BROKE BY GLENN BECK - KEVIN BALFE

BROKE BY GLENN BECK - KEVIN BALFE
REVIEW BY ILAXI




The Facts - The Future And the Fight to Fix America. The time has come and the Author predicts the empire on the edge of chaos! Financially broken, spirits broken and faith shattered. The Author takes readers on ride to 234 years of history, culminating with the Great Recession and the bipartisan recklessness of Presidents Bush and Obama.

Glenn Beck is an Author of six #1 New York Times bestsellers: An Inconvenient Book, The Christmas Sweater, Glenn Beck’s Common Sense, Arguing with Idiots, the children’s version of The Christmas Sweater, and The Overton Window.
A chock full of reference and with over 400 pages packed to the brim, this book provides a exposure of America's decline and head for big bang for the buck! It's roughly divided into three parts:

Part I - The Ancient history, the foundation of the nation, monetary policy of Hoover, FDR, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush II and now Obama.

Part II - Covers the crime of the century, the cover up and "the murder
weapon".

Part III - The Plan. Author's Action call. Response to critics and his understanding of the role religion, government, family etc plays in shaping the American nation.
Broke exposes the truth about what Americans are really facing. Most people have seen pieces of the puzzle, but very few have ever seen the whole picture—and for very good reason, leaders have done everything in their power to hide it. If Americans understood how dire things really are, they would be demanding radical reform right now. Despite the rhetoric, that’s not the kind of change politicians really believe in, says the amazon review. Leaders can no more fool the nation - the citizens.

Packed with stories from History, Resources, citations, teachable pin points, custom illustrations are all a part of the book that highlights concerns and debates. The book is an entertainer and eye opener. Corrupt power and game play with history reeling through the years and politics making a 'fiscal mess' and crisis knocking the door. The author speaks of plans as action call to - Decentralize power and authority, cut spending, stop printing money and create policies that support a sound currency. And finally live your own life so that you are not dependent on the government. A great pick from a bold, argumentative and honestly truthful host of Fox news network who knows all, reveals and guides all. Good pick.

Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan

Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan
By M J Akbar

New Book by M J Akbar is recently launched in Delhi by HarperCollins India - Find the Books Page and reviews of the Books on M J Akbar's Blog.

Here's a review from Economist Print Edition for quick read:

Future unrosy
Was Partition always going to be violent?
Jan 20th 2011 from PRINT EDITION
The Economist

Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan. By M.J. Akbar.
HarperCollins India; 343 pages; 499 rupees

WHEN India and Pakistan began, in 1947, they shared many of the same peoples and a legal and administrative history going back five centuries. What explains their subsequent divergence, with India now broadly stable and prosperous and Pakistan crisis-ridden? According to M.J. Akbar, an erudite Indian journalist who is a Muslim, “The idea of India is stronger than the Indian; the idea of Pakistan is weaker than the Pakistani.”

India was founded as a secular democracy. Given its great diversity, it is hard to think how it could have been otherwise. Pakistan was created to be a homeland for India’s Muslims, an idea that was weak on two counts. First, because it implied a threat to Muslims, or Islam, in Hindu- majority India that in retrospect appears bogus. India’s 160m Muslims are free and no worse off than Pakistan’s 180m. Second, the Islamic rationale for Pakistan contained an ambiguity about the role of Islam in the new state, which has given rise to extremism. As Mr Akbar writes, “the germ of theocracy lay in Pakistan’s genes.”

No one would have been more appalled by this than Pakistan’s founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. A whisky-drinking anglophile, he envisaged Pakistan as an India-style democracy. Yet he also helped begin its descent by playing upon chauvinist Muslim fears for political gain. A stalwart of the independence movement, he had been a late convert to the cause of Pakistan, swayed to it only after the early collaboration between Hindu and Muslim freedom-fighters had broken down.

There were many reasons for this. Indian Muslims had a history of violent opposition to the British that was at odds with Gandhi’s non-violence. Their elite felt superior to Hindus—a hangover from the Mughal empire—and feared losing their residual privileges under Hindu rule. The leaders of the Congress party, including Jawaharlal Nehru, were insensitive to these fears. It also suited India’s British rulers to worsen the schism. Had any of these parties acted differently, the calamity of partition, in which perhaps a million perished, might perhaps have been avoided.

Among many recent books on Pakistan, Mr Akbar’s stands out. Above all, it is a fine and detailed history of Indian Muslim anger and insecurity, spawned by the 18th-century decline of the Mughals, and the way this played out in the freedom struggle. It is a lively read; Mr Akbar is a stylish writer with an excellent eye for a gag. Of the Mughal emperor Babur, he writes, he “was equally adept at writing poetry, art criticism, military strategy and piling rebel skulls in the shape of a pyramid.”

The book’s final chapters, on Pakistan’s recent struggle with militancy and extremism, are less good. That may have to do with Mr Akbar’s nationality. Denied much access to Pakistan, Indian analysts sometimes struggle to keep abreast of it. But that Mr Akbar is Indian, let it be said, is largely immaterial: his book is fair and balanced. So, too, were his opening remarks at its launch, attended by an array of Indian leaders. “If Salmaan Taseer had been an Indian Muslim, he would be alive today,” he said, referring to the Pakistani governor of Punjab, murdered by a fanatic this month. That was provocative; also true.

You can find more reviews from Livemint, msn, india today, etc. If you've read the book, send in your reviews and do post your comments. Thanks.

- ilaxi

Have Pen, Will Travel:Observations of a Globetrotter

Have Pen, Will Travel:Observations of a Globetrotter
By M J Akbar
Bylines compilations on Author's Journey

An enjoyable travelogue — a compilation of articles describing the author’s journeys to places all over the world. Many of these had originally been published in Akbar’s columns. The author travels the world extensively and, in his inimitable style, proceeds to write about it, giving us a glimpse of places that we may never get to see. Aside from visiting different continents like Africa and America, Akbar also explores the furthest corners of India. His witty observations and keen insight make the book engaging and informative at the same time.

Read more in Books and find the Author's new Book Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan
- ilaxi