War Tax Resistance: A Guide To Withholding Your Support From The Military

Book Description

Based on the experience of thousands of war tax resisters and enlivened with dozens of inspiring stories of resistance, War Tax Resistance provides both support and practical advice for everyone resisting or considering resisting war taxes. From how to deal with the IRS (from green cards to property seizure, summonses to income tax resistance) to taking creative dissent to the streets. Its mixture of history, analysis, philosophy and technical information makes War Tax Resistance an invaluable reference for anyone concerned about the impacts of militarism on society. Now in its 5th revamped, revised edition.

Customer Reviews:

Don't Fall For This Trap!.......2003-07-26

Most Tax protesters have ended up paying high penalties or worse, in jail.
Left-wingers are buying this book like crazy to show their support for "peace". But I thought they were in favor of taxes. I guess when someone takes their money and spends it on a program they don't like, its wrong. But when someone with a different political view wants taxes to stop funding left-wing causes they call it selfishness. Real hypocrites. Pay your taxes, stay out of jail. If you're really upset, try voting sometime...

there is a 2003 edition of this book out now.......2003-03-25

It's published by the War Resisters League.

An Overlooked Avenue for Political Dissent.......2001-12-16

In light of recent events (9/11) this book is more valuable than it has ever been in its 20 years of print. As the Bush administration declares war on terrorism (a term they refuse to define)the military industrial complex stands to develope beyond its already ridiculous proportions, and human rights stand to be squandered to the back of our national conscience. Already the U.S. Ambassador to Bolivia has claimed that any type of civil protest in Bolivia is to be considered terrorism, as such protest stands to cripple the U.S. drug war effort in said country. The war on terrorism will inevitably become the excuse to continue U.S. imperialism, and restrain civil liberties and human rights worldwide.
This book explains how many people have refused to support such violence and military action, by refusing to pay their taxes, and redistributing them to peaceful and humanitarian organizations. This book offers an in depth look at the history of war tax resistance as a form of political protest, its values and its accomplishments. It explains the reasons why someone might choose to pursue such action, and what one might expect from the government in response.
I encourage everyone to pick up this book, if not to use it, to at least be familiar with the options of political protest described within, and the reasons that drive U.S. citizens to resist war taxes.

Book Description

Alita must choose a challenge team to defeat Jashugan, the proud, invincible Motorball champion. Who will give their all-their very life-for the lovely Battle Angel? In the intense heat of battle during her final one-on-one showdown with Jashugan, Alita slips into a trance that provides an incredible revelation about her mysterious past.

Customer Reviews:

One big long rollerblade race.......2005-05-23

The plot: Alita has risen to the top in a sport called . Basically it consists of racing through an obstical course with wheels for feet (all characters are cyborgs, so they just pop the foot off and pop wheels on) until the motorball, a bowling ball sized goal carried by the contestants, has done a certain number of laps. Whoever has the ball at the finish line wins. To make things more interesting racers are armed and try to knock other contestants out of the race to improve their odds of winning. Most of the contestants get killed in the course of each race. The bottom line: we see lots of Alita fighting as usual.

The racing and fighting has another plus for Alita. Some of the techniques she uses to battle other contestants revive memories of her distant past and her origins. This is very important to her since they are the only clues she has, and important for people who are reading through the entire series.

Meanwhile little subplots are playing out: Alita's trainer is having flashbacks to his former motorball glory days and is living way too vicariously through Alita. Because she will soon face the champion motorballer who defeated him, he goes to extreme lengths to get her the best gear - an extremely sharp knife that can cut through diamonds. Meanwhile the champion is having brain trouble (every so often his brain just shuts off) as the result of an old motorball injury. Alita's friend Doctor Ito is treating him, but both know that it is only a matter of time.

The problem that I had with this book is that it mostly follows two motorball races, and so much of it just shows different contestants skating around. Whenever it leaves the motorball court it gets interesting. Alita's flashbacks contribute to the series overall and the sideplots are great. Still so many pages of the book cover just racing - heavy on graphics and low on plot.

I preferred other books in the series Alita to this one. Probably I am biased against the book for being so much about a make believe sporting event. If the movie Death Race 2000 spoke to your inner soul you will enjoy this. Likewise if that movie didn't appeal to you this book probably won't either.

