Civil Forfeiture As a "Sin Tax" (Independent Policy Report)

Book Description

True motherhood anecdotes from pregnancy through grandmotherhood. These 325 tales were told by mothers who can now chuckle about incidents which may not have seemed the least bit humorous at the time. Designed to help moms keep a sense of humor no matter what, this book is a celebration of the uniqueness and resiliency of mothers everywhere. Also, Tips for Sanity for every stage of motherhood. Bonus: cartoon mugs with Tips for Sanity (expectant mother, mother, grandmother) available directly from the publisher.

Amazon.com

Be very, very afraid. When you step through your door for an innocent excursion, grave danger awaits. You might be mugged; tied up; attacked by scorpions, piranhas, or tarantulas; trapped in a falling plane or elevator, a runaway train, a car on a cliff, a sandstorm, a riptide, or a riot. But now it's safe to take that vacation anyway. Just pack The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Travel, and you'll know what to do when you find yourself, say, leaping between rooftops: "Because you will not be moving fast, it is safe to roll head over heels, unlike jumping from a moving vehicle." Now you'll also know what not to do: never pick up a tarantula, as the spines on their abdomens are like little harpoons, and don't yank the reins of a runaway camel ("Pulling on the nose reins can tear the camel's nose--or break the reins"). You may have the sense, if a leech invades your air passage, to gargle with a 50 percent solution of 80-proof alcohol--but without this book, would you remember not to inhale?

In short, this is the most delightfully terrifying, all-true, laugh-out-loud hilarious book since the original Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook, which covers such horrors as alligators and quicksand. Don't leave home without it! --Tim Appelo

Book Description

If you have to leave home, TAKE THIS BOOK! The team that brought you The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook now helps you navigate the perils of travel. Learn what to do when the tarantula crawls up your leg, the riptide pulls you out to sea, the sandstorm s headed your way, or your camel just won t stop. Find out how to pass a bribe, remove leeches, climb out of a well, survive a fall onto subway tracks, catch a fish without a rod, and preserve a severed limb. Hands-on, step-by-step instructions show you how to survive these and dozens of other adventures. An appendix of travel tips, useful phrases, and gestures to avoid will also ensure your safe return. Because you just never know...

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Choice!.......2007-05-14

I purchased this book as a gift for a friend, and it was exactly what I was looking for! This book offers solutions to travel nightmares, very handy for an inexperienced traveler.

A Series of Worst-Case Events.......2006-01-20

Two things you should know when considering whether to buy this book:

1. When they say worst-case scenario, they really mean worst-case scenario. It advertises advice on surviving volcanic eruption, not on losing your travelers' checks.

2. It is humor. On page 48, they advise "earplugs are useful when you want to sleep in a battle zone" which leads into the next section "How To Survive A Hostage Situation." This section, by the way is a kind of awkward read post-9/11 (as near as I can tell, the book has not been revised since before that event or at all). They also recommend that you wave for help when stuck inside the trunk of a car, so there you go.

If you are looking for humor, I recommend it. If you are looking for something more serious in the light of New York, Madrid, London, Thailand/India/Sri Lanka, New Orleans, etc. in the past five years, you will need to look elsewhere or you will be disappointed.

Hilarious and handy.......2005-01-03

This book was so funny! My friend and i have nothing better to do, so we went and sat there and read all of the worst case scenario book, and i must say, this one was bomb! i loved the emergency phrases in the back, such as: Why is the water brown/green/yellow?

I actually learned something from this book too. The section on how to stop a thief and how to survive a mugging are good for anyone to learn, not just travelers!

[...]

Light reading for the adventurous tourist.......2004-10-26

This book, like the others in the series, is tongue in cheek. Some of the advice and scenarios are practical but others are completely in fun. My favourite was the advice of what to do if you are threatened with alien abduction. You should not let your mind give in to them. In other words, stop hallucinating and you will be just fine. :)

At the same time some of the advice is practical and could be useful to everyone, not just travellers. For example it gives advice on what to do if your car ends up hanging over the edge of a cliff. While not an everyday occurrence it almost happened to a friend of mine during a snowstorm on the highway.

Not up to past standards.......2004-08-25

The "Worst Case Scenario" people are really scraping the bottom of the barrel. Surviving an airplane crash and building a snow shelter can be important! But encountering aliens, while offering both an extreme scenario and a touch of humor, isn't specifically travel-related. The same with a plummeting elevator, or losing someone who's tailing you. On the other hand, they've omitted some important items, like getting arrested in a foreign country, or losing your passport. This series is losing steam.

