Cosimo’s Classic of the Month: The Constitution of the United States of America

Cosimo's Classic of the Month comes just in time for the Fourth of July, and we're celebrating our country's founding with none other than our founding documents: The Constitution of the United States and Other Historical American Documents. 

Just in case you haven't read these all-important documents since your high school history class, you can read up before we celebrate our Independence from the British. Included is The Declaration of Independence, The Articles of Confederation, The Constitution, and--in case you're feeling particularly historical--The Constitution of the Confederate States, created after they attempted to secede from the Union. Together, these four documents offer a firsthand perspective on the political history of the United States.

Our descriptions of the documents are as follows (just in case you want the crash course before diving in, and we really recommend that you do):

The Declaration of Independence: Adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, this may be the most famous angry letter in history. Written by Thomas Jefferson and addressed to King George III of England, it lays out the grievances of the king's 13 colonies in North America, and announces that those colonies were now free of English rule. By 1783, after a long, bloody, and expensive war, that freedom became a reality.

The Articles of Confederation: Soon after independence from England was declared, the Second Continental Congress instituted this first organizing document of the new United States, which was ratified in March 1781. A compromise between those delegates who wanted a strong central government and those who demanded that the states be sovereign, its shortcomings became obvious during the war--such as the fact that the central government had no power to collect taxes or even to enforce requests for funds from the states, which led to a perpetually underfunded revolution against England.

The United States Constitution: This document replaced the Articles of Confederation on June 21, 1788. One of the most influential works of political philosophy and practicality ever written, it is the oldest national constitution still in use today, and continues to inspire freedom-loving peoples around the world. Its three-pronged system of government--balancing power among legislative, judicial, and executive branches--was groundbreaking. But it failed to address one issue, slavery, that would come to a head a century later.

The Constitution of the Confederate States: This 1861 document organized the new nation created by the seceding slave states. While quite similar in many ways to the U.S. Constitution, it includes more references to God and religion and more emphasis on state sovereignty, offers specific clauses that seek to limit the influence of big business on politics, and codifies the right to own "negro slaves."

Celebrate your Fourth in style, by knowing what your Constitution says. It's all the rage, these days.

Cosimo's Classic of the Month: The Wallace D. Wattles Trilogy

Cosimo's Classic of the Month for June is the Wallace D. Wattles Trilogy, a selection of three popular classics by Wallace Wattles. The trilogy includes The Science of Being Well, The Science of Getting Rich, and How to Be a Genius, or the Science of Being Great. Each title reads like an old-fashioned self-help guide from new thought guru Wallace Wattles. He demonstrates his philosophies on health, wealth, and happiness in this series that breaks each down into a step-by-step manual.

These books prescribe an exact method for readers to accomplish three basic goals that will make any person happy, applying principles of metaphysics and New Thought to overcome human error. Each book focuses on a subject--wealth, health, and power--and applies an exact science that will allow anyone to achieve their goal by following some basic steps in a specific order, in a "Certain Way." Sacrificing explanations of philosophy for brevity, Wattles provides readers a stripped-down guide on shaping the universe to their benefit through the power of positive thinking.

This series of three complements Cosimo's Book of the Month, The Book of Balance, by Yasuhiko Genku Kimura, by providing the groundwork to becoming healthy, wealthy, and happy in your life. Kimura's translation of Tao Teh Ching will provide serenity on your journey to happiness this summer.

WALLACE DELOIS WATTLES (1860-1911) overcame poverty and failure in his life to become a pioneer of the early self-help movement. His most famous book is The Science of Getting Rich; he also wrote Health through New Thought and Fasting, also available from Cosimo.

June Book of the Month: The Book of Balance

Cosimo's June Book of the Month is the The Book of Balance, by Yasuhiko Genku Kimura. A modern, visionary translation of the classic ancient text Tao Teh Ching by Lao Tzu, The Book of Balance will provide a foundation for peace, tranquility, and harmony to all who read it. It's the perfect read to start your summer off on the right note.

Yasuhiko Genku Kimura is the publisher and editor-in-chief of the VIA Journal, and chairman and president of Vision-In-Action, a non-profit organization promoting the development of creative thinking and visionary action. His other books include The Twilight Manifesto, Think Kosmically Act Globally, Virtues of Love, and The Twilight Club and the Creation of a Moral Community. He has also published numerous articles, essays, and translations on philosophy, transformational ethis, the philosophy of science, and business strategy. His business consulting and personal growth programs integrate a Socratic and Zen-like teaching style that stimulates participants' awareness of their self-knowledge and power of transformation. You can contact Yasuhiko online at his website or on his Facebook page.

