Amazon Prime-beware of free trial!

Although you will not have to pay for the service for one month, if you do decide to go for the free trial (as I did), US$99 will flee from your bank account and be refunded who knows when. So let's say, you have less than $99 in your checking account and no line of credit.-You could be owing your bank money for something that was initially "free". I chatted with a customer service representative, and was explained that I did not have to pay this money. But still, Amazon should tell me that they are going to debit my account before they do this sneaky trick. That way, I know my options. So I will never, ever, ever, ever buy anything from Amazon again!

Cast Away for These reasons Economic Jihad

Cast Away for These reasons Economic Jihad by Jo M. Sekimonyo

 

To understand what this book is about, you must first understand what the author is about. He is not just another man on a rant, speaking unintelligibly on his soapbox. No. He is a master thinker with much to teach and share to those who will listen. He has his eccentricities such as listening to vinyl records only, and he takes great pleasure in finding troves such as Thelonious Monk albums (a musician whose work I probably enjoy as much as he does). A common theme in this book is poor distribution of wealth and also the folly of economists. Mr. Sekimonyo is something of an exception in his sociopolitical ideals. I am used to someone who speaks of social injustice and economic inequality as being either Marxist, socialist or communist. And there are those, as he rightly states, that pigeonhole him as such and shut him out. That is most definitely their loss: in fact, the author is none of the above, however he does say that capitalism has some serious problems. Indeed, he writes: "...people fail to realize that Capitalism was part of paradigms based on barbaric social norms and practices." Unlike some economists in their ivory towers. Mr. Sekimonyo ventures out into the world. He will ride Greyhound buses over thousands of miles of highway and fly to Africa, where poverty can be observed in its crudest state. Major problems there were corruption and repression. He makes a poignant observation that problems in Africa are found in the Western Hemisphere as well. As an example, he cites when former Gov. of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich was arrested for trying to sell Barak Obama's vacant Senate seat while in public office. I commend the author for bringing this up because as Americans, we are taught that there are certain events that do not take place in our country, but rather in remote, Third World countries. In the coming chapters, the author continues to show us more examples of social inequality and injustice-always preceded by meticulous research and first-hand knowledge, never taking people or events at face value.

 

I picked up this book by chance, and, normally accepting of capitalism and, I admit, ignoring poverty, though it abounds in my adopted country, Chile, I went through three phases: Phase 1: I didn't believe what the author was saying, I wanted to give counterexamples and shut it out. Phase 2: I kept going, compelled by the author's solid style and well-thought-out arguments, I began to see that he had a point. Phase 3: I saw the light. Even though my ideology is different than his, I saw the need to support the poor, to make a difference, in other words, I answered the wake-up call.

 

I can think of myriad reasons for reading this book and a whole spectrum of people who would be interested in it. The first reason that comes to mind is, no pun intended, to open your mind. We are dealing with a person who, though his ideas differ from those of the majority, explains himself well and captures your attention. Another reason would be to get a good grade (in high school or college) in an anthropology, history or sociology class by writing a book report. I'm sure that you would surprise your teacher/professor. Perhaps you are just a freethinker, someone who isn't quite content with the status quo. In that case, this book will give you material for many, many conversations and discussions to come.

 

To buy the book, for only $3.99, please click here.

Slide Spin

Slide Spin by Subbarao Mukkavilli

Slide Spin

Since this book is full of wisdom, some in the way of famous quotes, I thought I would add one myself: "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail."--Benjamin Franklin. In fact, this is one of the underlying tenets of Slide Spin, an e-book on how to prepare business presentations in PowerPoint and other comparable software suites that will make you and your company successful. That is to say, if you prepare for a top-notch presentation with help from this book, the outcome will be more than satisfactory. The book itself is divided into three sections: 1. "The rationale behind creating compelling presentations..." 2. "the core concepts of creating effective presentations." 3. An outline of "… various concepts, ideas and online tools to further fortify our message." Another component of this book that I particularly like is a list of myths about what is needed to create a presentation and the rationale proving them wrong. Here are a few of those myths so that you can get an idea: 1. I am not a creative person. 2. My current job is not in demand of presentation skills. 3. We have very good content on our website, plenty of advertisement material designed by our ad agency… I can include all these in my presentation. 6. Creating presentations is a daunting task but I don't have an expert to help me. Why start something I cannot complete? 7. I'm not an expert in graphic design. I know nothing about creative tools. Here the author brilliantly provides you all the reasons that you can indeed prepare dazzling PowerPoint slides.

Though I am not a business executive, I clearly understand the author's motive and true willingness to help the reader. I am able to project the outcome of a potential presentation by following the book's instructions. One of the best lessons I learned was to focus on the content of the presentation rather than the design, fonts, etc,. What I really like about this book is that it is not written by some lofty professor with little or no hands-on experience; it is written by someone who has been out in the business world preparing and exhibiting his own presentations. In other words, he walks the walk and talks the talk, and he backs everything up with actual slides and tables, so the reader can see for him or herself what it's all about. His tone is lively without being dense. In fact, he employs interesting elements or "spice"- which is yet another incentive to keep reading his book. In addition, there is always something new, refreshing and exciting coming around the bend. I felt compelled to finish the book.

There are many reasons for acquiring this book. Some are:

It will catapult you into a successful career through superb presentations.

It is entertaining. Even if you did not learn anything from the book (which I guarantee you will) you will have fun reading it!

You don't have to enroll in a special course to pick up something new for your career. Sometimes it is enough just to read a book or for someone to give you some sound advice.

It is inexpensive. Only 6 dollars!

Below is are relevant links.

Main Website

Author Site

Amazon Slide Spin ebook