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Bankruptcy of Our Nation: 12 Key Strategies for Protecting Your Finances in These Uncertain Times Review

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(More customer reviews)Jerry Robinson's timely read, "The Bankruptcy of our Nation", should have come out a year or so ago. But would we have paid attention to this message then? Maybe, but probably not. I know of several other books on this subject that have accurately watched trends and foretold of our current state of affairs that too few people read. But now that we're right in the midst of the economic madness, Robinson offers insight into various aspects of what is affecting our national and global financial issues including world banking, oil, the bailout, and historical perspective. This section is necessary so that we may be aware of trends and how history repeats itself. However, if the reader would only take note of the 12 key strategies the author presents to protect and build the reader's financial state, that would be worth picking up this book. Free online resources, sound Biblical advice and timeless quotes from admirable sources round out the text.

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Surrounded by a host of political and social problems, America stands at the crossroads of a devastating economic crisis - the size and scope of which demands immediate action, while instability and debt loom over the future. America is the greatest debtor nation in history. The value of the dollar is at tremendous risk. Inflation is about to become a huge reality. Crippled by personal debt, local and state governments facing revenue losses, and the federal government struggling to bail out segments of the economy, many Americans are suddenly afraid and uncertain of what the future may bring. Many worry if the United States can even recover from this crisis. Will you and your family financially survive and even thrive during this turbulent time? Bankruptcy of Our Nation gives you vital insight, historical and future perspective, revealing how America got into this mess, and how you can make informed decisions to weather this economic crisis. Don't rely on the government to secure your future - empower yourself with sound economic strategies, solutions, and godly principles today!

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The Taking of Getty Oil: The Full Story of the Most Spectacular - and Catastrophic - Takeover of All Time Review

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(More customer reviews)It is almost embarrasing that no previous reader reviews of this book have appeared in Amazon, the reason being, no doubt, that it was published prior to the inception of Amazon. This is an extremely good business book. Coll gives us a very concrete, blow by blow description of the events leading to the acquisition of Getty by Texaco. The story here does not tell itself; it is potentially very messy due to the large number of swirling conflicts and multiple personalities involved, and the inherent difficulty in sorting the multiple facets of the story out, and presenting them in a clear narrative line. Despite this potential murk, the story as it unfolds is extremely dramatic, twisting, turning, doubling back on itself, and popping out more than one totally unanticipated surprise. The book is as good as it is because of Coll's skill in clarifying all of this, and underlining, subtly, the constant micro-drama as it unfolds (it's not just the "big" actions that are dramatic, but lots of little moves along the way). Coll is also excellent in giving us a clear and concrete sense of the different personalities involved, without which the events themselves would be far less interesting. All in all, a very satisfying read.

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Prime Times, Bad Times Review

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(More customer reviews)It seems to be a common desire that once a person leaves a media organization, he or she wants to give a personal account of the "inside" view following the severing of the ties. That's the genre for this book. In February 1986 Joyce tendered his letter of resignation to Gene Jankowski. He begins his tale of the events leading up to that action by first describing the early years of the organization he left, CBS. "CBS News consistently measures itself by its past" he writes. He talks about the "glory days" of Edward R. Murrow and the "handful of young men" who created broadcast news from scratch, with no model to follow.
It is hard to comprehend how corporate decisions are made. Dan Rather inherited a prestigious news organization as far as ratings were concerned. While his performance has kept the network at or near the cellar the entire time he's been in the anchor slot, he seems arrogantly secure in his position. Joyce points out that both inside CBS and outside there was concern when Walter Cronkite announced he was stepping down, that Rather did not have the qualities necessary for the anchor slot. It was assumed Roger Mudd would be next in line to replace Cronkite. Subsequent ratings all these decades later showed Joyce's observation at the time was correct. Evidently the decision-makers at CBS have an agenda other than public preference.
There are other glimpses of the inner workings of CBS during the 1980s. For anyone still interested in CBS, perhaps better phrased, for anyone interested in corporate bureaucracy this book is full of examples of decisions that were not always the most logical.

