Going Rogue - ASIN Change Alert!

A reader commented that not only was the ASIN no longer valid for her order of Under the Dome, by Stephen King (December 24, 2009), but her order for Going Rogue: An American Life, by Sarah Palin (December 26, 2009), had an invalid ASIN as well. I had noted the problem with Going Rogue in this earlier post, but didn't stop to think that people who ordered this title might not read the post about Ed Kennedy's memoir.

So, if you pre-ordered this one, check your ASIN for it, as well. If you go the $7.20 price, you'll have to make a decision as to whether you want to re-order at the current $7.99 price, but I'd recommend that everyone else do so, if the ASIN is still valid. To do this, first click on the Manage My Kindle page, then locate your order, under the "Open Orders" banner. Click on the link that says "View details" and then on the link for the book itself. If it shows the book info page, you are all set. If not, then you can cancel the book from the "View details" page and then click on the link above to find the new listing and order it again. In fact, you can put the order in even before you cancel the old one (but do remember to cancel), since Amazon doesn't see these as being for the same book.

Kindle Bargain Ebook Roundup - Political / War

Blue Dixie ($2.15), by Bob Moser

Book Description
A powerful case for a new Southern strategy for the Democrats, from an award-winning reporter and native Southerner

In 2000 and 2004, the Democratic Party decided not to challenge George W. Bush in the South, a disastrous strategy that effectively handed Bush more than half of the electoral votes he needed to win the White House. As the 2008 election draws near, the Democrats have a historic opportunity to build a new progressive majority, but they cannot do so without the South.

In Blue Dixie, Bob Moser argues that the Democratic Party has been blinded by outmoded prejudices about the region. Moser, the chief political reporter for The Nation, shows that a volatile mix of unprecedented economic prosperity and abject poverty are reshaping the Southern vote. With evangelical churches preaching a more expansive social gospel and a massive left-leaning demographic shift to African Americans, Latinos, and the young, the South is poised for a Democratic revival. By returning to a bold, unflinching message of economic fairness, the Democrats can win in the nation’s largest, most diverse region and redeem themselves as a true party of the people.

Keenly observed and deeply grounded in contemporary Southern politics, Blue Dixie reveals the changing face of American politics to the South itself and to the rest of the nation.

Beyond Good Intentions: A Biblical View of Politics ($2.99), by Doug Bandow & Marvin Olasky (Editor)

Book Description
Beyond Good Intentions brings a wealth of knowledge and insight to the question of how Christianity and politics interrelate. Author Doug Bandow believes the key lies in the correct use of the Bible in addressing public policy issues. Too often Christians either ignore or misapply the Bible in the political arena. Beyond Good Intentions is a much-needed corrective which takes the Bible seriously yet avoids proof-texting and questionable interpretive methods.

Shadows In The Jungle ($4.30), by LARRY ALEXANDER, the second novel by the #1 New York Times bestselling author.

Book Description
David Power and Clare O'Brien both grew up dreaming of escape from the battered seaside town of Castlebay, but they might as well have had the ocean between them. David is the cherished son of a prosperous doctor, while Clare lives with her large family behind their faltering store, longing for a moment of quiet to study. When they both go to university in Dublin-he as a matter of course, she on a hard-won scholarship-their worlds collide. They find freedom in each other-until the families, lovers, and secrets they left in Castlebay come back to haunt them.

The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell: An Accidental Soldier's Account of the War in Iraq ($2.85), by John Crawford

Book Description
John Crawford joined the Florida National Guard to pay for his college tuition, willingly exchanging one weekend a month and two weeks a year for a free education. But in fall 2002, one semester short of graduating and newly married-in fact, on his honeymoon-he was called to active duty and sent to the front lines in Iraq.

Crawford and his unit spent months upon months patrolling the streets of Baghdad, occupying a hostile city. During the breaks between patrols, Crawford began writing nonfiction stories about what he and his fellow soldiers witnessed and experienced.

In a voice at once raw and immediate, Crawford's stories vividly chronicle the daily life of a young soldier in Iraq-the excitement, the horror, the anger, the tedium, the fear, the camaraderie. But all together, the stories gradually uncover something more: the transformation of a group of young men, innocents, into something entirely different.

Those stories became this book, a haunting and powerful, brutal but compellingly honest book-punctuated with both humor and heartbreak-that represents an important document revealing the actual experience of waging the War in Iraq, as well as the introduction of a literary voice forged in the most intense of circumstances.

The Air We Breathe ($3.12), by Andrea Barrett

Book Description
In the autumn of 1916, Americans are debating whether to enter the first world war. There are 'preparedness parades', and headlines report German spies. But in an isolated community in the Adirondacks in upstate New York, the danger is barely felt. At Tamarack Lake the focus is on the sick. Wealthy tubercular patients live in private cure cottages; charity patients, many of them recent immigrants from Europe, fill the sanatorium.

Her, in the crisp air, time stands still. Prisoners of routine and yearning for absent families, the inmates, including the newly arrived Leo Marburg, take solace in gossip, rumour and secret attachments.

An enterprising patient initiates a weekly discussion group. When his well-meaning efforts lead instead to tragedy and betrayal, the war comes home, bringing with it a surge of anti-immigrant prejudice and vigilante sentiment. Andrea Barrett pits power and privilege against unrest and thwarted desire, in a spellbinding tale of individual lives in a nation on the verge of extraordinary change.

