The Vaccine Book Making the Right Decision for Your Child Sears Parenting Library

The Vaccine Book Making the Right Decision for Your Child Sears Parenting Library

With the recent spate of publicity surrounding the possible health risks posed by childhood immunization, parents are no longer simply following doctor’s orders and automatically having their children vaccinated. Instead, they are asking questions. The problem is the search for answers only leads parents to conflicting, one-sided information: doctors claim that parents are endangering their child’s life if they refuse shots, while radical vaccine opponents claim parents are endangering their child’s life if they accept shots. With THE VACCINE BOOK, parents finally have one, fair, impartial, fact-based resource they can turn to for answers. Each chapter will be devoted to a disease/vaccine pair and offer a comprehensive discussion of what the disease is, how common or rare it is, how serious or harmless it is, the ingredients of the vaccine, and any possible side effects from the vaccine. Ultimately, parents will have to make their own informed decisions as Dr. Bob Sears is neither pro-vaccine nor anti-vaccine. But THE VACCINE BOOK will provide exactly the information parents want and need as they make their way through the vaccination maze.

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5 Stars Every parent should read The Vaccine Book
Every parent should read this book!!!

Dr. Sears goes through each vaccine-preventable disease in the following way: What is polio? Is polio common? Is polio serious? Is polio treatable? When is the polio vaccine given? How is the polio vaccine made? What ingredients are in the final vaccine solution? Are any of these ingredients controversial? What are the side effects of the polio vaccine? Should you give your baby the polio vaccine? Reasons to get this vaccine. Reasons some people choose not to get this vaccine. Options to consider when getting this vaccine. And then ends each chapter with The Way I See It.

He is not as neutral about the vaccine issue as he would like you to believe. However, I appreciate that he gives us the information so that we can made educated decisions about whether or not to vaccinate our children.

Another MUST-READ about this topic is Vaccinations: A Thoughtful Parent’s Guide by Aviva Jill Romm. Vaccinations: A Thoughtful Parent’s Guide: How to Make Safe, Sensible Decisions about the Risks, Benefits, and Alternatives It’s an invaluable resource for parents concerned about the vaccine controversy.

5 Stars Lots of great information to help you make a decision
I have read a ton of books on vaccines (at least 15) and this one is a good one. It is easy to read and gives a lot of good information.

I think this is a good starting point when investigating vaccines. While Dr. Sears doesn’t recommend no vaccination, he understands (and respects) that some people may not want to and talks about that route as well.

When making a decision for our tot I did lots and lots of research. This book was really helpful to me.

5 Stars The best resource out there on vaccines
Conscientious parents know that trying to pull useful information out of the vaccine controversy is like trying to find a needle in a hay stack. Finally, here is a book that presents only the most current, objective, and accurate information available about childhood diseases and the vaccines that prevent them. The Vaccine Book is well-reasoned and accessible, and I am so grateful that it was published just before my little one was born!

Dr. Bob provides details on the ingedients, side effects and reactivity, and manufacturing process for each vaccine, as well as information on the diseases that each vaccine prevents. He also includes a delayed vaccine schedule and selective vaccine schedule that a parent can ostensibly copy and take to their child’s pediatrician. When my husband and I took our daughter’s modified vaccination schedule to her pediatrician, the doctor was impressed that we were informed and she respected our decision to decline and postpone some vaccines.

It seems that the loudest voices in the vaccine controversy rarely base their opinions on actual facts. The blanket “Vaccines are bad and cause autism” statement is just as ignorant as the suggestion that parents who decline vaccines are irresponsible and asking for their kids to get sick. Thanks to Dr. Bob, there is now a one-stop shop for credible information on vaccines.

2 Stars Just find a good Pediatrician
If you are sitting on the fence on vaxing, this book with nail your bum to the wood. I had an easier time understanding the pros and cons of all the vaccines just by requesting an interview with little one’s pediatrician. He understood our concers and customized a vax schedule especially for us. We seperated some vaccines that were high in Aluminium and combined some that meant fewer antigens going in little one’s system at a time.

