Book Review: Mind the Power

The POWERMIND(tm) System: Twelve Lessons on the Psychology of Success (Kiefer Enterprises International Press, 1995 ISBN 0-9645934-0-8)

This book was written by: Michael Monroe Kiefer, M.S., who graduated college with "two high technology science degrees" and "vowed [he] would never read another book again."(p.XI) He was in danger of spending the rest of his life as an "overweight cynical sleepaholic"(p.XII) until his life hit a turning point. And then another turning point. And then five more turning points after that. In his prelude ("The Author's Amazing Transfiguration"), he discusses how these seven turning points led him to develop the POWERMIND(tm) system.

What is in this book: A collection of techniques designed to help anyone become a hyperintelligent superachiever, living dreams and seizing success. After a self assessment, the book moves on to set goals and teaches powerbonding to ensure that you can properly harmonize your triune mind, which may grant you superpowers. After all, your superconscious mind is "connected by a belt to what most people call God"(p.199), and if your mind "can communicate with or invoke a higher power [....] any ESP-type abilities will stem from this source by way of the superconscious mind"(p.199-200). The final section of the book shows how to use what you've learned to achieve your goals, and these methods have to work because poverty is only "a disease of mind"(p.119).

What is not in this book: Self pity. “You are personally responsible for the way your life works out”(p.402). Presumably, this includes cancer, earthquakes, missing car keys, lines at the bank, genocide, and rape.

Would you recommend this book to power lifters? Yes, provided that they lift this book by the case.

Would you recommend this book to masterminds? Yes, both criminal and otherwise, if they are in need of something to boost their self esteem.

What was interesting about this book? There is a section on scientific prayer(p.384), and instructions on reading a book that has one tracing a finger over the repeated phrase "The POWERMIND system helps all and hurts none" (p.342). It also includes "It's your fault: a personal responsibility self-awareness poem,"(p.401) which is 13 lines with no discernible meter or rhyme scheme that imparts this nugget of wisdom:.
"If you decide never to read a self-help book and then suffer dramatically because you are ignorant of success principles, it's your fault." (p.401, emphasized by the author)

Book Review: Ice Pyramids of Doom

Today’s book is 5/5/2000 ICE: THE ULTIMATE DISASTER by Richard W. Noone (Harmony Books, 1986 ISBN 0-517-56142-5)

This book was written by: Richard W. Noone. Part prophet, part detective, Noone has "learned to see ancient astronomy in terms of observational techniques based on measurements of the actual size of the earth, rather than on church-inspired concepts of the universe."(p.v) He has dedicated his book to the rational soul of the world.

What is in this book: Detailed explanations about how the pyramids are actually massive warning signs left for us by our incredibly advanced ancestors, warning us about an upcoming polar shift on 5/5/2000. Noone's narrative exposes the freemason roots of the United States' founding fathers, explains how orgone energy is another name for the power harnessed by the ancient Egyptians, and elaborates on how the astral alignment of certain planets on 5/5/2000 will result in massive buildups of ice at the earth's poles, triggering the apocalypse. He does so by using the highly scientific techniques of drawing connections between people with similar initials (p.308), and adding years together to get significant numbers ("The numbers in the year 1967 again equal twenty-three, the number Robert Anton Wilson in his book Cosmic Trigger believes guided him to 'a network of adepts that extends far beyond our earth.'"(p.308))

What is not in this book: a denouncement of global warming as a pseudoscience hoax perpetuated by the liberal media.

Would you recommend this book to doomsay fetishists? Absolutely. The fact that Noone's 2000 deadline has elapsed should in no way dampen their enthusiasm for this book. If, as Noone asserts, our preconcieved notions of history can lead us to deny the sophisticated technological accomplishments of our ancient ancestors, then it's entirely possible that a massive pole shift caused millions of deaths in 2000, and we're denying it today. "We much each decide what is true for himself" (p.77).

Would you recommend this book to Al Gore? Sure, if he's not too busy hugging trees or something.

