Welcome to Ukraine

Like a child at the holidays, I look forward to my copy of Welcome to Ukraine every quarter. The articles are diverse and informative, the pictures are fabulous. My only disappointment with the magazine is that it comes out quarterly instead of monthly! I cherish my copies dearly.

This is a beautiful high quality magazine. From cover to cover it is filled with beautiful pictures of people, places and art from a wonderful country. If you have any interest in Ukraine, its history, culture, art, music, or beautiful scenery, this magazine is a must. You will not be dissapointed. The latest magazine is 144 pages packed with well written articles and perfect photography.

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Foreign Affairs

I have to admit that when I subscribed to this magazine for the first time about five years ago, I did so out of a sense of duty to educate myself about all of the foreign policy and political things that I wasn't taught in school. It did seem a little dry from the get-go, but now I am a Foreign Affairs junkie, so to speak. Those who contribute articles to this magazine are professors, politicians, heads of state, and other great (and occasionally not-so-great) thinkers of our times. One gets the perspectives of world events from educated individuals from all over the world, not just America, and sometimes the points of view are very different than those of the American media. I also appreciate that Foreign Affairs publishes articles that almost seem to foreshadow news events (they were covering background on Kosovo before newscasters in this country even knew where Kosovo was.) From reading this magazine one can see that very few problems in the world are "overnight" or occur "out of nowhere" but are usually the result of problems and conflicts that have been happening for some time, if only out of the spotlight of the Western mainstream media. The analysis in these articles is deep many articles are over twenty pages long. The reader is left feeling more enlightened and not as if the issue has just been "glossed over." I enjoy reading the Letters to the Editor as well. It is great to see an article rebutted by another area expert who provides his or her insight to the problem at hand. Also,the list of contributors to Letters to the Editor reads like a list of Who's Who in Politics. It is amazing to see the people in government, here and abroad, who read this magazine. Probably more of them should.

Foreign Affairs is mandatory reading for the serious student of global diplomacy. The comments, essays and book reviews in this bimonthly publication are always well researched, written and presented in a straightforward fashion. Moreover, Foreign Affairs will consistently crystallize contemporary thinking on a vast array of foreign subjects.

I often wonder how Editor James Hoge manages to regularly tap the finest minds in the world for each issue. Certainly, the editorial staff of this outstanding publication is dedicated to the highest standards of excellence as well making sure that Foreign Affairs represents provocative worldwide cutting edge schools of thought.

Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq, Russia, France, Mexico or Colombia...you name it, Foreign Affairs examines it in great detail. To this end, there is no hot spot in global affairs that does not considerable academic or journalistic attention. Foreign Affairs will also focus on sensitive issues such as French Anti-Americanism or Bush's Nuclear Follies with clear and concise observations. I cannot think of a mainstream publication in the United States with the courage and vision to cover such important ground.

Bert Ruiz

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The only magazine I read from cover to cover is Foreign Affairs, published by the distinguished bi-partisan Council on Foreign Relations. Ideas and issues presented in each issue are discussed six months later in the news. A recent example of this phenomenon is the publication of Daniel Yergin and Michael Stoppard's The Next Prize, about strategic issues surrounding the future of natural gas as an energy source. The article appeared in late 2003, and since then the concerns raised in the article have reverberated in business publications, energy conferences and Sunday talk shows.

Since my childhood I have thought of Foreign Affairs as an influential publication in leadership circles. Over a quarter century ago, I remember reading that Henry Kissinger promoted Daniel Patrick Moynihan as US Ambassador to the United Nations on the basis of an article he wrote in Foreign Affairs. As the founder of a company dedicated to cultural and business travel to Russia, I need to stay ahead of the knowledge curve with regards to the world, rather than just be informed of events. I find Foreign Affairs to be the single most valuable tool to stay informed about foreign policy, trends in world affairs, and current political thought.