Homefront ($0.99), by Kristen J. Tsetsi

Book Description
A cab driving former English professor, an unpredictable alcoholic Vietnam veteran, an anti-war soldier, and a morbid mother-in-law come together in this realistic, sensual, and darkly humorous semi-autobiographical tale of waiting through a war deployment.

Written by a former writer for the Journal Inquirer newspaper who is also a Women's eNews correspondent, a former English Professor, an award-winning fiction writer, literary fiction editor, and the wife of a former Chinook pilot for the 101st Airborne Division who deployed to Iraq in 2003, Homefront is the product of an author uniquely qualified to tell the private story.

Taking On the System ($3.09), by Markos Moulitsas Zuniga

Book Description
The Sixties are over -- and the rules of power have been transformed. In order to change the world one needs to know how to manipulate the media, not just march in the streets. Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, otherwise known as "Kos," is today's symbol of digital activism, giving a voice to everyday people. In Taking on the System, Kos has taken a cue from his revolutionary predecessor's doctrine, Saul Alinsky's Alinsky's Rules for Radicals, and places this epic hand-book in today's digital era, empowering every American to make a difference in the 21st century. As founder of the largest political blog in the nation, Kos knows how it's done, because he's done it withtremendous success. In Taking on the System, he shares practical guidelines on how grassroots movements can thrive in the age of global information, while referencing historical and present examples of the tragedy caused without those actions. The walls between the people and the power -- the so-called rabble and the so-called elite -- are being torn down by technology, and a new army of amateurs are storming the barriers to effect political, cultural, and environmental transformation. Readers will come to understand how they too can change the world.

King's Dream: The Legacy of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" Speech ($1.83), by Eric J. Sundquist

Book Description
-I have a dream--no words are more widely recognized, or more often repeated, than those called out from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial by Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1963. King's speech, elegantly structured and commanding in tone, has become shorthand not only for his own life but for the entire civil rights movement. In this new exploration of the -I have a dream- speech, Eric J. Sundquist places it in the history of American debates about racial justice-debates as old as the nation itself-and demonstrates how the speech, an exultant blend of grand poetry and powerful elocution, perfectly expressed the story of African American freedom. This book is the first to set King's speech within the cultural and rhetorical traditions on which the civil rights leader drew in crafting his oratory, as well as its essential historical contexts, from the early days of the republic through present-day Supreme Court rulings. At a time when the meaning of the speech has been obscured by its appropriation for every conceivable cause, Sundquist clarifies the transformative power of King's -Second Emancipation Proclamation- and its continuing relevance for contemporary arguments about equality.

Fight Global Warming Now ($2.48), by Bill McKibben

Book Description
Bestselling author Bill McKibben turns activist in the first hands-on guidebook to stopping climate change, the world's greatest threat Hurricane Katrina. A rapidly disappearing Arctic. The warmest winter on the East Coast in recorded history. The leading scientist at NASA warns that we have only ten years to reverse climate change; the British government's report on global warming estimates that the financial impact will be greater than the Great Depression and both world wars-combined. Bill McKibben, the author of the first major book on global warming, The End of Nature, warns that it's no longer time to debate global warming, it's time to fight it. Drawing on the experience of Step It Up, a national day of rallies held on April 14, McKibben and the Step It Up team of organizers provide the facts of what must change to save the climate and show how to build the fight in your community, church, or college. They describe how to launch online grassroots campaigns, generate persuasive political pressure, plan high-profile events that will draw media attention, and other effective actions. This essential book offers the blueprint for a mighty new movement against the most urgent challenge facing us today.

The U.N. Exposed ($3.73), by Eric Shawn

Book Description
Over the years, and today more than ever, the United Nations has failed to address the most dangerous threats facing the civilized world, refused to condemn terrorist acts, encouraged America's enemies, and supported some of the world's most oppressive governments, all while wasting billions of dollars. As Fox News Channel reporter Eric Shawn points out, the U.N. is now where our so-called allies scheme against us, while Americans pay a whopping 22 percent of the U.N.'s bloated budget. His book offers a rare insider's tour of the United Nations, focusing on many disturbing aspects that have been ignored by the mainstream media.

Letters to President Obama: Americans Share Their Hopes and Dreams with the First African-American President ($3.79), edited by Hanes Walton Jr., Josephine Allen, Sherman Puckett, Donald Deskins Jr.

Book Description
This collection, which will total between 300 and 500 letters from Americans of all walks of life, will become an important piece of history as it describes the variety of feelings and emotions of Americans about the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States. Central to the book is the African-American experience and the long road from slavery to the civil rights era to the twenty-first century, but Americans of every race, color, gender, and age will be represented. From children and seniors, from cities and farms, all we have something to say and much to share about how Barack Obama’s election was special to them.

