Tax Free 2000: The Rebirth of American Liberty

From the Publisher

Taxation without representation: That's what started the first revolution. It may very well be what starts the second. Dr. Murray Sabrin has written a remarkable plan to end taxes by the year 2000 and still provide the needed services. With clear, concise language the author guides the reader through a fascinating discussion of the original purpose of government and the history of taxes in this country. Sabrin provides plenty of practical examples of the ways the government can provide essential services without the necessary burden of taxes. His ability to present complex economic concepts in a clear, understandable style makes Sabrin's Tax Free 2000 the best investment you could make.

Customer Reviews:

Utter Ridiculousness.......2004-08-09

In the interests of disclosure, Dr. Sabrin was a professor of mine in college, and an excellent professor he was. However, if I knew then what I knew now, I would have asked Dr Sabrin a few questions. First, how he could make the argument (very briefly), that we should send people back to where they "came from." I should say, it has been some time since I read his book, and this is not a central theme in this book, but the fact that it's even put out there is disturbing. Secondly, with the regressive tax structure the U.S. already has, how could he possibly argue that income tax should be repealed. It is very easy to see who will get the windfall should such a thing occur - the more money you have, the less you'd pay. Sales taxes would skyrocket (since poorer people use a much higher proportion of their income to buy things, it stands to reason that they will pay quite a higher proportion of their income in taxes), as would property taxes, which, of course, corporations would find ways around paying, leaving your average homeowner to pay the bulk of these taxes. Dr. Sabin ran for governor of New Jersey a few years back on the Libertarian ticket. Libertarians and conservatives would argue that this will encourage saving, but tell that to the family struggling to pay for basic needs like clothing (taxed in many states already), etc. Rather than structuring the tax system as such, we need to close up the loopholes that allow corporations to pay nothing in taxes while forcing you or I to pick up their slack. How can we disallow a tax on dividends or estates? Oh, well, it's double-taxation, they would argue. However, sales taxes are a double tax - our income has already been taxed, why do we have to pay another tax if dividends don't get taxed? Warren Buffett himself has pointed to the dopiness of this - he'd wind up paying 3% of his income in taxes while his secretary paid 30% of hers.

Book Description

What are super-devoted fans of comic books really like? What draws them together and energizes their zeal? What do the denizens of this pop-culture world have in common?

This book provides good answers as it scrutinizes the fans whose profiles can be traced at their conventions, in pages of fanzines, on websites, in chat-rooms, on electronic bulletin boards, and before the racks in comic-book stores. They are a singular breed, and an absorbing interest in comic books (sometimes life-consuming) unites them.

Studies have shows that the clustering, die-hard disciples of Star Trek have produced a unique culture. The same can be said of American enthusiasts of comic books. These aficionados range from the stereotypical "fanboy" who revels in the minute details of mainstream superhero titles like X-Men to the more discriminating (and downright snobbish) reader of idiosyncratic alternative comics like Eightball. Literate comics like Watchman, Radioactive Man, and Peepshow demand a knowledgeable audience and reward members of the culture for their expertise while tending to allienate those outside. This book shows how the degree of "comics literacy" determines a fan's place in the culture and how the most sophisticated share the nuanced history of the format.

With history, interviews, and textual analysis Comic Book Culture: Fanboys and True Believers examines the varied reading communities absorbed by the veneration of the comics and demonstrates how each functions in the ever-broadening culture.

Customer Reviews:

A good start for understanding.......2002-08-22

I'm using this book in my college writing course ("text+vision") this semester, and it is exactly what I wanted from a cultural overview of comic book fandom. Pustz does a great job of explaining how fandom came about, how it compares to other cultures (with a consistent reference to baseball fans, for example), and some of its peculiarities. In particular, he is able to partly explain the incestual nature of consumer and producers in comics, where each is a responsible party to the worst excesses of the medium, yet Pustz is careful to not make a judgment statement about this (unlike me).

This book is not a history of comics, of who published what first and which creator sued which publisher. For that, you should check out Bradford Wright's Comic Book Nation. It's not even a history of comics fandom, although it does gather quite a bit of that together in its pages (Bill Schelly covers the history of fandom in more detail). What Pustz tries to cover is the area inbetween--where fans and publishers met. This is the culture of comic books, the place where the two groups make something together, and at first it may seem strange to think of consumers as producers, or producers as consumers. But, through his analysis of comics letters pages and fanzines, Pustz shows how the two groups affected each other.

