Law Books

The power we have over ourselves usng creative visualization is infinite. This was easy, relaxing and perfect for people who want to tap into themselves. One of the best purchases ive made.

I was looking for a creative visualization meditation program that I could listen to in the mornings when I woke up. There are several short meditations on this CD that are perfect for that and don't take much time. What I also like is the 30-minute relaxation & goal visualization session that I can listen to at night before bed. I regularly have this CD is my car when I need to relax or motivate myself with positive thoughts. The CD is 60 minutes long, but you can easily listen to it in short pieces if you don't have an hour to spare.

The case was broken in shipment because the CD had not been packed properly/at all. It was shipped in a manila envelope with no cushion or bubble wrap whatsoever.

I recommend Shakti Gawains Creative Visulization Meditation CD. It's
certainly not the best one out there, but is good for beginners. This 60 minute CD is much better then the original book on tape she did years ago. On that tape, she read very fast, she sounded unenthusiastic, the meditations were rushed, so I couldn't get much out of it.

Here, she reads slow and her voice is calm and relaxing. The added music is pretty good, however I would have wanted a little more time spent with her guidance through the creative visualizations.

This is about the 5th meditation cd I've purchased. This one was hard to follow and just wasn't as effective as others I have. If you are considering this one, I'd keep looking.

I've been CTO for several venture backed startups for the last few gigs. So if like me you want to prepare an application draft as thoroughly as possible before you call your attorney (and open your wallet) then this book will pay for itself on the first chapter. Like when it comes to having my car fixed, I don't do what the mechanic (or expert) does for a living, but I sure want to understand his rationale and learn from him. That's what this book does for the reader. Take one giant leap forward in undertanding the language, strategy and reasoning of the pros and enjoy the insights and confidence that comes with an enhaced command of the art.

Invention Analysis and Claiming: A Patent Lawyer's Guide As an entrepreneur, I found Ronald Slusky's book supremely helpful! We have numerous inventions at my startup company, and we needed a 'language' for communicating with our patent counsel so that our ideas would be more efficiently conveyed. And Ron's book fit the bill! I highly recommend it to any technology company who works with patent counsel. It will save them a lot of time - and money!

I read this book and immediatly manadated that all of my attorneys read it as well. I also recommended it as essential reading for my law school students. Ron may call himself "old school" but in my opinion his way of thinking about patent claims is the only correct way. I've employed and taught Ron's claim drafting strategies for many years and although I might hate to admit it, I learned a lot from this book.

I wish I had this book when I was first starting out 17 years ago. Instead, I read the claim construction decisions and learned on the job. Claim drafting really is an art form and Ron's book gives you the framework necessary to begin crafting patent claims with a purpose.

I was thinking about writing a text book about how to draft patent applications, but now I'm not so sure I could add much to what Ron has written.

Kirk Teska, author of Patent Savvy for Managers: Spot & Protect Valuable Innovations in Your Company

I'm a newly minted patent associate. I've seen other massive tomes around on drafting basics. I'm aware that the bosses rarely have time to initiate a tutorial for the associates. So, what's the solution? I just happened to read an ABA pitch for Slusky's book and picked it up. What a book it is!

It's not easy to take complex subject matter and distill it down into its key components while being educational and keeping the pace light, but dare I say as a novice patent attorney, that Slusky seems to have accomplished just that. I don't know the man, but I couldn't help but think as I read this book that he was standing over my shoulder at my desk, shepherding me along.

It's so clear to me: read with a goal--begin with the problem/solution and keep it in your head throughout your drafting. Slusky's mantra has made it seem so much easier. And isn't that the mark of a good teacher after all, substituting mastery for mystery?

Some people don't learn by reading, but by doing. Fair enough, but this book, unlike its more massive brethren in the field, packs more useable knowledge per page and in an enjoyable style to read, than the others ever could.

Thanks. I feel ready to tackle the most challenging of patent apps!

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn to draft valuable, enforceable patent claims. The book is very well written and very clear, and the examples are thoughtfully chosen. I learned much of what I know about elevating patent prosecution to an art form from the author, and this book contains his expert insights. I have personally benefited from this book and intend to buy it for each of my associates.

This will truly test your knowledge and skill. It will definitely push you to be better than before.

Great explanations for the different types of questions. Great advice on how to answer the questions. I also bought the Kaplan comprehensive review, which I did not like. So if you had a bad experience with that, don't let it scare you away from this one.

the explanations are sooo awful, and the fake questions are not what would appear on the lsat. sometimes they leave some things out

I highly recommend this workbook as a beginning step for building a foundation for advancing points in the games section of the LSAT. However it needs to be followed up with a more advanced workbook such as Get Prepped's Logic Games or PowerScores Logic Games Bible. I found the setups to be very basic but it is a great book to start with if the LSAT games are giving you trouble. I have worked all of the games books because I love them!

