Books

A collection of 1794 cents reflects much of the story of one of the most pioneering and romantic struggles in American history. In the little Mint building on Seventh Street in Philadelphia, during the middle of the last decade of the eighteenth century, history seems to almost have held her breath for a time, and we find the marks of her desperately clenched teeth engraved deeply in the soft copper pennies of those years.

—Dr. William H. Sheldon in Early American Cents

Axis of Mid-Evil–Iranian Islamic fascism was a cancer which started in 1979 when the Iranian Hezbollah took over the American Embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. This greatly embarrassed the United States, because the President was unable to deal effectively with these people. At that time we could have seized the initiative, killed the Hezbollah kidnappers, and freed our hostages. That would have put an early end to this cancer. But instead the fascist mullah regime took advantage of our weakness, because we helped the mullahs replace the Shah and start the campaign of terrorism that has never stopped.

During World War II, a small man with a lot of hate in his heart killed over fifty million people. Imagine what Iranian mullahs filled with hate and armed with nukes could do to the world. Adolf Hitler never had nukes, but the Iranian government will have them within one year, if not sooner.

The government of Iran is not afraid of its neighbors. It seeks nuclear weapons to promote its goals of conquering the oil-rich countries of the Middle East, driving the United States out of the region, and eventually destroying Israel, Europe, and the United States. Their own people hate them, and this gives the U. S. an opportunity to solve the problem of Iran’s nuclear weapons while supporting their right to freedom, democracy, and independence.

Apart from the brain, our eyesight is the most complex system in the human body. Describing its function in “down to earth” terms has been the goal of the author.

Two of the many specialties of medical practice serving the needs of this prized possession, the eye, are ophthalmology and optometry. There are differences in these fields, but they are not planetary when it comes to the health and safety of your eyesight. Both professions are well schooled, both recognize their limitations. The author clearly defines where each discipline’s skills are emphasized and some of the reasons why there is some “rattling of swords” on occasion between these two great professions.

In the past fifty years the author has examined the eyes of people of virtually every walk of life. This affords him first-hand information, along with some interesting and related experiences regarding our eyesight. • The book’s content is carefully designed to appeal to people of all ages and circumstances, whether students already studying at eye colleges, those of the working class, or senior members of our society.

It is a voice of experience presenting an easy to read and understandable reference guide into the workings of our most dominant sense, and one of God’s most precious gifts to mankind, the gift of sight.

What is selling?

It is convincing someone to do the things you ask of them.
We all do this, every day. The best salespeople talk with their customers, not at them.

Why are customers so important?

Companies exist because of their customers. Every person, at every company, is employed because of the customers at that company. There are no other reasons.
Much more inside…Customer Magic

Who stands beside us in life’s unbridgeable moments? Who will help us transcend as the internal voices echo, “I was there…when you were picked last for the team…when you waited by the phone for the call that never came…when you felt alone and unloved.”
Each of us inhabits an invisible kingdom. It is the secret life landscaped by loneliness and neglect. It is the home of our resident ghosts and our indwelling wounds. It is the cryptic code etched inside a heart of sorrow that no one else can see.

This is an entryway into that world, inspired by letters and emails of teens who have written to me in an attempt to share their pain and doubt on such divererse topics as eating disorders, self-mutilation, drug and alcohol abuse, sex, death, and broken parts. One-part love letter, one-part guide, this book bears witness to each of our secret lives.

As one teen describes,“I want to steal the sun from the sky so everyone else can feel this darkness.” In the words of another, “I wish I could realign the stars so I can change who I am and be something more for others to love.” And finally, “Dear Scott, please write back, ’cause I have nowhere else to turn.”

Here is my reply.

“Whenever I feel like life is too much and I just want to go into the bathroom and swallow anything I can find, I read your book. You have no idea how helpful it has been to me. It doesn’t make my problems go away but by the time I am done reading, I am too inspired to hurt myself. You have saved my life many times, and you don’t even know who I am.”

—An Anonymous Teen

This collection of poetry is definitely dark but you will find no ghouls, goblins, or vampires hiding out. These poems come alive from the depths of the binding darkness that is found in all of us. Travel down the spiral to visit the barren heart of depression and the scattered mind.

The dry humor of these mostly biographical tales of sorrow, contradiction, twisted relationships, split personalities, along with unique views on love, marriage, and death will have you unsure whether to laugh or cry. Sadness can be paralyzing, madness can be hilarious and together, they will be inspiring.