5 Stars A very balanced book, does not take sides
Its hard to leave a negative review for this book. Dr. Sears comes across as someone that has the personal integrity, that, unfortunately, seems to be lacking in some of the people in the medical profession. He presents the relevant sources for his arguments. He presents both sides of the debate. And he allows the parent to make the final decision instead of bamboozling him or her into making an all or nothing choice.

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Tantric LoversTM Game by Dr Ava Cadell

Tantric LoversTM Game by Dr Ava Cadell

An Advanced Experience for Lovers. The Journey to Ecstacy Continues…

Tantra is an ancient practice focusing on the art of lovemaking, blending the flow of Yin (female) and Yang (male) energy for a profound mind, body and spirit connection. The Tantric Lovers Game is an experience for the two of you to learn Tantra and achieve that “ulitmate” connectedness. Created for any loving couple (from 18 to 80), this fun and easy to play game presents basic and advanced Tantric techniques and activities enabling the two of you to expand your sensual and sexual horizons. You will appreciate each other and discover a richer, more rewarding life together, and a more gratifying emotional bonding. For a Woman, the game enables her to feel sexually empowered, fulfilling and satisfying her needs and desires (as well as her lover’s). For a Man, it provides him with tools to become multi-orgasmic and to satisfy, cherish and please his lover in intimate ways she can genuinely appreciate. For a Couple, the experience can expand or rekindle your love, intensify passion, enrich and enlighten your relationship. Did I mention prolonged, mind-blowing, sensual sex? Included in The Tantric Lovers Game: Instructions, a Two-sided Game Board, 2 Glass Playing Pieces, a Timer, a Die, a Chakra Chart . About the Author: Dr. Ava Cadell- An accomplished author of six books, Dr. Ava has a doctorate in human behavior from Newport University, CA and a doctorate of education in human sexuality from the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco. She is a media therapist and AASECT certified sex counselor. Her mission is to promote the benefits of healthy love and sex to individuals and couples around the globe.

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Conagher

Conagher

Conagher is both a hard-riding actioner and a character-driven look at Western life. Katharine Ross plays Evie Teale, widowed after coming West and forced to prove her mettle in many ways. Sam Elliott plays Conagher, a cowhand who, when not tracking rustlers, drifts in and out of Evie’s life. Something about that frontier woman keeps drawing him back. But can Evie ever keep him from drifting out again?

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars AWESOME!
Sam Elliot and Katharine Ross are, as always, awesome in this movie! They make a wonderful team who I think portray Louis Lamour’s story exactly the way he envisioned as he was writing the book. It is a classic western movie and a wonderful tribute!

5 Stars Conagher
I am so tickled to finally have this movie… I have looked for years and this is one of my all time favorites…. I love the story line and the actors… very romantic, very touching… great to watch anytime… makes you feel warm …..and hey Sam is easy on the eyes!

5 Stars “SOME MEN TAKE A SIDE TO KILLING JOHNNY, WHEN THE KILLING TIME COMES ,BE SURE YOU’RE STANDING ON THE RIGHT SIDE!”
I JUST LOVED THIS MOVIE! IT’S ABOUT A TOUGH, BUT GENTLE, HONORABLE COWBOY, WHO WHILE RIDING THE RANGE, FINDS LOVE NOTES ,TIED TO TUMBLEWEEDS. HE WONDERS WHO THE WOMAN IS THAT IS WRITING THEM, AND WHAT SHE LOOKS LIKE, HE DOESN’T KNOW THAT, HE HAS ALREADY MET HER! CONAGHER IS A GOOD MAN, WHO TRIES TO LIVE HIS LIFE THE RIGHT WAY, BUT TROUBLE ALWAYS SEEMS TO FIND HIM, BUT CONAGHER HAS A WAY OF TAKING CARE OF THE BAD GUYS! SAM ELLIOTTS ,REAL LIFE WIFE, KATHERINE ROSS, PLAYS EVIE, IN THE MOVIE. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS MOVIE, IT IS WONDERFUL, AND SOMETHING DIFFERENT, AND ROMANTIC, BUT YET STILL A VERY GOOD WESTERN! EVERYONE IN THE MOVIE DID A AWESOME JOB, IT WAS VERY WELL DONE! MOVIE PEOPLE, PLEASE MAKE MORE WESTERNS LIKE THIS ONE!!

