the President). But it's not a position on which the country votes. Instead, some state selects a Congressman, and the Congress selects its leader. And generally speaking most of us who live outside his home state have never heard of the man.

Such was the case when Denny Hastert was given the position. And unlike some of his predecessors, he has not become a nationally known, or perhaps reknown is a better word, figure.

In this book, he talks about how he got to where he is: sixteen years as a government and history teacher at the high school in Yorkville, Illinois. In addition he coached football and wrestling, and sometimes drove the school bus.

He writes that the best training to become speaker of the house is to drive a school bus. "You're got to (1) keep the bus on the road, (2) keep your eye on the kids in the rear-view mirror, and (3) watch your back." As he says, "Hearding cats."

The toughest job: "teaching sixteen-year-old kids the basics of economics" was his original answer, now he says: "Teaching economics to some Members of Congress."

This book reads like a novel. It's too easy to say to yourself, "I'll read one more page before turning out the light." It leaves you with a better understanding that Congress is just people. People who have different ideas perhaps, but who have to work together to get anything done. It's quite a book.

Dignity Speaks.......2004-09-09

I have an autographed copy of this book--Speaker Hastert signed it for me in a Kansas bookstore. As the Speaker is next in line after the Vice President to be President if--God forbid--something should happen to the President or Vice President, Speaker Hastert holds the third highest position in the federal government. I want to personally thank Jack DeWolfe and the others in the Speaker's security detail for letting us have time to talk.

Speaker Hastert and I grew up a short ride from each other (two of my cousins grew up just minutes from his childhood home). We were both wrestlers at one time in school. But, those are not the reasons why I like him so much.

Congressman Hastert is, unlike many of his peers, a man of integrity. He's also got a great deal of common sense and no delusions about himself. You can't help but respect him, and I would respect him if he were still working on a feed truck in a small Illinois town rather than holding the third highest position on Capitol Hill. He is that kind of man.

Talking to "Denny" (as he prefers to be called), you understand a few important things about the man:
*He's humble.
*He knows what he believes and why.
*He does not make excuses.

So, what about this book? Well, it's a very hard book to put down. You find yourself glancing at the clock and saying, "OK, just one more page."

Denny is candid and honest. Unlike Bill Clinton, he did not write a bloated, self-aggrandizing tome of excuses for failure and try to make it sound like success. Instead, he speaks from the heart and engages you. Oddly, though the book is about him, it isn't about him. And neither is the way he's conducted himself in public office.

He did not write an advertisement for the Republican Party or try to lay a foundation for a future Presidential bid. Instead, he gives credit where credit is due (regardless of party). He also tells you some of the negative--but he does so in a civil, calm, dignified way. He does not resort to name-calling or histrionics. He lays out the facts and lets you be the judge. As a reader, I like that.

He did not write an embarrassing book like Al Gore's "Earth in the Balance." This is not a book that the author will later wish he could get people not to read. It is a book that he can be proud of, and it's one that will probably be read and recommended decades after he's gone.

Denny starts out by telling us where he came from. No silver spoons in his background. He knows the value of work, and he knows nothing is free--which explains his political philosophies. His entering politics was almost accidental, as was his rise to Speaker. He had no aspirations or grand plan to get there. Things just kind of turned out that way, and he took the opportunities as they came along. Which turned out to be very, very good for the rest of us.

The book provides a fascinating view into the inner workings of government at the state and federal levels. In this book, you'll find information you won't find in the biased media such as our newspapers and television (which, by the way, are undergoing huge losses of audience because of that bias--mainstream America is sick of it). Denny is amazingly unbiased and fair, which is refreshing in this age of bias and blame.

You'll see an insider's view of what it's like to deal with the dirty tricks played by the various bipartisan politicians, and Denny makes it clear that there are good and honorable people in both major parties. But you'll also see why our Congress and Senate have (in my opinion) been such abject failures for the past half century or so.

On the upside, you'll see where there's new hope. In fact, in the last six or so years our Congress and Senate have departed from their previous "let's fail to do what we were elected to do" modus operandi--they have actually done some good. That hasn't been because there are now more Republicans than Democrats. No, something else is at work there and Denny explains what it is.