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The Big Bing: Black Holes of Time Management, Gaseous Executive Bodies, Exploding Careers, and Other Theories on the Origins of the Business Universe Review

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(More customer reviews)I had high expectations for this book after reading "Throwing the Elephant: Zen and the Art of Managing Up" and "What would Machiavelli Do?". Bing's black humour brought some relief to the entirely too serious business of business. After all, we all need to be able to laugh at ourselves, right?
This book is a collection of snippets on a wide variety of business experiences written between the late eighties and the present day. Given that there is no explicit theme for this book (apart from the madness of business and the people within it), I struggled to finish it.
Although some of the material provides 'applied learning' that will be universally relevant and recognisable, frankly chunks of it just aren't that amusing. Weird - yes, ironic - yes, funny - sorry, no.

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The Founding Fathers on Leadership: Classic Teamwork in Changing Times Review

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(More customer reviews)WOW...Get this book! I bought it for the leadership principles, and got caught up in the American Revolution! Phillips shows how Washington, Paine, Franklin, Madison, and the other American heroes plotted and executed the revolution-against all odds. How they set their goals, inspired the masses, turned cowardice into courage, and forged a team of patriots that withstood British onslaughts, freezing weather, and a host of other obstacles that would have stopped normal men in their tracks. But these were not normal men! They were inspired LEADERS-dedicated to the cause of freedom. And they used every leadership principle imaginable to pull off their revolution. Find out HOW they did it! If you want to become a leader in your business, community, or church, read this book! If you want to fall in love with your country, buy a copy of The Founding Fathers On Leadership-and be prepared to order more copies for your friends!

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Missed Fortune: Dispel the Money Myth-Conceptions--Isn't It Time You Became Wealthy? Review

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(More customer reviews)I came upon an ad by the author, Mr. Andrews in the Sunday Los Angeles Times today - 5/22/05. It mentioned his book as well as a lot of claims to max ones wealth. So, I thought to do a bit of a google search on him and the title of his book. I did finally find a review by a Certified Financial Planner on the Seattle times website: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002192636_qa_retirementhotline.html
I thought it wise to share this with anyone intersted and feel that most who read the following may want to hold back on buying his book.
Equity Indexed Life Insurance-I have been approached by several insurance agents regarding using equity indexed annuities to creat an arbitrage using home equity. They are basing their approach on a recent book written by Douglas Andrew-Missed Fortune and Missed Fortune 101- suggesting interest only mortgages and investing the equity in S & P 500 indexed annuities. Invest the max amount allowable under law with the least amount of insurance required, etc. What are your thoughts on this strategy? Have you read or heard about this book and the author? - Cary, N.C.
FP: I just finished reading the book "Missed Fortune". The concept is interesting and may make sense in a very few specific cases, I would be wary of its general applicability. The book fails to adequately address the risks inherent in the strategy.
The first part of the strategy I would be concerned with is the notion that you can structure interest only loans to last a long time. Interest only loans typically have an interest only period of 10 years or less.
The most "attractive" interest rates are associated with adjustable rate mortgages. Most of these have fixed rate periods of 3, 5 or 7 years. So, for the strategy to work as advertised, you will need to refinance (or sell and purchase another home)as often as every 7 years or less. And then you will have to hope that (a) you will qualify for new financing and (b) that today's low rates are available.
The strategy presented in the book assumes that your home interest is fully tax deductable. The analysis does not account for the fact that most people actually only receive a partial deduction since their itemized deductions aside from the home mortgage interest add up to substantially less than the standard deduction (which is scheduled to rise over time).
And finally, the strategy assumes that you will earn a relatively high rate of return on the equity index life insurance cash value. Every projection the book makes has an unreasonably high rate of interest projected for a long time into the future. The strategy prospects for success are highly sensitive to the rate that you acutally receive.
If the insurance policy return is as little as .5 - 1% less on average, the strategy has real problems. And the problems can be huge.
If you are drawing "tax free" income out of an insurance policy through a series of policy loans as shown in the book, the policy surrender value drops steadily. When the policy surrender value drops to zero, which it could quickly if interest rates are less than hoped for, the policy lapses and all the interest that has been credited on a tax deferred basis suddenly becomes taxable income.
The author's answer to this problem is to suggest that the IRS is unlikely to go after a 90 year old for that kind of tax. You wouldn't want to test that theory.
The bottom line is that there is no free lunch. The equity index insurance products ability to credit interest to the cash value is essentially the same as any fixed insurance product. The fact that the interest credit is "linked" to the S&P 500 index is very different from actual market participation. It's just a calculation that happens to use some aspects of the S&P 500 index performance in the formula.
While the products do provide protection against market losses, that protection comes at a price. The price is that they will not and cannot produce long term returns similar to market returns.
For people in the highest tax brackets who are not going to depend on the insurance policy performance to provide retirement income and who will save enough in income taxes to offset the inherent costs in the strategy, there may be a place for this strategy. Aside from this narrow group of people, trhe strategy is almost certainly inappropriate.
People should recognize that this is a very complex strategy with many pitfalls that are not well presented or analyzed in the book. Be very careful!

