Standing Up to the Madness not only is a timely, inspiring, and even revolutionary look at who wields the greatest power in America-everyday people who take a chance and stand up for what they believe in-but also offers advice on what you can do to help.

Where are the millions marching in the streets to defend human rights, civil liberties, and racial justice? Where is the mass revulsion against the killing and torture being carried out in our name? Where are the environmentalists? Where is the peace movement?

The answer: They are everywhere.

The award-winning sister-brother team of Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!, and investigative journalist David Goodman traveled the country to detail the ways in which grassroots activists have taken politics out of the hands of politicians. Standing Up to the Madness tells the stories of everyday citizens who have challenged the government and prevailed.

As the Bush administration has waged war abroad and at home, it has catalyzed a vast groundswell of political action. From African-American residents of deluged New Orleans who are fighting racism and City Hall to regain their homes; to four Connecticut librarians who refused to spy on their patrons, challenged the USA PATRIOT Act, and won; to a group of high school students who were barred from performing a play they wrote on the Iraq War based on letters from soldiers; to the first U.S. Army officer to publicly refuse orders to deploy to Iraq, charging that his duty as an officer is to refuse to fight in an illegal and immoral war, Standing Up to the Madness profiles citizens rising to extraordinary challenges. And, in the process,they are changing the way that politics is done, both now and in the future.

In communities around the United States, courageous individuals have taken leaps of faith to stop the madness. They could only hope that if they led, others would follow. That is how movements are born. What begins as one, eventually becomes many. In that tradition, the authors have included the ways in which any individual can take action and effect change.

Biography

Amy Goodman is an internationally acclaimed journalist and host of the daily grassroots global news hour Democracy Now!, which airs on more than 600 radio and TV stations around the world and on democracynow.org. Democracy Now! is the largest media collaboration in North American public broadcasting. She has won many of the most prestigious awards in journalism, including the George Polk Award, the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award, and the Robert F. Kennedy Prize for International Reporting.

David Goodman is an award-winning independent journalist, the author of seven books, and a contributing writer to Mother Jones. His articles have appeared in the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Outside, The Nation, and numerous other publications. He is the author of the critically acclaimed book Fault Lines: Journeys into the New South Africa. He lives with his wife and two children in Vermont.

Numbers permeate every aspect of our lives; very little happens without a basic ability to manipulate the simple whole numbers we all take for granted. Beautifully illustrated with old engravings as well as contemporary imagery, Sacred Number introduces basic counting systems; significant numbers from major religious texts; the importance of astronomy, geometry, and music to number quality; how numbers affect architecture. Lundy explains why the ideas of Pythagoras still resonate, and she profiles each number from one to ten to show its distinct qualities: why, for example, the golden section is associated with five, and seven with the Virgin Mary.

Biography

Miranda Lundy has studied the history of number for most of her life. The author of Sacred Geometry, she lives in England.

Dowsers are said to concentrate on finding material objects such as water or minerals, but they are also finding energy fields, messages from the earth, and their own spirituality. Miller, a Penzance blacksmith and well-known dowser, describes the tools, techniques, and considerations novices should learn as they begin the numinous journey toward self-reliance that is dowsing, including how not to be fooled by one's own plumbing. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Biography

Hamish Miller is a popular figure abroad and in Cornwall where he is known for his dowsing expertise. He is is a dowser, metal sculptor and author. He read engineering at Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities, and the popularity of his books on earth energies has earned him an exalted international reputation. He is the author of several books including, The Sun and The Serpent, Its Not Too Late, The Dance of the Dragon, and the latest being Dowsing: A Journey Beyond our Five Senses. Hamish's talents in the field of dowsing makes him a sought after speaker all over the world.

The Dalai Lama, a living symbol of holiness and selfless triumph over tribulation, has shared his philosophy of peace with today's turbulent world. Yet rarely do we hear him speak with such directness as in this collection of quotations drawn from his own writings, teachings, and interviews.

The Path to Tranquility a fresh and accessible introduction to his inspirational wisdom, offers words of guidance, compassion, and peace that are as down to earth as they are rich in spirit. It covers almost every aspect of human life, secular and religious-happiness, intimacy, loneliness, suffering, anger, and everyday insecurities-with endearing informality, warmth, and practicality.