Advice and Consent: The Politics of Judicial Appointments ($2.82), by Lee Epstein & Jeffrey A. Segal

Book Description
From Louis Brandeis to Robert Bork to Clarence Thomas, the nomination of federal judges has generated intense political conflict. With the coming retirement of one or more Supreme Court Justices--and threats to filibuster lower court judges--the selection process is likely to be, once again, the center of red-hot partisan debate. In Advice and Consent, two leading legal scholars, Lee Epstein and Jeffrey A. Segal, offer a brief, illuminating Baedeker to this highly important procedure, discussing everything from constitutional background, to crucial differences in the nomination of judges and justices, to the role of the Judiciary Committee in vetting nominees. Epstein and Segal shed light on the role played by the media, by the American Bar Association, and by special interest groups (whose efforts helped defeat Judge Bork). Though it is often assumed that political clashes over nominees are a new phenomenon, the authors argue that the appointment of justices and judges has always been a highly contentious process--one largely driven by ideological and partisan concerns. The reader discovers how presidents and the senate have tried to remake the bench, ranging from FDR's controversial "court packing" scheme to the Senate's creation in 1978 of 35 new appellate and 117 district court judgeships, allowing the Democrats to shape the judiciary for years. The authors conclude with possible "reforms," from the so-called nuclear option, whereby a majority of the Senate could vote to prohibit filibusters, to the even more dramatic suggestion that Congress eliminate a judge's life tenure either by term limits or compulsory retirement. With key appointments looming on the horizon, Advice and Consent provides everything concerned citizens need to know to understand the partisan rows that surround the judicial nominating process.

Dude, Where's My Country? ($2.59), by Michael Moore

Book Description
From the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Stupid White Men comes a hilarious act of sedition to overthrow the 'Thief in Chief'-and effect the kind of change that just may save the country. Michael Moore is on a mission: He aims to unseat the man who slithered into the White House on tracks laid by guilty Enron execs and greased with his daddy's oil associations. And as for 'The Left,' they're just as satisfied to stand idly by as the chasm between the 'haves' and 'have nots' grows wider and wider. That's right, Michael Moore is back with a new book that reveals what's gone wrong in America and, more importantly, how it can be fixed. In his characteristic style that is at once fearless and funny, Moore takes readers on another wild ride to the political edge of righteous laughter and divine revenge.

Holy Terrors, Second Edition: Thinking About Religion After September 11 ($2.79), by Bruce Lincoln

Book Description
n the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, it is tempting to regard their perpetrators as evil incarnate. But their motives, as Bruce Lincoln shows in this timely offering, were profoundly and intensely religious. What we need, then, after September 11 is greater clarity about what we take religion to be. With rigor and incisiveness, Holy Terrors examines the implications of September 11 for our understanding of religion and how it interrelates with politics and culture.

Lincoln begins with a gripping dissection of the instruction manual given to each of the hijackers. In their evocation of passages from the Quran, we learn how the terrorists justified acts of destruction and mass murder "in the name of God, the most merciful, the most compassionate." Lincoln then offers a provocative comparison of President Bush's October 7 speech announcing U.S. military action in Afghanistan and Osama bin Laden's videotape released hours later. Each speech, he argues, betrays telling contradictions. Bin Laden, for instance, conceded implicitly that Islam is not unitary, as his religious rhetoric would have it, but is torn by deep political divisions. And Bush, steering clear of religious rhetoric for the sake of political unity, still reassured his constituents through coded allusions that American policy is firmly rooted in faith.

Lincoln ultimately broadens his discussion further to consider the role of religion since September 11 and how it came to be involved with such fervent acts of political revolt. In the postcolonial world, he argues, religion is widely considered the most viable and effective instrument of rebellion against economic and social injustices. It is the institution through which unified communities ensure the integrity and continuity of their culture in the wake of globalization. Brimming with insights such as these, Holy Terrors will become one of the essential books on September 11 and a classic study on the character of religion.

The Faith of the American Soldier ($2.26), by Stephen Mansfield

Book Description
What goes through the mind of an American warrior spiritually and religiously when facing the enemy? Touching on a subject that few books have treated, The Faith of the American Soldier examines the religious and spiritual issues in America's wars, and then considers what is lost to our military through a secular approach to battle, recording the reflections and testimonies of men and women who have fought on the front lines from Lexington to Iraq.

Wayward Christian Soldiers: Freeing the Gospel from Political Captivity ($3.72), by Charles Marsh

Book Description
In Wayward Christian Soldiers, leading evangelical theologian Charles Marsh offers a powerful indictment of the political activism of evangelical Christian leaders and churches in the United States. With emphasis on repentance and renewal, this important work advises Christians how to understand past mistakes and to avoid making them in the future.

Over the past several years, Marsh observes, American evangelicals have achieved more political power than at any time in their history. But access and influence have come at a cost to their witness in the world and the integrity of their message. The author offers a sobering contrast between the contemporary evangelical elite, which forms the core of the Republican Party, and the historic Christian tradition of respect for the mystery of God and appreciation for human fallibility. The author shows that the most prominent voices in American evangelicalism have arrogantly redefined Christianity on the basis of partisan politics rather than scripture and tradition. The role of politics in distorting the Christian message can be seen most dramatically in the invasion of Iraq, he argues: Some 87% of American evangelicals supported going to war, while every single evangelical church outside the United States opposed it. The Jesus who storms into Baghdad behind the wheel of a Humvee, Marsh points out, is not the Jesus of the Gospel. Indeed, not since the nazification of the German church under Hitler has the political misuse of Christianity led to such catastrophic global consequences.

Is there an alternative? This book proposes that the renewal of American churches requires a season of concentrated attention to faith's essential affirmations--a time of hospitality, peacemaking, and contemplative prayer. Offering an authentic Christian alternative to the narcissistic piety of popular evangelicalism, Wayward Christian Soldiers represents a unique entry into the increasingly pivotal debate over the role of faith in American politics.

