I received a preview copy of "Where We Stand: A Surprising Look at the Real State of Our Planet" by Seymour Garte, Ph.D. and have thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Unlike other books about the environment and how we're apparently the #1 cause of its ruination, Dr. Garte takes a look at how we've improved, where we really stand and how we're doing. No, Garte is not refuting that we're damaging the planet, but he does point out where we've made vast improvements. In his own words, Dr. Garte gives his reasoning for writing this book: "I realized that there is a pervasive attitude in this country among educated and liberal-minded people that nothing has ever gotten better, that technology is just plain evil, and that we are on an irreversible slope towards destruction." He goes on to say that this attitude is so pervasive that even normally thoughtful, educated professors and scientists will forget the real facts and make absurd statements based on nothing. This book covers many aspects of the environment of the world and how we are affecting it, how those affects are being fixed now, and where we seem to be going in terms of ...

Hologram of Liberty by Boston T. Party - By far the best analysis of the United States Constitution and its founding than any other anti-federalist book I've ever read. Boston documents and fully explains his premise with hard-to-refute proof, using quotes from the Founders themselves! Boston starts with a simple question, asked on the back of his book: "Civic Belief #1 Congress was given few specific powers. All else was left to the States and to the people. Ample checks and balances protect the Republic from federal tyranny. Civic Belief #2 The Federal Government has become so powerful only because despotic officials have overstepped their strict, constitutional bounds." "If #1 is true, then how did #2 happen?" During the time I was reading this book, I had the chance to see Boston T. Party speak twice: once at a local libertarian fundraiser and another at the Grand Western Alliance ("free state west") meeting about a week later. Both times, Boston mentioned this premise and this book. I also got to speak with him a little bit and learned some more of his viewpoint on this matter. Boston is not an anti-American. At worst he is an anarchist. However, he lays out his premise, denoting several facts about the Constitutional Convention ...

by James D. Best This is a historical novel based on the true events surrounding the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.  It's based mainly on the notes of James Madison and the letters and personal writings of Roger Sherman.  Sherman was one of the few in attendance at the convention who had signed the Declaration of Independence and was considered Madison's chief rival and leader of the smaller states in attendance. The story unfolds from both Madison and Sherman's perspectives, though the switching back and forth is handled masterfully - no crappy storytelling like Stephen King's It, with it's continual character switching.  Nearly everything is historically accurate and the few exceptions are well-noted by Mr. Best. The novel puts the Constitutional Convention into real terms and creates people out of the historical figures we have grown accustomed to seeing with a happy-haze of distance.  Madison is shown as the hard-nosed idealist who must learn the real rules of how the political game is played.  Sherman is shown as the pragmatic and strong-willed man he was - and as a genius at manipulation and dealings.  Hamilton is shown as mainly a lackey of General Washington, who is himself shown as a quietly practical, but mainly ...