The Retirement Revolution: A Strategic Guide to Understanding & Investing Lump-Sum Distributions from Qualified Retirement Plans

Book Description

Dan Flores brings over twenty years of experience guiding clients' investments to this in-depth look at the needs of individuals receiving a lump-sum distribution from a qualified retirement plan. In clear and easy-to-understand language, Flores analyzes the lump-sum alternatives and investment strategies necessary to become an informed investor, including:

The rules and regulations of lump-sum distributions and IRA rollovers.
The penalties and pitfalls of early retirement and how to avoid them.
The differences between asset allocation and diversification.
How to build an investment portfolio blueprint and monitor accounts.
Understanding the importance of product selection: the advantages and disadvantages of individual securities, money managers, and packaged products such as mutual funds, index funds, unit trusts, and exchange traded funds.
Strategies for taking income out of retirement plans.

The Retirement Revolution is an especially useful resource for benefits and human resource directors to share with employees.

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Book Description

The Retirement RevolutionAre you retiring, losing your job, changing jobs, or being offered an early retirement package? The information in this book focuses on the needs of individuals that may be receiving a lump-sum distribution from a qualified retirement plan.In clear and easy to understand language, the author analyzes the lump-sum alternatives and investment strategies you must understand before you can become an informed investor: The rules and regulations of lump-sum distributions and IRA rolloversThe penalties and pitfalls of early retirement and how to avoid themThe differences between asset allocation and diversificationHow to build an investment portfolio blueprint and monitor your accountsUnderstanding the importance of product selection: the advantages and disadvantages of individual securities, money managers, and packaged products such as mutual funds, index funds, unit trusts, and exchange traded funds.Strategies for taking income out of your retirement plansAdditionally, if you are a retirement-planning professional a benefits or human resource director you will find this book to be a useful, easy-to-read resource to share with your employees.

Customer Reviews:

Highly Recommended!.......2003-05-26

This book gets the 5 star rating. It is clearly written and easy to understand. Not only does it cover the rules and regulations of lump-sum distributions, but it also clearly explains investment options and how to put together a portfolio.

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Need More Information

Distributions from Qualified Plans
Thomas F. Streiff , and David Shapiro
Manufacturer: Dearborn Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Customer Reviews:

Need More Information.......2000-03-03

I'm very interested in buying this book, but need more information. Please send me the Table of Contents from the front of the book. Thanks

The Anatomy of Distributions from Qualified Retirement Plans & IRA'S

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A Good Reference for a Difficult Subject
A Good Reference for a Difficult Subject
Accurate but technical

The Anatomy of Distributions from Qualified Retirement Plans & IRA'S
Fred N Cole
Manufacturer: F.N. Cole
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Financial Planning | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Retirement Planning | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Taxation | Law | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1885640374

Book Description

The purpose of this article is topresent rules and regulations in effect as of this writing for making distributions from qualified retirement plans and IRAs in a concixe, organized and coherant format which may serve as a reference resource to all persons concerned with this subject. Be aware that Congress and the IRS have tinkered with these rules for the past twenty-five or more years and will in all likelihood continue to do so.

The presentation is mad in three parts: Part 1: contains anoverview of distribution taxation and details the rules pertaining to required mimimum distributions. Key elements of th Tax Payer Relief Act of 1997 affecting retirement and estate planning are presented;

Part 2: reviews the issues involved in preserving qualified plan and IRA funds in estate planning situations. Planning considerations are also presented;

Part 3: consists of case studies illustrating the results from various distribution options;ie, "running the numbers."

Customer Reviews:

A Good Reference for a Difficult Subject.......2000-07-06

As the previous review suggests, this book is not an easy read. Unfortunately, this is not the author's fault! The rules governing the distribution of retirement plan assets are extremely complex--and purposely so! The more complicated they are, the more likely the "average" joe will make a mistake and have to pay the Government more. But, it is an excellent resource for people trying to make sense of this complex subject. If you are a CPA or other advisor (like me!) trying to help a client, this is an excellent "library" book. If you are John Q. Public, looking for a place to start, this one might be a tough read, but will be well worth the effort.

A Good Reference for a Difficult Subject.......2000-07-06

As the previous review suggests, this book is not an easy read. Unfortunately, this is not the author's fault! The rules governing the distribution of retirement plan assets are extremely complex--and purposely so! The more complicated they are, the more likely the "average" joe will make a mistake and have to pay the Government more. But, it is an excellent resource for people trying to make sense of this complex subject. If you are a CPA or other advisor trying to help a client, this is an excellent "library" book.