What was interesting about this book? The "200 charts, maps, drawings, and photographs" that the author has chosen to illustrate his points. These include a photograph of the Atlanta V.A. Hospital (p. 113), painting of the caliph of Baghdad (p.94), Jean-Frederic Maximilien Waldeck's drawing of the tower at Palenque (p.70), a painting of George Washington as a mason (p.282), an image of a bare-breasted Cleopatra (p.240), and a photograph of the Egyptian room of a Masonic temple in Philadelphia (p.188). The maps and diagrams are equally interesting, including a pole shift diagram (p.321), and a map showing the continent of Mu (p.35).

Book Review: Federal Prison (Camp)

Surviving Federal Prison Camp: An informative and helpful guide for prospective inmates by Gerald J. Luongo, PhD. (Mallon Publishing, 2005 ISBN 0-9763418-6-7)

This book was written by: Gerald J. Luongo, PhD. Gerald held a job as a school principal before entering New Jersey politics, where he apparently made some enemies. In the "about the author" section of the book, it states that "unable to unseat him fairly at the polls due to his popularity and leadership, [Luongo's] adversaries took the political low road." These adversaries "involved the FBI, which, with the help of an aggressive and trophy-hunting prosecutor, gratuitiously made a wasteland of his life." Convicted of subscribing to false income tax returns, Longo was assigned to the federal prison camp that inspired him to write this work.

What is in this book: An overview of conditions at federal prison camps, based on the author's personal experience. It also contains checklists of things to do before going to prison to make sure that your finances are taken care of and your family is provided for.

What is not in this book: Practical instructions for making a shiv, brewing liquor in a toilet bowl, or surviving the showers.

Would you recommend this book to anyone who plans to be sent to prison? No. At a little under half an inch thick, you would not be able to hollow it out to provide a hiding place for your contraband.

Would you recommend this book to families of the incarcerated? Yes. It is just thin enough to prop up an uneven table or chair leg, or the pages can be torn out and used to stop drafts until the incarcerated family member returns home and is able to perform more permanent repairs.

What was interesting about this book? Stories about people setting beds on fire and trying to steal each other's wives (on the outside). I was also interested in reading the author's opinions on a variety of topics connected to the criminal justice system, like "the right of any government to force an individual into labor, paying you pennies a day,"(p.69) and his comparison of federal prison camps to other methods of incarceration, since (emphasis the author's)"many of these local and county facilities are inhumane. They house every kind and variety of street trash and, frankly, any decent person may not survive the ordeal."(p.10)

Book Review: Protect Yourself With Psychics

Psychic Protection by Ted Andrews (Dragonhawk Publishing, 1998 ISBN 1-888767-30-8)

This book was written by: Ted Andrews. Ted has written over 30 books. His author information mentions this along with his musical skills, his interest in ballet and kung fu, and his state and federal permits to work with birds of prey. He also wants you to know that "in his spare time, he enjoys hanging out with his menagerie of animals, horseback riding and ballroom dancing."
Ted is qualified to offer advice on psychic protection because back in the early 70's, an astrologer friend of his was being targeted by an ex-boyfriend who was part of "a true occult group" that was "very organized, very well trained, very large, and very secretive. They were after power and control (spiritually and politically), and they employed ancient rituals, sexual magic, and other occult techniques." (p.109-110) He stepped in "as a kind of psychic white knight," (p.109) and had to defend himself. Psychically.

What is in this book: A discussion of psychic influences and phenomena, suggested tools and techniques to protect and strengthen yourself through psychic means, and a few words on using your abilities responsibly, all colored with some of Ted's personal observations.

What is not in this book: How to gain riches and power by contacting that occult group in Texas that specializes in tormenting ex-girlfriends. Also, how to stop scanners from detonating your head like a latex sack full of dog food and rabbit livers that's been blasted with a 12-gauge shotgun.

Would you recommend this book to psychics? I think they already know the answer to that.

Would you recommend this book to gullible rubes and/or damaged individuals in search of completion? No, I would recommend that they hand their $12.95 directly over to me.

What was interesting about this book? The section on "distinguishing psychic junk" (p.303) that steers readers clear of the more obvious psychic scams, and the refreshingly honest admission that "a good 75 percent of those who seek out psychics do so because of real problems and do not necessarily need psychic input."(p.327)