Monday, November 30, 2009

Marketing of Evil or Encouragement Changes Everything

Marketing of Evil: How Radicals, Elitists and Pseudo-Experts Sell Us Corruption Disguised as Freedom

Author: David Kupelian

Americans have come to tolerate, embrace and even champion many things that would have horrified their parents' generation-from easy divorce and unrestricted abortion-on-demand to extreme body piercing and teaching homosexuality to grade-schoolers. Does that mean today's Americans are inherently more morally confused and depraved than previous generations? Of course not, says veteran journalist David Kupelian. But they have fallen victim to some of the most stunningly brilliant and compelling marketing campaigns in modern history.

The Marketing of Evil reveals how much of what Americans once almost universally abhorred has been packaged, perfumed, gift-wrapped and sold to them as though it had great value. Highly skilled marketers, playing on our deeply felt national values of fairness, generosity and tolerance, have persuaded us to embrace as enlightened and noble that which all previous generations since America's founding regarded as grossly self-destructive-in a word, evil.

 In this groundbreaking and meticulously researched book, Kupelian peels back the veil of marketing-induced deception to reveal exactly when, where, how, and especially why Americans bought into the lies that now threaten the future of the country.

 For example, few of us realize that the widely revered father of the "sexual revolution" has been irrefutably exposed as a full-fledged sexual psychopath who encouraged pedophilia. Or that giant corporations voraciously competing for America's $150 billion teen market routinely infiltrate young people's social groups to find out how better to lead children into ever more debauched forms of "authentic self-expression."

 Likewise, most of us mistakenly believe the "abortion rights" and "gay rights" movements were spontaneous, grassroots uprisings of neglected or persecuted minorities wanting to breathe free. Few people realize America was actually "sold" on abortion thanks to an audacious public relations campaign that relied on fantastic lies and fabrications. Or that the "gay rights" movement-which transformed America's former view of homosexuals as self-destructive human beings into their current status as victims and cultural heroes-faithfully followed an in-depth, phased plan laid out by professional Harvard-trained marketers.

 No quarter is given in this riveting, insightful exploration of how lies, both subtle and outrageous, are packaged as truth. From the federal government to the public school system to the news media to the hidden creators of "youth culture," nothing is exempt from the thousand-watt spotlight of Kupelian's journalistic inquiry.

In the end, The Marketing of Evil is an up-close, modern-day look at what is traditionally known as "tempation"-the art and science of making evil look good.



Interesting textbook: The Invention of the Restaurant or Twenty Four Little French Dinners and how to Cook and Serve Them

Encouragement Changes Everything: Bless and Be Blessed

Author: John C Maxwell

Lives are changed-from the simple to the dramatic-through the miracle of encouragement.

Encouragement is an essential nutrient of growing a positive attitude and improving life, and providing that encouragement benefits both the giver and the receiver(s). The world's foremost leadership expert, John Maxwell, offers practical advice on how to effectively provide the kind of encouragement that transforms individuals, families, churches, and work teams into happier, healthier, more affirming networks. Encouragement Changes Everything focuses on the importance of valuing and growing relationships. This is the perfect gift for people to share and enjoy in either personal or professional contexts.

  • Includes a beautifully embellished book jacket over a printed casing to appeal to fans of either format.



Sunday, November 29, 2009

All You Need to Know About the Music Business or Deadliest Catch

All You Need to Know About the Music Business

Author: Donald S Passman

For fifteen years, All You Need to Know About the Music Business has been universally regarded as the definitive, essential guide to the music industry. Now in its sixth edition, it has been completely revised and updated with crucial, up-to-the-minute information on the industry's major changes in response to today's rapid technological advances and uncertain economy. Veteran music lawyer Donald Passman is in the thick of this transformation and understands that anyone involved in the music business is feeling the deep, far-reaching effects of it. This latest edition of what the Los Angeles Times called "the industry bible" will lead novices and experts alike through the fundamental practices as well as the new, uncharted territory of one of this country's most dynamic industries.