4 Stars A Definite “Keeper’ For Western Fans
This was a solid lower-key Louis L’Amour-written western, meaning a little bit less action than the normal film of its genre. The action scenes they did have in here were short, too.

This is mainly a movie/DVD with several stories weaved in it: 1 - Cowhands slowly being sifted out as the times change and they are no longer needed; 2 - traitors among the main group, men who go to a competing gang of rustlers; 3 - a story of a lonely widow who has to take care of two kids after he husband disappears (killed).

Katharine Ross is the mother (”Evie Teale”) who turns cook at a lonely stagecoach stop that also is being eliminated. She is a good woman, and it’s nice to see the female star of “Butch Cassidy And the Sundance Kid” still looking good out there is the prairie over 20 years later.

Also refreshing to see was her young boy “Laban,” one of the nicest, most respectful kids I’ve ever seen on film: the exact opposite of the many brats I’ve seen on film in the last quarter of the 20th century. Cody Braun was excellent as the son, and, that’s the only movie role he ever played.

The man “Evie” eventually falls for is the hero of the film, “Conagher,” played by Sam Elliott. If anyone in the modern era of films ever looked like he was born to play a cowboy, it has to be Elliott. He has the weathered looks and the voice that go perfectly with westerns.

Overall, this is another beautifully-photographed, nice story and a real “keeper” for those who love a good fim of this genre.

3 Stars Conagher
I’ve liked this movie’s storyline ever since first seeing it on television several years ago. A couple years later I found a “previously viewed” VHS copy at a local video store but was disapointed in the image quality. I chalked it up as the tape being worn out. When I saw the DVD was available I quickly purchased it, certain the image quality would be there. However I was again disapointed. I recomend the story to anyone who loves Westerns. It’s wonderful and its stars bring a lot to the production. Just don’t expect first rate image quality.

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Do Hard Things A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations

Do Hard Things A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations

Most people don’t expect you to understand what we’re going to tell you in this book. And even if you understand, they don’t expect you to care. And even if you care, they don’t expect you to do anything about it. And even if you do something about it, they don’t expect it to last. We do. – Alex and Brett

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Teens Change the World
There are not too many books for teens and young adults that challenge and inspire them towards the right things. Most books for us are “cookie cutter” type books that waste your time with little to no challenges.

I would say that this book can be read by children 12 and up. The Harris brothers give exciting insight into stories, advise, Bible verses, and humor!

Parents, if you’re looking for a book that doesn’t talk about nonsense, inappropriate topics and that’s wholesome for your teen, here it is!

Teens and adults (adults of all ages, you’re not too old!), here’s a book that will motivate you towards changing the world for the better and for Jesus!

-Janai, 16

5 Stars AWESOME, TERRIFIC
Is the best book for teenagers ever.

For those who don’t know and for those who know clearly what they can do is a perfect guide and reference book.

I love it.

Thanks Alex and Brett for this awesome book.

Miri.

Hawthorne, Ca

2 Stars Great Premise - Annoying Tone & Long-Winded
I was a little surprised at the constant religious references, but that wasn’t a show-stopper for me. The show-stoppers were the slow pace and false tone. I couldn’t get past the endless statements of the obvious and earnest recitations of the authors’ accomplishments.

Usually books on tape are easier to plow through while doing dishes etc., but after 20 minutes, my wife asked “Why are you still listening to that? Are you hoping it will get better?”

Too bad - I was hoping for a more credible source than his dad to convince my teenage son that worthwhile accomplishments often involve sacrifice and suffering. But hoping for a book to do this is probably misguided; he will learn best through experience.

5 Stars Excellent read for 12 and older
A book written by teens for teens completely exceeded my expectations. I read this book to determine if it was suitable for my teens (as did several of our church family friends) and I was set back by the determination and devotion of all the teens referenced throughout. It is a must read for parents of all ages and I highly recommend handing it over to your kids 12 and up. It just might give them that much needed motivation to know they CAN do hard things!

5 Stars Great Book
I think that every person who has a teenager, is a teenager or works with teenagers needs to read this book. It is so good. It goes against the grain of the cultural expectations for teenagers. A must read for everyone.