Biography

His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is recognized internationally as a spiritual leader and peace statesman. The recipient of numerous honorary degrees and humanitarian awards, he lives in India.

Taisha Abelar's mesmerizing account of her apprenticeship with a female colleague of don Juaa training which used mental and physical exercisesrather than psychoactive plants. This virtual sorcerers' manual is a pioneering work of women's spirituality.

Annotation

While traveling in Mexico, Abelar became involved with a group of sorcerers and began a rigorous physical and mental training process designed to enable her to breach the limits of ordinary perception. This book details that process and reveals the responsibilities and perils that face a woman sorcerer.

Publishers Weekly

In Arizona in the late 1960s, the author, a jobless 20-year-old, estranged from her family and generally disillusioned with life, met Clara Grau, an enigmatic woman who invited her to her home in Sonora, Mexico. Abelar accepted, unaware that her visit would be permanent and would change her life completely. She learned she had been chosen by a group of sorcerers trained by Yaqui Indian Don Juan Matus--mentor of Carlos Castaneda--to join their search for ways to alter normal perceptions and enter other realities. The culmination of this training is the ``crossing'' of the title: the ``abstract flight'' from the concrete, physical world to its ethereal, abstract counterpart. To accomplish this requires spiritual energy built up through rigorous mental and spiritual training, including, for the author, acquiring a doctorate in anthropology. Abelar's account of her training is mesmerizing; the overall mood of events taking place in the Grau home is dreamlike. The book is a good choice for readers interested in mysticism and spiritual matters. (June)

Now fully revised-the classic study of Neo-Paganism

Almost thirty years since its original publication, Drawing Down the Moon continues to be the only detailed history of the burgeoning but still widely misunderstood Neo-Pagan subculture. Margot Adler attended ritual gatherings and interviewed a diverse, colorful gallery of people across the United States, people who find inspiration in ancient deities, nature, myth, even science fiction. In this new edition featuring an updated resource guide of newsletters, journals, books, groups, and festivals, Margot Adler takes a fascinating and honest look at the religious experiences, beliefs, and lifestyles of modern America's Pagan groups.

Biography

Margot Adler has been a well-known correspondent with National Public Radio for more than 25 years, where her pieces frequently air on All Things Considered and Morning Edition.

What is Te? What is Taoism? What has Piglet to do with either? Te (pronounced "Deh") is Chinese for Virtue. Taoism is a Chinese philosophy. (Practically speaking, it's more than "Chinese," and more than "philosophy," but we'll get into the whys and hows of that further on, inside this book). And Piglet has quite a bit to do with both. What exactly? In the first place . . . That is, he . . . What we mean is . . . Perhaps we'd better let the author do the explaining. In any event, Piglet not only has quite a bit to do with Te and Taoism; he also has quite a bit to do with you and me - as have Te and Taoism - whoever we may happen to be, whatever we may happen to be doing. And that is a Very Useful Thing to Know. As you will see.

Annotation

The author and the characters from the Pooh books engage in dialogue elucidating the Taoist principle of Te, the Way of the Small.

Publishers Weekly

Like Hoff's bestselling The Tao of Pooh , this more topical and sobering sequel uses characters from A. A. Milne's children's classics to illustrate the Taoist philosophy of living in harmony with nature. Piglet shows the Way, turning his smallness into an asset and embodying Te (pronounced deh ), the Chinese word for virtue. Illustrated with drawings from the original Pooh books and quoting liberally from them, this forceful New Age sermon condemns the rape of the environment, unsafe, unnecessary nuclear power plants, the bloated military budget, computers in the classroom, giant corporations, jingoist support for the Persian Gulf war and a succession of ``self-centered, ignoramus Conservative'' presidents. Hoff's tired attacks on the ``Negative News Media'' and on ``Eeyore Amazons'' who ``call themselves feminists but . . . don't like femininity'' weaken his presentation, but on the whole, his Taoist manifesto distills ageless personal and political wisdom, relaying an ecological message we ignore at our peril. (Sept.)