Anyone who wants a good understanding of how government works should read this book. If you pay taxes, you should consider this a "must read"--taxes are the single largest expense for nearly every citizen and this book helps you understand how that money is spent (or misspent). Denny was a high school history teacher at one time, so he knows his stuff from that angle as well as from being intimately involved in the legislative process.

Had I not met Denny, I probably would not have bought a book by "yet another politician." But, that's just it. He isn't just another politician. And this is no ordinary book.

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KNOTHOLE

Knothole: Knot: A Life
Fanny Staunton Ogilvie
Manufacturer: Pushbuttonpress.Com Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Reference & Collections | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1410000206

Customer Reviews:

KNOTHOLE.......2004-05-28

Robert Pinsky says of this book,"This is not only a moving, insightful family memoir, recognizing the way pain and attachment are braided to intricately for separation. Fanny Staunton Ogilvie has also made an artful, writerly work, bringing cadences and sentences that recall Gertrude Stein to the immediacy of these materials."

Book Description

No issue so possessed the nation in the first half of the 1950s as alleged Communist subversion in the United States. Deadly Farce presents Harvey Matusow, a young Bronx "wise guy" who became a Communist Party member, an undercover FBI informer inside the Party, and then a leading witness for the government during the McCarthy era--until he recanted his testimony. His story illuminates a disturbing time in American history, one with renewed relevance today.

Matusow was easily the most flamboyant of the "professional" ex-Communists, a celebrity informer who considered himself "booked" by Congressional committees not just to testify, but to entertain. He testified that Communists fostered loose sex, taught politicized Mother Goose rhymes to small children, and tried to infiltrate the Boy Scouts. He also named more than 200 people as Communists and was a prosecution witness in major criminal cases.

Robert M. Lichtman and Ronald D. Cohen draw on FBI records, court transcripts, personal interviews, private papers, and other primary sources, most never before utilized, to describe the unusual role of ex-Communist informer-witnesses during the McCarthy era. The Justice Department kept several dozen political informers on the government's payroll to testify in hundreds of deportation, sedition, and contempt of Congress cases. Some informers achieved celebrity as the result of high-profile appearances at criminal trials and before Congressional committees. But as the era continued, instances of perjury began to appear.

Harvey Matusow's sensational recantation in 1955 gave him his biggest audience yet. It led to the dissolution of the Justice Department's informer stable and ended the public's infatuation with the group.

Matusow's unrepentant and at times vaudevillian appearances before the Senate red-hunting committee investigating his recantation, followed by his prosecution for perjury--for the recantation, not his original testimony--and prison sentence, mark the climax of Deadly Farce.

Matusow's career, during which he came to know Joe McCarthy, Roy Cohn, Pat McCarran, and Elizabeth Bentley, among many others, offers an inside, entertaining, and closely documented view of a largely untold part of McCarthy-era history. The columnist Murray Kempton described Matusow as a "truly remarkable witness in the opera bouffe sense demanded by inquisitions of the 1950s."

Customer Reviews:

One man's role in McCarthy-era history.......2004-07-14

Deadly Farce: Harvey Matusow And The Informer System In The Mccarthy Era is the fascinating story of Harvey Matusow, a Communist party member turned undercover FBI informer who served as a leading witness for the goverment during the histrionics of the McCarthy era. His shocking testimony, which included claims that Communists fostered loose sex, tried to infiltrate the Boy Scouts, and taught politically charged Mother Goose rhymes to children, escalated as he named over 200 people as Communists and became a prosecutorial witness against them in major criminal cases. Eventually he presented a sensational recantation of his testimony in 1955, and he himself was prosecuted for perjury - for the recantation, not his original testimony. Deadly Farce: Harvey Matusow And The Informer System In The Mccarthy Era an eye-opening biographical account of one man's role in McCarthy-era history, and his legacy concerning how government informers are treated and regulated to this day.