Accurate but technical.......2000-03-17

This book is constructed in a way that is very similar to IRS and tax law documents. It does contain accurate and specific information about IRAs, but is not user-friendly. It is difficult to understand (not written for a lay-person) and constructed in an outline type format that is difficult to manuever. If you are looking for a book to help you with IRA withdrawal information, this one is not it.

Anti-cutback rules and early retirement benefits.: An article from: The Tax Adviser

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Anti-cutback rules and early retirement benefits.: An article from: The Tax Adviser
Vincent Amoroso , and Martha Priddy Patterson
Manufacturer: American Institute of CPA's
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Tax Adviser, published by American Institute of CPA's on June 1, 1994. The length of the article is 1791 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.

From the supplier: Three US Courts of Appeals have interpreted the effect of Employee Retirement Insurance Security Act section 204(g) on early retirement benefits differently. Section 204(g) prohibits plan modifications that reduce accrued benefits. One court ruled that a successor employer was still liable to employees retiring early under the prior employer's plan even though benefits had not accrued when the company was sold. The other two courts found that denying the benefits did not modify the plan. One court stated that benefits had not accrued, and the other court found that the plan obligations did not transfer to the successor employer.

Citation Details
Title: Anti-cutback rules and early retirement benefits.
Author: Vincent Amoroso
Publication: The Tax Adviser (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 1, 1994
Publisher: American Institute of CPA's
Volume: 25 Issue: n6 Page: 347(3)

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Corrective action for incorrect plan distributions.: An article from: The Tax Adviser

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Corrective action for incorrect plan distributions.: An article from: The Tax Adviser
Peter I. Elinsky , and Karen M. Field
Manufacturer: American Institute of CPA's
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Tax Adviser, published by American Institute of CPA's on June 1, 1997. The length of the article is 491 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.

From the supplier: The IRS considered the tax consequences of an excess distribution and an underpayment of interest from two benefit plans and the tax treatment of corrective action taken by the employer and the taxpayer. The taxpayer had already rolled the funds over into five individual retirement accounts (IRAs). The distribution of the additional interest did not affect the IRA rollovers, but the overpayment from the other plan resulted in excess contributions to the IRA. The excess was subject to income and excise taxes, but earnings on the excess would not be taxable until actually distributed.

Citation Details
Title: Corrective action for incorrect plan distributions.
Author: Peter I. Elinsky
Publication: The Tax Adviser (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 1, 1997
Publisher: American Institute of CPA's
Volume: 28 Issue: n6 Page: 360(2)

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Court decisions clarify QDRO rules for ERISA plans. (qualified domestic relations orders): An article from: The Tax Adviser

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Court decisions clarify QDRO rules for ERISA plans. (qualified domestic relations orders): An article from: The Tax Adviser
Dave Kautter
Manufacturer: American Institute of CPA's
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Divorce & Separation | Family & Health Law | Law | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Tax Adviser, published by American Institute of CPA's on January 1, 1997. The length of the article is 545 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.

From the supplier: Two 1996 decisions clarify the how the qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) requirements of IRC section 414(p) should be interpreted and what types of plans they apply to. In Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. v. Fowler, the US District Court in Michigan ruled that welfare plans, such as employer-provided life insurance plans, were subject to QDRO provisions. The US Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit ruled in Hawkins that a divorce order qualified as a QDRO despite the fact that the order failed to name the non-participating spouse as the payee and did not address tax liability.

Citation Details
Title: Court decisions clarify QDRO rules for ERISA plans. (qualified domestic relations orders)
Author: Dave Kautter
Publication: The Tax Adviser (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 1997
Publisher: American Institute of CPA's
Volume: 28 Issue: n1 Page: 15(1)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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Distributions from Qualified Plans

ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0793159784

Dividing up retirement-plan assets with a QDRO.(qualified domestic relations order): An article from: The Tax Adviser

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Dividing up retirement-plan assets with a QDRO.(qualified domestic relations order): An article from: The Tax Adviser
Albert B. Ellentuck
Manufacturer: American Institute of CPA's
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Divorce & Separation | Family & Health Law | Law | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Tax Adviser, published by American Institute of CPA's on May 1, 2002. The length of the article is 1344 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: Dividing up retirement-plan assets with a QDRO.(qualified domestic relations order)
Author: Albert B. Ellentuck
Publication: The Tax Adviser (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 1, 2002
Publisher: American Institute of CPA's
Volume: 33 Issue: 5 Page: 334(2)

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Eligible rollover distributions.: An article from: The Tax Adviser

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Eligible rollover distributions.: An article from: The Tax Adviser
Timothy A. Daum
Manufacturer: American Institute of CPA's
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Tax Adviser, published by American Institute of CPA's on September 1, 1996. The length of the article is 682 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.

