On Philanthropy and giving

A good article on Philanthropy and giving by Peter singer. Examines issue of giving how much and why. Do people have inherent motives in giving (feel good abolut themselves or do they need to do it out of guilt. Are super-rich who are lavish in their giving pure mided souls. The less inclined would not think so.

Let’s start with the question of motives. The rich must — or so some of us with less money like to assume — suffer sleepless nights because of their ruthlessness in squeezing out competitors, firing workers, shutting down plants or whatever else they have to do to acquire their wealth. When wealthy people give away money, we can always say that they are doing it to ease their consciences or generate favorable publicity.

Followers of the 18th-century German philosopher Immanuel Kant would disagree. They think an act has moral worth only if it is done out of a sense of duty. Doing something merely because you enjoy doing it, or enjoy seeing its consequences, they say, has no moral worth, because if you happened not to enjoy doing it, then you wouldn’t do it, and you are not responsible for your likes and dislikes, whereas you are responsible for your obedience to the demands of duty.

On why the rich and successful are obligated to give.

...people can earn large amounts only when they live under favorable social circumstances, and that they don’t create those circumstances by themselves.

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-- From Uncommon-Knowledge-Dept.

The Husband by Dean Koontz

The Husband by Dean Koontz

From the Publisher
With each and every new novel, Dean Koontz raises the stakes -- and the pulse rate -- higher than any other author. Now, in what may be his most suspenseful and heartfelt novel ever, he brings us the story of an ordinary man whose extraordinary commitment to his wife will take him on a harrowing journey of adventure, sacrifice, and redemption to the mystery of love itself -- and to a showdown with the darkness that would destroy it forever.

What would you do for love? Would you die? Would you kill?

We have your wife. You can get her back for two million cash. Landscaper Mitchell Rafferty thinks it must be some kind of joke. He was in the middle of planting impatiens in the yard of one of his clients when his cell phone rang. Now he’s standing in a normal suburban neighborhood on a bright summer day, having a phone conversation out of his darkest nightmare.

Whoever is on the other end of the line is dead serious. He has Mitch’s wife and he’s named the price for her safe return. The caller doesn’t care that Mitch runs a small two-man landscaping operation and has no way of raising such a vast sum. He’s confident that Mitch will find a way.
If he loves his wife enough. . . Mitch does love her enough. He loves her more than life itself. He’s got seventy-two hours to prove it. He has to find the two million by then. But he’ll pay a lot more. He’ll pay anything.

From its tense opening to its shattering climax, The Husband is a thriller that will hold you in its relentless grip for every twist, every shock, every revelation…until it lets you go, unmistakably changed. This is a Dean Koontz novel, after all. And there’s no other experience quite like it.

Mystery Writers of America Presents Death Do Us Part: New Stories about Love, Lust and Murder by Harlan Coben (Editor)

Mystery Writers of America Presents Death Do Us Part: New Stories about Love, Lust and Murder by Harlan Coben (Editor)

From the Publisher
Eighteen gripping stories about relationships from some of the top mystery writers working today.

From the Civil War-era south to 1950s New York to the present day's gritty cities and seemingly innocuous suburbs, these stories chart the complications - always surprising, sometimes deadly - that arise between lovers, dear friends, and even complete strangers coming together for a single, shocking encounter.

In Lee Child's Safe Enough, a blue-collar city boy takes up with a wealthy suburban wife, with dire consequences. In Harlan Coben's Entrapped, a woman's husband disappears and is replaced by a handsome impostor. In Laura Lippman's One True Love, a high-end prostitute seeks a radical solution to a PR problem. In P. J. Parrish's One Shot, a man returns to his childhood home to learn the truth about a long-ago tragedy.

Other contributors of original stories include Ridley Pearson, R. L. Stine, Jim Fusilli, Jeff Abbott, Charles Todd, and Tom Savage.