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I've been reading FA since 2001 and have found it to be consistently good. There are only six issues each year, so I have time to read it front to back each time. The articles are more in-depth than something you might read in the Economist or other weekly news magazine. This is not something you read for headlines, but something you read for issues.

FA seems to me to be non-partisan. Condi Rice, Chuck Hagel, and Donald Rumsfeld get space to write, but so does Madeline Albright and Samuel Berger.

Recent articles I liked: "How to Counter WMD" by Ashton B. Carter, "How to Stop Nuclear Terror" by Graham Allison, and "The Outsourcing Bogeyman" by Daniel W. Drezner.

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FOREIGN AFFAIRS makes no apology for its antiquated typescript, large print, and generally stodgy appearance. It hardly needs to.

It is simply one of the consistently finest sources of foreign policy discussion available from an American (thus *foreign* policy means USA vis-à-vis the world) point of view. The design folks have correctly discerned that toying with appearances could only interfere with a train that rolls just fine as it is.

FA is often the vehicle of choice for American foreign policy officers who have moved on to think tanks and other private sector roles. For example, see the Richard Holbrooke (he of the Dayton Accords) piece entitled 'Liberalism and Foreign Policy' in the most recent (July/August 2006) issue available to this reviewer.

The voice most often heard in FA is decidely that of the Washington establishment, broadly defined. Yet the editors occasionally toss in a dissenting viewpoint like that of Hugo Chávez' Ambassador to the US ('A Benign Revolution: In Defense of Hugo Chávez', July/August 2006) for color.

The writing is well informed and superbly edited. Roundtable discussions on issues of concern are common, as are themed issues. Again from the recent issue, the topic 'The Rise of India' provides space for four essays entitled 'Unshackling the Economy', 'India's Global Strategy', 'America's New Partner?', and 'The Kashmir Conundrum'. FA's genius lies in that the globe's foreign policy experts will have digested these contributions with great care, yet the business traveler on her first trip to India can easily do the same on the first flight of her journey. Such is the quality of FA's editorial work.

Long-time readers often discern an editorial drift to the right or the left, a perception that may owe as much to the changing currents of international affairs and the constantly moving matrix in which any statement must be written and read as to any real shift in the journal's political leanings.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS is a must read for career internationalists, a worthwhile educational tool for those who want to know what America's brightest (thought not always most in touch with facts on the ground) policy makers are thinking, and a diversion for hobbyists whose curiosity regularly yanks them tornado-like out of Kansas.

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Backpacker (1-year auto-renewal)

I'm new to Backpacker [1-year], but so far find it to be a great magazine. Here's a little of what to expect:

-info about lots of places to go hiking around the world

-hiking and camping equipment reviews

-hiking skills and tips (i.e. recipes, survival skills...)

Some people may get irritated with the ads, but for me, they keep me on top of the latest useful hiking products.

With great pictures and human interest articles to boot, its one of the best hiking magazines I know of. Also recommend The 5-Minute Plantar Fasciitis Solution if this annoying foot condition interferes with your hiking. Happy trails!

This magazine used to be a great resource for hard core bakcpackers with articles about transcendent survival stories and epic backpacking opportunities all over the world. In the past couple years they have changed their format drastically and have focused on "regional" editions and over the top gadget and gear coverage for total gear-wonks.

Don't get me started on the useless monthly section entitled "Social Climber" where people write into to ask what's socially acceptable on the trail with regard to fashion and things of that nature. You are backpacking for crying out loud...who cares?

It seems to have lost some of its humanity and original vision. I have subscribed to this mag for about 10 years and I used to be able to read it cover to cover, now I am lucky if there is one or article worth reading.

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Like other reviewers have said, the content has gone downhill from informative articles on gear and places to go, to garbage that has nothing to do with backpacking. They sell out to gear companies, endorse shady gear companies ie: Big Sky, and the writing style almost requires you to have a.d.d. to read it ( tons of very short blurbs and "tips" thrown all over ).

To top it off, they have been sending me threatening letters to pay for issues they sent me after my subsription ended and I didn't renew it.