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In Good Times and Bad: Strengthening Your Relationship When the Going Gets Tough and the Money Gets Tight (Wiley) Review

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(More customer reviews)First I would like to say that I am a therapist and one of the # 1 reasons for divorce are money problems. This transcends all income levels. I loved how this book was really descriptive about how people's attitude about money affect their perception of how whether their partner is messing up with money. For example for some money means security or power or love etc. It really addresses the issue from a psychodynamic approach. If you buy one book, make it this one.

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Privileged Son: Otis Chandler And The Rise And Fall Of The L.a. Times Dynasty Review

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(More customer reviews)In several of our major metropolitan areas (e.g. Boston, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles), a daily newspaper played a major role during the 20th century. From my perspective, the area and the paper had a symbiotic relationship which must be understood in all its complexity if we are to understand either the area's culture or the unique role the newspaper has played within that culture. In this book, McDougal functions as a journalist and an historian, of course, but also as an anthropologist. As the book's subtitle indicates, his primary purpose is to examine Otis Chandler during "the rise and fall of the L.A. dynasty." (It is worth noting that the Boston Globe is now owned by the parent company of the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times is now owned by the parent company of the Chicago Tribune. Perhaps McDougal or someone else will examine those recent developments in a book yet to be written. And perhaps examine, also, recent mergers which have created media conglomerates such as AOL Time Warner.) For much of this book, the Times's various publishers dominate the narrative. Specifically, first Harrison Otis, then Harry Chandler, then Harry's son Norman, and finally Norman's son Otis. Of equal interest to me were the roles played by various women, notably Norman's wife Buff and Otis' two wives, Missy and then Bettina. In California throughout the latter half of the twentieth century, the Chandlers established and solidified a "dynasty" but also what McDougal more correctly describes as an "oligarchy."
These are among the important questions addressed in this book:
1. How and why did the Los Angles Times become so influential?
2. How and why did it later lose so much of that influence?
3. Precisely what role did Otis Chandler play throughout that process?
McDougal is especially effective when explaining the culture within which three generations of Chandlers served as publisher. For example: "Like Harry, Norman understood early that the business of the Times was conducted as much in the private clubs and exclusive retreats of Los Angeles as it was inside the Times Mirror Building....With his chiseled good looks, cleft chin, and Stanford polish, Norman also rose naturally to a leadership among the newest generations of L.A. Brahmins. As the older patricians with whom Harry once did business began dying off, a new wave of young tycoons came to populate the exclusive mahogany-paneled grandeur" of the city's most exclusive cultural and social organizations. The young "brahmins" also called themselves "the Economic Roundtable" and founded their own organization bearing that name.
It was into such a culture that Otis was born and within which he was raised to assume, eventually, his own position of immense wealth, power, status, and prestige. He and others in his generation "behaved in much the same fashion as their East Coast counterparts with their insulated neighborhoods, leisure time activities (e.g. membership at the Los Angeles Country Club with its "no-Jews/Negroes/Mexicans allowed clubhouse"), and social inbreeding. Otis was perhaps the most privileged of sons but, interestingly enough, his father required him to begin at the lowest level in each of the newspaper's departments; after completing one apprenticeship, he was assigned to a different department and again began at the bottom, including salary level. By the time he became publisher, Otis was well-prepared in terms of understanding literally every facet of the newspaper's operations.
There are only a few recently published biographies and cultural histories which read like a well-written novel. This is one of them. I'm not suggesting that McDougal is an heir to Balzac or Barzun but I do commend him on the liveliness of his narrative as well as on the substantial content produced by his extensive research. McDougal helps his reader to understand why the Chandlers and the Los Angeles Times have been central to the evolution of a city, indeed of an entire region.