In the music business, the key to success lies in knowing how to protect yourself. To do that, you need the best and most up-to-date advice available. Whether you are -- or aspire to be -- a performer, writer, or executive, Passman's comprehensive guide to the legal and financial aspects of the music world is an indispensable tool. Drawing on his unique professional experience as one of the most trusted advisors in the industry, Passman offers authoritative information on how to:

  • Select and hire a winning team of advisors -- personal and business managers, agents, and attorneys -- and structure their commissions, percentages, and fees in a way that will protect you and maximize these relationships
  • Master the big picture and the finer points of record deals
  • Navigate the ins and outs of songwriting, music publishing, and copyrights
  • Maximizeconcert, touring, and merchandising deals

This latest edition also includes information on:

  • Music downloads, webcasting, streaming-on-demand, and podcasting
  • The new video streaming services
  • How royalties are computed in the digital age
  • The latest developments in deals with independent labels, including upstream deals
  • Updates on all the traditional industry matters, such as royalties, advances, video budgets, and copyright law

In All You Need to Know About the Music Business, one of the industry's most influential figures shows you how to thrive in the most exciting business in the world. It's a book that no musician, entertainment lawyer, agent, promoter, publisher, manager, record company executive -- anyone who makes their living from music -- can afford to be without.

Library Journal

Now in its sixth edition, this work remains required reading for anyone interested in planning or making a career in the music business. Entertainment lawyer Passman (Gang, Tyre, Ramer & Brown) covers a wide range of topics related to the music industry, including negotiating a record deal, maximizing tour and merchandising deals, picking the right team of advisors, and understanding music copyrights and publishing. New topics for this edition encompass the new video streaming services, the latest developments in independent label deals, music downloads, webcasting, streaming-on-demand, podcasting, royalties in the digital age, and updates on an array of topics. There are also separate sections on classical music and motion-picture music deals. Highly recommended for all public and academic libraries; those owning older editions should definitely update. Bradford Lee Eden, Univ. of California Lib., Santa Barbara Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.



Table of Contents:
1First Steps22
2How to Pick a Team31
3Personal Managers47
4Business Managers60
5Attorneys67
6Agents74
7Broad-Strokes Overview of the Record Business81
8Advances and Recoupment100
9Real-Life Numbers106
10Other Major Deal Points116
11Producer Deals134
12Advanced Record Deal Points146
13Advanced Royalty Computations167
14Loan-out, Independent Production, Label, and Distribution Deals189
15Copyright Basics207
16Publishing Companies and Major Income Sources215
17Secondary Publishing Income239
18Songwriter Deals255
19Copublishing and Administration Deals274
20Advanced Copyright Concepts286
21Even More Advanced Copyright Concepts297
22Groups311
23Personal Appearances - Touring329
24Tour Merchandising347
25Retail Merchandising357
26Overview of Motion Picture Music363
27Performer Deals366
28Film Songwriter Deals375
29Composer Agreements379
30Licensing Existing Recordings and Existing Songs for Motion Pictures389
31Music Supervisors395
32Soundtrack Album Deals398
Conclusion403
Index405
About the Author416

Read also Magical Oils by Moonlight or Her Last Death

Deadliest Catch: Desperate Hours

Author: Dan Weeks

Tales of heroics, wrecks and rescues are all captured in this unique collection of epic tales that will have fans of the show and readers alike setting sail for adventures on the frigid Bering Sea.



Saturday, November 28, 2009

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man or How Full Is Your Bucket

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

Author: John Perkins

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man reveals a game that, according to John Perkins, is "as old as Empire" but has taken on new and terrifying dimensions in an era of globalization. And Perkins should know. For many years he worked for an international consulting firm where his main job was to convince LDCs (less developed countries) around the world to accept multibillion-dollar loans for infrastructure projects and to see to it that most of this money ended up at Halliburton, Bechtel, Brown and Root, and other United States engineering and construction companies. This book, which many people warned Perkins not to write, is a blistering attack on a little-known phenomenon that has had dire consequences on both the victimized countries and the U.S.

Sting

Perkin's books have helped me better understand something that has been puzzling me for a long time: Why have so many resource-rich countries in the developing world remained steadfastly poor? The answers he gives are both complex and uncomfortable, and none of us in the first world can abrogate responsibility easily.

Howard Zinn

A sweeping, bold assault on the tyranny of corporate globalization, full of drama and adventure, with devastating stories of greed run wild. (Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States)

Riane Eisler

This devastating indictment of current economic policies also offers hope by showing the power of the growing movement toward a caring economics worldwide. (Riane Eisler, author of The Chalice and the Blade and The Real Wealth of Nations)

Rocky Mountain News

Perkins is both alarming and entertaining, writing with the cutting precision and wit of a hard-boiled novelist.