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The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby

Noted Fitzgerald biographer Matthew J. Bruccoli draws upon years of research to present the Fitzgerald’s Jazz Age romance exactly as he intended according to the original manuscript, revisions, and corrections–with explanatory notes. Reprint.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars A Slice of Jazz Age Life and of Human Social Nature.
F. Scott Fitzgerald had high hopes for “The Great Gatsby” when it was published in 1925 -that were dashed by a tepid reception. The novel didn’t have much critical support until the 1940s. Perhaps, in its own age, it hit too close to home with too much venom. Perhaps the Roaring Twenties, when liquor and money flowed freely, are romanticized in retrospect, and the novel’s prevalence of casual dialogue gets more respect now. H.L. Mencken called it a “glorified anecdote”, and, indeed, that is how “The Great Gatsby” is presented. The narrator recalls an experience he had among friends a couple of years earlier. As a story, there isn’t much to it. It is how characters perceive one another, how they wish to be perceived, and the simpler and indifferent reality that comment on an age, as well as on the immutable social nature of humans.

Nick Carraway, a man of prominent family who came East to do something vague with bonds, narrates the tale. Nick took a modest house on Long Island, next door to a magnificent mansion owned by Jay Gatsby, a man whom no one knows anything about, except that he throws magnificent parties with all manner of glamorous people in attendance, constantly, which people like just fine. Across the bay, Nick’s second cousin Daisy Buchanan lives with her husband Tom, and it is at their home that Nick meets a professional golfer named Jordan Baker, whom he doesn’t respect much but takes up with all the same. It is through a series of social gatherings that we get to know this group of people and that Nick eventually becomes friendly with his mysterious neighbor, Mr. Gatsby, who has plans to reclaim his long-lost love: Daisy Buchanan.

It struck me that the prose is not very literary for a pre-War novel. The story unfolds in scenes and through dialogue. But it has a merciful brevity that I associate with that era. The lack of extraneous detail and background earned my admiration. Fitzgerald focuses on the interactions of the characters and ignores what goes on in between. This is one slice of their lives, the bitter slice that Nick remembers. It’s interesting that it is Gatsby who evokes the readers’ sympathy, even though we know little about him and Nick disapproves, though holds a begrudging admiration, of him. Amid the hypocrisy, ambition, and shallowness of these Jazz Age bon vivants, Gatsby is confident is his ability to re-do the past. But when Nick concludes that “we beat on…borne back ceaselessly into the past”, he speaks of himself as much as of Gatsby.

4 Stars Timeless
I didn’t fully appreciate this in high school when it was required reading. Now that I am older I decided to read it again. This time I was able to absorb the book from an adult perspective. The story could be set in modern times, the language would be slightly less refined though. The characters were well developed, and their motivations were clear. It was an insightful read with a tragic feel throughout.

Must read!

5 Stars A Dream, Just Out of Reach
I sometimes have discussions with my friends about which book epitomizes “the great American novel.” For most of my friends, the answer seems to be HUCKLEBERRY FINN or MOBY DICK. For me, however, “the great American novel” is, by far and away, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s gorgeous book, THE GREAT GATSBY. Although THE GREAT GATSBY is set during the 1920s and America’s “Jazz Age,” for me, its title character, Jay Gatsby, is and forever will be, “the” symbol of “the American dream” gone wrong.

THE GREAT GATSBY opens during the summer of 1922 in posh West Egg, Long Island. We “see” Gatsby through the eyes of the book’s narrator, Nick Carraway, Gatsby’s neighbor, a Midwesterner who has come to New York to study the bond trade. By using Nick Carraway as a narrator, Fitzgerald successfully distances us from Gatsby a bit and increases his air of mystery.

Nick, the son of a wealthy family, is, above all else, fair and non-judgmental. Although Nick deplores the hypocrisy and shallowness of America’s upper class, a class to which Gatsby, himself, aspires, he can’t help but admire Jay Gatsby, for Gatsby has charm and charisma in abundance. In fact, Nick finds Gatsby’s personality “gorgeous.”

