Review - Why Do You Kill? The Untold Story of the Iraqi Resistance

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AppId is over the quota

Why Do You Kill? The Untold Story of the Iraqi Resistance, Jurgen Todenhofer, 2009, ISBN 9781934708149

This book looks inside the Iraqi resistance and shows how it is not only fighting the American occupiers, but also Al-Qaeda terrorists and the various private militias.

A person can argue about the conduct of the war in Iraq, how well or how badly it was executed, and whether or not waterboarding is torture, etc. The central premise, that we are guided by noble desires, to help Iraqis enjoy the fruits of democracy, can not be questioned. Supposedly, Arabs are not ready for Western-style democracy. Opinion poll after opinion poll, including those done by US officials in Iraq, show that large majorities of Iraqis want US troops to leave, fully and immediately.

If a US ally was invaded and occupied by another country under false premises, and the invaders were unwanted by the local population, don't they have the right to resist that occupation? Unquestionably, the answer is Yes; such a person would be hailed as a freedom fighter. But, when America or an ally does the occupying, there is no legitimate resistance. Freedom Fighter automatically equals Terrorist.

The author entered Iraq through Syria in 2007, intentionally without the knowledge or consent of American authorities. He wanted to avoid the Green Zone in Baghdad, Potemkin (fake) villages set up by the American military and talking to "approved" Iraqis. He was able to meet with, and stay with, many Iraqis who told him exactly why they joined the resistance.

A central principle of Islam is to never kill innocent people. That is the difference between resistance fighters and terrorists. Every family has lost someone during the occupation, some arrested and never to be heard from again. To the assertion that civil war will erupt if American troops leave; like that is so much worse than what is going on when this book was written (2007). If the American troops left, the Iraqi resistance could easily get rid of Al-Qaeda on its own. Early in the occupation, American troops in Fallujah fired on a peaceful demonstration of Iraqis upset that the troops had taken over a local school, killing 15 and injuring 65. American General Geoffrey Miller has been quoted as saying that Iraqi prisoners should never be allowed to think that they are anything "more than a dog." After a bomb blast in Baghdad, an imam asked for blood donations over the mosque's loudspeaker. The American response was to bomb the mosque, and shoot the imam. The reason given was that that district supported the resistance.

This is an excellent piece of journalism of the type rarely seen in America these days. It easily reaches the level of Wow.

Paul Lappen is a freelance book reviewer whose website, http://www.deadtreesreview.com/, has over 800 reviews on all subjects, with an emphasis on small press books.

Do NOT Text While Driving!

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AppId is over the quota

Do you have a teenager who texts while she is driving? If so, then this book is a must read for every parent! When asked if I would do a book review on "Protecting your teen from the dangers of texting" I was curious about that exact topic as I have a teenager myself. Being a parent in the 21st century is not like being a parent in the 1960's! The information age and technology has advanced enough that all parents really need to educate themselves with all the new gadgets on the market. I am not a phone person nor do I text, ever. On the other hand I have a teenager that the phone is attached to her body!

What I did learn after I read this educational book is about how teens are texting (partially or all nude) photo's to their boyfriends and those photo's can be forwarded to other people. The statistics are alarming in this book as well as the personal stories from teens and parents about the texting and dangers and the texting for the purpose of "sexting." I have never heard of that term before now!

This book gives wonderful resources including the "National Teen dating Abuse Helpline" (NTDAH) which every parent needs on their list of Important Contacts. At Lawyers.com it shows of the sexting laws and how the parent is responsible for the actions of their teens (sexting) if they get in any sort of trouble. She also lists all the current laws for each State on Texting.

As one teen expressed as she watched her family member drive and text, she noticed that they were looking downward a lot. This is a major distraction to driving. The accidents that occur and the deaths are increasing in numbers Nationally. Another teen is asked by their driver to text back a message to so and so, thus possibly eliminating an accident and also showing by their actions what is safe while driving.

In the end the author has a wonderful FAMILY CELL PHONE USE AGREEMENT that the teen signs and agrees to. It is the most up to date and positive step a parent can take in this century! I have taken the step to have my own teenager sign the family cell phone agreement and now I feel safer for the both of us.

This book in PDF came to me by Janis Friesler from Assisting Authors Online, "the place where authors can get help promoting their works."

About Jackie Paulson (Author)
You love to help others solve problems You are Intuitive; YOU SEE THINGS OTHERS CANNOT SEE. You are great at picking up on peoples moods and predicting the future. You know what others are THINKING before they speak a word. Your Purpose in life is to SHOW LOVE TO OTHERS~Lead Others People turn to you for Direction and Hope and New Ideas YOUR PASSION is learning You bring inspiration into people's lives. YOUR DESIRE: TO find yourself You are able to remove your EMOTIONS and see the Big Picture. You have a GIFT for reading people "human Lie Detector."

An Examination of Media Mythmakers

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AppId is over the quota

With its broad scope, Benjamin Radford's Media Mythmakers: How Journalists, Activists and Advertisers Mislead Us explores the ways in which the media misleads the American public. It is a multifaceted study, drawing examples from advertising and activism as well as mainstream media activities. The book's fascinating information is buried in redundant text and circular organization. Is Radford's scope too broad? Is a book written in 2003 still relevant? These are just a couple questions that arise from Media Mythmakers, and only the author can truly answer them. The information the book contains may hint at the answers.