Streaming Radio Interviews with Dare to Care author Louis Bohtlingk

This weekend, Dare to Care author and inventor of the Care First World initiative, Louis Bohtlingk, interviewed with KGNU radio host Duncan Campbell on his show "Living Dialogues." Duncan and Louis delve into Louis's vision for a care-first approach to money and finance and the principles outlined in his book.

The interview can be listened to in full on the KGNU website or downloaded as an MP3 file. Louis will follow-up this interview on Friday, July 21, along with Hazel Henderson (author of The Power of Yin and founder of Ethical Markets Media), on the KGNU show "Connections," at 10:30 am ET. It will be available online after this time.

Roswell Reports: The Official Government Explanations of What Really Happened at Roswell

Cosimo has recently published two new reports on Roswell, Fact versus Fiction in the New Mexico Desert and Case Closed. These fascinating and lengthy accounts are the official United States government response to all the hype and hoopla that surrounded the historic events at Roswell, New Mexico, which ufologists claim was the landing site for alien aircraft that the government subsequently covered up.

These reports assure readers that Roswell was not in fact a cover-up, but offer several possible explanations as to the origins of Roswell, including failed Air Force tests during experimentation with aircraft, misidentified debris from crashed military weather balloons, and even crash test dummies that were mistaken for aliens. The military provided eye-witness accounts to back up these explanations and even images of officers and equipment involved in the various programs.

To offer a stimulating and controversial counterpoint to these explanations, Cosimo includes Forewords in each volume from author and ufologist Stanton Friedman. Friedman, who has studied extensively the Roswell accounts and consulted for Roswell documentaries, is not satisfied with the military's explanations; indeed, he produces compelling arguments explaining why the government's stories don't make sense or match up with the actual evidence.

Pick up copies of these fascinating reports at Cosimo's bookstore or Amazon.com to read more and form your own opinion.

Dialogues praised as "excellent source of insight and wisdom"

Author Alvaro Bizziccari published Dialogues with My God Self with Cosimo in October of 2012. We were delighted to see someone post their review of the book on Amazon's and Barnes & Noble's store pages.

After providing a brief summary of Bizziccari's approach to his subject matter, the reviewer then explains why he finds Dialogues to be such a useful addition to the philosophical discussions it takes part in.

As a Doctor of Philosophy, Bizzicccari is erudite on these essential mysteries of humanity; mankind has asked the questions found in Dialogues with My God Self for as far back as history records, and probably much farther.  Philosophers, mystics, teachers, wise men, have all done their best to provide answers.  Bizzicccari draws from the many works provided by these pilgrims in metaphysics to organize and document the wisdom of the ages into ‘Dialogues.’ And, based on the excellence of this undertaking, perhaps Bizzicccari also incorporates a bit of his own dialogues with his god-self.  

We hope that if you are asking God and yourself big questions, you pick up Dialogues with My God Self and are equally inspired by this "excellent source of information, insight, and wisdom."

Finding Peace Amidst March Madness: Spiritual Places In and Around New York City

Emily Squires and her husband Len Belzer teamed up to write this wonderful book on where to find serenity in the characteristically hectic city. We are excited to share with you that Spiritual Places is our book of the month for March. While books for NYC tourists are easy to find, Squires and Belzer decided to showcase the grand island in a different light: where to get away from the hustle and bustle and find a moment to relieve stress.

The authors discuss the various locales with reflections on what they learned while in the space. This is a great guide to places around the boroughs that soothe the psyche and gladden the spirit. We hope you get a moment to sit down with this great read.

But if you find yourself just one of the many commuters with little time to spare, we are proud to announce that the book is available on the Kindle and Nook, for your on-the-go lifestyle.