I read the good reviews but found this book to not be everything it was hyped up to be. Honestly, I thought it would be better, especially since Kaplan is supposed to be the best in test prep. First of all, the book has some overlap with the Kaplan 2007 Comprehensive Program. Secondly, I did not find any advice for diagramming or approaching the questions. The explanations were mediocre. I found Cracking the LSAT to have a better Games section than this whole book. In terms of practice, it was okay. However, I would recommend GetPrepped's Ace the LSAT Logic Games. That book has a lot more problems and shows better Diagrams than Kaplan did. I think this book was sold to make up for the poor quality of the Games section in the Kaplan Comprehensive Program. But, after completing both books, I would definitely recommend something else. I like the Princeton Review. I know it might not be mainstream, but they are a lot better. I also like their attitude better (I wasn't fond of Kaplan's tone when reading this book). I think doing all the preparation I can is necessary, so it's not like this book was time wasted. It's just that I wish I didn't send the money on this book.

Very well written textbook, easy to understand. Good real world examples listed in each chapter.

This is a must have if you're using the Waltz and Park textbook. But I recommend it no matter what textbook you have. The outline is very clear, very thorough, and lays out both Cal and Fed rules of evidence.

Great summary. It's better if you read the FRE before and use the book to make sure you understand everything. No need to make a summary of your own with this book

The beauty of this CD set is not only in the resonance of clarity in purposeful content, but resonance in the clarity of Dr. Michael Beckwith's personal-universal brilliance of language. This man is believable.
He is clearly vulnerable to seeking the truth of his mind, heart, soul and body in a committed, consciously intelligent experience of his walk on earth. What a blessing to hear, by example, his articulated path.

Dr. Janeann Dill, Ph.D., MFA
IIACI: Institute for Interdisciplinary Art and Creative Intelligence
[...]

Reverend Michael Bernard Beckwith shares his insight, his love, his energy, and his connection to the Divine that is within each of us. This priceless CD is truly inspirational for anyone, for it goes beyond the limitations of personal belief systems. I am grateful to the Rev. for his commitment to a world that works for everyone.

This man is so enlightened and able to transmit his beauty to others. To get the most out of this CD you need to be willing to let go; Michael will guide you to enter into a new dimension in your being. Remember, we are all going to the same place; we are all looking for the same thing...that is peace. The key relies in us; is up to you to find it.
For those who are ready... welcome!, enjoy it, live it.
Michael's teachings can be applied to any believe, practice or religion.

Rev. Michael has so fully assimilated the teaching of all the masters into his soul that he speaks with a voice that is unique to him. He is living what he is teaching, as is evident in the success of Agape International Spiritual Center. This set is a blessings and has quickly and profoundly changed my thinking, and consequentially, my life. I am grateful for his work.

While I think the audio is awesome and has a wonderful flow of concepts and meditations, I think it would be much more valuable with an accompanying workbook. That's the only reason I gave it 4 stars rather than 5. There is a LOT of great material in the audiobook that really needs some practical handling in a written format, just to help the listener/reader really integrate it into their lives.

But don't be scared off by this! You CAN listen to the audio CD and get a lot out of it. Michael's energy will get you fired up to really integrate these concepts into your life. The thing that I really enjoyed hearing was to avoid the trap of manifesting for the sake of manifesting or acquiring "stuff." That's where I think movies like "The Secret" failed - they really pushed the concept of using spiritual concepts to acquire "stuff." Michael really helps you understand why, in the long run, focusing on acquiring "stuff" is not a really great idea - better to focus instead on your own growth and peace.

This book is probably an important addition to the literature on healthcare economics. It offers a good corrective to the politics out there. It reminds us that healthcare spending is not wasted spending, in the sense that it almost always adds value. It also points out that in many ways the costs of healthcare are FALLING.

The real question is how can we continue to improve the value of our healthcare dollar? Cutler concurs with many conservative healthcare analysts that the real problem is that the incentives in the American healthcare system are wrong. The incentives are aligned in favor of healthcare interventions rather than health. He proposes to address this incentive problem by having the government intervene in the market by providing the right incentives. In essence, the government would post-hoc realign the incentives by rewarding quality after-the-fact and beyond fees for services. In addition, he would subsidize insurance to create universal coverage.

This is an interesting idea. At the very least, it makes the important observations that the current system is rife with market failures due to the government-imposed structure of the market.

He does not seriously investigate other options. Both single-payer and conservative proposals are rejected with a single paragraph each. This probably misses some significant arguments from each. My sense is that he only sees one kind of market failure when there are at least two. The first problem has to do with incentives, which he sees.

The second problem has to do with information that is not efficiently used. Many of the conservative thinkers on this have argued that IT ought to provide significant cost-savings. In essence, 13% of our economy is still operating without the information processing that has revolutionalized the information economy.

