The Science of Liberty - Democracy, Reason, and the Laws of Nature

Over its twenty years with president and CEO Rick George at the helm, Suncor Energy went from being Canada’s “unluckiest oil company” to a stock market darling and the second-largest publicly traded corporation in the country. Both a contrarian and an optimist, George often made multibillion-dollar moves despite deep skepticism within the industry. His $2.8-billion expansion into the oil sands ignited massive growth in Canada’s most valuable, and controversial, natural resource. And his $19-billion merger with Petro-Canada in 2009 made Suncor a true global player in the rough, big-stakes game of international oil.

All of this from a guy who grew up in a small Colorado ranching town to become one of Canadian business’s most transformative figures in a sector fraught with controversy. Rick George is a man of contradictions-both a conservationist and a leading proponent of sustainable development of the oil sands.

Sun Rise is about leadership, strategy, environmental concerns and boardroom drama; it’s also about the future of oil sands development. This is the story of an optimist whose faith in people and innovation leads him to believe that we can overcome today’s challenges and continue to advance.

Life is getting better—and at an accelerating rate. Food availability, income, and life span are up; disease, child mortality, and violence are down — all across the globe. Though the world is far from perfect, necessities and luxuries alike are getting cheaper; population growth is slowing; Africa is following Asia out of poverty; the Internet, the mobile phone, and container shipping are enriching people’s lives as never before. The pessimists who dominate public discourse insist that we will soon reach a turning point and things will start to get worse. But they have been saying this for two hundred years.

Yet Matt Ridley does more than describe how things are getting better. He explains why. Prosperity comes from everybody working for everybody else. The habit of exchange and specialization—which started more than 100,000 years ago—has created a collective brain that sets human living standards on a rising trend. The mutual dependence, trust, and sharing that result are causes for hope, not despair.

This bold book covers the entire sweep of human history, from the Stone Age to the Internet, from the stagnation of the Ming empire to the invention of the steam engine, from the population explosion to the likely consequences of climate change. It ends with a confident assertion that thanks to the ceaseless capacity of the human race for innovative change, and despite inevitable disasters along the way, the twenty-first century will see both human prosperity and natural biodiversity enhanced. Acute, refreshing, and revelatory, The Rational Optimist will change your way of thinking about the world for the better.

Moses Znaimer, media pioneer, creator of channels like Citytv, MuchMusic, Bravo! etc. and Founder of ZoomerMedia Limited has launched his first eBook series entitled THE ZOOMER PHILOSOPHY.

Inspired by Hugh Hefner’s The Playboy Philosophy, Znaimer originally set out to write 10 chapters on what he considers to be today’s last taboo – age and aging. Yet no matter how “old” you are, THE ZOOMER PHILOSOPHY reveals the secrets and the science to living better, longer, healthier, happier, richer, and yes, sexier too!

As shown in the initial outline below, the series is a never-ending chronicle of mature issues that range from sex and inheritance to health and finance:

Chapter 1: A SHORT HISTORY OF ATTITUDES TO AGING
Chapter 2: THE REAL CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS: YOUTH VERSUS AGE
Chapter 3: SEX & AGING: THE JOKE’S ON THEM
Chapter 4: GROWING UP FINANCIALLY … AGAIN
Chapter 5: THE BEST WAY TO KEEP GOING IS TO KEEP GOING OR RETIREMENT CAN KILL YOU
Chapter 6: POLITICS OF THE UNDEAD: LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED
Chapter 7: INHERITANCE: BIRTHRIGHT OR LEGACY? LIVE WELL, DO GOOD, DIE BROKE
Chapter 8: THE UNIVERSAL ZOOMER DESIGNING FOR THE MATURE
Chapter 9: CONSUMER IS GOOD FOR EVERYONE
Chapter 10: WHO’S ZOOMING WHO? THE MYTH OF THE LOOMING HEALTH-CARE CRISIS

Look for the upcoming Volume 2 and 3 series. Also note chapters can be purchased individually.