Over and over again, in every industry, precisely the same calculation takes place. “Should I pay significantly more to have it done the old way, the local way, the traditional way, the way that pays my neighbor a living wage—or should I keep the money?”

[...]

Abstract macroeconomic theories are irrelevant to the people making a million tiny microeconomic decisions every day in a hypercompetitive world. And those decisions repeatedly favor fast and cheap over slow and expensive.

Over the weekend I picked up Seth Godin’s new book, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? from the library. (My hold request was behind a few others. I think this is a good thing: it means there’s people in the Sarasota area who (a) use the library for its intended purposes, and (b) know enough about Seth Godin to want to reserve his new book within the first few weeks after it hits the shelves.)

I’m still only in the first chapter, but I really like what I’ve read so far. This seems to be a bit different from Godin’s previous books.

I can’t quite put my finger on it, but he almost seems to be focusing more on sociological issues and concepts in this book’s opening, where previous books started off using more personal anecdotes and individual experiences. It makes Linchpin feel like it doesn’t belong with his previous “business/marketing” books so much as with McKibben’s Deep Economy and Postman’s Technopoly.

I like that. And even if it’s not how the rest of the book will read, it’s still good for Godin. Criticism levied toward the ideas in his books often takes the tone of “he’s just a clueless huckster using anecdotes to advance untested ideas.” This opening shows that, at the very least, he’s done his homework.

Associates are eligible to earn 10% in referral fees on both the Kindle device and content. With Kindle priced at $399 you can earn $39.99 on each Kindle purchase you refer. We do not yet pay referral fees on subscription content such as Kindle newspapers, blogs, or magazines, but we will be announcing that support in the near future.

Here’s the thing: when you “buy” content for Kindle, you’re completely dependent on Amazon’s good graces to keep that content available for you in the years to come. If the recent kerfluffle over digital downloads of baseball games is any indication, however, it’s obvious that you can’t place your trust in a corporation to keep your purchases available to you after you purchased them.

People, that’s what personal property is all about. Sheesh!

So anyway, if the Kindle were more like an MP3 player (in that you could store local, platform-independent copies for backup and convenience purposes) I would support it—despite its ugliness. But it’s not, and I cannot in good conscience try to sell it to you, only to watch your hundreds of dollars’ worth of Kindle content vanish in a poof of digital smoke a few years down the road.

This Christmas, give the gift of real books.

Wilson covers all the major concerns of shaping boys into real men: laziness, sex, secret sin, courtship, girls, friends, fights, school work, and sports to name a few. Each section is written with that ’serrated edge’ he is known for, so you need to read with a smile and not take offense if you are to gain from many of his good insights. —Paul W. Martin @ kerux noemata

Interestingly, Wilson notes that the abandonment of the Psalms in worship means that the church has discarded a songbook, that is throughly masculine in its lyrics, in favour of the effeminate hymns of the 19th and 20th century. The result being that the church is dominated by females as men are put off attending divine worship. The author also has lots of helpful advice on how parents should instruct their boys with regard to work, sports, education, friendship, sex, courtship, fighting, bearing firearms and the use of money; which, all in all, makes for a very stimulating read. —Daniel Ritchie @ Reformed Covenanter

This is a book on raising boys? Wow, I think I came away from reading Future Men with more instruction on raising myself! Not that it was necessarily Wilson’s aim, but his lessons are of the sort that I need to put them into practice myself before I can raise my own boy in them. This one is so insightful that I need to read it again; there’s just too much to soak up in the first reading!

There is much in this book that is edifying. It helped me understand Mark Driscoll and showed how he grew a megachurch in a largely unchurched city in only eight years. He is clearly a passionate, focused man who is genuinely seeking hard after God. He has much to offer the church. I wonder, though, how long his message will be heard as long as it is wrapped in a sometimes vulgar, always sarcastic, package. It may endear him to some, but it will surely alienate him from far more. —Tim Challies @ Challies.com

Driscoll seems very reflective on the way his church runs. He writes about his epiphanies he has and how things in the church needs to change. He certainly is dynamic, not in his writing, probably in his speech, but more so in the way he kicks the church into movement. —Kevin @ Tension Treatises

After the firestorm that erupted among Godbloggers last year over some of the contents of this book, I’ve been following Mark Driscoll (and listening to his sermons via podcast). The guy who I used to know only as “Mark the Cussing Pastor” (thanks to Blue Like Jazz) is quite a character, but this book showed me just how much he’s gone through. This ain’t no spring chicken on the church growth scene; he’s perhaps been through fiercer battles than most small-town preachers will ever see. In and through all of that, he’s being forged into a pillar of the Church, mark my words.