The first step in answering these questions is determining what information is well presented. Radford succeeds in detailing the mainstream media's exploitation of emotion. He explains common logical fallacies committed by martyrmakers. With that, examples of groups profiting from tragic events illustrate some of the most deplorable aspects of the media and ordinary people working together to manipulate public opinion. This book is one of the few instances where anyone pins responsibility for declining media quality on the American populace. Another concept Radford examines with particular care is bias, be it the inherently subjective nature of journalism or his own bias in writing the book. He also discusses the value of critical thinking in a variety of situations from causes du jour to the effect of media-induced hype on the legislative process. At its best, Mythmakers dissects the consequences of emotion-clouded judgment and its effects on people being accurately informed of the most complex issues of the day.

While the book provides useful information, the organization of data and analysis feels frenetic, as information gets lost in ill-formed transitions. Radford's examples jump around, and he relies heavily on three news stories for examples of substandard journalism practices: Princess Diana's death, the Columbine shootings, and 9/11. This repetition in the book becomes tiring; perhaps Radford should have treated them as case studies so errors in media could be noted in one or two chapters instead of several. Likewise, the chapters on advertising are incongruent in tone and content when compared to the rest of the book. While reading later chapters, I wondered if advertising would be further addressed. Given its brief appearance in the beginning, the information on advertising may be better examined as part of other media manipulation tactics. The book's overall format also feels cluttered. While part of it stems from the numerous sources cited, the layout is more akin to a string of extended essays combined into a hardcover book with no thoughtful transitions between them. Dedicating individual chapters to the most prominent cases of media misbehavior would have facilitated more thorough and easy to follow discussion of the exact tactics used to sway public opinion and information.

Media Mythmakers also falters in properly identifying its audience. The language used shifts between formal and colloquial. This bipolarity suggests Radford attempted to write this book to appeal to two very different groups: the intellectually ambitious and mainstream media consumers. Finding a middle ground for these groups is difficult at best, and such fluctuation in diction is not a constructive way to achieve that goal. The intellectually ambitious crowd of this decade, meanwhile, will regard much of the information presented as old news. The statistics for white collar crime are a prime example of such information; this information is now taught in introductory social science courses at various higher education institutions. If this book is intended for the more cerebral audience, expanded discussion on the less obvious topics (e.g. activist manipulation of the media and the humanitarian aid paradox) would be a more sensible approach. Meanwhile, a more mainstream audience may need to be alerted of the white collar crime statistics. No matter the audience, new information needs to be presented to reflect the changes in the media environment since 2003. The audience and its various subsections have changed significantly since that time.

Radford's book provides some useful information regarding the state of contemporary media. Finding that information is a test of reading skill and perseverance. Valuable information hides in redundancy and outdated statistics. Media Mythmakers covers a subject that deserves more careful examination than what is currently given. Radford should consider rewriting this book for the new decade, which has not only a new crop of stories bungled by the media but also a transformed audience.

Elisa Dvorak currently works for an appraisal management company reviewing reports for errors. When not at work, she studies media practices and the manipulation of the written word. She is an author on Writing.Com which is a site for Creative Writing. You can view her portfolio here.

Emergency by Neil Strauss

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AppId is over the quota

Emergency is a surprisingly impressive book. Having read The Game, his book about becoming a pickup artist, I'd expected good writing, humor, sharp observations and a wry outlook on life. I wasn't expecting this book to be so profound.

First of all, I have to admire Strauss for being hardheaded, for following his impulses come what may and for having the guts to tell us all about the consequences, including the interesting but negative stuff.

I think his political views are off-base, but that's incidental.

This is the story of his journey to learn how to survive - just in case.

He starts out as a self-confessed wuss who wants to survive no matter what, but had precious little experience at it. He grew up in a forty-second apartment in Chicago. He's been a writer and a pickup artist.

So he attends a seminar of The Sovereign Society in Panama, where nobody trusts each other. He hangs out on survivalist boards.

But he doesn't just talk the talk, he walks the walks as far as it takes him, which is very far. He winds up with a second citizenship from the island of St Kitts, an island in the Caribbean, after paying a big chunk of money he says he couldn't afford.

(Perhaps the money he got for selling his seduction program, plus his bestsellers, helped.)

He finds and then takes all kinds of courses on how to survive in the woods, how to survive in the city, how to handle guns, how to drive motorcycles, how to identify edible plants, how to make and handle knives and use one to butcher a goat, and much more.

Each step of the way, he identifies a gap in his knowledge about what could happen, and takes another step toward self-reliance.

He entertains us along the way, and includes his observations on the age-old question of whether human beings are innately good or bad. In a disaster will they help each other or fight each other? Most survivalists are betting on the latter.

There were indeed points where I wanted to tell him that small rural communities would probably pull together and help each other, though they may also become hostile to outsiders, so it's not a simple either/or question.

His quest to learn all leads him to take classes and get certified as a Certified Emergency Response Technician (CERT), then as an EMT, and then becomes a member of the California Emergency Mobile Patrol. Soon after, he helps out victims of the worst rail disaster in California history.

He realizes he no longer wants to be the lone wolf survivor, but enjoys helping out his community. He keeps his second home in St Kitts, just in case, but wants to help them as well.

Where did the pickup artist and seduction guru go to?

Next: learn how to survive no matter what on freeze dried foods and survival foods.