Comic Book Culture is copyright 1999, but feels like it was written in 1996 or 1997, mainly for the lack of focus on the incredible growth of manga in America and how Pokemon, DragonBall Z, and Sailor Moon are revitalizing comic book culture by bringing children back to comics. The last three years have also increased the importance of the Internet on the culture, which Pustz talks about briefly in the chapter 5. Finally, he really doesn't get much chance to focus on the rise of the graphic novel as an option for reading the medium compared to the ephemeral magazine.

As a textbook in a cultural study hybrid course, this book is perfect. For the average comic reader, it might be interesting to discover aspects of the hobby that you didn't know about. And it might just be the thing to share with parents or friends who don't understand why you keep reading Spider-Man, even though you're over 30.

Stereotyping without an real understanding.......2002-04-06

A good percentage of the evidence he presents regarding fans of the medium is anecdotal, gathered from employees of one particular comic shop in the midwest. Pustz' view of Comic Book Culture is clearly that of one who makes no real effort to understand the topic... Overall, it paints all comics fans in a negative light, which will not help the already-struggling industry in the least.

liked the concept, did not like the book.......2001-12-30

I loved the whole concept of "investigating" comic book culture but i just got bored with this book...
It might be a good book if you intend to write an essay (it reads like one long essay) but there is no theme, no story, no news, no conviction...where is the author? What is running in his head? What does he want to tell us apart from the fact that there is such a thing as "comic book culture"?
Okay...so there is a culture...why read the book?

Very good survey of the field.......2001-01-25

Are you a comic book lover surrounded by people who don't "get it" about comic books? Do you know someone who is passionate about comic books, and it's hard to understand the attraction of something more suited for children than adults? If so, this book is for you.

The author does a very good job at surveying the present-day culture around comic books. The readers of the classic superhero type of comics (Batman, Superman, etc.) are overwhelmingly male. The stories don't appeal to women very much, and women are usually portrayed as barely clothed, and with gravity-defying breasts. He also explores the rise of alternative comics (small press, or self-published, books whose subject matter can be practically anything), where female cartoonists and readers, and older readers, tend to go.

Fans tend to get very possessive about "their" character. If the writer takes things in an undesired direction, fans have no problems with saying so, in no uncertain terms. One of the things limiting the growth in popularity of comic books is the requirement on the part of the reader of comic literacy. Unless the reader can start with Issue 1, there are usually too many "in" jokes, or too many things talked about in previous issues, for the new reader to totally understand it all.

This one is very good. It covers a lot of ground, and in a way that a novice and veteran can understand. Personally, I am not much of a comic book reader, but after reading this, I think I'll visit my local comic book store to see what is on the racks.

A great introductory study.......2000-11-03

Pustz has done a wonderful job analyzing the audiences of comic books. While not as theoretical as some of the scholarly works on popular culture and its users (such as can be found on topics like film or rock and roll), this is a benefit, since it is the first for its topic. While not useful as a general history of comics (as noted by the previous reviewer), it was not intended as such, and this would be an excellent supplementary book.

Comic Book Culture: Fanboys and True Believers. (book review): An article from: The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology

Average customer rating:

Comic Book Culture: Fanboys and True Believers. (book review): An article from: The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology
Jeffery Klaehn
Manufacturer: Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Assn.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books

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Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, published by Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Assn. on February 1, 2002. The length of the article is 1092 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Comic Book Culture: Fanboys and True Believers. (book review)
Author: Jeffery Klaehn
Publication: The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology (Refereed)
Date: February 1, 2002
Publisher: Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Assn.
Volume: 39 Issue: 1 Page: 111(3)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

Just as we generally pay scant attention to the potential dangers of nuclear power and nuclear war, until quite recently, scholars have made limited critical attempts to understand the cultural manifestations of the nuclear status quo. Films that feature nuclear issues most often simplify and trivialize the subject. They also convey a sense of the ambivalence and anxiety that pervades cultural responses to our nuclear capability. The production of popular narrative films with nuclear topics largely conforms to periods of heightened nuclear awareness or fear, such as the fear of fallout from nuclear testing manifested in the atomic creatures in science fiction movies of the late 1950s. By their very numbers, and through a set of recurring stylistic and narrative conventions, nuclear films reflect a deep-seated cultural anxiety. This study includes detailed textual analysis of films that depict nuclear issues including the development and use of the first atomic bombs, nuclear testing and the fear of fallout, nuclear power, the Cold War arms race, "loose nukes", and future nuclear war and its aftermath.(Includes bibliographic references, index, filmography, choronology; Illustrated)

Customer Reviews:

Great book.......2003-03-25

I thought this was a great book. Gail offers plenty of evidence, some of which I was also able to find on my own at smokinggun.com. Before reading this book I believed Elvis died in 1977 ,since reading the book and doing some of my own research, I do not believe Elvis died in 1977. I did find one thing that Gail overlooked, how ever it still all falls in to place. But where ever Elvis may be if he is still with us at age 68, I would never want to out him. I find comfort in knowing that Elvis could still be alive, possibly enjoying his grandchildren. The proof is there if you look in the right places.