And that’s what this book is all about: it’s an autobiographical take on Mark’s work with Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA. He walks us through the good an bad times he’s experienced during his tenure there. I’d say not only is this book great for pastors looking for some inspiration or encouragement, but church members would do well to read this and understand just how rough it can be to pastor a church.

Some people have complained about how Driscoll talks about some things in the book, but honestly? I consider the transparency in here a breath of fresh air—it’s a level of authenticity rarely reached by clergy, who all too often seem to prefer erring on the side of hypocrisy. I mean, the way I see it discretion is just plain way overdone among pastors these days. (It’s worse than the upper management in large corporations, where every little statement has to be scrutinized by a team of lawyers before it’s released to the public.) Driscoll just isn’t afraid of the potential backlash for telling it like it really is, and I respect him for that.

Nicole snagged this when she saw it become available on BookMooch a few days ago. (She’s so sweet!) Right now the kids are both asleep and she’s meeting with the other ladies in our care group, so I’m here splitting my time between web stuff (IconBuffet gets more addictive each week) and reading some of the mini-chapters in this book (apparently small chapters are the new big, too).

You know what I think would be really cool? If I were able to implement a few of Godin’s ideas at Gemstone. But I can only do so much marketing as an Art Director. If I were to venture such a thing, I would have to find a way to be über-creative… and perhaps a bit sneaky, too.

My best book of 2006 dates clear back to April: THE BOOK OF STORY BEGINNINGS by Kristin Kladstrup. Nothing else has come close since then. —Mary Lee @ A Year of Reading

Like Inkheart and Inkspell, it delves into questions of self-determination and whether characters have lives independent of their creators, although it’s lighter than that series. —Sheila Ruth @ Wands and Worlds

It seems many childrens’ books these days are written about books. In other words, it’s as if writers are trying a last-ditch effort to revitalize reading among youngsters by writing books that are all about how wonderful books are. Tales like the aforementioned Inkheart, specifically, focus on the “magical” way that books “come to life” by having books within the tale literally do so. Such is the main theme of The Book of Story Beginnings, but unlike Cornelia Funke’s trilogy this book takes a theme that is nearly bursting with potential and downgrades it to a simplistic plot device. What could have led the reader to ponder our ability to “create” and to what degree a creator can claim ownership over his creation… was used merely as the rabbit hole for Alice to fall down.

And while I’ve read Lewis, Tolkien and Rowling, I’m not a big fan of sorcery and magic, so some of the key story elements in the book made me a bit uncomfortable. Reminiscent of the final pages of Blue Balliet’s Chasing Vermeer (and unlike the Harry Potter series), Kladstrup’s tale treats elements of sorcery and witchcraft as real—which is to say, characters employ them exactly as sorcerers and witches “in the real world” would. Because of that, while I enjoyed the story as a story, I would have trouble recommending it to the younger audience it was intended for.

(This is the first of many posts intended to replace Squidoo lenses I’ve created… so if it looks familiar to you, that’s probably why.)

Moreover, those who disagree can all make equally strong cases for their own points of view. On matters of morality there is no absolute knowledge; there is only opinion. Whereas the Stoics had argued that on certain matters the test for truth was the “irresistible perception,” the Skeptics responded by saying that the sad fact is that however strongly an opinion is held, it is, after all, still only an opinion, and one can with as much evidence support an opposite opinion.

—Samuel Enoch Stumpf, Socrates to Sartre: A History of Philosophy

Yes, that’s the closest non-comic book to where I sit. (It’s an old textbook from Nicole’s college days, and I keep meaning to read it. This is about the most I’ve ever read of it, though.) Don’t exactly agree with the sentiment, but there you have it.

So what is this “Nearest Book Meme,” you ask? Well, it goes a li’l sumptin’-sumptin’ like this:

1. Grab the book nearest you.
2. Open to page 123, go down to the fourth sentence.
3. Post the text of the following 3 sentences.
4. Name the author and book title.
5. Tag three people to do the same!