Kindle Bargain Ebook Roundup - Political/War

Political books often have a short shelf-life at bookstores. A few of these are from the last election, while others are on the war in the middle east and thus mix religion and politics.

Day of Reckoning ($1.43), by Patrick J. Buchanan.

Book Description
In his latest New York Times bestseller, Pat Buchanan deals with the greatest crisis facing the nation today: Whether the America we knew and loved will survive many more decades. Buchanan lays out how the United States is being secretly merged with Mexico and embedded in a Global Economy by that threatens the permanent loss of American independence and sovereignty.

While free enterprise is good, the worship of “free trade” is de-industrializing America, killing the middle class, and imperiling U.S. economic independence. While America must stand for freedom, liberty and self-determination, the use of U.S. troops to police the planet or serve as advance guard is imperial folly that will bring down the republic. While America should speak out for human rights, the idea that we get in Russia’s face and hand out moral report cards to every nation on earth is moral arrogance. While we have benefited from immigration, the idea we can import limitless numbers of aliens and remain anything like a real country is absurd. To save America the first imperative is to remove from power the ideologues of both parties who have near killed the country.

Buchanan sees America in an existential crisis. In his final chapter, he lays out ideas to stop the suicide of America. He includes a bottom-up review of all America’s foreign commitments and entanglements, a plan to secure America’s borders, ideas for halting the erosion of our sovereignty and for restoring our manufacturing preeminence and economic independence. Buchanan offers a radical program, but a necessary one, for neither party is addressing the real crisis of the nation -- whether we survive much longer as one people, or disappear from history.

Jerusalem Countdown ($3.65), by John Hagee, is one of four editions on Kindle, all with the same price. As they appear to be in the topaz format, I'd check out each one, if you are interested in this title, and pick the one with the best looking sample.

Book Description
This highly anticipated ... updated edition of Jerusalem Countdown, unveils the reasons radical Islam and Israel cannot dwell peaceably together. Dr. Hagee paints a convincing picture explaining why Christians must support the State of Israel by saying, Those nations who align with God's purpose will receive His blessing. Those who follow a policy of opposition to God's purpose will receive the swift and severe judgement of God without limitation. Can anyone actually believe that the Islamic fanatics presently in charge of the Iranian government would not use nuclear weapons on Israel, America, and the World?

Breaking News ($1.45), by Martin Fletcher

Book Description
Martin Fletcher doesn’t claim to be a hero. Yet he didn’t flinch, either. During three decades covering wars, revolutions, and natural disasters, Fletcher worked his way from news agency cameraman to top network correspondent, facing down his own fears while facing up to mass killers, warlords, and murderers. With humor and elegance, Fletcher describes his growth from clueless adventurer to grizzled veteran of the world’s battlefields. His working philosophy of “Get in, get close, get out, get a drink,” put him repeatedly in harm’s way, but he never lost sight of why he did it. In a world obsessed with celebrities, leaders, and wealth, Fletcher took a different route: he focused on those left behind, those paying the price. He answers the question: Why should we care?

These extraordinary, real-life adventure stories each examine different dilemmas facing a foreign correspondent. Can you eat the food of a warlord, who stole it from the starving? Do you listen politely to a terrorist threatening to blow up your children? Do you ask the tough questions of a Khmer Rouge killer, knowing he is your only ticket out of the Cambodian jungle? And above all, how do you stay sane faced with so much pain?

Independents Day ($1.58), by Lou Dobbs

Book Description
"In A New America, Lou Dobbs examines the public policy choices over the past thirty years that have eroded individual liberties, disenfranchised the middle class, reduced worker rights and pay, and led our nation into social and political division at home as well as into conflict around the world. Dobbs lays out the folly of continuing to follow existing domestic and foreign policies that have enriched and entrenched the elites, and burdened to the breaking point the rest of America. He posits a determined course for both prosperity and the survival of the American dream in a society that is desperate for new leadership and new ideas. Most important, Dobbs explores how we must and can restore the fundamental national value of equality of rights and opportunity for all Americans. A New America is an independent populist's view of the critical issues and challenges that confront the presidential candidates and American voters as we approach the 2008 election."

The Iranian Time Bomb: The Mullah Zealots' Quest for Destruction ($4.34), by Michael A. Ledeen

Book Description
The War Against the Terror Masters is a must-read guide to the terrorist crisis. Michael A. Ledeen explains in startling detail how and why the United States was so unprepared for the September 11th catastrophe; the nature of the terror network we are fighting--including the state sponsors of that network; the role of radical Islam; and the enemy collaboration of some of our traditional Middle Eastern "allies" -- and, most convincingly, what we must do to win the war.

The War Against the Terror Masters examines the two sides of the war: the rise of the international terror network, and the past and current efforts of our intelligence services to destroy the terror masters in the U.S. and overseas. Ledeen's new book also visits every country in the Near East and describes the terrorist cancers in each. Among many revelations that will attract wide attention: *How the terror network survived the loss of its main sponsor, the Soviet Union. *How the FBI learned from a KGB defector--twenty years before Osama's bin Laden's murderous assault--of the existance of Arab terrorist sleeper networks inside the United States. *How moralistic guidelines straight-jacketed the FBI from even collecting a file of newspaper clippings on known terror groups operating in America. *How the internal culture of the CIA, and severe limitations on its ability to operate, blinded us to the growth of terror networks. And much more.