The Ruins by Scott Smith

The Ruins by Scott Smith

From the Publisher

Eerie, terrifying, unputdownable-Scott Smith's first novel since his best-selling A Simple Plan ("Simply the best suspense novel of this year-hell, of the 1990s"-Stephen King). The Ruins follows two American couples, just out of college, enjoying a pleasant, lazy beach holiday together in Mexico as, on an impulse, they go off with newfound friends in search of one of their group-the young German, who, in pursuit of a girl, has headed for the remote Mayan ruins, site of a fabled archeological dig. This is what happens from the moment the searchers-moving into the wild interior-begin to suspect that there is an insidious, horrific "other" among them . . .

Crusader by Michael Alexander Eisner

Crusader, by Michael Alexander Eisner:


From the Publisher

A rousing historical novel of extraordinarily broad appeal, about a Crusader with a heavy heart.The Year of Our Lord, 1275, Santes Creus monastery, Spain. Brother Lucas, a venal and moderately trustworthy monk, is put in charge of an exorcism. His former fellow acolyte, the brooding and magnetic aristocrat Francisco de Montcada, has returned from the Crusades possessed by demons. If Brother Lucas can drive out the demons, his monastery will be enriched by the Montcada patriarch and he himself will be made a bishop.Gradually Francisco comes out of his possession, and begins to spin the tale of his crusade: how he set out to free the soul of his dead brother, lost at sea before he could reach the Holy Land; his fierce friendship with his cousin Andres, a mighty warrior with an honest heart; his intense love for Andres’s feisty sister, Isabel; the high ideals of Ramon, his battle-hardened commander; and the amoral cruelty of the perfidious Don Fernando, a noble who delights in executing Muslim women and children. The crusaders win a great battle at Toron, taking it back from the Infidel, but at the gigantic fortress Krak des Chevaliers, the key to the Christian position in the Holy Land, the Saracens have laid siege. In the fierce battle to defend the fortress, Francisco will lose everything–including, unless the dodgy Bruther Lucas succeeds, his immortal soul. The Crusader is a wonderfully crafted novel of knights, torture, romance, religious fervor, vows, quests, sieges, and villainy, told by an author who knows how to make history come to shimmering life.

World Without End, by Chris Mooney

World Without End by Chris Mooney:

From the Publisher The ultimate spy has stolen the ultimate weapon. . . .WORLD WITHOUT ENDHis code name is Angel Eyes. His ability to steal advanced prototype weapons is legendary in the shadowy world of covert ops. Yet the weapons are never sold on any black market. They're never used. They simply vanish.Veteran CIA operative Steve Conway knows the next target -- a combat uniform that renders a soldier virtually invisible -- and knows it would make Angel Eyes unstoppable. But when a trap is set, things go terribly wrong. Now, to retrieve the most valuable weapon ever invented, Conway must go one-on-one with the most dangerous man in the world. As he closes in on the true identity of Angel Eyes, Conway begins to see that there are sinister forces at work. Forces that may come from within the CIA itself.Forces that want Conway dead. . .

Smoked, by Patrick Quinlan

 

  From the Publisher

"Smoke Dugan is on the run. A bomb maker by profession, he dropped out of sight because of a misunderstanding with his employers about an airplane crash and $2.5 million in cash. Unfortunately, they've found out where Smoke's living - a picturesque seaside city in Maine. And Denny Cruz, a highly paid assassin, is on his way from New York to collect him." "Smoke's girlfriend, Lola Bell, is unaware of his past. Sexy, smart, and tough, Lola's a weed that grew up through the cracks in an inner-city housing project. Her big eyes belie her secret weapon: she's spent a decade studying the martial arts. The tattoo on her shoulder reads GIRLS KICK ASS. When Cruz decides to use Lola to get to Smoke, he has no idea what he's taking on." A time bomb is ticking as Smoke, Lola, Cruz, and anyone unlucky enough to come into their orbit are caught up in a drama of abduction, car chases, and triple bluff, where escape or violent death look like the only options. But nothing turns out quite as anyone might expect.

Source: Barnes & Noble.com - Books: Smoked, by Patrick Quinlan, Hardcover

Rain Storm (John Rain Thrillers) by Barry Eisler

Rain Storm by Barry Eisler

From the Publisher John Rain flees to Brazil to find peace-but inevitably finds himself with a new assignment: take out an arms dealer in Southeast Asia.