I'll admit that I did pick this up in the middle but..........2003-06-10

Yeah, I was kinda confused because this is the first volume I read... but, on the other hand, I don't think that picking up the story from the beginning would have saved my opinion of it. Kishiro Yukito is a talented artist, yes, but I found this story to be really trite and [weak], and kinda gratuitous. If thats your thing, go for it but, I'm assuming that everyone wants to read quality, right? If so stay away from this and pick up something better.

"To the man become God".......2003-01-29

This is the fourth Alita collection, although it is officially the last of part three of the series. As such, it marks the culmination of Alita's identity quest into the world the motorball. What Alita has discovered is that use of her special cyborg battle training skills can trigger sudden flashbacks to the days before Doc Ido reassembled her as Alita. These come as peak experiences when the doughty fighter must push her body to withstand what no biological body could.

We get to see to of these battles. The first Alita uses to test both herself and the cyborgs with whom she is considering teaming. This is an opportunity for both melee battles and some fine humorous moments when things do not quite happen as planned. The second struggle is the final confrontation with Jashugan. This we know will end up in a one-on-one confrontation between titans. The reader is entitled to, and gets, all the action art and surprises of which Yukito Kushiro is capable. Who wins isn't important at the transcendent moment, only that both have used up all that they had.

I'm probably going to go on and on about the art for this series until I run out of manga to review. Yukita Kishiro has the kind of graphic style that makes the frames magnetic. The story, the diversity of characters and the introspective twists are an important part of this manga, and keep it from ever being a simpleminded hack and disassemble story. Something deeper is going on, and we see it evolve one small piece at a time.

Hmmmmmmmm.... perfect, but what's going on?.......2002-09-25

This was the first Battle Angel Alita book I ever read, borrowing it from the library. But, since I read 1,2, and 3 AFTER this, I've liked the motorballs better. I think this is a kewl book, I wish I'd happened to read #1 first, tho, but this all works out. I loved it! Simply, Alita is finishing what she started with motorball, what with racing and winning, winning, losing, whataver. Her showdown with Jashugan kinda leaves u, uh... confused (at least it did me V_V) and it never says more. THE REASON I GAVE THIS A 4-STAR RATING IS BECAUSE... the index page (copyright, idex, etc.) is the one of TEARS OF AN ANGEL! what's up with that?? i just realized that one day, looking to see what part it was. and that {is odd.}

Better than "Killing Angel", but not the best in the series........2002-04-28

After giving us the excellent volumes 1 and 2, "Battle Angel Alita" and "Tears of an Angel", Yukito Kishiro gave us what many consider the worst volume in the series, "Killing Angel". Volume 3 dealt with Alita's new life after the tragic events of volume 2, and while it wasn't a complete blashemy against the series, the storytelling quality didn't live up to the first two volumes. With volume 4, "Angel of Victory", Kishiro improves upon "Killing Angel", but considering what he worked with, the storytelling quality still wasn't where it should've been.

"Angel of Victory" is actually a continuation of "Killing Angel", a continuation meaing that the two volumes can be seen as parts of each other. The story deals with Alita trying to prove herself the best motorball champion while coming to terms with the sudden changes in her life. By now, her character is very well fleshed out and we really do care for her in many ways. However, the story in "Angel of Victory" still deals with motorball, something that doesn't have anything to do with Alita trying to discover her lost past, the reason we fell in love with her in the first place. The story in "Angel of Victory" is far better than the one in "Killing Angel", as it has several well-planned events and even a brief glimpse of Alita's past. But as a whole, the story isn't want we expected from the "Battle Angel Alita" series. If volumes 3 and 4 had been placed together into one volume, they might've been seen in a better light, but as it stands the two volumes are nothing compared to the first two volumes.

Graphically, Yukito Kishiro's artwork is amazing. There is so much detail that some artwork appears like it's come straight from a photo. If it had to be compared to something, Kishiro's artwork would resembled a polished version of Hayao Miyazaki's "Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind" series, and even then the comparison is unfair.

All in all, "Angel of Victory" is far better than "Killing Angel", but it's not the best in the series. Still, "Angel of Victory" does set up some small plot details later on in the series, so it's not completely useless. If read with the entire series on hand, "Angel of Victory" (and "Killing Angel", for that matter) will be more appreciated. But alone, volume 4 doesn't live up to the first to excellent volumes in Kishiro's wonderful series.

