Human Rights Books

Wayward Contracts or Identities Affiliations and Allegiances

2009-12-06T12:15:00.000-08:00

Wayward Contracts: The Crisis of Political Obligation in England, 1640-1674

Author: Victoria Ann Kahn

Why did the language of contract become the dominant metaphor for the relationship between subject and sovereign in mid-seventeenth-century England? In Wayward Contracts, Victoria Kahn takes issue with the usual explanation for the emergence of contract theory in terms of the origins of liberalism, with its notions of autonomy, liberty, and equality before the law.

Drawing on literature as well as political theory, state trials as well as religious debates, Kahn argues that the sudden prominence of contract theory was part of the linguistic turn of early modern culture, when government was imagined in terms of the poetic power to bring new artifacts into existence. But this new power also brought in its wake a tremendous anxiety about the contingency of obligation and the instability of the passions that induce individuals to consent to a sovereign power. In this wide-ranging analysis of the cultural significance of contract theory, the lover and the slave, the tyrant and the regicide, the fool and the liar emerge as some of the central, if wayward, protagonists of the new theory of political obligation. The result is must reading for students and scholars of early modern literature and early modern political theory, as well as historians of political thought and of liberalism.

Ch. 1	Introduction	1
Pt. I	An anatomy of contract, 1590-1640	29
Ch. 2	Language and the bond of conscience	31
Ch. 3	The passions and voluntary servitude	57
Pt. II	A poetics of contract, 1640-1674	81
Ch. 4	Imagination	83
Ch. 5	Violence	112
Ch. 6	Metalanguage	134
Ch. 7	Gender	171
Ch. 8	Embodiment	196
Ch. 9	Sympathy	223
Ch. 10	Critique	252
Ch. 11	Conclusion	279

Identities, Affiliations, and Allegiances

Author: Seyla Benhabib

Where do political identities come from, how do they change over time, and what is their impact on political life? This book explores these and related questions in a globalizing world where the nation state is being transformed, definitions of citizenship are evolving in unprecedented ways, and people's interests and identities are taking on new local, regional, transnational, cosmopolitan, and even imperial configurations. Pre-eminent scholars examine the changing character of identities, affiliations, and allegiances in a variety of contexts: the evolving character of the European Union and its member countries, the Balkans and other new democracies of the post-1989 world, and debates about citizenship and cultural identity in the modern West. These essays are essential reading for anyone interested in the political and intellectual ferment that surrounds debates about political membership and attachment, and will be of interest to students and scholars in the social sciences, humanities, and law.

J M Coetzee and the Idea of the Public Intellectual or Shermans March through the Carolinas

2009-12-05T07:03:00.000-08:00

J. M. Coetzee and the Idea of the Public Intellectual

Author: Jane Poyner

In September 2003 the South African novelist J. M. Coetzee was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, confirming his reputation as one of the most influential writers of our time. J. M. Coetzee and the Idea of the Public Intellectual addresses the contribution Coetzee has made to contemporary literature, not least for the contentious forays his work makes into South African political discourse and the field of postcolonial studies. Taking the author’s ethical writing as its theme, the volume is an important addition to understanding Coetzee’s fiction and critical thinking. While taking stock of Coetzee’s singular, modernist response to the apartheid and postapartheid situations in his early fiction, the volume is the first to engage at length with the later works, Disgrace, The Lives of Animals, and Elizabeth Costello. J. M. Coetzee and the Idea of the Public Intellectual explores Coetzee’s roles as a South African intellectual and a novelist; his stance on matters of allegory and his evasion of the apartheid censor; his tacit critique of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission; his performance of public lectures of his alter ego, Elizabeth Costello; and his explorations into ecofeminism and animal rights. The essays collected here, which include an interview with the Nobel Laureate, provide new vantages from which to consider Coetzee’s writing.