Thinking Beyond the Unthinkable ($4.09), by Jonathan Stevenson

Book Description
September 11 was a product of bad intelligence and wrongheaded expectations about al-Qaeda's motivations, intentions, resourcefulness, and capabilities. But it also sprang from a failure of the kind of predictive strategic thinking that kept the world from becoming atomic rubble in the fifties and sixties. In Thinking Beyond the Unthinkable, strategic analyst Jonathan Stevenson illuminates both the genius of nuclear deterrence and Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD), plus the blind spots that limited the great Cold War civilian strategists' intellectual fertility and flexibility. Once the Soviet Union collapsed and the existential threat of nuclear holocaust abated, the American strategic community from intelligence officers to policymakers to think tanks lost the capacity to forecast and prepare for impending new threats to U.S. and global security. Complementing the cold eyed revelations of Lawrence Wright's The Looming Tower and Thomas Ricks's Fiasco, Thinking Beyond the Unthinkable is a probing, urgent exhortation: if we are to extricate America from its current strategic predicament, we must regenerate for a new age the pragmatic creativity that once distinguished its strategic brain trust.

Presidential Anecdotes ($4.95), by Paul F. Boller Jr.

Book Description
The 2008 Presidential election is almost here and that can only mean one thing: our days are about to get a lot more entertaining. Beyond their wisdom, skill, and statesmanship, presidents are also famous for their tendency to show off horrendous manners, procrastinate on world affairs, say nonsensical things, and get into wild scandals. Clearly, being onstage all the time has its challenges and nothing proves it better than these delightful anecdotes, abridged from the critically acclaimed compendium by Oxford University Press. Including public and insider stories from 41 presidents, all the way from George Washington to Bill Clinton, it's an amusing reminder that it takes a lot more than grace-after-gaffe to be a great leader.

Rick and Bubba for President: The Two Sexiest Fat Men Alive Take on Washington ($2.84), by Rick Burgess & Bill Bussey. Does not include the CD from the print edition.

Book Description
Two-time New York Times best-selling authors and zany radio hosts Rick and Bubba return just in time for the 2008 presidential election to present their thoughts on everything political.

In Rick and Bubba for President, America's self-proclaimed "Sexiest Fat Men Alive" tackle timely campaign issues with hilarity, flair, and panache that won't be seen on the campaign trail. Readers will love Rick & Bubba's trademark humor as it is openly and honestly applied to the hot political topics politicians are so careful to avoid. Including everything from top ten campaign slogans to Rick and Bubba White House etiquette and a state dinner menu, Rick and Bubba for President is sure to delight readers of all political persuasions.

Victory for Us Is to See You Suffer: In the West Bank with the Palestinians and the Israelis ($2.78), by Philip C. Winslow

Book Description
A rare, firsthand account of life in the West Bank by a UN relief worker and journalist

During the second intifada, Philip C. Winslow worked in the West Bank with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), driving up to 600 miles a week between almost every Palestinian town, village, and refugee camp and every Israeli checkpoint in the occupied territory. He returned just before the onset of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict.

In Victory for Us Is to See You Suffer, Winslow captures the human aspects of the conflict during the years of suicide bombings and Israeli reprisals in the West Bank—the daily struggles, fear, and anger of Palestinian farmers and teachers, and the hostility of Israeli soldiers and settlers. On this small territory, punctuated with hundreds of heavily guarded crossings and physical barriers, nervous young Israeli soldiers who believe they are fighting terrorists enforce stringent controls over the movement of Palestinians trying to live on their own land. Working with UNRWA, Winslow negotiated the delivery of humanitarian aid through army checkpoints, often finding himself the target of anger from both Palestinians and Israelis. He returned as a journalist, in the wake of the Hamas victory in Palestinian parliamentary elections, to interview people on both sides of the checkpoints and look at the decades-long destructive cycle through their eyes. From these unique multiple perspectives, Winslow offers an uncensored view of the realities on the ground that have made a just political solution and enduring peace so difficult.

A Fragile Future: An Update to Descent into Chaos ($2.40), by Ahmed Rashid

Book Description
A fascinating up-to-date look at the roots of our financial crisis from the New York Times bestselling author Kevin Phillips Descent into Chaos is Ahmed Rashid's sweeping, brilliant exploration of the failure of the United States to secure peace and nourish democracy in Pakistan and Afghanistan after the removal of the Taliban following 9/11. Thoroughly researched and powerfully written, it has been hailed from all corners as one of the most important books on the effects of American policy in the Middle East to appear in some time. In this searching update, Rashid takes stock of events in Pakistan since the book's publication, including the 2008 elections, the end of the Musharraf era, and the further resurgence of the Taliban. Up from Chaos makes the convincing case that if peace is to come to central Asia, Pakistan remains the key.

The American Patriot's Almanac: Daily Readings on America

The American Patriot's Almanac: Daily Readings on America by William J. Bennett and John Cribb, is on sale for $9.99 again this weekend (to commemorate the anniversary of 9/11, I suppose). Amazon had this same book on sale last July 4th, but I skipped it then due to the price. I think I'll pick it up this weekend, as I have some gift certificate money burning a hole in my pocket and it looks like a very interesting read - a devotional/reader that has a different US history lesson for each day.