Book Description

Jean Shepherd (1921-1999), master humorist, is best known for his creation A Christmas Story, the popular movie about the child who wants a BB gun for Christmas and nearly shoots his eye out. What else did Shepherd do? He is considered by many to be the Mark Twain and James Thurber of his day. For many thousands of fans, for decades, "Shep" talked on the radio late at night, keeping them up way past their bedtimes. He entertained without a script, improvising like a jazz musician, on any and every subject you can imagine. He invented and remains the master of talk radio. Shepherd perpetrated one of the great literary hoaxes of all time, promoting a nonexistent book and author, and then brought the book into existence. He wrote 23 short stories for Playboy, four times winning their humor of the year award, and also interviewed The Beatles for the magazine. He authored several popular books of humor and satire, created several television series and acted in several plays. He is the model for the character played by Jason Robards in the play and movie A Thousand Clowns, as well as the inspiration for the Shel Silverstein song made famous by Johnny Cash, "A Boy Named Sue." Readers will learn the significance of innumerable Shepherd words and phrases, such as "Excelsior, you fathead," and observe his constant confrontations with the America he loved. They will get to know and understand this multitalented genius by peeking behind the wall he built for himself - a wall to hide a different and less agreeable persona. Through interviews with his friends, co-workers and creative associates, such as musician David Amram, cartoonist and playwright Jules Feiffer, publisher and broadcaster Paul Krassner, and author Norman Mailer, the book explains a complex and unique genius of our time. "Shepherd pretty much invented talk radio ... What I got of him was a wonder at the world one man could create. I am as awed now by his achievement as I was then." - Richard Corliss, Time magazine online

Customer Reviews:

An Excellent Compendium of Shepherd's Life.......2007-05-14

This book does not attempt to be a linear, narrative biography of Shepherd's life, but instead contains voluminous material organized around broad themes that cut across different time periods of his life. This is both a difficulty and a strength. It can make for a somewhat difficult and disjointed reading experience. The text contains extensive quotes from Shepherd's radio broadcasts, which, while valuable to have in writing, lose something in translation from Shepherd's delivery to written text and break up the flow of Bergmann's text. However, when viewed as a Jean Shepherd encyclopedia, the book is an indispensable addition to a Shepherd fan's library, as it assembles a prodigious amount of material. The book paints a full picture of Shepherd in both his genius and his flaws, including a sensitive treatment of Shepherd's problematic relationships with women and with his two, sometimes unacknowledged, children.

Excelsior, You Fathead! Missed a lot .......2007-05-13

I was very disappointed after reading this book. A lot of good information about the life of Jean Shepherd was left out. Many details of his life were either missed or overlooked. I would hardly call it a biography. Most of the details were left out. After reading the entire book, I said to myself, "Is that it?" Hopefully someone will write a more complete story of such a man that was larger than life.

Warts and all, still a genius.......2007-04-11

For this listener of the incomparable Jean Shepherd when his show was live on WOR radio out of New York and who still tunes in via taped recordings on the internet, "Excelsior...[ever higher]...You Fathead! [a Shepherdism]" is very welcome. His show did not book guests; it was Shep alone, monologist at work. Yes, Shepherd branched out into books, records, and a film he wrote and narrated--but those were pale imitations of the real thing, the radio show.

Some of Bergmann's revelations about Shepherd's personal life will be disappointing to those who carried his banner a tad too high. Bergmann is a fan but his view of Jean Shepherd's unpleasant side is unvarnished and well-researched through interviews and published quotes of those who knew him. By all accounts Jean Shepherd was a hard man to know. Purposely so: he often did not give his real address to employers, coworkers, and friends. He would disappear for days in fast cars, touring the countryside. He traveled the world, usually alone. Which left the author fewer sources than he would have preferred decades after Shepherd's radio years. But he found enough. They offer insights into the "enigma" in the title, a polite description of a probable manic-depressive who often sabotaged his own dreams of fame and fortune.

The "art" was spun out of an empty studio near Times Square in the quiet of late night from the 1950s to the mid-70s; it is an art like no other before or since. Some of Shepherd's monologues are partially excerpted here from recordings Bergmann painstakingly transcribed. Among these the author deftly weaves details he has unearthed of Shepherd's childhood in Indiana, his Army service, his tempestuous years in the Big City.