Therefore, having been bound to the sacred memetic code, I now pass along a tag to the following three (3) people:

1. Rae Whitlock
2. Aaron and/or Keba Greene
3. Jeff and/or Jodi McMullen

• The Freak Accident
  Josh Alves and I are guest-hosting TFA while Jeremy Zehr is out camping with his family. Look for the new episode later this week!
• Bookmooch
  This site’s only been live for about two weeks, but what a site it is! You get points for mailing books (for free) to members, and spend those points by “mooching” books off of other members. The only expense is the sender’s shipping costs. What a way to build (and clean up) your library!
• The Citizen Squid Project
  I’m one of five members in this pilot program; I can’t share all the details, but we’re working on making Squidoo better and better!

So since I’m so busy this week, about all I can pass your way is a few links and such. Oh, and here’s something political:

(Source: Friends of the Border Patrol)

Ramos-Compean Info Update

Andy Ramirez, Chairman of Friends of the Border Patrol testified before the House Judiciary Committee and requested that Congress launch an investigation and conduct a hearing on the case of the U.S. Government vs U.S. Border Patrol Agents Ignacio “Nacho” Ramos and Jose A. Compean. Due to continued public outcry, the House Judiciary Committee has agreed to do both as requested by Mr. Ramirez on behalf of the agents and their families. In addition, FBP has launched the official “Ramos-Compean Legal Defense Fund,” which has their authorization and support. We have also launched our “Pardon The Agents” campaign and ask that President George W. Bush pardon the two agents.

FriendsOfTheBorderPatrol.com is the official website authorized by the agents and families to present information. We will be posting a new section on the website specifically addressing this case and how the public can help. The Ramos-Compean section is near completion and has the full support of Agents Ramos, Compean and their families We will soon post an electronic donation button for credit card contributions.

It’s quite clear what has taken place, two agents who should have been decorated and commended for their service to this nation were guilty of doing their jobs and not following Bush Administration orders of “standing down,” which this case demonstrates includes illegal aliens, terrorists, and now drug smugglers.

See ya later!

Sorry, I couldn’t resist! Do you ever get spam with that subject line? I sure do. It’s really annoying, isn’t it? I mean, you don’t need pills to enhance your love life… you need the grace of God. So here’s a few means of grace that’ll enhance your love far more than any ol’ pills ever could:

• Simply Romantic Nights
  Nicole and I were given this as a wedding gift (thanks, Uncle Andy and Aunt Bev!), and we love it so much we got a copy for my brother Jordan and his wife, Naomi for their birthdays. (Their b-days are only a day apart, so we can get away with that sort of thing.) Great marriage-building stuff in there — especially the don’t-talk-about-it-in-front-of-Grandmom stuff.
• Sex And The Supremacy Of Christ
  This is a great book — I’ve even reviewed it here at the Second Mouse. This book packs a wallop, pointing out how a right understanding of Jesus and a right understanding of sexuality go hand-in-hand. Definitely one-of-a-kind on the market today…
• Sex, Romance And The Glory Of God (What Every Christian Husband Needs To Know)
  While I haven’t read this book, I know it’s based on C.J. Mahaney’s marriage retreat material. So I know it’s golden.
• Love That Lasts (When Marriage Meets Grace)
  Okay, I’m reaching a bit here. All I know about this one is that it’s regularly recommended in my circles. Disagree? Feel free to leave a comment explaining why, and you might just win my Blogathon comment contest!

Of course, if you equate love with eros rather than agapao, you’ll probably disagree. Well, tough noogies: I’m right, and you’re wrong! HA!

Gemstone Publishing (that’s where I work) puts out a bunch of Disney comic books each month, including two 128-page manga-size series: Donald Duck Adventures and Mickey Mouse Adventures. This month, I’ve got two (2) copies of Mickey Mouse Adventures #10 (on sale July 5th) to give away! Here’s how to enter:

1. Visit the Disney Comics: This Month Mickey Mouse Adventures lens at Squidoo. (Oy vey! Squidoo accidently deleted the lens! No fear, I’ve got a backup…)
2. In the section highlighing Mickey Mouse Adventures #10, find the “win a free copy!” link and click on it.
3. Fill out your name and e-mail address (required), type “The Farce Is With Me!” in the message box, and click “Send”!
4. If you have a blog, spread the word and you’ll get an additional entry by linking to this post! (Just include your blog’s URL in the contact form when you enter — that way I know who to credit.)

UPDATE: This contest is open to U.S. residents only. (Sorry I didn’t specify that sooner!)