Library Journal

According to Perkins, a former Economic Hit Man and founding president of Dream Change Coalition, "Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel money from the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other foreign aid' organizations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet's natural resources." Perkins began this book in the early 1980s but claims to have put it aside owing to threats and bribes. Perkins's daughter Jessica finally inspired him to finish it by declaring, "Don't worry dad. If they get you, I'll take over where you left off. We need to do this for the grandchildren I hope to give you someday." This riveting look at a world of intrigue reads like a spy novel. Perkins vividly recounts his work throughout the world, from Saudi Arabia to Panama to Ecuador, and introduces such characters as Panamanian president Omar Torrijos, who became a personal friend. Highly recommended for both academic and public libraries.-Lucy Heckman, St. John's Univ. Lib., Jamaica, NY Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.



See also: The 4 Hour Workweek or Before You Do

How Full Is Your Bucket?: Positive Strategies for Work and Life

Author: Tom Rath

How did you feel after your last interaction with another person?

Did that person -- your spouse, best friend, co-worker, or even a stranger -- "fill your bucket" by making you more positive? Or did that person "dip from your bucket," leaving you more negative than before?

How Full Is Your Bucket? reveals how even the briefest interactions affect your relationships, productivity, health, and longevity.

Organized around a simple metaphor of a dipper and a bucket, and grounded in 50 years of research, this audiobook will show you how to greatly increase the positive moments in your work and your life while reducing the negative.

Filled with discoveries, powerful strategies, and engaging stories, How Full Is Your Bucket? is sure to inspire lasting chances and has all the makings of a timeless classic.

Ladies' Home Journal

Kindness really is contagious.

USA Today

For all the veneer of easygoing pleasantry, this is serious business.

The Oprah Magazine O, The Oprah Magazine

(Tom Rath and Don Clifton) drew on Gallup research and millions of interviews to argue that this positive give-and-take leads to solid marriages, higher worker satisfaction and productivity, and a happier world.

Entrepreneur magazine

50 years of research . . . reveal how positive reinforcement can powerfully boost productivity, satisfaction, and stability in all kinds of organizations. Though brief, it's highly specific.

Selling Power magazine

A bucketful of miracles . . . Clifton and Rath offer a prescription for reversing the trend toward negativity currently endemic to the American workplace . . . The lessons contained in How Full Is Your Bucket? provide tangible, actionable steps to help turn your workplace into a bustling bastion of positivity and productivity.

People Management magazine

A well-researched, strong, and compelling case for improving self-esteem, better relationships, and health . . . this book is a short, sharp, 'how-to' guide.

Leadership Wired

Clifton and Rath paint a compelling picture of the good things that happen when people are encouraged, recognized, and praised regularly, as well as the emotional, mental, and sometimes even physical devastation that can occur in the absence of such positive encounters . . . Leaders who want to eliminate or avoid this kind of destruction should make How Full Is Your Bucket? required reading for themselves and their people.

Publishers Weekly

In this brief but significant book, the authors, a grandfather-grandson team, explore how using positive psychology in everyday interactions can dramatically change our lives. Clifton (coauthor of Now, Discover Your Strengths) and Rath suggest that we all have a bucket within us that needs to be filled with positive experiences, such as recognition or praise. When we're negative toward others, we use a dipper to remove from their buckets and diminish their positive outlook. When we treat others in a positive manner, we fill not only their buckets but ours as well. The authors illustrate how this principle works in the areas of business and management, marriage and other personal relationships and in parenting through studies covering a 40-year span, many in association with the Gallup Poll. While acknowledging that most lives have their share of misfortune, the authors also make clear that how misfortune affects individuals depends largely on their level of positive energy and confidence. The authors also underscore that our human interactions provide most of the joys or disappointments we receive from life. The book comes with a unique access code to www.bucketbook.com, which offers a positive impact assessment and drop-shaped note cards that can be used to give praise and recognition to others. 100,000 first printing. (Sept.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Soundview Executive Book Summaries

Positive Strategies For Work and Life
Donald Clifton, cited by the American Psychological Association as the grandfather of Positive Psychology, once discovered that our lives are shaped by our interactions with others. A long conversation with a friend or a short interaction with a stranger both make a difference, sometimes positive, sometimes negative. Although these interactions might seem to be ineffectual, Clifton believed that they accumulate and profoundly affect our lives. Before his death from cancer in September 2003, he and his grandson, Tom Rath, wrote How Full Is Your Bucket? to help people focus on the positive in their lives.

Clifton had a theory he created in the 1960s that was based on a simple metaphor of a "dipper" and a "bucket." According to this theory, each of us has an invisible bucket. The authors write, "It is constantly emptied or filled, depending on what others say or do to us. When our bucket is full, we feel great. When it's empty, we feel awful."