Nick Carraway first encounters Jay Gatsby as he’s (Nick) returning to West Egg from a dinner party given by his cousin, Daisy, and her husband, Tom Buchanan in the even-more-opulent East Egg. East Egg is the home of “old money,” of privilege and class, while the residents of West Egg are the nouveau riche. THE GREAT GATSBY is a book that encompasses class distinctions, social status, and elitism. Tom Buchanan, who attended Yale with Nick, has grown up with privilege. He’s domineering, hypocritical, and totally without scruples.

Tom’s wife, Daisy (Nick’s cousin) seems, at first glance, to be the antithesis of her husband. Delicate and diminutive, Daisy almost always dresses in white, accenting both her transparency and her seeming purity. She’s not at all coarse (just the opposite, in fact), but she does affect a deliberate air of languor and jaded sophistication.

Returning home from East Egg, Nick sees his good looking neighbor, Jay Gatsby, standing on his lawn, reaching out toward a green light, shining across the bay.

From the novel’s opening pages, we know Jay Gatsby is, in many ways, a man of mystery. He’s enormously wealthy, but the source of his wealth is never made completely clear, though it’s not difficult to surmise that it’s something illegal.

Gatsby also claims to come from “old money”, i.e., a prominent family in the Midwest. When pressed, however, Gatsby says he’s from San Francisco. Supposedly, an Oxford graduate, he speaks with a very affected English accent. Although there’s much about Gatsby of which Nick disapproves, he still admires him and finds him irresistible.

While Nick finds Jay Gatsby “gorgeous,” he can’t find anything at all to like about Tom Buchanan. Tom’s hypocrisy is shown to its fullest in his affair with Myrtle Wilson, a married woman who lives in “the valley of ashes,” a barren, dying area that lies between West Egg and New York.

The decaying neighborhood is dominated by an equally decaying and grotesque billboard displaying a pair of gigantic eyes. These eyes belong to Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, an optometrist who used to have an office in the area. The eyes of Dr. Eckleburg seem to see and know all, much like the all-knowing eye of God.

Myrtle Wilson’s husband, George, owns a garage in the valley of ashes. Despite the poverty in which she lives, Myrtle is, at least outwardly, far more alive than is Daisy. Voluptuous, sensuous, and vital, Myrtle much prefers flamboyant colors to the pure white usually worn by Daisy, and unlike Daisy, she doesn’t chose her words carefully or act with artifice and affectation. Neither woman, however, seems capable of deep emotions or selfless action. While Daisy lacks genuineness, Myrtle is vulgar. In many ways, this makes both women ideal companions for Tom Buchanan.

Jay Gatsby is in the habit of hosting lavish parties every Saturday night, parties that showcase sumptuous food, unlimited supplies of alcohol, live musicians, and Gatsby’s legendary yellow Rolls Royce. They are, in short, a symbol of the decadence of the Jazz Age.

Even during his parties, Gatsby remains a man of mystery. He doesn’t mingle with his guests and doesn’t even appear to know half of them. His parties are, however, legendary, with guests arriving from West Egg, from East Egg and even from New York.

While there is much about Jay Gatsby that is affected and artificial, we do learn that there is also much about him that is genuine. He is, above all, a man of contradictions.

Gradually, Nick comes to learn more and more about Jay Gatsby. Most importantly, he learns that Gatsby bought his house in West Egg for the sole purpose of effecting a reunion with Nick’s cousin, Daisy. Five years earlier, Daisy, who had been a Red Cross volunteer, had met and fallen passionately in love with Jay Gatsby, then an Army lieutenant. And although she accepted Gatsby’s marriage proposal, Daisy didn’t wait for him as she’d promised; she married Tom Buchanan instead.

At this point in the novel, Nick realizes that the green light toward which Gatsby yearns is the light on Tom and Daisy’s dock. It’s also the point where Nick becomes even more involved in Gatsby’s life when he agrees to arrange a meeting between Gatsby and Daisy.

The reunion of Gatsby and Daisy, which takes place in Nick Carraway’s house, shows us clearly the fundamental flaws of character possessed by both Gatsby and Daisy, flaws that will, before the novel’s end, lead to several tragic events.