From the supplier: IRC section 401(a)(31) requires qualified retirement plan administrators to provide participants with the option to roll over qualifying distributions and requires them to withhold 20% of amounts distributed but not rolled over into qualifying accounts or plans. Section 401(a)(31) identifies distributions, such as minimum distributions, corrective distributions and periodic payments, that are not eligible for rollover treatment and not subject to withholding. Excess distributions of otherwise exempt distributions may be subject to notice and withholding requirements.

Citation Details
Title: Eligible rollover distributions.
Author: Timothy A. Daum
Publication: The Tax Adviser (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 1996
Publisher: American Institute of CPA's
Volume: 27 Issue: n9 Page: 538(2)

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Book Description

The European Union faces several interlinked challenges: how to protect the environment and enhance sustainability; how to reduce unemployment and enhance competitiveness in the context of growing globalization; how to reduce regional disparities among and within member countries. The recent policy debate has revealed that such objectives are not a trade off, provided they are tackled in concert. In particular, win-win policy options are available to the EU, given an appropriate integration of regulation, macro-policy, social policy, fiscal policy and environmental policy. The evidence shows that an optimization of each single policy will not meet the needs of the EU. But an integrated approach would allow the implementation of a genuine sustainable development policy. This book discusses the most recent results available on the green tax reform and the double dividend hypothesis. The first part is devoted to theoretical analysis, and the second provides empirical results.

Book Description

At last! After years of dedicated service to tasteless jokers everywhere, Blanche Knott has put together the ultimate collection of her disgraceful favorites.From the decade that brought readers Chernobyl, the Challenger, Pee Wee Herman, Michael Jackson, the Exxon Valdez, Woody and Mia, and the Branch Davidians comes the perfect gift for your shameless friends and family: Blanche Knott's Treasury of Tastelessness. Wanting only the best for her millions of fans, Blanche has painstakingly gone over every joke she's ever written and pulled out the best of the bunch. Inside this terrible tome are tasteless jokes that will provoke laughter-- and queasiness.With offensiveness for all, Blanche covers a wide range of topics, including such ever-popular foils as: Helen Keller, all ethnic groups, celebrities, gays, religion, and many, many more. There is also a heartwarming section called "Too Tasteless to Be Included."Here's just a taste:* Why did the Mafia have Einstein killed?* How do you clear out a K-mart?* What was Helen Keller's worst day?* Why does Madonna's diet consist mainly of salads?* Why didn't the leper cross the road?* Plus hundreds more, too foul to even hint at here.Whether you love them or hate them, denounce them or tell them, there can be little doubt that this wonderful bedside companion is perfect for everyone who cares enough to give the very worst.

Blanche Knott's Treasury of Tastelessness

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Blanche Knott's Treasury of Tastelessness
Blanche Knott
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OT9P6M

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Treasury of Tastelessness
Blanche Knotts
Manufacturer: St martins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GRJK3K

Book Description

The gauntlet of great rock and roll myths is covered in this hilarious review of publicity stunts, malicious rumors, and urban legends.

Customer Reviews:

Funny and full of information.......2003-06-04

You've heard the stories, now find out the facts about the greatest rock urban legends of all-time. It covers everyone from Michael Jackson and Mariah Carey to KISS and Ozzy Osbourne. Urban Legends of Rock 'n' Roll is an indispensable guide to the greatest stories in rock!

Book Description

The comedic work of the children of modern Jewish immigrants overturned the prevailing languages and imageries with which an Anglocentric United States had traditionally represented and expanded itself. In Gravity Fails: The Comic Jewish Shaping of Modern America, James D. Bloom approaches these developments by first surveying this transformation as it affected literature, entertainment, commerce, and politics, and then offers sharply focused chapters that look at changes in sexual candor, reactions to the Holocaust, and critiques of race. Indeed, the personae discussed here pioneered unprecedented candor toward and scrutiny about sex and violence, and no other book delves as deeply or as widely among art forms, media, and levels of cultural hierarchy. Including considerations of the work of such diverse artists as Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Lenny Bruce, Gilda Radner, Philip Roth, Jerry Seinfeld, and Stephen Sondheim, Gravity Fails provides a unique, penetrating, and hilarious look at a major force in the progress of American culture.