The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Holidays

Average customer rating:

It's a gag gift, not as practical as the original
Keep it Away from the Kids
Mediocre
the REAL how-to guide on surviving holidays!
Fun, Fun, Fun

The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Holidays
Joshua Piven , and David Borgenicht
Manufacturer: Chronicle Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Parenting & Families | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

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philosophy hope in a jar daily moisturizer

ASIN: 0811835995

Book Description

Turkey on fire? No plans for New Year's Eve? Obnoxious relatives headed your way? The authors of the best-selling The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook are here to help you survive the dangers of the holiday season, from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day. Learn how to rescue someone stuck in a chimney, survive the office holiday party, and escape a runaway parade balloon. Expertly deal with a meddling parent, silence a group of carolers, and treat a tongue stuck to a frozen pole. Illustrated, step-by-step instructions guide you through these and dozens of other festive scenarios. With a helpful appendix of holiday excuses, last-minute gift ideas, and creative drink recipes for when the liquor runs out, this is truly the perfect gift. Gleaming silver cover. Fits all sized stockings.

Customer Reviews:

It's a gag gift, not as practical as the original.......2005-06-23

The original Worst Case Scenario handbook was a good guide, essential for your paranoid friends. I enjoyed that one, so for some reason my family has given me all the follow-on books as gifts. None of them really compare to the original, but this one comes close in some respects.

Many of the scenarios are completely outlandish, so don't buy this looking for practical advice. Unlike the original, this isn't a book to buy your paranoid death-fearing friend. Some advice is practical, like dealing with swallowed mistletoe, driving in a blizzard, or dealing with a canceled plane flight, but it can get lost in the more outlandish, like fending off unwanted kisses, jumping from a runaway sleigh, fending off a charging reindeer, dealing with a meddling parent, etc. Some situations just don't boil down to 3 easy to follow steps and a diagram.

I do love the section on repurposing a fruitcake, though.

Enjoy this for a small laugh and pass it around amoung the adults for the holiday.

Keep it Away from the Kids.......2004-12-09

As stated in other reviews, this covers many situations with a mix of humor and practical advice. However, be forewarned that the final entry is how to handle a child asking the dread question that crosses them over from Christmas innocent to member of the vast conspiracy we adults participate in. While the answer is very well written it can cause upset and upheaval if you have a reader who hasn't caught on yet. It's a bright, shiny holiday book and the silliness attracts kids like a magnet. Beware. On the other hand, if you've been looking to broach the subject, their approach is wonderful.

Mediocre.......2004-11-16

While you won't find information on how to safely jump out of a 2 story window into a trash dumpster, you WILL find information on how to gain control of a one-horse open sleigh, how to defend yourself against a charging reindeer and how to extricate yourself or someone else who is stranded in a chimney.
Some survival tips are pure fun, like How To Repurpose A Fruitcake (doorstop, object d'art and tire block for your car are just a few), while others may actually be quite helpful in an actual situation: How To Prevent A Turkey From Exploding; How To Extinguish A Burning Turkey; and How To Treat Mistletoe (and food) Poisoning In Both People And Pets.

the REAL how-to guide on surviving holidays!.......2002-11-15

In their successful 1999 publication, "The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook", the authors Piven & Borgenicht gave us useful advice for surviving everything from a shark attack, to how to take a punch in the face with the minimum of injury. Now, as we swiftly approach the holiday season, they give us their latest work which focuses on holiday survival.

For the "rest of us" who aren't likely to find ourselves descending chimneys or dodging rutting male reindeer, there are LOTS of very helpful bits of advice for those things you're very LIKELY to encounter during this holiday season, including How To Wear Tight-Fitting Clothing that you've "outgrown" due to holiday eating, how to guess at what's inside a present (and how to PREVENT people who snoop on their presents!), as well as how to avoid kisses under the mistletoe and how to prevent yourself from being swept away by a marauding crowd of holiday shoppers.

Some survival tips are pure fun, like How To Repurpose A Fruitcake (doorstop, object d'art and tire block for your car are just a few), while others may actually be quite helpful in an actual situation: How To Prevent A Turkey From Exploding; How To Extinguish A Burning Turkey; and How To Treat Mistletoe (and food) Poisoning In Both People And Pets (you DID know that the berries of mistletoe are poisonous, didn't you?)