	J. M. Coetzee in conversation with Jane Poyner	21
1	The life and times of Elizabeth Costello : J. M. Coetzee and the public sphere	25
2	The writer, the critic, and the censor : J. M. Coetzee and the question of literature	42
3	Against allegory : Waiting for the Barbarians, Life & Times of Michael K, and the question of literary reading	63
4	Death and the space of the response to the other in J. M. Coetzee's The Master of Petersburg	83
5	A belief in frogs : J. M. Coetzee's enduring faith in fiction	100
6	J. M. Coetzee, Elizabeth Costello, and the limits of the sympathetic imagination	118
7	Sorry, sorrier, sorriest : the gendering of contrition in J. M. Coetzee's Disgrace	135
8	Going to the dogs : humanity in J. M. Coetzee's Disgrace, The Lives of Animals, and South Africa's truth and reconciliation commission	148
9	What is it like to be a nonracist? : Costello and Coetzee on the lives of animals and men	172
10	A feminist-vegetarian defense of Elizabeth Costello : a rant from an ethical academic on J. M. Coetzee's The Lives of Animals	193
11	Textual transvestism : the female voices of J. M. Coetzee	217

Book about: Confessions of an Economic Hit Man or Office Spa

Sherman's March through the Carolinas

Author: John Gilchrist Barrett

In retrospect, General William Tecumseh Sherman considered his march through the Carolinas the greatest of his military feats, greater even than the Georgia campaign. When he set out northward from Savannah with 60,000 veteran soldiers in January 1865, he was more convinced than ever that the bold application of his ideas of total war could speedily end the conflict. Before him lay South Carolina, the birthplace of secession. Beyond were North Carolina and Virginia, where Grant and Lee stood deadlocked.

Convicted In The Womb or Battleground Chicago

2009-12-04T01:51:00.000-08:00

Convicted In The Womb

Author: Carl Upchurch

Once Carl Upchurch was an elementary school dropout fighting for survival on the streets of South Philadelphia, a gang member wedded to a life of violence, a bank robber facing a future in federal penitentiaries. Now he is a respected community organizer and one of the most compelling and visionary leaders of the civil rights movement. Catapulted into the national spotlight following his organization of a summit that brought together the country's most notorious gangs. Carl Upchurch has found himself in direct conflict with other African American civil right leaders. This is his scathing critique of t he established civil rights movement and his bold manifesto for solving the critical problems facing today's urban American. And this is his own unforgettable story-reality of urban crime gang warfare, and racial injustice from one who knows firsthand what it's like to be Convicted in the Womb

Publishers Weekly

Upchurch tells his up-from-prison story well and with conviction. He calls his childhood "niggerization," describing the Philadelphia ghetto deprivations and depredations that turned him into a pre-teen criminal. Later he was politicized by Martin Luther King's assassination, but he reverted to criminality and became a violent prisoner. In prison, he discovered Shakespeare (by accident), then James Baldwin, Dostoyevski, Twain and other writers. Thus began what Upchurch terms "deniggerization," fighting his self-hatred and despair. After 10 years in prison, he was set free at 31. He pursued a college degree, married and, in 1992, founded the Council for Urban Peace and Justice (based in Columbus, Ohio) to work for gang truces and other ways of bringing progress to inner cities. He describes the 1993 Kansas City gang summit he organized as bringing hope, but it is still unclear what lasting effects it had. Upchurch concludes his book with proposals for "antiniggerization," challenging African Americans to take personal responsibility, proposing that they use boycotts to shape society and urging black leaders (he's suspicious of Jesse Jackson, hopeful about Kweisi Mfume) to challenge both their followers and the powers that support "American apartheid." (Sept.)

Library Journal

In this account of his tough childhood, the founder and director of the Council for Urban Peace and Justice reveals his encounters with violence, gangs, and reform schools and how by educating himself he finally escaped from that life. (LJ 9/1/96)

Kirkus Reviews

A provocative memoir of life as an enemy of society.