Gravity Fails: the Comic Jewish Shaping of Modern America.(Book Review): An article from: American Jewish History

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Gravity Fails: the Comic Jewish Shaping of Modern America.(Book Review): An article from: American Jewish History
June Sochen
Manufacturer: American Jewish Historical Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: B00082DH14
Release Date: 2005-07-31

Book Description

This digital document is an article from American Jewish History, published by American Jewish Historical Society on December 1, 2002. The length of the article is 829 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: Gravity Fails: the Comic Jewish Shaping of Modern America.(Book Review)
Author: June Sochen
Publication: American Jewish History (Refereed)
Date: December 1, 2002
Publisher: American Jewish Historical Society
Volume: 90 Issue: 4 Page: 451(3)

Article Type: Book Review

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BFI Television Handbook 2005: The Essential Guide to UK TV (B F I Television Handbook)

Manufacturer: British Film Institute
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1844570274

Book Description

The BFI Television Handbook 2005, the essential guide to U.K. TV, is a freshly conceived and thoroughly up-to-date overview of the state of television in the United Kingdom now. Covering all the developments of the previous year, it also looks ahead to the shape of things to come. It analyzes how the media industry has performed and changed the key players, the leading channels and companies, the audiences, the technology, and the statistics. It chronicles and critiques programming highlights and trends in all areas, from crime drama to documentaries, from sitcom to imports. It also provides a directory of useful contacts, events, and information concerning TV and areas connected to it, from archiving to websites and from policy legislation to fanzines.

Book Description

A bestselling collection of brilliant and quirky essays, on subjects ranging from biology to grammar to artificial intelligence, that are unified by one primary concern: the way people perceive and think.

Customer Reviews:

"This sentence is false." So what?!?.......2007-08-02

Before I begin, I want to first point that I gave Douglas Hofstadter's Godel Escher Bach which won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize, five stars.

His observation that the mathematics of Kurt Godel, the art of Maurits Cornelius Escher and the music of Johann Sabastian Bach which are all "shadows cast by the same source" managed to bring Platonic forms to life in a real and engaging way that, quite frankly, Plato himself failed to do.

Hofstadter discussed the liars paradox, perhaps most simply rendered in the expression "This sentence is false." Obviously, the statement can neither be true nor false in that -- if you accept it's falsehood -- it's an accurate statement about itself and alternatively -- if accept it's truthfulness in self description -- the statement belies its self representation. Either way, you're forced to create a third category by which you describe the statement. For mathematician Kurt Godel, that third category was refered to as undecideable.

And in 1931, Godel set the math world on its head with his paper "On formally undecideable propositions 1" ("1" because Godel thought at the time perhaps another paper may be necessary to make his point). The reason why his paper set the math world on its head was because it found that any sufficiently complex Godelian mathematical system would encounter propositions that it could neither prove true or false. Later research showed that Godelian mathematical systems could not even recognize which propositions they would be stymied by.

Because Godel's mathematical point of departure in proving his theorem was a mathematical version of the liars paradox, Hofstadter saw and wrote of similarities to this paradox in the art of M.C. Escher -- which featured such things as two hands drawing each other -- and the music of J.S. Bach -- which, e.g. the Crab Canon, could be played backwards or forwards.

In Godel Escher Bach, Hofstadter's main emphasis was on the way in which human consciousness resembled these self referential systems and in so doing shared their systematic limitations.

For this reason, I was kind of excited to pick up and read this book because I thought that Hofstadter -- having surveyed self referential systems in relation to consciousness -- would have perhaps been inclined to do so in relation to the natural world as well.

In that way, I remembered my John Wheeler. The physicist Wheeler, professor to Richard Feynman, was one of the great lights of 20th century physics. And in 1965 he said perhaps one of his most thought provoking ideas when he described what he referred to as the self aware universe. To understand his idea, we briefly revisit our Plato. As you may recall, Plato believed that the physical world we inhabit was but a manifestation of what he referred to ideal or perfect forms. Like prisoners chained to wall unable to directly observe each other, Plato said that all we really saw of each were our reflected shadows. In a similar way, Wheeler suggested that laws of nature gave rise to the physical world which -- in the case of certain individuals like us -- gave rise to a sentient world in which the laws of nature were themselves observed. From your quantum mechanics, you may recall that it the act of observation itself which causes probabilistic subatomic wave functions to collapse and thereby -- in a critical way -- "create" reality.