Deadly Farce: Harvey Matusow and the Informer System in the McCarthy Era.(Book Review): An article from: The Oral History Review

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Deadly Farce: Harvey Matusow and the Informer System in the McCarthy Era.(Book Review): An article from: The Oral History Review
Donald A. Ritchie
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000EYK7M8
Release Date: 2006-03-11

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Oral History Review, published by Thomson Gale on June 22, 2005. The length of the article is 704 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Deadly Farce: Harvey Matusow and the Informer System in the McCarthy Era.(Book Review)
Author: Donald A. Ritchie
Publication: The Oral History Review (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 22, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 32 Issue: 2 Page: 116(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Deadly Farce: Harvey Matusow and the Informer System in the McCarthy Era

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Deadly Farce: Harvey Matusow and the Informer System in the McCarthy Era
Ronald D. Cohen Robert M. Lichtman
Manufacturer: University of Illinois Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OQCAP8

Book Description

Through oral histories, Dionne Brand documents the lives of Black women in Ontario, from the 20s through the 50s.

Book Description

The Waterboys were formed in 1983 by Mike Scott and have continued under his leadership in several guises to the present day. Their songs, largely written by Scott, often contain literary references and are frequently concerned with spirituality. Both the group and its members' solo careers have received much praise from both rock and folk music critics. In fact, Scott's unique mix of Celtic folk music and rock and roll has been credited as promoting the scope of Irish folk music, and has built a strong and loyal fan base across the world.

In Strange Boat, renowned rock writer Ian Abrahams has assembled the definitive story of The Waterboys and their myriad offshoots and solo projects. He follows their progress as Scott relocated the band from London to Dublin, to Spiddal near Galway in Ireland and Findhorn in Scotland, adding influences and collaborators along the way.

The book examines the role of Mike Scott, an interesting and unique character, driven artistically by his geographic and spiritual experiences, emphasizing a continuity between The Waterboys and his solo work over nearly twenty-five years, saying, "To me there's no difference between Mike Scott and The Waterboys; they both mean the same thing. They mean myself and whoever are my current travelling musical companions."

Brian Eno's Another Green World (33 1/3)

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Brian Eno's Another Green World (33 1/3)
Geeta Dayal
Manufacturer: Continuum International Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

History & Criticism | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0826427863

Book Description

It's hard not to be fascinated by Brian Eno. Over his fertile career, he's been heralded as a glam rock god, the father of ambient music, a legendary producer, video artist, and doe-eyed guru of all things futuristic. But who is Eno, really? Despite his sprawling creative output and over 35 years of articles and interviews, he remains a frustrating enigma. His rabid global fanbase fiercely trades bits of information and homegrown interpretations on various sites, including Enoweb and Hyperreal. In 2004, Eno made two rare speaking appearances in New York; both sold out instantly.

It was the strange and mystical Another Green World (1975) that was the cosmic bridge between Old Eno and New Eno, between Rock and Ambient, between the guitar and the synthesizer, between the old world and electronic music as we know it. Another Green World was a total paradigm shift, an introduction to a new way of thinking: for Eno, and for the world of popular music. For this book, Geeta Dayal will interview Eno, and his many collaborators on this album. She'll dig into the album, excavate its odd past, and untangle how, exactly, it was a link to the future of electronic music - by foreshadowing how powerful, personal, and emotional this music could be.

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Another side of Bob Dylan.(Spotlight: Dylan & Guthrie)(Cover Story) : An article from: World Literature Today
Tim Riley
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Classics | Comic | Contemporary | Literary
General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | e-Docs | Formats | Books
ASIN: B000BOSD2W
Release Date: 2005-10-11

Book Description

This digital document is an article from World Literature Today, published by Thomson Gale on September 1, 2005. The length of the article is 3831 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Another side of Bob Dylan.(Spotlight: Dylan & Guthrie)(Cover Story)
Author: Tim Riley
Publication: World Literature Today (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 79 Issue: 3-4 Page: 8(5)

Article Type: Cover Story

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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Music of Another World/303035
Szymon Laks
Manufacturer: Texas Bookman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Book Description

A memoir - takes the reader back to Brooklyn, N. Y. during the years before, during and after the second world war. It tells the story of one family's journey from the old world to the new - from immigrant status to the American main stream. The youngest daughter, surrounded by love and tradition, is confused by the ramifications of her father's career as a bookmaker and professional gambler. It is a delightfully told "rags to riches" story replete with childish pranks and the richness of old fashioned cooking seasoned with Yiddishkeit.

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