Naturally, this book is heavier on how to act in social settings (like dealing with meddlesome relatives and annoying carolers) and entertaining guests (how to open a bottle of wine with a broken cork, how to make an emergency menorah) than it is on actual dangers, but for anyone who's looking for a fun read and some practical advice, this and the other Worst-Case books are definitely worth getting! With it's festive, reflective silver cover, it's a perfect gift for the holidays as well as displaying prominently among your holiday displays. Besides, you just never know when disaster might strike, and you should always Be Prepared!! Highly recommended!

Fun, Fun, Fun.......2002-10-22

Being a big fan of the holidays, the snow, lights, decorations, etc. I decided to pick-up the newest addition to "The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook" series. And I am pleased to add, that this was definitely worth the money. The scenarios in this book are so stupid, yet so funny. They remind you of an MTV show entitled "Jack---" From tips on how to fend off a charging reindeer to how to treat a tongue stuck to a pole, you won't be disappointed.

Book Description

What's the best way to survive the holiday season? With The Mad Libs Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Holidays, of course! Based on the publishing phenomenon of the same name, it's the perfect gift for the game lover in all of us. Leonard Stern and the late Roger Price are two of the founders of Price Stern Sloan.

4 Titles in Worst-case Scenario Survival Handbook Series - Dating & Sex - Travel - Holidays - Worst Case Scenario (First Book)

Average customer rating:

4 Titles in Worst-case Scenario Survival Handbook Series - Dating & Sex - Travel - Holidays - Worst Case Scenario (First Book)
Joshua Piven - David Borgenicht - jennifer Worick
Manufacturer: chronicle books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000NPCDM0

Product Description

4 books in the popular Worst Case Scenario Surivival Handbook series. A Great Gift.

Average customer rating:

The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Holidays
Joshua; Borgenicht, David Piven
Manufacturer: Chronicle Books Llc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NY2LI2

Worst-Case Scenario Five-Book Set: Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook, Worst-Case Scenario: Travel, Worst-Case Scenario: Dating & Sex, Worst-Case Scenario: Golf, Worst-Case Scenario: Holidays

Average customer rating:

Five of the best books I own!

Worst-Case Scenario Five-Book Set: Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook, Worst-Case Scenario: Travel, Worst-Case Scenario: Dating & Sex, Worst-Case Scenario: Golf, Worst-Case Scenario: Holidays
Joshua Piven
Manufacturer: Chronicle Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Essays | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0811896692

Customer Reviews:

Five of the best books I own!.......2002-12-04

The Worst-Case Scenario books by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht have gone way beyond cult status, and the set of all five is the perfect thing to get if you want an entertaining read. The ultimate coffee table books, not one person can pick one up without finding something out they didn't desparately need to know until just now.

After reading these books, one can manuever on top of a train, jump from a building into a dumpster, survive a riot, escape a runaway parade balloon, hotwire a car, get someone unstuck from a chimney, determine whether your date is an axe-murderer, and hundreds of other things.

Great for an armchair quarterback or basically anyone else who has the slightest interest in nifty things, this collection is probably the best thing I can recommend on Amazon.com. Just put them on a coffee table and watch how quickly people pick one up, and how slowly they set it back down.

If all five books is too much of a commitment for you; however, try the original (yellow) or the "Dating and Sex" (black) book. I guarantee you will love them!

Book Description

Where many critics see the Internet as an instrument of corporate hegemony, Michael Strangelove sees something else: an alternative space inhabited by communities dedicated to anarchic freedom, culture jamming, alternative journalism, and resistance to authoritarian forms of consumer capitalism and globalization. In The Empire of Mind, "Dr. Strangelove," the scholar Canadian Business referred to as the "acknowledged dean of Internet entrepreneurs" and Wired called "the Canadian guru of Internet advertising," presents the compelling argument that the Internet and new digital communication technology actually undermine the power of capital, producing an alternative symbolic economy.

Strangelove contends that the Internet breaks with the capitalist logic of commodification and that, while television produces a passive consumer audience, Internet audiences are more active, creative, and subversive. Writers, activists, and artists on the Internet undermine commercial media and its management of consumer behaviour, a behaviour that is challenged by the Web's tendency toward the disintegration of intellectual property rights. Case studies describe the invention of new meaning given to cultural and consumer icons like Barbie and McDonald's and explore how novel modes of online news production alter the representation of the world as it is produced by the mainstream, corporate press.