For those interested in an excellent statement of the foregoing, please read section 34 of Roger Penrose's Road to Reality.

In any event, the idea of a self aware universe, litterally creating itself from its own operations, seemed to me to be an excellent example of Hofstadter's self referential activity.

And admittedly, I was hoping somewhere -- anywhere -- in this book (originally a series of columns for Scientific American) -- he would note and discuss the natural connections.

But alas!

The book was merely more examples of ground he elegantly but thoroughly already covered in Godel Escher Bach.

In my own way, but like Hofstadter to be sure, I believe that recursiveness and self referential activity run to the heart of key aspects of how reality and consciousness work, but sadly books such as these only pound into irrelevance topics which legitimately (and maybe better than anything) give us a glimpse into the wonder and enigma of creation.

Brilliant and Thought Provoking.......2004-04-20

This collection of Hofstadter's columns from Scientific American provides wonderful reading.

One of the gems is his simple, but brilliant analysis of the Prisoner's Dilemma. The usual analysis notes that the Nash equilibrium is for both players to defect. Hofstadter notes (correctly) that if both players are rational, then because the game is symmetrical, both players will choose the same strategy. So, the only choices are for both to cooperate or both defect. Since both cooperating has a higher payoff than both defecting, the rational strategy is to cooperate. The Nash equilibrium isn't relevant because it considers pairs of strategies which are impossible if both players are rational, i.e., the pairs where one player defects and the other cooperates.

Hofstadter notes that many people when presented with the above argument still say that they would defect. His descriptions of his attempts to reason with his friends and the results of the lottery he conducted (he told readers of his column they could send in entries for the lottery, but the more that entered, the smaller the prize would be) are, as he says, amusing, disturbing, and disappointing.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.......2003-07-14

This collection of essays previously published as a column in Scientific American is very uneven. There are some true gems like he discussion of the game Nomic in which rule changes are part of ordinary play or the sections on self referential sentences. Basically everything is readable, but not all chapters make much sense.

Some parts are really bad. In chapter 5 he wonders why one can judge the intellectual content of magazines by their cover, not seeing the obvious solution that these magazines try to attract different audiences. He spends some time discussing the prisoners dilemma and he get's it completely wrong. He argues that a rational person would know that other rational persons would think along the same lines and therefore act the same way. So a rational person can use this knowledge to influence another person. This is complete bogus of course. People are rational when they act rational, if I cooperate in the prisoners dilemma, I am not changing the definition of rationality, I'm simply irrational. Hofstadter also discusses Axelrod's famous computer tournaments. A more realistic view on the topic is provided by a review of Axelrod's book by Ken Binmore. That review can be found on the web.

The book is still valuable for the good parts, but one should read the book with a sceptical eye. Hofstadter is a layman on many things he discusses, and sometimes this shines through. Another problem is that some issues like the cold war anren't really interesting anymore. People who like Hofstadter will surely like it and find enough pearls to make the buy worth it though.

Essence of Mind and Pattern.......2003-05-20

At any level of scientific comprehension, this book provides an intelligent subscription to pattern. Includes essays and 'conversations' on Alan Turing, and clear and relevant description of common and interesting science. The most valuable information is hofstaedter's creative description of thought.

Warning to Present-Day Readers.......2002-12-12

I liked GEB, and found it to have been a great influence in my decision to pursue computer science as a career. Much of this later book is similarly good. However, the political commentary that is interwoven throughout the book, and there is much of it, has not aged well. Dr. Hofstadter was a proponent of the popular (at the time) "Nuclear Freeze" Movement. Dr. Hofstadter pauses the narrative of the text often to expound on his beliefs in nuclear disarmament, nuclear war, and his support for activists like Dr. Helen Caldicott. Not only is this (arguably) off-topic and distracting to the narrative, but it seems somewhat aged (and naive) in the context of later lessons of history. These diversions would hardly be more distracting, and anachronistic, if he stopped every few paragraphs to laud how wonderful a President that Jimmy Carter was (or Walter Mondale will be), and why we should all vote for him in the next election, or even what a great invention brown polyester Sans-a-Belt (TM) slacks are, and why we should all wear them.