This is a Thomas Nelson publication, the religious publisher out of Nashville, TN, but the general sense I get from the reviews is that although matters of faith (and how they relate to the founding of the country) are mentioned, it does not have an overtly Christian slant (one or two even seemed disappointed it did not have a heavier religious slant). I suspect many of the reviewers were part of the TN book review program (I am, but missed this one), but still there is only one review that gives it less than four stars (that one complained about the book cover having blank inside flaps). Several of the books that I know were on this program did not do so favorably, even if the reviewers did get the books at no cost.

The Hardcover is selling for $21.77 and the info there says it is 608 pages. It would no doubt make a great gift for any history buff (or homeschooler) that doesn't have a Kindle (an even nicer gift would be a Kindle or Kindle DX with this book preloaded, but that might be a bit extravagant for most gift-givers).

Book Description
365 reasons to love America!

The fife and drum of history mark the time of each passing day. And within their cadence, personalities, conflicts, discoveries, ideas, and nations peal and fade. American history is no different. From the starving time of Jamestown during the Winter of 1609, through the bloody argument of the Civil War, and to today, the United States is a tale best told one day at a time.

Best-selling author and educator Dr. William J. Bennett is a master of the story that is the United States. And in The American Patriot's Almanac, Bennett distills the American drama into three hundred sixty-five entries-one for each day of the year. Fascinating in its detail and singular in its grasp of the big themes, Bennett's Almanac will make anyone a fan of history, assembling even some of the most obscure details. Even better, it will make of everyone a patriot.

About the Author
Dr. William J. Bennett is a best-selling author, educator, and speaker. Host of the top-ten nationally syndicated radio show Bill Bennett's Morning in America, he is also the Washington Fellow of the Claremont Institute. Serving as secretary of education and chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities under President Reagan and director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under President Bush, today Bennett is a regular contributor to CNN and has contributed to America's leading newspapers, magazines, and television shows. He is the author and editor of seventeen books, including The Book of Virtues, The Death of Outrage, and the New York Times bestseller, America: The Last Best Hope (Volume I). John Cribb is president of the Palmetto Creative Group, a Communications firm. His previous work includes co-authoring The Educated Child (with William J. Bennett and Chester E. Finn), co-editing The Human Odyssey, and developing on-line history courses. During the Reagan administration, he served at the Dept. of Justice and the Dept. of Education.

Free Audiobook - The Case of the Missing Will

The AudioFile Magazine, BBC Audiobooks America and Audible.com are celebrating Agatha Christie Week and part of that includes a free download of The Case of the Missing Will, read by David Suchet. This is a short story, 21 minutes in length, so easy to listen to in on session, whether on a commute or working out.

Poirot receives an unusual request for help from a Miss Violet Marsh, who was orphaned as a child and went to live with her peculiar Uncle Andrew. He died a month ago, leaving a will with a strange clause. Marsh has given instructions that his "clever" niece is allowed to live in his house for one month and in that time she has to "prove her wits" and find his second will. If at the end of that time she hasn't, all his worldly goods go to charitable institutions and she will be left with nothing. Can Poirot help her?

Click HERE to sign up for the download. You'll get a link via email that will take you to Audible.com to get the free story (the signup page says it is limited to US residents, which means you'll need a US based Audible account; you can create an account then, if you don't have one). When you get ready to download, it looks like you can choose the traditional Audible format or a new enhanced format. The Kindle2 and KindleDX are amongst the supported devices (as are newer Ipods and the Sansa Fuze; the Sansa Clip Plus isn't on the list, but it technically isn't available yet, even if I have had mine for two weeks, now!

While you are there, you might want to pick up President Obama's 9/09/09 Health Care Address to Congress, if you missed it when it aired live (or you just wanted to listen again for yourself, rather than be told what he said by the media). It's also a free download.

Kindle Exclusive: Change for America: A Progressive Blueprint for the 44th President

Change for America: A Progressive Blueprint for the 44th President, edited by Mark Green and Michele Jolin, is now available for the Kindle and priced at $9.99. It is coming out in paperback, but there is no release date indicated yet and the price will be $16.47.

Amazon Product Description:

The result of a collaboration between the Center for American Progress Action Fund (the advocacy arm of Washington’s leading-edge progressive think-tank led) and the New Democracy Project's Mark Green, this comprehensive volume is written by over sixty leading policymakers, scholars and advocates.

Based on four core values—of democracy, security through diplomacy, opportunity and a greener world—Change for America offers scores of solutions how to repair our broken government and create an enduring progressive era.

About the Editors:

Mark Green is president of the New Democracy Project and also president of Air America Media. The author of numerous books—including the best-sellers Who Runs Congress? and The Book on Bush—he was the elected Public Advocate (1994-2001) for New York City. Michele Jolin is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, and previously served for four years at the White House as Chief of Staff for President Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers.

Endorsements:
“Mark Green and Michele Jolin look to 2009 as the beginning of an era of renewal and progressive governance in America. Change for America presciently and insightfully offers specific ideas for what our next President can do to revitalize our nation and restore our standing abroad."—President Bill Clinton

“The Center for American Progress Action Fund and Mark Green have assembled some of our nation's best minds, and their best ideas, into a book is packed with innovative, practical, and progressive solutions that will help take America in a New Direction."—Speaker Nancy Pelosi

“These thoughtful essays offer a progressive way forward for the vast majority of Americans who hope their government works for the many, not just the few.”—Senator Ted Kennedy

“We don't just need a transition -- we need a transformation. Mark Green and Michele Jolin's encyclopedia of change offers a brilliant roadmap for the 44th President.”—Senator John Kerry

“This is one of the most important books to be published this year. It's a handbook for restoring the New Deal's social compact with our citizens over the first '100 Days' and the next 1360.”—James Roosevelt, Jr.