Emily Squires passed away in November 2012, and as a testament to Emily's nature and writing, following is a sample from the book Spiritual Places In and Around New York City written by Emily and her husband Len Belzer:

THE CLOISTERS

Underneath all the texts, all the sacred psalms

and canticles, these watery varieties of sounds

and silences, terrifying, mysterious, whirling and

sometimes gestating and gentle must somehow be

felt in the pulse, ebb, and flow of the music that

sings in me. My new song must float like a feather

on the breath of God. — Hildegard of Bingen

This riveting glimpse into life in the Middle Ages is an essential place on any seeker’s itinerary- especially if you were a nun or monk in a past life. The art is celestial - paintings and illuminated

manuscripts, intricately woven tapestries from churches and castles, a treasury of gold, silver, jewels, ivories, and enamels - each chosen specifically for the Cloisters from the vast collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

But it’s the feeling of the place that makes it so rare. Madrigals and Gregorian Chants echo through high stone-arched corridors. Chairs are set in small chapels for meditation. Beatific statues of saints and Mary with baby Jesus cast their gaze upon you. Recent interest in such figures as the 11th century’s Abbess Hildegard of Bingen have stirred a new appreciation of things Medieval, and the crucial role of herbs in the Middle Ages is being reexamined. The historically accurate garden at the Cloisters gives us an idea how some of them were used. Arcane plants like fever few, agrimony, mallow, and burdock were used by the nuns and their parishioners for cooking, weaving, and painting

as well as healing.

Espalliered pear trees work their way between Gothic buttresses under warm red-tiled roofs. Covered arched walkways enclose small gardens with chirping birds, bubbling fountains, and quince trees laden with fruit. The softest of green grass calls Rumi to mind: “When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.” All this high atop a hill in Fort Tryon Park with a sweeping view of the Hudson. Hie thee there!

(from Spiritual Places In and Around New York City by Emily Squires & Len Belzer; Cosimo Books, New York, 2008) 

Bynum's The African Unconscious: Captivating Narrative of Human History

In honor of Black History Month, Cosimo has named The African Unconscious: Roots of Ancient Mysticism and Modern Psychology our February Book of the Month. It was written by award-winning psychologist Edward Bruce Bynum and was originally published over a decade ago. The information and ideas discussed in this book are just as relevant now as they were when the book was first published. 

The African Unconscious offers an exciting and captivating narrative about human history based on archaeology, genetics, and the bio-spiritual roots of religion and science. More importantly, Dr. Bynum posits that humans at their deepest core are variations on the African template. This bold, humanistic view offers a radical new vision of our collective unconscious in its daily and historical operations. Dr. Bynum goes beyond traditional “Eastern” and “Western” perspectives and presents a powerful, unifying and healing vision of our deeper shared consciousness and identity as a human species from our earliest days in Africa on to contemporary times.

Edward Bruce Bynum, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist, Director of the Behavioral Medicine Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Health Services, a Senior Fellow in the Society for Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (BICA), and a Diplomat (ABPP) in the American Psychological Association (APA). Dr. Bynum is the author of numerous books and articles, including five texts in psychology and three poetry books. He has won numerous awards, including the Abraham H. Maslow Award from the APA, and is a student and practitioner of Kundalini Yoga. He is married with two sons and lives with his family in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Tribute to Emily Squires, Evolutionary Leader, Director and Author

Last week I attended a tribute to Emily Squires, who had died last November 21, in New York City. Emily was a successful director, the first woman director of Sesame Street, who had won six Emmy Awards with her team for her work as Director of Sesame Street between 1995 and 2007. She also directed documentaries, including: Visions of Perfect Worlds, a conversation with the Dalai Lama, The Art of Being Human: a Portrait of Frederick Franck, which was shown at the tribute,  Five Masters of Meditation, and films about fracking and Occupy Wall Street.

Photo: Richard Termine/Sesame Street

In addition to her accomplished career, Emily was also actively involved with many good causes and interested in the frontiers of consciousness and human potential as expressed in her board work and membership of organizations such as the Friends of the Institute of Noetic Sciences ("FIONS"), which had organized last week’s tribute- the Source of Synergy Foundation, Evolutionary Leaders, and The Coalition of OneVoice

I met Emily as a fellow board-member of FIONS at the end of last century and was always impressed with her creativity and good nature, which experience only increased as I got to know her as her publisher. It was in those days that she and her husband Len Belzer wrote a lovely book, Spiritual Places in and around New York City, with their favorite inspiring and restful places in this city that never sleeps, from Riverside Church to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, from the New York Open Center to Hangawi Korean restaurant. 

I can only echo what I had heard from so many at this week’s tribute, Emily Squires was a warm personality who made everyone she met feel at ease and acknowledged. She will be dearly missed.