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This publication has gone to an assumed automatic renewal with no choice by the subscriber. Since I didn't agree to this arrangement I didn't bother to respond. The next thing I knew, I was receiving a collection notice.

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Over the past several weeks I have received up to three calls per day from Backpacker urging me to renew my subscription "now!". The frequency and tone of these calls have crossed the line into obnoxious harrassment. A number of the calls have occured minutes after I hung up on the previous call. I am letting my subscription end and am not renewing due to this rude and intrusive treatment from Backpacker. This is coming from someone who has been subscribing to the magazine for well over ten years!

Note that there is no Masthead on the magazine to tell the reader the structure of the organization, nor is there any contact point via e-mail except on the website and that is to Customer Service. I am sure all inquiries to Customer Service are given prompt attention when they are critical of Customer Service.

If this is Backpackers new method of securing subscription renewals, I am better off without it!

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Continental Modeller

First of all, let me preface this review by stating that it takes a while for the subscription to kick in..... almost the maximum amount of time for that matter. Then you'll notice the price. At 3 pounds 25, it is roughly $6.50 at the current exchange rate. 12 magazines equals about $78.00 but you are asked to pay almost a whopping 120 bucks. With that said....

The magazine is good. It is nice to read about Continental (European) layouts along with some American layouts that were built by Europeans. The paper and photos are high quality gloss all the way far superior to Model Railroader considering the price. The BIG negative... VERY SMALL layouts generally speaking, sometimes end to end book shelf runs. This as opposed to the MR layouts that are impossible to build because no one owns a 65' x 32' space.

In addition the magazine does have a section that reviews models as well as the annual review of all the manufacturer's releases at the Nürnberg Toy Fair. The only problem with this review section is that there never seems to be a bad review about any product. As a collector and modeller, I know full well that is not the case and is in fact pure fantasy.

I recommend this magazine, I just doubt anyone (including myself) will renew their subscription after 1 year.

Continental Modeler is an excellent magazine both in terms of quality and variety. Where else can you find model railways from the USA, France, India and Switzerland all in the same issue? The photography is superb and the writing a little less serious than RM or Model Railroader, but the skill levels are nevertheless high. I am also an enthusiast of the the smaller shelf layouts and most of the layouts featured are compact, focusing on one or two highly detailed scenes rather than vast basement empires. There are also some interesting railfan type articles of the real thing which adds to the breadth of this publication. Each one is a good read.

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Vanity Fair July 2007 Africa Issue, Chris Rock/ Maya Angelou Cover

I regret that I didn't buy the issue with Chris Rock and Maya Angelou on the cover. I picked up the one with Jay-Z on it because I was trying to figure out who the light-skinned lady was: hey, Alicia Keys. I knew what these two had in common and low and behold, I saw the word Africa at the bottom. Even though I enjoyed the different covers, I don't understand why Bush and Condoleeza were on there at all; doesn't he have have an oil war to finish and her shoe shopping during a national crisis should be about now, right?

Enough with my political opinions. I have to give much respect for this magazine for covering such a huge issue, especially in the Motherland. I am enjoying reading the historical issues in Africa, as well as what is being done about the HIV/AIDS situation. But, my review this round is about that fool Chris Rock. I was having the worst day on the planet at work today, and I browsed through this magazine on lunch figuring I should read about someone who's really going through something. I flipped to the page with his article on "The Ugly African American" and laughed hysterically through the whole thing. My pod thought I was losing my mind but I made copies of Chris's article so they could read it too and they fell out laughing. I copied that article and passed it out to my buddies at work and they copied it and so on and so forth. Only Chris Rock could make such a serious subject seem so hilarious, and he still made sure it was informative. When he said he snatched the lollipop, my stomach hurt. I love him! Absolutely love him!

Air Conditioning Heating & Refrigeration News

I was doing to price comparison. The Web site for The News has a rate of 69.00 per year and here it's 87.00 per year. Be careful, it isn't cheaper here.