Entries must be received by June 30, 2006. Winners will be selected at random on July 1st. I’ll post the results here, and winners will be notified via e-mail. If you win, I’ll need your mailing address so I can send you your book (via USPS Priority Mail). If you include it with your entry (in the “Contact the Lensmaster” message box), I can send the books out that much quicker!

You know, for every dad. Not just for me. Really!

Landon Snow And the Shadows of Malus Quidam would make a wonderful Father’s Day gift for anyone—even if it would hold a special appeal to a particular someone…

A hardcover edition of At the Back of the North Wind would provide the perfect opportunity for Dad to spend quality time reading to the little ones! Just think; a Father’s Day gift that gets Dad more involved with the kids!

As protector of the home, the Father in your life needs to know what’s going on around his family and how best to defend them: that’s why I recommend How Would A Patriot Act? and The End Of Education: Redefining the Value of School. Every Dad should have these on his wish list—I mean, I do!

Finally, point your father to his Father this year with John Piper’s The Swans Are Not Silent series of Christian biographies:

• The Legacy of Sovereign Joy: God’s Triumphant Grace in the Lives of Augustine, Luther, and Calvin,
• The Hidden Smile of God: The Fruit of Affliction in the Lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd,
• The Roots of Endurance: Invincible Perseverance in the Lives of John Newton, Charles Simeon, and William Wilberforce, and
• Contending for Our All: Defending the Truth And Treasuring Christ in the Lives of Athanasius, John Owen, And J. Gresham Machen.

These inspiring accounts will encourage Dad to fight the good fight of faith — what a wonderful gift to give him! (Especially if he’s fond of John Piper’s work, like a certain father I know…)

“The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.” — Proverbs 18:17 (ESV)

If you’re entirely convinced that the MSM properly covered the “10 Commandments standoff” in 2003, you ought to hear the other side of the story. Contrary to the straw-man the news outlets potrayed, former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore’s goal was the acknowledgment of a higher authority than the courts… and the courts didn’t like that.

What we had in ‘03 was the result of our idolatry of man: howling and gnashing his teeth when he’s told that he is not God. All claims of “tolerance” aside, there is one thing fallen man simply cannot tolerate: submission to the authority of God. This was shown to be the case when the U.S. Supreme Court said that a state courthouse could not display the Ten Commandments in such a way as to imply that it had any greater authority than any other set of ancient laws or codes.

So Help Me God is an autobiography, and as such it provides an overview of Fmr. Justice Moore’s life, his priorities, his goals, and his God. Not only that, but (citing numerous historical documents) Moore builds a strong case for the Founding Fathers seeing “the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God” as the basis of all law. If such is the case, then the sort of tolerance which denies the superiority of God’s revealed law is, in its very nature, unlawful.

“And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, saying, ‘We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.’ But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.’ When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.” — Acts 5:27-33 (ESV)

Moore was removed from office for refusing to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion. Perhaps it’s time to learn why he chose to do that. And may Jesus Christ be honored by this Hananiah’s refusing to bow to Nebuchadnezzar’s image.

Last night I got a copy of an ad for the new Walt Disney Treasures trade paperback Gemstone Publishing is producing — so I wanted to let y’all know about it ASAP!

Below the quoted text you’ll find links to the images I was sent: be sure to spread the word, because this thing is gonna be great! (Kneon Transitt’s already posted a sneak peek of Foray to Mount Fishflake, a classic by Eisner Hall of Fame Inductee Floyd Gottfredson!)

Are You A Donaldist?

don � ald � ism \ dän’-ld-iz’-em \ n : the research of Disney comics, and/or the fan culture that is found among Disney comics aficionados (Jon Gisle, 1973)

Go on, admit it. You like reading about comics history… but you love reading historically important comics themselves. You want a real Disney comics archival book�a thick trade paperback full of those extra-esoteric Duck and Mouse tales that just wouldn�t fit in anywhere else.

You�re a Donaldist. And we know where you�re coming from.

Dive into the 160-page

DISNEY COMICS: 75 YEARS OF INNOVATION

for

• Great Donald sagas by Carl Barks (a newly-restored �Race to the South Seas�), Don Rosa (�Fortune on the Rocks�), and Al Taliaferro (the seminal �Donald�s Nephews�)
• Never-before-reprinted Mickey tales by Floyd Gottfredson (�Mickey Mouse Music�) and Romano Scarpa (�AKA Cormorant Number Twelve�)
• Ducks by Daan Jippes, Dick Kinney, William Van Horn, and Daniel Branca
• Mice by Byron Erickson, C�sar Ferioli and Paul Murry
• Renato Canini�s Jos� Carioca, Gil Turner�s Big Bad Wolf�and Brer Rabbit too!