In this remarkable book, Malidoma Some explores the essential role ritual plays in maintaining community and examines the structure common to all ritual. By telling stories of the rituals of his native West African Dagara culture, and of his own experiences in the tribal community, he makes a convincing case that the lack of ritual in the Western world is a fundamental reason that the fabric of society is unravelling. "The hurt that a person feels in the midst of this modern culture should be taken as a language spoken by the body," writes Some. "Our soul communicates things to us that the body translates as need, or want, or absence. So we enter into ritual in order to respond to the call of the soul." The name Malidoma means "he who is to be friends with the stranger/enemy," and Some, who has doctorates from the Sorbonne and Brandeis, abandoned his teaching career at Brandeis at the instruction of village elders to devote himself completely to speaking and, with his wife Sobonfu, conducting workshops on ritual.

Advocating new definitions of success, the author draws on Eastern philosophy to create a program for achieving true wealth. Rich with practical ways to develop trust, sharpen awareness, and tap into sources of satisfaction, The Tao of Abundance shows how fulfillment within leads to prosperity outside.

Publishers Weekly

"The art of abundance is not the art of making money, but the art of knowing how to live." Drawing heavily on Taoist concepts of work, creativity and love, Boldt (Zen and the Art of Making a Living, etc.) offers a systematic program for achieving well-being. Asserting that the Western emphasis on subduing nature and our relentless consumer culture offset the perception of "abundance," he suggests that feelings of prosperity and contentment can flourish independently of actual material wealth. He offers the Taoist pursuit of harmony, leisure and beauty in simple things as a means to help readers appreciate the world's inherent pleasures and to create a sense of fulfillment. According to Boldt, everyone can live abundantly by identifying their true sources of happiness, by following the path of least resistance and by redirecting energy that is unnecessarily tied up in the daily struggle to survive in our culture. Each chapter contains short sections focusing on specific Taoist concepts and showing how readers can apply them to their lives, as well as inspiring quotes from Eastern and Western thinkers. Boldt also provides a workbook section to help readers examine their ideas about money, careers, relationships, time and more. Those looking for a way to sidestep the endless cycle of getting and spending will welcome Boldt's practical, humanist approach to change. (Nov.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

A renowned student of don Juan Matus, Florinda Donner-Grau entered the world of spiritual healing as an anthropologist. But her involvement soon deepened into something far more personal when she bacame an apprentice to dona Mercedes, and aged healer in a remote Venezuelean town known for its population of spiritualists, sorcerers, and mediums. This book presents a fascinating report on what she has encountered.

In My Grandfather's Blessing, Rachel Naomi Remen, a cancer physician and master storyteller, uses her luminous stories to remind us of the power of our kindness and the joy of being alive.

Dr. Remen's grandfather, an orthodox rabbi and scholar of the Kaballah, saw life as a web of connection and knew that everyone belong to him, and that he belonged to everyone. He taught her that blessing one another is what fills our emptiness and heals the loneliness in us all.

Life has given us many more blessings than we have allowed ourselves to receive. My Grandfather's Blessings is about how we can receive our blessings and share life's blessings with others. Through our blessing we will discover our own wholeness and the way to restore the hidden wholeness in the world.

Library Journal

As a child, Remen spent a good deal of time with her grandfather, a Kaballah scholar and orthodox rabbi. She loved their ritual of drinking hot tea and talking. My Grandfather's Blessings is both a homage to a loving grandparent and a gentle reminder to be kind. Remen's grandfather believed that all humans are connected. He taught his granddaughter that each of us is blessed by kindness and the joy of being alive. He believed that the purpose of humanity was and is to share our blessings with others. The author seemingly absorbed all of her grandfather's teachings and has used them to benefit her patients and community in her medical practice. She has been counseling patients with chronic and terminal illnesses for over 20 years and is currently a clinical professor of family and community medicine at the University of California at the San Francisco School of Medicine. Recommended for all libraries with large medical and self-help collections.--Pam Kingsbury, Florence, AL Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Agrowing number of Americans are discovering the pleasurable and therapeutic uses of shiatsu, a Japanese method of acupressure. In Do-It-Yourself Shiatsu, Ohashi, one of the most knowledgeable and well known U.S.-based shiatsu experts, offers step-by-step instruction on how to perform shiatsu at home. Ohashi, who has taught and practiced shiatsu for more than thirty years, focuses on the common discomforts faced here in the West. He provides clear explanations of all technical terms and helpful photographs throughout to illustrate shiatsu techniques and locations of pressure points. Also included are explanations of special shiatsu exercises, designed to keep energy flowing through the body, and a new preface by the author.