For example, we now know that this "Freeze" movement was influenced by the KGB, both via funding (cash, in U.S. Dollars, for full-page advertisements in the New York Times was air-lifted from Moscow in diplomatic pouches), and with personnel (lots of so-called "grass roots" local freeze groups were unknowingly populated by "agent provocateurs" who were members of the KGB. By way of analogy, imagine an "Inflation Freeze" movement heavily (and secretly) funded by corporations to influence labor unions by propagandizing such a movement as a grass-roots labor agenda. Consider the outrage among organized labor in response to a movement that used fear-mongering over inflation, economic recession, and potential job loss to pressure labor into rolling over and unilaterally accepting wage freezes and other labor concessions. Such freezes and concessions would be expected by management to be accepted without discussion or negotiation, including trying to correct present injustices, looking at the company's books, or verifying the future financial condition of the company. Look up the name "Lemuel Boulware" and the company "General Electric" for an example of how to negotiate in bad faith (and yes, I'm aware of the ironic connection to Ronald Reagan, see below).

If a nuclear freeze was adopted without question or consideration, or without even a workable verification system, it would have frozen into place a very tenuous situation with Soviet SS-20's poised over Western Europe and with nothing to counter them (or if countered, a hair-trigger nuclear standoff). What happened was that Reagan and Gorbachev negotiated a workable, verifiable, and stabilizing disarmament treaty that pulled back the SS-20's (and the U.S. missiles in Western Europe) and established a framework for realistic future treaty verification (leading to the establishment of a joint flyover program known as "Open Skies"). It was ironic that a individual recruited by Lemuel Boulware as a spokesman for GE would find GE Boulwarism and bad-faith "take it or leave it" negotiating tactics used against the United States by the Soviet Union. President Reagan's response, to approach from a position of mutual strength and dignity, and assure mutually-agreeable and verifiable terms, was almost pure anti-Boulwarism.

Very few people discuss, let alone advocate, a "Nuclear Freeze" today because the lessons of history have shown such a movement to be naive, tantamount to unilateral disarmament, driven mostly by emotion and FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt), infiltrated by foreign influences not in our best interests, intended by our adversaries as bad-faith negotiations, and substantially overcome by later events.

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Metamagical Themas

Metamagical Themas: Questing for the Essence of Mind and Pattern
Douglas Hofstadter
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Artificial Intelligence | Computer Science | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0553342797
Release Date: 1986-05-01

Customer Reviews:

Metamagical Themas.......2006-08-27

In this entertaining and provacative book named after his recent column in Scientific American, Douglas Hofstadter persents a dazzling array of observations and ideas about how we perceive and think. With profound insight and an irrepressible sense of fun, he explores such subjects as artificial intelligence; sexist language in Chinese; experiments with the Prisoner's Dilemma; genetic evolution and its software counterpart; beautiful mathematical shapes known as "strange attractors"; nuclear war; and even National Enquirer hoaxes. Balanced between art and science, magic and logic, humor and rigor, Metamagical Themas (a rearrangement of the letters in "mathematical games") probes the deepest paradoxes and mysteries of the human mind and heart.
--- from book's back cover

Metamagical Themas:Questing for the Essence of Mind and Pattern

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Metamagical Themas:Questing for the Essence of Mind and Pattern

Manufacturer: Basic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000IC2CPG

Product Description

An interlocked collection of literary, scientific, and artistic studies.

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Metamagical Themas: Questing for the Essence of Mind and Pattern
Douglas R. Hofstadter
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NUPLDS

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Metamagical Themas: Questing for the Essence of Mind and Pattern

Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Metamagical Themas: Questing for the Essence of Mind and Pattern
Douglas R. Hofstadter
Manufacturer: Basic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OZZ0HE

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Metamagical Themas: Questing for the Essence of Mind and Pattern
Douglas R. Hofstadter
Manufacturer: Bantam Dell Pub Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N1JW7I

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Metamagical Themas: Questing for the Essence of Mind and Pattern
Douglas R. Hofstadter
Manufacturer: Basic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OLRTYA

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Metamagical Themas: Questing for the Essence of Mind and Pattern
Douglas R. Hofstadter
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OLQJ3C

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Metamagical Themas: Questing for the Essence of Mind and Pattern

Manufacturer: Pengui
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000HUGM0U

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