Born in 1950, Upchurch freely admits that he has been a bad man for much of the last half century: a robber, a thief, prone to violence, and quick with a lie. He was educated in his bad ways by the mean streets of South Philadelphia; "I was niggerized by my environment," Upchurch writes, "governed by a careless, heartless ruthlessness fostered by a pervasive sense of inferiority." Stints in reform schools followed his earliest forays in criminality, and there Upchurch found that the "cumulative caring" of those assigned to guard him took the place of family love. That caring was still not enough to set him straight, and as a young adult Upchurch drifted, committing crimes petty and major, eventually winding up in a federal prison in Michigan. There, in a narrow cell, he discovered the works of William Shakespeare—an earlier occupant had used a copy of the sonnets to prop up a crooked table—and other writers, and he educated himself in a program of self-improvement that, while not likely to earn Upchurch a spot on William Bennett's list of culture heroes, could well serve as an inspirational model for others seeking a way out. His narrative is sometimes marred by self-righteous passages, but Upchurch, now a community activist, has much of value to say about the way American society marginalizes its ethnic minorities, forcing many of its citizens to endure hellish lives. For all that, he is quick to accept ultimate responsibility for his actions. "I could choose to wallow in niggerhood—shooting drugs, robbing people, committing murder, going to jail, disrespecting people—or I could choose to rediscover my humanity and work against being a nigger for the rest of my life," he writes. "I chose the latter."

In doing so, Upchurch has become a thinker and social critic well worth paying attention to.

Book review: Changing the Channel or The Innovators Solution

Battleground Chicago: The Police and the 1968 Democratic National Convention

Author: Frank Kusch

The 1968 Democratic Convention, best known for police brutality against demonstrators, has been relegated to a dark place in American historical memory. Battleground Chicago ventures beyond the stereotypical image of rioting protestors and violent cops to reevaluate exactly how—and why—the police attacked antiwar activists at the convention.
Working from interviews with eighty former Chicago police officers who were on the scene, Frank Kusch uncovers the other side of the story of ’68, deepening our understanding of a turbulent decade.

“Frank Kusch’s compelling account of the clash between Mayor Richard Daley’s men in blue and anti-war rebels reveals why the 1960s was such a painful era for many Americans. . . . to his great credit, [Kusch] allows ‘the pigs’ to speak up for themselves.”—Michael Kazin

“Kusch’s history of white Chicago policemen and the 1968 Democratic National Convention is a solid addition to a growing literature on the cultural sensibility and political perspective of the conservative white working class in the last third of the twentieth century.”—David Farber, Journal of American History

International Human Rights or Modern Weapons Caching

2009-12-02T20:39:00.000-08:00

International Human Rights: Problems of Law, Policy, and Practice

Author: Richard B Lillich

This long-awaited revision presents a refreshing new alternative for students and instructors. INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS: Problems of Law, Policy, and Practice, Fourth Edition, takes a problem-oriented approach to covering all global and regional human rights systems as they currently operate, along with a discussion of the theoretical foundations of human rights, US foreign policy and human rights, and key current issues.

This student-friendly casebook:

retains a problem-oriented focus designed to help students understand contemporary debates about human rights from a political as well as a legal perspective
addresses practical issues of implementation, as well as recent developments in substantive human rights jurisprudence in Europe, Latin America, and national courts
contrasts differing views on the theory and practice of humanitarian intervention in Kosovo, Rwanda, Darfur, and elsewhere
discusses the theoretical foundations of human rights and cultural relativism
examines historical developments in human rights as well as current problems

This significant revision addresses the many changes in human rights over the last 10 years, with:

the additional insight of two new authors: James Anaya has written several books and numerous articles about international human rights and the rights of Native Americans. Dinah Shelton is the author of two prize-winning books on human rights as well as many articles on international law, human rights law, and international environmental law.
extensive new material alongside the best of the original Lillich and Hannumedition, carefully updated for today¿s classes
a thorough discussion of the impact on human rights of the ¿war on terrorism,¿ including analysis of command responsibility for the mistreatment of prisoners in Abu Ghraib and the legality of detention without trial at Guantanamo
new material on indigenous rights, the environment, and the responsibility of corporations and other non-state actors for human rights violations
added discussions of freedom of expression and religion and the International Criminal Court

Modern Weapons Caching: A Down to Earth Approach to Beating the Government Gun Grab

Author: Benson Ragnar

The time to prepare is now. In the race against the firearm roundup in the U.S., gun owners who refuse to give up the freedoms that are their birthright must take their weapons underground-bury them-before it's too late. Ragnar will show you how to do it right.