Of course, not all Shepherd's radio broadcasts were unforgettable. The man had to fill forty-five minutes every night. When he got away from his natural talent for storytelling and indugled in shrill rants against all manner of "phoniness," he played too strongly to the sophomoric segment of his audience, the size of which he sometimes claimed dismayed him, Bergmann notes. Yet throughout his career Shepherd relied heavily on gigs at college campuses for extra income. But he wanted it all. The author relates how his subject fancied himself an heir to Jack Paar on the big-money "Tonight Show" before Johnny Carson snatched it away; had he won the job, Shepherd wouldn't have lasted a month: he was consistently dismissive of that audience...but he still craved its approval. And was bitter he didn't get it.

Yet, he played Carnegie Hall to great success. Carson was an admirer, Bergmann says, advising Shepherd to "get out of that damned medium [radio]." But radio was made for Shepherd and he for it. Bergmann writes that U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins grew up a regular listener and acknowledged being influenced by Shepherd. When Shep was "on," it was magic. Regretfully, talk radio was withering in Shepherd's best years. And he knew it.

This is the first book-length work that gives real shape to the man that was Jean Shepherd and the genius behind the voice.

A crummy commercial........2006-12-31

Forget "A Christmas Story" for a moment. Even this long love letter to Jean Shepherd only covers it to the extent of two pages. This book attempts to document the body of work Mr. Shepherd produced, within its contemporary context, and relate it to the present-day descendants. At least, that's where I think the author intended to go.

What ended up happening, from what I can tell, is that there was a great deal of research done 'breadth-wise' and not enough 'depth-wise'. Mr. Shepherd had two children who he disowned, which was a bit of a shock considering his on-air persona. This alone merited an entire chapter of material, analysis, interviews, anything. It barely made it into the book, except to lightly underscore some mild point about Mr. Shepherd being a bit of an SOB. There are all these interesting inflection points throughout, but no attempt is made to root out anything other than a mere mention or two. Instead, the author chooses to use radio transcripts to either demonstrate some thinly-connected theme (Shep as a jazz talk-radio guy, Shep as an anti-corporate loner, Shep as a 'realist'). The transcripts are hit and miss on the coverage of the point being proposed as well. Yes, it's great to read some Shep transcripts, but what's the point being made here?

As a full spectral coverage of Mr. Shepherd's work, it fails to catalog along some consistent continuum all of the work, in its proper context. The author could've used a timeline structure to place all of the known media, which would have made an extremely useful supplementary guide for the book as well as a nice 'wish list' for fans. I feel as though this review could easily turn into the kind of editorial feedback the author needed *before* he submitted his final galleys.

For all the heft of this hardcover, I expected far more analysis or even a somewhat cogent thesis. Even as a comprehensive biographical reference book, it falls far short in the editing department. Still, it merited three stars because it does bring much to the table. It never really organizes it, though.

-Fred

Hmm.. Head Scratcher.......2006-07-17

This will be short and not so sweet. I was disappointed in this book for one reason, it read like a text book, and a very boring text book at that. I don't mean any disrespect because I know this work took hundreds of hours, and the information was very interesting, but like I said it was boring and I had to struggle through just to finish it

Average customer rating:

The Radio Funny Book by Bob Doll

The Radio Funny Book
Bob Doll
Manufacturer: Infinity Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Love, Sex & Marriage | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0741427206

Product Description

The Radio Funny Book is not only 156 pages of radio humor off and on the air, it has its warm moments. There are stories of overcoming adversity. There are great people who confess to making mistakes and winning in the long run by not taking themselves too seriously. There are some bits of history not widespread in other works. This book has been written for the enjoyment of those in the business and folks who are more important than them - the listeners and advertisers who pay attention to what radio folks say and what they play. Have fun!

Customer Reviews:

The Radio Funny Book by Bob Doll.......2006-01-16

A review by John Harris, retired reporter, The National Enquirer

The Radio Funny Book offers a fast-paced read with plenty of humor. And along the way, it also imparts interesting insights into the behind-the-scenes operation of radio and the people who make it happen.
Bob Doll brings more than a half-century's experience in every facet of radio, starting as a junior announcer, and progressing through manager, and station-owner positions on his way to becoming an author and radio consultant in retirement.
Bob has a love of people and a sympathetic ear attuned to human foibles. His book brings out the best of both.
And as one who is interested in, but has never worked in radio, I found it instructive as well as humorous. For example, I had no idea how a station is assigned its call letters. I learned in Bob's book.
It's not only an entertaining read but an enlightening one as well.