Good book.......2002-03-04

I think this book is one of the best writen about Elvis Presley...Let's get to this book. It offers (along with her two other Presley books) solid evidence that he may have lived past 8-16-77. More importently it shows that whether dead or alive, Elvis was a good man and a patriot. It also dispelles the drug rumers with ease. I think this author gets closer to who Elvis really is than most people. Don't let the other inferior books about Elvis being alive make you discount Gail's writing

People who use Elvis to profit.......2001-12-30

My mother was the Elvis fan, so that is where I got my knowledge of him and his music. I remember years ago, when Gail wrote a book saying Elvis called her many nights and told her things he didn't want anyothers to know. I have always been puzzled as to why she was so adament about finding him. I didn't know that a large corporation had put out a bounty for any reliable leads to Elvis being alive. She made money on this one time. Why is she to know things the government should only know or why does the government if sharing with her facts or rhymes, why not publish this. If I really cared about someone, and knew they were alive and had to be in hiding to protect my life and family, why would you try to beat him out of the woods, but it does say What profits a man to gain the whole world and use his own soul?
This book really made me want to cry. She writes it in a mystery form, but the numerology and New Age movements is like she is trying to convince us or (her) to believe this, and comparing him to Jesus, is not good in my book.
She wrote a book called Orion, a book that was about someone like Elvis and this Orion fakes his death, and it was taken off shelves before it hit, she thought, that Elvis was behind taking all books off and doing something with them. Why is she so interested in opening up government documents and making his life open to the public like she wants him to come back and perform again like a caged animal on display.
Is it better to want to think he is alive, or dead, which feels better? At times, some of it can be interesting in a sort of a way, then boring, then pushy. Decide for yourself I guess is the best way to know.
Do you want him to come back? Did he not give us all of himself when he was performing several times a day, 7 days a week, for months, with a week vacation in between. Can you imagine trying to be the image we tried to make him. The man was human, he went thru everything all the rest of us has, he had a cross to bear as we all do. I guess that is why he was so moving on his songs, he went thru happy times, sad, hurting, then meeting someone and falling in love, breaking up, losing someone you love to death, that made him know and us to feel the energy he has in his songs. I am sorry to think that friends desert and use you, but don't they to each of us? I am sorry to think people would rather invade in your private life, than to let you go on living the life you are familiar with now. I hope no one wants to capture you like an animal. look into your hearts.

Lets go over the facts, and see what we come out with.......2001-12-29

Many years ago, Gail Brewer Giorgio came out with a book called Orion, but for some odd reason it was taken off the shelf, due to the fact it sounded too much like the life of a performer Elvis Presley even tho it was not about him, but the books just seem to disappear. She never believed he was dead, in her second book about him, she said he would call her and tell her things, there were clues that she was bothered by the name having an Aaron not Aron, not being buried by his mother, clues he left, seeing him at Graceland when he was presumed dead, which in the Truth that Elvis himself states, he did leave clues for us to find out. In this book it is a mystery but why is she so attached to finding out the truth if he called her, I am sure she could have made arrangements to meet him, or know more. < when he didn"t want to be found at the time < actually she put his life in danger> she new alot about the numerology he studied < along with other books < what I can't understand is how she gets government records, when we can't get them. The book is a mystery, born out of the truth about Elvis, it is interesting, but she does try and force some of her opinions on you, that is one reason I gave this 3 stars. A mystery, that is unfolding to be the truth? she knew this years ago. I guess she believed it so strongly that after the TRUTH ABOUT ELVIS ARON PRESELY, in his own words came out, she figured it was time to write another one of her books.
she has been on the trail of someone who was hoping to stay alive by hiding,for his very own life was put in danger and also his families, but some people were out to find him for a bounty and used him to profit. The book is ok. at times boring, and at times far fetched, putting Elvis in the same respect as Jesus, HE was the first to say, to a group of girls who stood up in one of his concerts with a sign that said, Elvis is King, he stopped the show and said, and I quote, "There is only one King, and that is Jesus Christ". read and see what you think. Elvis always did say alot of people made alot of money off of him. From selling stuff, stealing his stuff, to using his name to profit. Take it from there. Weigh the ground she goes over.