Loving Enemies or Masculinities

2009-12-01T15:16:00.000-08:00

Loving Enemies: A Manual for Ordinary People

Author: Randy Klassen

Like parents and grandparents everywhere, Randy and Joyce Klassen are deeply concerned about the state of the world in which their children and grandchildren will be living. Will violence and wars escalate? Or will the world's peoples, including those in a United States so often involved in war, try a different way? Will even ordinary people commit ourselves to selfless love? Will we strengthen and expand the reality of justice and peace in our world? This book is a manual for those of us ready to try. As Robert K. Johnston, Fuller Theological Seminary, observes in the Foreword, the authors "remind us how inspired we become by the illogic of nonviolence, how moved we are by the redemptive role of forgiveness, how alluring and inviting the example of those like Martin Luther King Jr. or Christians in the Philippines."

Look this: Womans Guide to Making Therapy Work or The American Medical Association Essential Guide to Hypertension

Masculinities: An Anthropology of Football, Polo and Tango

Author: Eduardo P Archetti

The complex relationship between nationalism and masculinity has been explored both historically and sociologically with one consistent conclusion: male concepts of courage and virility are at the core of nationalism. In this ground-breaking book, the author questions this assumption and advances the debate through an empirical analysis of masculinity in the revealing contexts of same-sex (football and polo) and cross-sex (tango) relations. Because of its rich history, Argentina provides the ideal setting in which to study the intersection of masculine and national constructs: hybridization, creolization and a culture of performance have all informed both gender and national identities. Further, the author argues that, counter to claims made by globalization theorists, the importance of performance to Argentinian men and women has a long history and has powerfully shaped the national psyche.

But this book takes the analysis far beyond national boundaries to address general arguments in anthropology which are not culture-specific, and the discussion poses important comparative questions and addresses central theoretical issues, from the interplay of morality and ritual, to a comparison between the popular and the aristocratic, to the importance of 'othering' in national constructions - particularly those relating to sport.

This book represents a major contribution, not only to anthropology, but to the study of gender, nationalism and culture in its broadest sense.

	Acknowledgements
	Prologue
	Introduction: Frameworks and Perspectives	1
Pt. I	Hybridization	21
Ch. 1	Situating Hybridity and Hybrids	23
Ch. 2	Male Hybrids in the World of Football	46
Ch. 3	Hybridization and Male Hybrids in the World of Polo	77
Pt. II	Masculine Moralities	111
Ch. 4	Locating Masculinities and Moralities	113
Ch. 5	Masculinities and Morality in the Poetics of the Argentinian Tango	128
Ch. 6	Masculine National Virtues and Moralities in Football	161
Ch. 7	The Masculine Imagery of Freedom: the World of Pibes and Maradona	180
	Epilogue	190
	Bibliography	194
	Index	208

Social Work and Human Rights or Civil Disobedience Solitude and Life without Principle

2009-11-30T10:04:00.000-08:00

Social Work and Human Rights: A Foundation for Policy and Practice

Author: Elisabeth Reichert

As social work students and practitioners encounter the term "human rights" with greater frequency, there is a pressing need for them to understand its meaning, especially in contradistinction to the related concept of "social justice." This book is an overview of human rights ideas and laws for social workers that stresses the importance of human rights in all types of social work policy and practice. The volume first traces the history and development of human rights from the passage of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 and subsequent international documents. In particular, Social Work and Human Rights addresses issues relating to vulnerable groups, including women, children, disabled persons, the HIV- or AIDS-infected population, gays and lesbians, victims of racism, and older persons. The book concludes with indispensable case studies that illustrate the application of human rights theory in real-life settings. These case studies demonstrate how to identify relevant human rights issues and then connect these issues to ethical responsibilities in order to form an appropriate intervention scenario with the client.