Alexander M. Dake, Publisher, Cosimo

January's Book of the Month, Mystic Journey—To help you get to know yourself

This book is deep, and makes anyone who reads this delve deeper within themselves to understand not only their own spirituality, but also one's own spiritual and conscious self. 
--Dad of Divas' Book Reviews

You may or may not be noticing your resolve for New Year resolutions cracking, but we've chosen a Book of the Month to renew your fervor for getting to know and improve yourself on a deeper level. Mystic Journey: Getting to the Heart of Your Soul's Story, by Robert Atkinson, is the exploration of who we are at our core and why we are deeply connected to all others on earth.

Mystic Journey explores life's greatest adventure, discovering who we are at our core by living consciously, as described in the world's oldest wisdom traditions. We all must explore the path of our soul, uncovering who we are in this life in order to determine who we will be in the next life (i.e. heaven, the great beyond, the afterlife, death). Atkinson uses a multi-faith approach to explain and describe the lifelong process of soul-making, leading to a personal and collective transformation. Each chapter of Mystic Journey ends with an exercise to help readers tell their personal story, and each chapter explains not only the process of soul-making, but also how each individual's story connects to that of the whole.

Mystic Journey is an ideal book for those searching for inner peace, spiritual awareness, or who simply want to write down their story for others to read. Mystic Journey guides readers to use their life stories to solidify their identities, live with an eternal perspective in mind, and reclaim a common spiritual heritage. You can read the press release, along with praise and purchasing information, here. The book also received fantastic reviews from The New Maine Times book review and The Publishing Guru.

Robert Atkinson is the author of eight books, including several on personal storytelling. He is a professor of human development and religious studies, and the director of the Life Story Center at the University of Southern Maine.  He can be found online at www.RobertAtkinson.net, where you can find out more about the book, read Atkinson's blog, connect with him personally, and read a sample of the book. He also has an interactive blog, Remembering Who We Are, featuring 50 ways to tell your soul's story.

Buffalo News Praises Schechter the News Dissector

In his recent article for the The Buffalo News, Mark Sommer discusses renowned journalist, blogger, and Cosimo author, Danny Schechter. Sommer explains that Schechter is a distinguished voice in the world of journalism not only because of his multiple platforms (blogs, news, documentaries, and books), but because of his unique perspective which offers a "counter-narrative" to the issues of the day.

In recent years, Schechter – dubbed “Danny Schechter the News Dissector" during his days as news director at WBCN in Boston, in the days of underground rock radio – has been a tireless voice for reform of Wall Street and corporate-owned media, subjects that figure heavily in his 15 books and 30 documentaries.
The former Emmy award-winning producer for ABC’s “20/20” has for the past 11 years also continued to present a counternarrative to the conventional wisdom of the day through a daily blog at www.newsdissector.net.

Cosimo is also excited to announce that Schechter's Occupy was listed as a getAbstract Best Book. getAbstract.com also offers an extensive summary of the book online.

As you begin the new year, we encourage you to investigate new perspectives by looking into Schechter's most recent titles, Blogothon: Reflections and Revelations from the News Dissector and Occupy: Dissecting Occupy Wall Street. 

Mitchell's IONS Celebrates 40 Years in 2013

As Cosimo looks to holiday celebrations and preparing for the new year, we are excited to congratulate our author Edgar Mitchell on the 40th anniversary of founding the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS). Festivities officially begin on January 20, 2013, with a gala celebrating 40 years of consciousness research by the institute.

Mitchell, also an Apollo 14 astronaut, founded IONS in 1973 as an institute for researching beyond physical science. Psychic Explorations, his anthology on psychic research, was originally published the following year and offers insight into the issues explored by noetic sciences.

We wish Mitchell and IONS a great year of celebration and findings!

Author Michaela Walsh Featured in The Next Women Business Magazine

This month, Michaela Walsh gave an interview and we featured on the cover of The Next Women magazine, an award-winning online women's business magazine and networking forum with a focus on start-ups and growing businesses led, founded, or invested in by women.

After many years in the business, Walsh still strives to encourage women entrepreneurs and work with them on a daily basis. She says,

I continue to believe that finding women entrepreneurs and encouraging them in whatever way they need is the key ingredient in moving women forward.  Women improve their communities as they gain assets, and as they have more control over their economic situation they bring more influence into the community.  As women move into markets and create ever-more sophisticated business approaches, they build the local economy and contribute to a worldwide shift in the economic downturn. We still work toward our dreams.