“Change for America is brilliant, timely and practical and teems with hard earned wisdom and common sense.”—Michael Eric Dyson

Book Review: The Faith of Barack Obama

Courtesy of Thomas Nelson publishing, one of the political/election books I've read recently is The Faith of Barack Obama by Stephen Mansfield (also available for in Hardcover and as an Audiobook). I read the first two chapters on my Kindle (after converting the PDF to the Kindle format, free courtesy of Amazon's email conversion service, since I started before the book was officially released), and you can too. Get the intro and the first two chapters in PDF form here or for those with a Kindle, download the free sample here.

While once we obtained our information about candidates thru newspapers, campaign speeches and gossip at the town store or barbershop, today's candidates seem to be required to publish at least one (and apparently preferably more than one) book about their life, their views and, now, their religion. Not to mention the obligatory spousal autobiography for presidential candidates (although you only get a print copy if your more political half is actually elected). In a country founded by those escaping religious persecution, where a primary tenant is a basic human right includes a freedom from state sponsored religion (at least in theory, if not in practice), we have become a people obsessed with the religion of our politicians and eager to enact or preserve laws we see as preserving our religious beliefs. At a time when our country is at war with two countries run by conservative religious factions, the religion of the future leader of our land has become one of the hottest topics of the race (even while the issue of race itself hides behind the objections of religion).

In past races, simply getting a few articles (and later pictures) of the candidate and his family attending a church (of any kind) was sufficient to establish that they too shared all the same values as the "average American." With Kennedy, however, his religion became an issue in that it was believed the Catholic Church would hold too much influence over his decisions (after all, they had thousands of years of practice at it, even if it wasn't going so well for them in recent years) and candidates were obliged to add that although they, of course, were deeply religious, that no particular church would unduly influence their governance. Fifty years later, voters seem to want a diametrically opposed philosophy - they want their candidates to vote their religious views no matter what the Constitution might have to say on the issue and Catholics and Protestants alike have aligned into a unified Christian Right. What many now appear to be afraid of is someone with a "different" religion, now no longer defined as a different branch of Christianity, but as any non-Christian religion, especially the one that rules those countries with which we are at war. Many early campaign questions were about the religion followed by Barack Obama and were usually dodged in the same manner as in campaigns past - but those answers were no longer sufficient for those seeking reassurance that he shared the same religious beliefs (especially as they were and are still barraged with various emails scare warning that if Obama is elected the country will be converted to an Islamic state). But answering questions about religion in press conferences is a losing proposition, a lesson McCain learned in his first Presidential campaign. Instead, one must now write a book - not only does it allow a more thought out and in depth answer to the question, it forestalls it in the first place, implying the journalist hasn't done his research. Obama didn't have his treatise on religion prepared up front, nor did he publish it under his own byline, as his biography and campaign platform have been. Instead he relied on a writer who has published an in depth look at the faith of George Bush and a history of religion in the United States, a shrewd move that instantly lends the book greater credibility and less of the appearance of a campaign brochure.

In The Faith of Barack Obama, Stephen Mansfield attempts to present a fair picture of Obama's religious beliefs (or at least actions and experiences). Perhaps too fair, as far as those looking for assurance that Obama is a devout Christian, as he claims, as the early part of the book paints a picture of a religious chameleon - raised by an atheist mother and grandparents disenchanted with the hypocrisy of the churches they had attended, his religious exposure ranges from nil to smatterings of various teachings popular with students in the 60's. Taken to Indonesia as a child, where all persons must register their religion, he was registered as a Muslim, but first attended a private Catholic school, where he observed all their religious practices as if they were his own. Later switching to a Muslim school, he then observed their religious practices in the same manner. At home, his father urged him and his mother to be embrace Islam, yet he believed and followed superstitious practices rooted in earlier pagan religions (eating tiger meat no doubt made those who had to also catch and kill them braver, assuming the survived the hunt, but only subjects those who buy it in the market to high costs and risks exposure to diseases from eating a carnivorous animal and unregulated, poached meat) and tolerated personal behavior by servants in his own home that no conservative Muslim would allow. Moving back to the States, Barack resumed his non-religious existence and only "embraced" a formal religion after getting involved in politics in Chicago. No doubt, the reality of attempting a political career without at least the appearance of a religious grounding were pointed out to him there and he promptly started attending and later joined the most powerful black churches in Chicago (and one he has had to distance himself from in the campaign).

The section of the book covering his religious conversion seems the most weak - it is almost as if the author wishes to convince himself that Obama had a religious void in his life (thus the one time visit to a church in NY) and found it filled while in Chicago. Yet that doesn't seem the case in books with Barack's own bylines or even in later sections of the book. And the selection of the church is nothing if not political - no young black politician could hope to get the support needed for his career without belonging and no doubt that need is one reason he stayed (at least so one hopes) despite the extremist, racist and violent views espoused by the church's leaders. Indeed, the church's leaders regularly preached against other religions and mainstream Americans after 9/11, yet was only denounced by Obama six years later during his campaign. Yes, as an adult, no doubt he could separate the religious message of the church from the racial and religious hatred coming from the pulpit -- but there is little doubt that his or any children would not be able to do so and the church's viewpoint meshes perfectly with his wife's statement of being proud of her country "for the first time" only after his nomination. If you listen to the same message over and over, even if you started out knowing it is wrong, it colors your thinking and a desire for continued association with those of a certain viewpoint will always color at the least your actions. A church that was an asset during the early part of his career became a liability for a presidential candidate and was eventually shed, just as previous religious trappings had been discarded earlier in his life, but it's lasting effect on his views remains to be seen.