Gatsby is a man who cannot seem to move forward in life. He wants to live in the past; he wants to recreate the past. If he could, he would freeze his first meeting with Daisy and live in that moment forever. He’s a dreamer; he’s a visionary; he’s a romantic of almost mystical proportions. While there can be no doubt that Gatsby does, indeed, love Daisy (he’s willing to sacrifice his life for her), he doesn’t love her in a healthy, realistic manner. Instead, Gatsby idealizes Daisy. She is, for him, the epitome of all his dreams: wealthy, sophisticated, privileged. Gatsby even idealizes himself. When Nick tells him, “You can’t repeat the past,” Gatsby responds by saying, “Of course you can!”

The set piece in which Gatsby shows Daisy his English shirts is not only one of the most famous in all of literature, it’s also the one in which we see Daisy at her most “human,” her most unaffected, her most vulnerable, and it showcases Fitzgerald’s talent to the fullest.

Daisy, though, like Gatsby, is possessed of a fatal flaw that precludes genuine love.

While Daisy does have genuine feelings of love for Gatsby, there is something she loves even more–status and privilege–things she can share with Tom Buchanan in East Egg, but things Jay Gatsby, no matter how wealthy he becomes, can never provide.

After the reunion of Gatsby and Daisy, events in the novel quickly begin to spiral out of control and the lives of the characters become more and more entwined. The reunion seems to affect Gatsby more profoundly–he stops giving lavish parties, he fires his household staff, and for the first time in his life, he begins to care about the gossip swirling around him. While Gatsby becomes more discreet, Daisy, however, seems intent on throwing caution to the winds, inviting the inevitable disaster.

The novel’s climactic event takes place on the first day of autumn, in Gatsby’s swimming pool. It’s not simply for dramatic effect that Fitzgerald made these choices. The first day of autumn brings a chill to West Egg, but Gatsby, in characteristic defiance of the future, chooses to float in his pool, despite the cool weather. For him, the passage of time does not exist; he lives in eternal summer.

THE GREAT GATSBY is a beautiful novel, perfectly constructed and written in gorgeously shimmering prose. It’s filled with symbolism and even with religious overtones. Gatsby, himself, can be seen as a Christ figure, a lamb on the sacrificial altar of “status.” The book also presents a vivid, though quite unflattering, portrait of the decadence and sumptuousness excess of the Jazz Age.

More than anything, THE GREAT GATSBY, to me, represents the death of the American dream. Gatsby was a dreamer, a visionary, a romantic. He represented all that America, in her infancy, represented. Gatsby’s flaw lay in his failure to realize that “the American dream” was dead before it even had a chance to live.

The final line of THE GATSBY is one of the most famous in all of literature:

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

Like the green light on the Buchanan’s dock, like Daisy, herself, life for Jay Gatsby was a dream, but always a dream just out of reach.

5/5

Recommended: Absolutely, to everyone.

5 Stars For Dreamers
I’ve read this book several times, and each reading shows me something else that I didn’t know before. If you want a clarifying perspective on the great, powerful, capitalistic engine that we call the United States, read this book. If you have ever had a dream that you just couldn’t let go, look in the mirror, and you’ll see Jay Gatsby staring right back at you.

1 Star Completely Abysmal
I would give this so-called “classic” zero stars if it was possible. The language is vulgar and archaic, with words such as “gay” and “excitement” used completely erroneously. Fitzgerald could not even be bothered to spell gaiety correctly, though I suppose that is as much his editors’ and publishers’ fault as his own. This book was unpopular when it was written and is unpopular now, so why do we teach it in our schools? Do we really want our children to emulate ANY of the characters or “virtues” conveyed by this book? First, we have the main character, Nick Calloway, who is so spineless and passive that he doesn’t speak up even when it would have saved Gatby’s life. Next, we have Tom and Daisy Buchanan who are so out of touch with reality that they can’t even realize how pathetic their marriage actually is. Last, but certainly not least, comes Jay Gatsby, also known as James Gats. Gatsby is living a seventeen-year-old’s dream whichwould be fine, if he were seventeen rather than thirty, but is total folly at his age. Besides these few specific characters, the cast as a whole demonstrates a blatant disregard for laws big and small, from abolition to murder.

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