Book Description

Whether they left Kentucky and returned, as Wendell Berry did, or adopted the Commonwealth as home, like James Still, or grew up and left for good, like Barbara Kingsolver, these writers share a common experience: they have all felt Kentucky's influence. L. Elisabeth Beattie explores this connection in twenty intimate interviews, presenting some of the state's—and the nation's—best-loved writers at their most insightful and revealing.

Conversations With Kentucky Writers II (Kentucky Remembered, An Oral History Series)

Average customer rating:

Conversations With Kentucky Writers II (Kentucky Remembered, An Oral History Series)

Manufacturer: University Press of Kentucky
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

Why is there a new explosion of interest in authentic ethnic foods and exotic cooking shows, where macho chefs promote sensual adventures in the kitchen? Why do we watch TV ads that promise more sex if we serve the right breakfast cereal? Why is the hunger strike such a potent political tool? Food inevitably engages questions of sensuality and power, of our connections to our bodies and to our world.

Carnal Appetites brilliantly uses the lens of food and eating to ask how we eat into culture, eat into identities, indeed eat into ourselves. Drawing on interviews, theory, and her own war with anorexia, Probyn argues that food is replacing sex in our imagination and experience of bodily pleasure. Our culinary cravings and habits express the turmoil in gender roles, in families, and even in the world economy, where famine coexists with plenty. Probyn explores these dark interconnections to forge a new visceral ethics rooted in the language of hunger and satiety, disgust and pleasure, gluttonyand restraint.

From the fat pride movement and diet fads to genetically altered grain and colonial cannibalism, Carnal Appetites looks at what we eat to tell us who we are.

Average customer rating:

Great Setting Material

The stuff of Chaos

Chaos can be fun

Great book for GMs

WOW!!!! Indespensible resource!!!

WFRP Tome of Corruption (Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay)
Green Ronin
Manufacturer: Black Industires
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Role Playing & Fantasy | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Entertainment Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Look Inside Science Fiction & Fantasy Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Companion (Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay)

WFRP Children of the Horned Rat (Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay)

Renegade Crowns: A guide to the Border Princes (Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Renegade Crowns)

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying - Realms of Sorcery

Knights of the Grail: Guide to Bretonia (Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay)

ASIN: 1844163091

Book Description

A detailed account of Chaos in the world of WFRP that alerts the player to the secrets of heretical cults and details on the four Chaos gods -- their ways, spells and servants. Allows the player to identify traits of taint and to create your own daemon prince!

Customer Reviews:

Great Setting Material.......2007-05-14

Tome of Corruption is all about flavor. The book is long on setting material and mercifully short on rules and even those still amount to flavor and setting material. Running a long-term game with many of the rules included would be difficult or downright impossible. The amount of raw power that is available to the players and GMs is huge. Some of the more powerful features, in an effort to reflect their abilities in the tabletop version of Warhammer, would slaughter an entire army of PCs. Many of the careers are also ridiculously powerful.
Gamemasters are going to want to be extremely careful in what they allow players to take from the book, but for anyone who wants to run a high-powered epic game the Tome of Corruption provides everything and more.

The Tome of Corruption is also a great read. For those who don?t like rules the mechanics are presented in such a manner as to be almost totally separated from the setting material. Unlike many supplements the point of the book is not just to create more rules but to add to the setting.

If you can't use it in a WFRP game then it is a great idea mine for other games or for pleasure reading.

The stuff of Chaos.......2007-01-12

A good supplement for GM's to expand their roster of enemies (or perhaps allies) of their player characters. An entertaining read as well.

Chaos can be fun.......2007-01-11

This is an exceptional book, like all of the new WHFRP books I have gotten so far. It covers many topics that a GM would need to use the forces of the Old Night in a game. The book has extensive rules for mutations, greatly expanding on the rules found in the core book (as well as organizing them by which of the chaos powers would likely grant them). The book also greatly expands on the rules for the various followers of Chaos. Rules for beastmen and marauders/chaos warriors (including careeres) are found within this book, as are rules for many other chaos creatures (like the chaos dragon and the shaggoth). There is more as well... such as rules for chaos weapons, and the stats for various daemons up to the Greater Daemons themselves!