I expected more.......2001-08-14

This book was an interesting read, but I expected more. It was too bad that the photos used were in black and white, specially the photo of Elvis that was taken four months after his "death". Another thing that bothered me were the chapters on Numerology and Clues. Here the author expresses her knowledge and beliefs on the New Age and Numerology. I was very uncomfortable with the way she accepts comparisons (sometimes forced to fit her theory) between Elvis and Jesus, made by other authors or people.

Besides that, this book opens the possibility that Elvis did not die on August 1977. The reasons for Elvis to fake his death along with other evidence strongly suggests that Elvis did have many reasons to dissapear from the public eye.

Average customer rating:
SIMON & SCHUSTER FUN WITH CROSTICS #23 (Simon & Schuster Fun with Crostics)
Charles Duerr
Manufacturer: Fireside
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Crostic | Crosswords | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0684859416

Customer Reviews:

SQL RS Beyond the basics (and some basics too).......2006-09-23

If you're a moderately skilled programmer, a self-learner, and you want to get beyond just "getting started" deploying and using Sql Server 2000 Reporting Services, this is the book for you.

I especially found the chapters on customized set up extremely helpful. The installation wizard doesn't offer a whole lot of options, and most of teh time you don't know fully how you want to configure it until you've tried it out. You'll get some good starters on rconfiguring your installation here.

You'll get enough basics to be ready to dive in, and then some tricks well enough beyond that to give you well on your way to devleoping customized solutions.

Excellent and surprisingly good........2006-03-24

For a total beginner (which I definately was) this is a FANTASTIC introduction to Reporting Services. Three months after starting my first job as a programmer straight out of University, and now I'm the main person in the firm with Reporting Services knowledge - and it's all thanks to this book.

The writing style is actually excellent for beginners, as I was terrified by the prospect of reading such a mammoth. But these guys make it fun and interesting to read (right down to the jokes and sidenotes) and really do touch on everything you need in a useful manner without boring you.

And excellent resource that now never leaves my desk. I can only hope these guys do a SQL Sever 2005 one. I cannot recommend this book enough for those starting on Reporting Services. It really is the book to read.

And if you are looking for a book on SQL Reportin 2005 - I would still recommend this book to give you the basics and introduction which is unbeatable thus far.

Good for developers.......2005-12-14

This book has been written from a VB programmers point of view. If you want to just start creating reports or if you're not a VB programmer (ie DBA etc) you may find this hard work.As another reviewer mentioned, you may find the authors' jokes and writing style to be a hit and miss affair.

Nevertheless, there is some depth on Reporting Services not to be found elsewhere that is quite handy.

Let's be realistic.......2005-10-15

Now that all the friends and family have promoted the book...

In order to understand something new, we all must relate that which we're learning to that which we already know.
Pete and Bill have a difficult time transitioning from campy comedians to thoughtful educators. To this extent, their writing style lacks any useful analogies whatsoever which might bridge the gap between the known and the unknown.

The book is full of droll and distracting fantasy references which are completely irrelevant to the subject matter, and are prone to taking the unsuspecting reader off task.

The potential purchaser should also be forewarned that the authors tend towards another immature trait of attempting to impress the reader with their linguistic abilities. Yet, to be effective at teaching they should have remembered to never use a complicated word where a simple one will do.

Many examples are rambling and inconcise, where step-by-step quickly degrades into an ambiguous and vague path.

Not every developer can obtain DOMAIN Authority in order to issue SSL certificates and it's too bad that the authors don't allow for this type of scenario, especially when a reporting system is on a VPN.

All of the content is there, but it's up to the reader to filter and translate most of it from the pitfalls aforementioned into something more to the center of the bell curve.

Good Book on Reporting services.......2005-10-02

I really the beginning part on the setup and installation of the reporting services themselves. At my firm we needed to set up a seperate server for this purpose and the IT group was swamped with another project and this helped a great deal. I still am workign on development but the book has been very usefula and easy to understand.

Hitchhiker's Guide to SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services

Average customer rating:

Hitchhiker's Guide to SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services
William R. Vaughn Peter Blackburn
Manufacturer: Addison-Wesley Professional
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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