Forty million Americans lack health care insurance and costs leap three and four times the inflation rate yet few Americans feel the system provides adequate care. Harvard economics professor and health-care expert Dr. David M. Cutler believes that the problem lies with the inability for most people to understand opportunity costs based on choices that may not lead to an improved life quality. The government and medical leadership exacerbate the problem with saving money as their solution, ignoring effectiveness. He makes a strong case on how much health care has dramatically improved over the past five decades as dramatized by longer productive life spans. Dr. Cutler believes that more money should be spent on further medical advances and that universal coverage for all needs should be implemented so that the present day uninsured can afford care rather than drain at a more costly rate the system. The key is to change from a system that economically encourages doctors to choose techniques that are not always the best for the patient factoring in cost and life quality to a system that reimburses doctors for quality service (not as hard as it first sounds).

Though at times the medical supply and demand is difficult to grasp, YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE makes a powerful well written argument to reengineer a system in which political band aids fail everyone. The case for quality and the explanation of choices are well done and surprisingly easy to follow while offering a seemingly radical but compellingly logical approach to fixing the broken American health system.

Harriet Klausner

The first part of the book is probably informative for a novice reader on the topic, but hardly original. There are many other sources about how medical care has improved over the years due to surgical techniques, diagnostics, and drug therapies. There are many other sources about some of the economic aspects, like fee-for-service and HMOs. He skips the part about government intrusion.

When the author gets around to advocacy, his politics shows. His "strong medicine" is more government controls by politicians and bureaucrats. He is apparently blind to the consequences, which have put America's health care system in its current state. Those with political power and influence, like general hospitals and huge "nonprofit" insurers, control the system in their way.

He says the present system lacks incentives for quality of care. Yet he offers no workable solutions that would survive political infighting, not be manipulable, or how much more they would cost. He advocates pay-for-performance, which in the hands of bureaucrats becomes pay-for-conformance. Private insurers have experimented with it for several years, with no clear results.

He says little about consumer choice. You can easily guess the author's politics and outlook. He is a Harvard econ professor, worked on the HillaryCare plan -- a fiasco -- and is now a health care advisor to Barack Obama. Technocrats are bent on rationing. They lack innovative medical knowledge and skills. The rules they want stifle innovation and individual consumer choice. Consumers are simply numbers or like cattle.

since nothing is perfect.

Authoritative, clearly written, and quite interesting; I recommend to anyone -- professionals, academics, laypersons -- interested in these issues.

Specifics:
1) The first 5 chapters convincingly argue that the enormous increases in health care spending are first attributable to new technology and treatments, and well justified, benefits substantially exceed the costs. The arguments are based in substantial part on Cutler's own academic research. By themselves, these chapters are sufficient to justify the book. Cutler does a good job of explaining both the technical economic concepts and the medical issues, and I suspect anyone interested in the topic will find the chapters fascinating, eye-opening.

He reaches a very important conclusion: we ought to spend MORE, not less.

2) Subsequent chapters survey sources of waste and problems of distribution. I found these helpful in outlining some important problems, and well worth reading, but incomplete (see below). In part these explore the incentives created by different systems of paying for health care; this helps explain why some sorts of technologies and procedures are favored over others in any particular case.

3) The concluding chapter contains his solution to the problems, a system of universal insurance (mostly private) coverage, subsidized and supervised by the federal gov't; worth reading, but inadequate. Cutler focuses on a subset of problems & proposes a solution, with little consideration for other problems or possible solutions.

For example, he ignores 'public choice' issues: how would his proposal work in a world of self-interested government official, bureaucrats, insurers, medical professionals, patients, etc.? The system he proposes might work on paper, but is quite susceptible to "gaming." USDA crop insurance is a real world example, and its poor performance should make us hesitant to expand this approach to health care.

Similarly, Cutler argues that gov't and insurers should develop a payment system that rewards providers for measurable health improvements. Cutler greatly underestimates the difficulty. Soviet planners wrestled this problem for 75 years and were unable to solve it, how to specify a set of desired production outcomes from above and then have them realized as one envisions. It's a very difficult problem, I think unsolvable. Cutler underestimates it, and devotes essentially no attention to possible solutions which would make the individual consumer directly responsible for payment, and evaluation, of health care services.

4) Cutler provides a lengthy set of citations from the scholarly literature, excellent for further study. He also features, on his website, a technical appendix. It's clear he's trying to spread light, not heat, in the health care debate. Good on him!

5) Despite any weaknesses, Cutler does a fine job of framing the issues. The book is accessible and a good read. OK, OK, 4.9 stars.

C.N. Steele Ph.D.

While I found Dr Cutler's analysis penetrating, I was disappointed that he did not discuss in any detail the large impact on medical costs of medical malpractice lawsuits. Not only do these lawsuits increase malpractice insurance premiums of physicians and health insurance premiums of patients, they lead to wasteful defensive medicine, as physicians do unnecessary tests and procedures in order to reduce the risk of malpractice suits. Tort reform is essential to control rising medical costs.