Great book for GMs.......2006-11-02

This book is a must have for GMs. If you buy more than the main book this should be your 2nd, or 3rd book. (Unless you aren't planning on Chaos types being a major bad guy.) That said like all WFRP books it's short, but unlike some of the other books it's packed with good info. My favorite is the D1000 mutation chart that spans 2 pages. (Plus the following chapter of mutations.) Also the info on chaos champions is great. It's kind of light on generic stats for enmies, but if gives you the info you need to create demons, chaos warrior, chaos champions, cultist, beastmen... Also the same info can be used for a campaign with PCs on the other side.

WOW!!!! Indespensible resource!!!.......2006-10-29

Tome of Corruption is the most useful WFRP book to date... Not only is it a good read, it has far more game mechanics and rules than previous releases (so many mutations!!!). All you need for a chaos campaign is the core book and this one. Forget the bestiary unless you need goblin/orc stats... Or you just enjoy reading these books like I do!

Customer Reviews:

A guide for the perplexed, but adds to the perplexity in some aspects.......2007-07-06

Great text. I really enjoyed reading this book by Boehm and Turner. Especially enjoyable was reading Grady Booch's comment in his forward that "there's a delightful irony in the fact that the very book you are holding in your hands has an agile pair of authors yet requires three times as many forewards as you'd find in any normal book". The material of this text is centered around the dimentions affecting method selection that the authors provide as the five critical factors involved in determining the relative suitability of agile or plan-driven methods in specific project situations. In most situations, the authors indicate that some mix of these methods will be needed after risk assessments are performed for each of the five factors. The radar plots provided that depict different levels of these five factors for example projects aid in understanding how projects differ. What is unfortunate is that the metrics for each of these factors (personnel, dynamism, culture, size, and criticality) are not explained well. Size, the number of personnel working on any given project, is the only concrete metric. However, I think the reader needs to understand that determining the level of each of the other four factors is really not meant to be exact. In fact, the presentation by the authors of various projects, although sometimes a bit detailed for the subject matter, help in the understanding that these metrics are relative. For example, unless personality tests are administered to all project personnel, it can be quite difficult to determine the level of Culture (the percent who thrive on chaos versus order), but guestimating an approximate level for this factor is probably good enough to get a sense whether agile or plan-driven methodologies are more appropriate. Of the first few chapters of the text, I think the first two chapters that provide a background to the balancing agility and discipline problem are the most effective, followed by the chapter six summary chapter that lists the top conclusions of the discussion. The appendixes to this book, which comprise almost one-third of the text, are also very informative. Thirteen software development methodologies are presented side-by-side in Appendix A to enable the ability to compare each, although admittedly some of the methodologies are covered more extensively than others. And in Appendix E, some interesting industry statistics are presented from various studies, including a discussion on how much architecting is enough for a particular project, although there is some overlap with the well-written, thorough, recently-released text by McConnell called "Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art" (see my review). Overall, this book fits a gap on the software development bookshelf, and I am sure that other works of this genre will be released by other authors over the next couple years, as writing on this subject matter is still in its infancy.

A beginner's guide for methodolgy tailoring.......2007-01-12

This is a very good guide if you are a beginner to methodology tailoring.

This may or may not be the right book for you. I would consider this a beginner book for someone seeks to be a level 3 methodologist. It is better to have a firm grasp of a given methodology before using this book. However, if you are using structured methods or traditional OOA&D and trying to move toward agile, this is a good starting point. Resist the urge to feel the world has changed. Everything you might have learned before is still there, it just needs to be balanced with common sense rather than blind devotion.

A level 1 methodologist would use a proscribed process like XP. They can use all the artificats of the process but don't really understand it and use it fully. These people are learning.

A level 2 methodologist understands the artificacts of a given methodology and how they work to construct value for a project. They don't use items like TDD because they are proscribed but rather because they understand the benefits of the artifact. They actually understand the process and derive value from their understanding. They might be able to tailor a specific methodology to a project. They might be an XP or RUP coach. Not everyone can get to this level. However, optimally, all the people involved in the management of software development should have reached this level in some development methodology.

A level 3 methodologist understands multiple methodologies and techniques. They are able to approach a project as a puzzle and put together and optimum technique for developing software. Ideally, they are always monitoring development and modifying the techniques to produce the best software possible. A good agile coach or methodologist like Alistair Cockburn would be in this category. It usually takes about 10 years of software development to reach this level and very few people actually get there. These people can create new methodologies and judge existing methodologies.