Read the full interview and check out The Next Women magazine to read more about exciting financial and business opportunities and accomplishments for women around the globe.

2012 Holiday Gift Selection: This Season, Offer the Gift of Classics

This holiday season, Cosimo has put together a collection of Christmas and Classics titles sure to delight book lovers of all ages. In addition to the launch of a new Christmas book, we've added favorite titles that make wonderful gifts for friends and loved ones.

Included in our selection is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Gulliver's Travels, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Little Women, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, and The Works of Eugene Field. Read more about this fabulous selection of classics in our press release, and be sure to visit the website for more information.

Our holiday book selection is headlined by a new title and our December book of the month, The Christmas Mice, by John White and illustrated by Dorothy Hall. A tale for children, The Christmas Mice is a heartwarming story of love and acceptance. It tells of two mice, Roger and Emily, who are outcasts from their community because they are different. One is green, the other is red--the colors of Christmas. Encouraged by the birth of his children and the beauty of a Christmas tree, Roger teaches the rest of the meadowmice an important lesson about love and brotherhood. As the two main characters gain acceptance and understanding from the other mice, the importance of peace and oneness of all life is sensitively communicated. The Christmas Mice is a touching tales with a powerful message that will delight young readers of all ages. Read more about this title in the press release.

John White is an internationally-known author in the fields of consciousness research and higher human development. He has published fifteen books, including Everything You Want to Know about TM, Including How to Do It, and his writing has appeared in publications in the United States and abroad. Dorothy Hall has been an accomplished artist all her life; she is also an illustrator art teacher, and cartoonist. You can find her online at dorothyhallarts.com.

United Nations Event Honors Founders of the First Women’s Global Financial Network

Women and men who met in Mexico City in 1975 at the first UN Conference for Women, and resolved to work together to bring women everywhere into the formal financial markets, will be honored at the United Nations on Wednesday, December 5. The event formally launches Founding a Movement: Women’s World Banking, 1975-1990, by Michaela Walsh, one of the founders and the first President of Women’s World Banking (WWB).

Walsh’s book, in her words, “shines a light on the value that women contribute through work, and when they support one another, to become full participants in the economy.” Founding a Movement illuminates the birth of a culture of trust—from Kenya to Colombia, from Brazil to the Philippines—where women entrepreneurs could learn from and teach each other to gain control over their economic destinies. Currently, WWB serves as an umbrella organization to a network of 39 financial organizations from 27 countries that provide small loans, from $100 and up, to borrowers to start their businesses: with a portfolio of $7 billion and $3.5 billion in savings, 26 million clients are served by the WWB network, 80% of whom are women.

The UN event will feature a discussion, moderated by Zohreh Tabatabai, former Director of Communications at the United Nations, recalling the ideas and conditions of 1975—very little knowledge by women across cultures, difficult communications, legal barriers to women regarding credit and bank loans—and reflect on change.  Elements of the process that remain important today include being open to knowledge from all sources, crafting solutions based on grass-roots needs, and providing training as needed rather than by formula.  Of particular importance, according to the book and the founders, is creating a culture of personal trust based on working together.

The event sponsor is the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of The Netherlands to the United Nations.  Institutions and citizens of The Netherlands played an important role in the history of WWB, which was incorporated there in 1980. According to Walsh, “The trading tradition of the Dutch, and their concern for the interests of women and developing economies, meant that WWB found natural allies in Holland.” The Dutch appreciation for WWB is also evident from the comments by former Minister for International Development Cooperation of the Netherlands, Jan Pronk, who said:

“Women’s access to finance, including microcredit is crucial. Michaela Walsh and Women's World Banking have broken new ground. Those who wish to follow in their footsteps should read this story!"

Among the participants at the UN discussion will be other WWB founders, book contributors, and leading figures in  finance and international development, including Mary Okelo, first African manager of Barclay’s Bank in Kenya and founder of the Makini School; Barbro Dahlbom-Hall, Sweden, management consultant and author; Hon. Dag Nissen, former Norwegian Ambassador; Ron Leger, former Director of the Canadian International Development Agency; Deanna Rosenswig, former Executive Vice- President, Bank of Montreal; Geertje Lycklama, formerly with the Dutch Ministry of Development Cooperation; Klaas Molenaar, formerly with Triodos Bank; and others.  

For more information about the event, please contact Graciela Hall at 516-458-4310.