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The Skinny on Time Management: How to Maximize Your 24-Hour Gift Review

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(More customer reviews)Can I give this book 10 Stars?
The Skinny On Series are basically Cliffs Notes books on whatever subject it's covering. In this case, the subject is "Time Management". The book is simple, it's funny, and it gets right to the point without sacrificing details on what is really important. So if you are wondering whether or not to give this book a chance, the answer is one big YES. Why?
1. The information is amazing and unbelievably helpful.
2. It is so simple and easy to read. You can actually read it from cover to cover in one hour.
3. The Skinny On crew has done all the research for us. Do you really have the time to go over dozens of books on time management just to write down the important and helpful points found in each one of them? I know I don't.
4. If you DO want more detailed information, Jim Randel tells you were to find it.
5. It's funny and entertaining, you know, as in Not Boring.
6. The book not only helps us how to Manage Time, by teaches us how to use time in a way that we can accomplish our dreams and goals.
7. And, did I say that it's incredibly helpful?
Trust me, do NOT think twice. This book is worth every single penny. Whether you are looking for ways to create time for your goals, spend more time with your family, get yourself organized, find more time for yourself, or just want to figure out where in the world is all your time going, This Book is for YOU. I absolutely LOVED it, and I know you will too.

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The Skinny on Time Management summarizes for you the thinking of those who have spent years contemplating time and time management. This book will tell you exactly what you need to know to find the time to accomplish your goals. This book addresses not only techniques for creating additional time but also strategies for making more impactful and effective use of the time you have. Those people who master the techniques and strategies presented in this book are well on their way to the success they aspire to. In The Skinny on Time Management, you will learn how to:- beat back the impulse to procrastinate- create a goals-step-time analysis- focus, focus, focus- make the most of gaps- improve your memory and speed-reading- make your use of time powerful and impactful- multi-task- create a time journal- prioritize- triumph over distractions- batch for effectiveness.

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My Life from Scratch: A Sweet Journey of Starting Over, One Cake at a Time Review

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(More customer reviews)I work in a bookstore and read soooooooooo many books that and often I lose interest and toss the book aside to move on to the next one.
Well. I LOVED this book. I read it in two days and found myself making home made bread and vanilla cake (which was THE BEST EVER).
This is the story of Sandra Bullocks's sister, Gesine, who worked in Hollywood for her sisters production company and gave up a career most American's would drool over. Famous Stars - check! Fabulous clothes - check! Lunch/dinner dates - check!
First class travel - check!
Gesine chucked all the "phoniness" of LA to follow her passion for baking and ended up opening her own bakery - due mainly to an offhand comment her sister made about Gesine's fabulous macaroons.
If you love to bake (or eat) hurry and place your order for this book. If you're not a foodie but your doing a job that drains you and long to do something else, buy this book!
It's a heartfelt, easy, inspiring, read.
Truly the best book I've read all year. I will not be loaning my copy to ANYONE. And I rarely keep books I read (I usually pass them on). I have ONE SHELF that holds favorite books (6 in all) - and this takes first place.
Did I mention I LOVED this book! Funny. Heartwarming. Inspiring. Funny.
And there's recipes!!!!

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