A note to the wise, Barry Boehm developed methods like COCOMO and as such tends to explain method tailoring like it can be reduced to a formula. I tend to fall into the school of art rather than science. I don't believe that method tailoring is as easy as quantifying different methodologies, the needs of the project and then comparing the two. As such, I tend to find the work dry. However, if you are from a very disciplined school where you like to use equations and real world engineering to figure out everything, I am sure you will have a great appreciation for this book.
This attitude is very prevalent in academia, high severity, and government projects and should not be dismissed as not being real world. It is very real world, it is just not the world the normal developer is probably familiar with. Barry Boehm has given us a great deal of work on the spiral model which has had a huge influence on modern iterative development practices and his words should not be readly disparaged.

This book is rated shy of five stars because of its lack of depth and its overall introductory nature.

Too specific at points.......2005-09-24

The material, if you wade through it, is good. BUT this book is extreamly dry. And there is no excuse for that in the modern era. As the authors of the Head First series explain, dryness is not the way to impart knowledge. It simply doesn't work on humans. Good ideas, bad execution.

Why mention COCOMO methodology? 95% of people will never hear of, or deal with it. That and other terms are assumed when the concepts they represent could be used. Basically they are caught not "writting to interfaces". I know they have written important technical books, but these days you can find book that impart the same knowledge in a more entetaining and memorable fashion.

If you needed more factual evidence for a presentation on why or why not to use more agile software development methods, this may be your book. If you are looking to learn the merits of agile development, this is not your book.

I probably should have given it 5 stars..........2005-08-13

This book succeeds brilliantly in two areas, but comes up a bit short in the third.

First, as far as distilling how plan-driven and agile-driven development methodologies are different (and the same), it is wonderful. They use five "critical factors" to determine a project's relative suitability for choosing one type over the other. I believe about 40% of the book is spent here.

Second, using the above information, the authors discuss how to ascertain and mitigate project risks, given the size and type of the application being developed, as well as the cultural (agile v. plan-driven) leanings of the development staff who will be working on it. This is mostly done at a "process framework" level. The premise of the book is that each project is somewhat different, so rightly they do not prescribe a process. I believe another 40% of the book is spent here.

Third, the book presents a number of charts showing how much impact plan-driven and agile-driven processes have had. Here I just feel like Boehm lent the book a bunch of his data. Although it is very useful data, it isn't detailed enough. It could have used an additional Appendix describing another project (there are three case studies already) more concretely. Especially in terms of the schedule, defect reduction rate, etc. metrics that are in one of the appendixes.

Overall, I highly recommend this book.

More balanced than perplexed.......2005-02-19

Sometimes we want to have things to be black and white, but working at extremes has shown to be the failure path.
That is why IT systems have buffers, project plans have slacks, and mathematical models are most precise when they are fuzzy.
That is why we are most happy with systems where form follows function and the interface follows the user. In the same way Barry displays ways to pick an appropriate method for each project making clear that there is no single solution, but that all models aim at advantages and disadvantages.

Ask a plummer:
- picking the right tool will help to finish the task in the quickest and most reliable manner.

Ask a Karateka or a boxer:
- if you are well-balanced you are unlikely to fall over and happy to sustain hits.

Barry makes sense of it all for IT projects, lists existing knowledge and in my view his book is building the foundation of acceptance for agile methodologies and combining them with proper methods for documentation and project management with a focus on preemptive risk management.

He favors to approach projects by looking at the risks and how to overcome them thus solving the biggest problem in IT projects: "taking a risk-driven approach is a pragmatic means of reconciling the strengths and weaknesses of disciplined and agile methods." (Boehm, B. and Turner, R. (2004), p. xiv)

I was perplexed, by the clarity and and combinations of the principles listed in this book, which is indeed very well balanced and applicable.

Balancing Agility and Discipline: A Guide for the Perplexed

Average customer rating:

Balancing Agility and Discipline: A Guide for the Perplexed
Barry W.; Turner, Richard Boehm
Manufacturer: Addison-Wesley Professional
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OUEPYI

Average customer rating:

Balancing Agility and Discipline: A Guide for the Perplexed
Richard Turner Barry Boehm
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MUBO1M

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books