In the course of exploring new media, The Empire of Mind also makes apparent that digital piracy will not be eliminated. The Internet community effectively converts private property into public, thereby presenting serious obstacles for the management of consumer behaviour and significantly eroding brand value. Much to the dismay of the corporate sector, online communities are disinterested in the ethics of private property. In fact, the entire philosophical framework on which capitalism is based is threatened by these alternative means of cultural production.

Customer Reviews:

Roleplay the good doctor..........2003-12-05

"The Master has stolen a weapon that will give him ultimate control of the universe and of time itself. The Daleks are invading Earth. The Cybermen are terrorizing the space lanes. And the Sontarians and the Rutans are battling to see who wins the galaxy.
"Only YOU, the Time Lords and Companions of the Celestial Intervention Agency, can stop these villains from changing the course of history. Your weapons are your wits and your TARDIS. To join the Doctor in his adventures to defeat the foes of the universe, you only need your imagination, a pencil, some paper, and this game!"
...box cover quote.

For fans this boxed set by FASA represents a mine of source material. I'm no expert on the series, but it looks like the writers put a lot of love into the writing.

The set contains 3 books:

A Player's Manual containing character creation rules, rules for play, and a glossary of game terms.

A Game Operations Manual with suggestions on creating adventures, hints for adventure presentation, information on the creation of the campaign world, and rules for judging.

A Sourcebook for Field Operatives containing a Time Traveller's Handbook, TARDIS Operator's Manual, Visitor's Guide to Gallifrey, equipment descriptions, and much background information.

Wayne Gralian
Wayne's World of Books / Krakow RPGs
WaynesBooks.com

Average customer rating:

Not for beginners, but an outstanding book

Good techniques but mostly about vision and esthetics

Best for someone with lots of Photoshop experience

This is a "why" book

Good intent but poorly written, too long, few clear examples

Adobe Photoshop Master Class: John Paul Caponigro, Second Edition
John Paul Caponigro
Manufacturer: Adobe Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Adobe Photoshop | Digital Photography & Video | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0321130103

Amazon.com

The author (the son of Paul Caponigro, a photographer in the tradition of Minor White and Ansel Adams) of Adobe Photoshop Master Class is a skilled art photographer who specializes in intriguing naturescapes that often employ compositing and mirroring. In this book, he shares the photographic wisdom and Photoshop methods that helped create these colorful, mysterious images.

The title is appropriate: the book is modeled after master classes with performance artists; for example, operatic training with Maria Callas. The readers get to see, in detail, Caponigro's techniques and read his philosophies. This demonstration includes Photoshop basics that apply to all types of digital imaging, including calibration, adjustment layers, variations, levels, and curves. It also covers visual principles that are essential to photography in general, like proportion, scale, light, and shadows (including Ansel Adams's Zone system), and--important in the author's own work--reflection and tessellation.

The images, which are generally devoid of the human form, have an otherworldly stillness. Their quiet intensity translates well into book form: the typography and layout resemble a museum catalog, with widely leaded, delicate lines of type. Readers who prefer skimming through how-to books for quick results will be daunted by the level of in-depth attention that this book demands. On the other hand, those who hope to use Photoshop for high-end digital imaging (not just preparing JPEGs for the Web or 600-dpi images for print) will be rewarded by the author's extensive experience and painstaking attention to detail.

Most chapters discuss different issues (e.g., color or shadows) and use Caponigro's images as examples. The discussion is in a narrative form, with quotes and references to artists of all kinds, from Matisse to Goethe. It's like gaining admission to the most competitive graduate seminar, hosted by a renowned artist-in-residence. --Angelynn Grant

Topics covered:

Techniques for using Photoshop (version 5 or higher) on fine digital imaging, including:

Monitor calibration
Image resolution
Applying levels and curves to the Zone system
Output to print or film

And photographic issues and Photoshop methods used in the author's work, including:

Photomontage
Proportion
Contrast
Color
Multiple exposure

Book Description

Adobe Photoshop Master Class: John Paul Caponigro, 2nd Edition is no ordinary book on Photoshop. It is a true master class by renowned artist and photographer John Paul Caponigro, in which he shares his insights and discoveries as a visual artist. Although the book contains step-by-step tutorials that deconstruct some of Caponigro's most inspirational photographic works, the emphasis is on technique and visual problem solving, enabling you to take the concepts and apply them to your own unique projects. Updated for Photoshop 7, the revised edition of this master class includes numerous new and revised chapters that explain how to achieve color accuracy and extend dynamic range, direct attention through focus, control atmospheric perspective, and more. You don't have to be a professional photographer to appreciate and learn from this beautiful and informative book—Caponigro starts out with a section covering Photoshop essentials before moving on to more advanced artistic techniques.