The last third of the book tries to explain how a nation founded on a don't ask, don't tell religious stance now finds itself obsessed over the details of it's politician's religious beliefs and experiences. Additionally, a comparison of the beliefs and backgrounds of what where at the time the frontrunner candidates fills one chapter (at the time of publication, Barack's nomination was not assured). A well researched (complete with endnotes) book, the author's own religious views do peek out now and then.The author concludes that "Americans are used to religious insincerity from their political leaders, [yet] Obama seems to be sincere in what he proclaims", seeing faith infusing Obama's public policy, while holding up Clinton and Carter as examples who separated their faith and practice. In the end, however, there is only one person who can ever know the true faith of Barack Obama. Everyone else can only judge whether his past actions agree with their own religious viewpoints and if that is sufficient.

On the Nightstand

Courtesy of Thomas Nelson publishing, one of the books on my nightstand is The Faith of Barack Obama (also available for the Kindle and as an Audiobook). I read the first two chapters on my Kindle (after converting the PDF to the Kindle format, free courtesy of Amazon's email conversion service). My first question is: do all books about Obama have to start with his speech to the Democratic Convention in 2004? Does his campaign hand out a "how to write a book about Barack" press kits that outline that first chapter for them? More later... In the meantime, read the intro and the first two chapters for free (pdf) or for those with a Kindle, download the free sample here .



The rest of the "books" on the nightstand are ebooks - most on the Kindle, Amazon's ebook reader. Another on Barack Obama (and yes, it starts with the same "just before the convention" retrospective/impressions/interview) is Obama: From Promise to Power. Neither of these are attack books, but claim to offer a more impartial perspective (and perhaps a less politically self-serving) view of the Democratic Party's Presidential candidate. For McCain, I've only picked up Hard Call: The Art of Great Decisions so far - and it really can't be considered as more than a snapshot view of a portion of his life and one that happened long ago.
The last two are fiction, even if the first sounds like a political commentary: A Match Made in Hell (Nicki Styx, Book 2) and Exit Strategy (Nadia Stafford Series, Book 1).

I've had the kindle for a couple of months now and finished several books. Overall, it is in many ways a much better reading experience than many paper books. It's lightweight, so that huge trilogy Quicksilver (Quicksilver, The Confusion and )The System of the World, by Neal Stephenson, that I've been meaning to read and weigh in at nine lbs. and an average of 900 pages per volume, instead has no weight at all. The same 10.3 oz. package holds them along with a couple hundred more books -- and many, many more can be stored on SD cards (along with MP3 music and audiobooks, which are large enough I'd recommend not storing them in your main Kindle memory). You can lay the Kindle flat when reading at the table (assuming you eat alone or are snubbing those with you) or read it in bed using only a single hand (actually, prop it on your knees and you only need a finger to bump the Next Page button now and then, no need to let your hands freeze because they have to hold the book open. And if you fall asleep - the Kindle automatically drops into a screensaver mode and saves your place.

It's true, the buttons are big, so if you leave the Kindle on and pick it up by the sides, you'll often lose your place (then again, I've done this many times with paper books). But after a day or two you learn to do one of two things - either put it into screensaver mode when you set it down or pick it up by the bottom edge, where the keyboard is. With very few exceptions, the keys are dormant when reading and the chances of you mashing enough of them by accident to cause the Kindle to do anything is remote.

For those who prefer audiobooks, the Kindle handles them with ease (I've downloaded both MP3's and a few thru Audible and Overdrive - but not all DRM schemes work with the Kindle; then again, the same is true of some of my other MP3 players). These show up as entries (usually one per chapter) in the Books Table of Contents on the Kindle. You pick one to "read" and it plays in the foreground; leave the book adn the audio stops. Music MP3's can be loaded onto the Kindle or it's SD card via the supplied USB cable. These can then be played as a background while reading or performing other operations on the Kindle (Alt-P toggles play on and off). The only mode supported is shuffle, no playlists allowed, so this is obviously not a good choice for audiobooks. Then again, if you are listening to an audiobook, it isn't likely you want to then read another at the same time (although it would be handy for those trying to improve reading skills to listen and read at the same time, to the same book).

Rounding out the collection of "things I am reading" are a number of newsfeeds and blogs, also on the Kindle. But rather than having them update continuously, as with the subscription oriented blogs from Amazon, I update mine manually and use FeedBooks' Newstand application to automatically update them when I plug in the USB cable to the Kindle (you can also update via the built-in and free Whispernet from the "newspapers" themselves, after loading them manually the first time). Not all blogs or news feeds work well this way, though - unlike the Kindle's paid subscription to the New York Times, for example, the RSS feed only gets the first line or so and a headline. Many partial RSS feeds lack even a link to read the entire original article (something Feedbooks is working on), so you'll have to play around with this feature to find what feeds work well and which don't (or else use your phone or PC to read the news - which I still do as well).