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March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam
I read this book with great interest, not simply as a history book, but as describing an aspect of mankind familiar to all, the ability to act in a way contrary to any possible self-interest. If you define wisdom as `the exercise of judgement acting on experience, common sense and available information’, it is clear we often behave in the opposite fashion..
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‘Out of the Flames’ is prehaps the best popular introduction to Michael Servetus and the world of the Reformation currently available. It is much more than the story of a rare book. For example, Servetus’ historical and Biblical studies led him to the conclusion that Christianity had become corrupted following the first century…
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Although after working low down in the pecking-order in most of the varied places I have worked, the last few years I find myself managing people as opposed to being managed. Former manager quote:”You are the single most difficult person I have ever managed.” Book quote:”Effective managers manage themselves and the people they work with (not ‘over’), so that the organization and the people profit from their presence.”
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The Fugitive – Special Edition [DVD] [1993]
The 1993 thriller starring Harrison Ford represents much that is best in film, superb acting and directing, gripping story line from start to finish, great dialogue and sequencing, including the train crash and “suicide” jump over the dam.. Continue reading The Fugitive -1993 DVD
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There is a problem with prehistory. By definition, there is no evidence of a cast iron nature. Hence, when the lay reader surveys the literature, we tend to start with the Von Daniken style ‘Aliens’ theories, and end up in the dry as dust academic papers. They may convince the specialist, but they don’t sell millions.. Continue reading Kingdom of the Ark
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Pursuit of Loneliness: American Culture at the Breaking Point
Sociology has often been mocked as a `pseudoscience’, but there is nothing in this biting 1970 portrait of modern American society that could be so described. The principles therein equally apply here and now. The title of the book gives the hollow reality of the Declaration of Independence; `Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness’, and one way of finding out why the American Dream turned into a nightmare can give hope for our own futures. Continue reading Pursuit of Loneliness: American Culture at the Breaking Point
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Recently, authors Benjamin Hoff and Ernest Shepard have explored the philosophy of Winnie the Pooh. In similar vein, interesting concepts can be discerned behind the storyline of Monsters Inc. I have notched up a good few viewings with my three year old daughter! So without taking away the fun, here goes..
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Cool Hand Luke (Deluxe Edition) [DVD] [1967]
Paul Newman stars as the loner who will not conform to the arbitrary, oppressive rules of his prison captivity. As the film opens, Luke is using a pipe cutter to cut the tops off of parking meters. He is drinking, but not violent. When the police arrive, he is arrested. He is tried, and sentenced to two years in prison.
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The Hidden Persuaders by Vance Packard (1957)
Vance Packard was a ground-breaking social critic best known for `The Hidden Persuaders’, which detailed how behavioural scientists recruited by the American advertising industry were increasingly using psychological techniques to increase sales. Continue reading The Hidden Persuaders
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Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People Mattered (1973) by E F Schumacher
“It is not wealth that stands in the way of liberation, but the attachment to wealth, not the enjoyment of pleasurable things, but the craving for them…”
What is wrong with our world? Can one short book contribute a meaningful answer to this question? By looking at the major historical themes in economics, i.e. land, scarcity, man and education, goods, production and energy, housing and development, and looking at the thinking behind our present view, the answer is yes. The book advocates a shift in lifestyle, one that accords material goods a secondary place after a oneness with our planet, putting people ahead of profits, and ensuring a future for both..
Continue reading Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics as if People Mattered