Positive and Negative Emotions
Clifton's theory says that each of us has an invisible dipper that we can either use to fill other people's buckets with positive emotions by saying or doing things that increase their positive emotions, or dipping from others' buckets by saying or doing things that decrease their positive emotions. The theory also explains that when we fill others' buckets, we also fill our own, and likewise, when we dip from others' buckets, we diminish ourselves. A full bucket gives us a positive outlook and an empty bucket poisons our outlook. We make the choice every moment of every day whether we fill one another's buckets, or dip from them. These choices profoundly affect our relationships, productivity, health and happiness, the authors write.

Moved by horrifying tales of the psychological torture of American prisoners of the Korean War - where there was a 38 percent POW death rate -Clifton and his colleagues in the 1960s wondered: If people can be destroyed by unrelenting negative reinforcement, can they be uplifted and inspired to a greater degree by similar levels of positivity?

While most of us will never endure the kind of psychological torture that the American POWs suffered during the Korean War, the authors write, we all experience positive and negative interactions every day that influence how we feel and behave. Even undramatic interactions affect us, they add, and "positive experiences or 'bucket filling' can be even more powerful."

Recognition and Praise
While working for The Gallup Organization, the authors surveyed more than 4 million employees worldwide on this topic, including more than 10,000 business units and more than 30 industries. Their studies led them to discover that individuals who receive regular recognition and praise:

  • increase their individual productivity
  • are more likely to stay with their organization
  • receive higher loyalty and satisfaction scores from customers
  • have better safety records and fewer accidents on the job

Great recognition and praise can transform a workplace, the authors write. Their studies show that organizational leaders who share positive emotions have work groups with a more positive mood, enhanced job satisfaction, greater engagement, and improved group performance.

Not Enough Appreciation
According to the authors, the majority of us don't give or receive enough praise. As a result, we are much less productive and engaged in our jobs. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the number-one reason people leave their jobs is because they "do not feel appreciated."

The authors write that another study of 4,583 call center representatives from a major telecommunications company revealed that three service representatives scared off every single customer they spoke with in a given day - for good. The authors point out that the company would have been better off paying those three people to stay home.

How Full Is Your Bucket explains how daily bucket filling can be used to enhance life at work and at home while providing research that demonstrates its value.

Why We Like This Book
How Full Is Your Bucket offers readers the numbers and statistics that prove what many have suspected but could never quantify: Motivation begins with praise and recognition. Helping to move people closer to their co-workers, family and friends, the authors offer the scientific and anecdotal evidence to show how simple appreciation can be turned into a business plan that makes people more productive, satisfies customers, and helps others live healthier, happier and longer lives. Copyright © 2004 Soundview Executive Book Summaries

What People Are Saying

Deepak Chopra
"This slender volume offers an abundance of insights and inspiration. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to dramatically improve their work life and strengthen their relationships. "
author of the best-selling books The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success and The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire


Lea E. Williams
"Powerful, captivating, and easy to read. This book's heartwarming message has a spiritual quality, yet it is grounded in decades of research."
Ed.D. Executive Director National African-American Women's Leadership Institute, Inc.


Martin Walsh
"Wow! This little book is a treasure. It is chock full of wisdom, inspiration, and practical advice and rooted in solid research. It will change the way you look at your life, your work, and the world."
Executive Director Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Foundation


Martin E.P. Seligman
"The Grandfather of Positive Psychology, Don Clifton, and his grandson, Tom Rath, offer illuminating wisdom for fulfilling work and meaningful life."
Ph.D., former President of the American Psychological Association and author of the best-selling books Authentic Happiness and Learned Optimism


The Miami Herald
"A slim, simple, upbeat volume that manages to be inspirational without preaching (or inducing nausea)."


The San Francisco Chronicle
"Useful anecdotes that managers in particular should pay attention to."


Michael W. Morrison
"Tom Rath and Don Clifton have nailed it. Their positive strategies are deceptively simple but immensely powerful in illuminating the pathway to an extraordinary life."
Ph.D., Dean University of Toyota


Mike Johanns
"If there were a Nobel Prize for building a quality individual, this book deserves it."
Governor State of Nebraska


Curt W. Coffman
"A very powerful lesson in the understanding of human potential and motivation. If every employee within an organization could read this book and apply its simple message, the enterprise would be transformed overnight."
coauthor of the New York Times bestseller First Break All the Rules and Follow This Path


Willard Scott
An insightful 'can't put it down' . . . literary gem. . . . Indeed, a winner! (NBC's Today Show)