Customer Reviews:

Not for beginners, but an outstanding book.......2006-01-04

I have many photoshop books, and this is, by far, my favorite. However, it is not for beginners. The words "Master Class" hint at the skill level required to appreciate the book.

This book will show you how a successful artist uses the application to create composites. It doesn't hold your hand and show you step-by-step examples. Rather, JP talks about how he used the different tools in Photoshop to accomplish something and what his thinking was behind the strategy.

The chapters take time to read (JP does get a little philosophical at times), but you will be rewarded.

Good techniques but mostly about vision and esthetics.......2005-04-05

I too found the very thin and light type of this book very hard to read. However, after vowing to slog through it anyway, I found the discussions of the techniques to be well done. The problem, which can be viewed as either good or bad depending on your bend of mind, is that the author takes the reader on his personal journey of discovery of digital art. And personal journeys takes a long time and are somewhat boring for anyone else but the person himself. Starting from a photography background, I found the artistic point of view interesting, even educational and inspiring, but too much of a good thing. After a while, I started skimming the main text and reading the 'methods' summary at the end of each chapter which spelled out the techniques in a nutshell.

Best for someone with lots of Photoshop experience.......2005-02-11

I because acquainted through this book because it is a required text for a second-level digital photography class I'm taking in college. I've read almost all of it. While there is a lot of valuable information (particularly with regard to monitor calibration), this book definitely has some issues.

Firstly, Caponigro's New Age tone is ponderous and meandering, and it's difficult to discern the necessary concrete tips hidden among the adjectives. The methods, in particular, are poorly organized. I took a Photoshop class (completing Adobe's Classroom in a Book), and I found the lack of intermediary steps to be challenging.

For this reason, my instructor--after many student complaints--dropped the requirement that we complete a number of "methods" (Caponigro's term for exercises) in this book. We are now free to choose other, clearer exercises from the multitude of Photoshop books available.

Also, while I appreciate the expertise that has gone into Caponigro's artwork, I don't care for most of the work itself, and I am not alone in my view. (Just how many bilaterally-symmetrical floating rocks does a reader really need to see?) While I'm aware that this is a personal bias, it definitely affects my overall impression of the book. If Caponigro's tone was a little less arrogant, I'd let that slide, but it's a sticking point for me.

Ultimately, I am sure there are people who would find this book to be a perfect fit. I am not one of them. I would recommend that anyone new to Photoshop stay far away until they've gathered a lot of experience and patience with the program. Perhaps at that point they'd be ready.

This is a "why" book.......2005-01-16

The shelves are packed with books teaching you how to create an effect in photoshop. How many units of this, and what filter to combine with this, yadda yadda.
This book is the complete opposite. Just the first few chapters blew my mind away! When the author talked about cuves and levels, I went crazy because I never knew there was so much to understand about them. Now I feel like I really know what I'm doing rather than simply bend the curves and hope for the best. I'm reading this book after reading Photoshop CS Bible (Pro Edition) and this is far far far more in-depth. Let me make one thing clear. If it werent for the bible, I have a feeling I'd be lost in this book. You definitely need to know your photoshop well to really understand this book. It takes you from undertandint photoshop, to understanding other things related to it such as printing and color calibration. It is in my opinion very advanced level and sometimes even I am lost in the author's words.
This book is a "why" book and teaches you the reasoning behind a lot of things related to photoshop. Its like the saying, give a man a fish and feed him for one day, teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime. In the same way, you can learn 100 different cool effects from any other photoshop book, but when it comes time to make that 101th effect, your lost and can only randomly make choices in photohop. This book explains the theory behind a lot of these things and thus when you see an ideea in your head, you know how to realize it..
This book took me a looooooooooooooooooooooooooong time to get through because its content is so heavy but otherwise, I have both my thumbs up!

Good intent but poorly written, too long, few clear examples.......2004-09-19

Mr. Caponigro may have started with the best of intentions but his writing is so bad, you have to strain to get through the material. He takes too long getting to the point and provides so little clear direction or examples, that I'm left only with his sense of self-importance, not information about Photoshop. If the he had let an editor shorten the book by half and provided more clear steps/information about using Photoshop, I would have indulged him more, but as it is, this book is of very little use for someone wanting to expand their Photoshop skills. Its the author being spiritual and groovy way past the point of usefullness.

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