WALT DISNEY TREASURES � VOLUME ONE

July 2006

(Any similarity between this book and the Disney DVDs you love to collect is purely intentional!)

The book will be listed on Gemstone’s Disney Comics site soon, and in the meantime it’s available for pre-ordering at Amazon.

Grab the ad and the cover, and share them with the Disney fans in your life!

…because it’s not wise to simply pass along what everyone else is saying, right?

Nicole and I went to the library last night, and I found two “Christian living” books I’ll be reading specifically because of the negative reviews they’ve received on a number of Christian web sites I frequent. Hopefully there’s some good that can be taken from these books, as they’ve both been extremely popular titles. (I know Christians can be as dumb as sheep, but I’d like to think American believers aren’t totally ignorant.)

Once they’re read I’ll post my reviews. Until then, feel free to guess what they might be. Who knows; you might add to my list of “must-reviews”!

Is it wrong for me to chuckle at what we’ve done?

Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #666 was shipped out to retailers on February 15th. Yes, you heard right: issue number 666… and as Bill at Comix Connection pointed out, in this issue, “Mickey Mouse goes to Hell.”

And he’s right! In this issue, we’ve got a 37-page Italian adaptation of Dante’s Inferno, complete with Alighieri-inspired terza rima stanzas! I really have to hand it to Dwight Decker and David Gerstein; they did a smash-up job with the script!

You can see some of the art over at Scoop! The ending is a bit of a surprise, too! ::wink, wink::

I just think this thing’s cool. It’s neat how “the job” spills over into the rest of my life, too: I was asked to read over the script, and decided to take the opportunity to finally read Dante’s original work (translated, though — I don’t know Italian that well!). It struck me that his journey through Hell seemed to be more an allegory for this life than an account of how he pictured the everlasting Gehenna.

I have to admit I didn’t finish reading Inferno before I had to return it to the library, but I was drawn to the beauty and genius of his poetry in a way I never would have been if I’d had to read his work in school. In other words, a comic book led me to appreciate classic literature in a way no teacher ever could.

Oh boy… C.J. Mahaney has a new book! Except that it’s not, really.

Living the Cross-Centered Life is a soon-to-be-released offering from Multnomah, but it’s essentially a repackaging of The Cross-Centered Life and Christ Our Mediator, two books by C.J. which are worth their weight in gold (judging by the SRP, that is).

Don’t get me wrong, those two books are good… but why on earth should I spend $10 on a 6.5-by-5-inch book whose 96-page thickness is doubled by the cover? Just take a look at the new collection: it’s the exact same price as one of the original titles. (Even at that, though, is $9.99 really affordable for a 176-page reprint?)

It’s disappointing, because I’d really like to recommend these books this book. Vital message or no, however, it’s too much money for too little material.

My recommendation: if you’ve got ten bucks burning a hole in your pocket and you want to be “cross centered,” give a stranger an Outreach Edition ESV Bible and a meal at McDonald’s.

(Note: If you look at my job, you’ll probably consider me a hypocrite. My problem with “collectibles,” though, is primarily when the Gospel is turned into one.)

Al Mohler just recommended making notes and highlighting passages in your books. I disagree. Here’s why.

The early Church was distinguished, in part, by how they treated possessions (Matthew 19:21; Luke 12:33; Acts 2:44-45; Acts 4:32,34-35; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31). The entire concept of marking in a book would seem to make it more “mine.” Have you ever borrowed a book from someone who had marked it all up? It’s next to impossible to read. (I know; Nicole used to do it!)

If the Scriptures encourage us to treat “our” things as if they’re God’s (and we’re just stewards), does it not make more sense to make our notes elsewhere? That way, the book is more shareable and we can spend more of our money on things like helping the needy in our churches, rather than each member buying “their own” copy of the latest work by so-and-so.

Ah, what a tale. =)

I feel ashamed that I’m only now discovering G.K. Chesterton and George MacDonald. At the same time, though, I’m glad for it, because I wouldn’t have appreciated their work nearly as much when I was young.

Hmm… maybe that’s why I’m only coming across them now…