Civil Disobedience, Solitude and Life without Principle

Author: Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) championed the belief that people of conscience were at liberty to follow their own opinion. In these selections from his writings, we see Thoreau the individualist and opponent of injustice. "Civil Disobedience" (1849), composed following Thoreau's imprisonment for refusing to pay his taxes in protest against slavery and the Mexican War, is an eloquent declaration of the principles that make revolution inevitable in times of political dishonor. "Solitude," from his masterpiece, Walden (1849), poetically describes Thoreau's oneness with nature and the companionship solitude offers to those who want to be rid of the world to discover themselves. "Life without Principle" (posthumously published 1863) decries the way in which excessive devotion to business and money coarsens the fabric of society: in merely making a living, the meaning of life gets lost.

Someday Well All Be Free or Arms and Influence

2009-11-29T04:52:00.000-08:00

Someday We'll All Be Free

Author: Kevin Powell

Hurricane Katrina and 9/11 may have been wake-up calls to Americans insulated from the effects of poverty and terrorism, but according to Kevin Powell, similar disasters have been happening in slow motion throughout America for years. Instead of through floods and bombs, these disasters take place via things like rampant unemployment and police brutality, with consequences that are ultimately longer lasting and more damaging. Full of uncomfortable truths and difficult facts, Someday We'll All Be Free lays out Powell's case for how freedom and democracy are being subverted in 21st-century America. More than just a catalog of sins, Someday We'll All Be Free also finds Powell loudly calling for African-Americans to stand up and finish the work begun by MLK. The most blistering book yet from an author equally recognized for intellectual rigor and scalding rhetoric, Someday We'll All Be Free firmly establishes why Powell is widely considered one of America's brightest leaders and thinkers.

The Washington Post - Hakim Hasan

The enlightening essays in Someday We'll All Be Free are an interpretive collage of tragic events in American life that are redefining our debates about civil liberties and the unspoken expendability of the poor. Powell argues that the key to the future of American democracy is the willingness of Americans to assess their history and to reject rabid nationalism as a form of patriotism. He makes the point that freedom is measured by an evolving recognition of our shared humanity. Through this realization, problems such as poverty, natural disaster and terrorism can be addressed effectively.

Go to: Feeding Your Appetites or Half a Brain Is Enough

Arms and Influence

Author: Thomas C Schelling

In this landmark book, Nobel laureate Thomas C. Schelling considers the ways in which military capabilities—real or imagined—are used as bargaining power. This edition contains a new foreword by the author where he considers the book’s relevance over forty years after its first publication. Included as an afterword is the text of Professor Schelling’s Nobel acceptance speech in which he reflects upon the global taboo that has emerged against nuclear weapons since Hiroshima.

"This is a brilliant and hardheaded book. It will frighten those who prefer not to dwell on the unthinkable and infuriate those who have taken refuge in stereotypes and moral attitudinizing."—Gordon A. Craig, New York Times Book Review

Thomas C. Schelling is Distinguished University Professor, Department of Economics and School of Public Affairs, University of Maryland and Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Political Economy, Emeritus, Harvard University. He is co-recipient of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Economics.

The Henry L. Stimson Lectures Series

Dear Mrs Roosevelt or U S Presidents Factbook

2009-11-27T23:40:00.000-08:00

Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: Letters from Children of the Great Depression

Author: Robert Cohen

Impoverished young Americans had no greater champion during the Depression than Eleanor Roosevelt. As First Lady, Mrs. Roosevelt used her newspaper columns and radio broadcasts to crusade for expanded federal aid to poor children and teens. She was the most visible spokesperson for the National Youth Administration, the New Deal's central agency for aiding the needy young, and she was adamant in insisting that federal aid to young people be administered without discrimination so that it reached blacks as well as whites, girls as well as boys.

This activism made Mrs. Roosevelt a beloved figure among poor teens and children, who between 1933 and 1941 wrote her thousands of letters describing their problems and requesting her help. Dear Mrs. Roosevelt presents nearly 200 of these extraordinary documents to open a window into the lives of the Depression's youngest victims. In their own words, the letter writers confide what it was like to be needy and young during the worst economic crisis in American history.

Revealing both the strengths and the limitations of New Deal liberalism, this book depicts an administration concerned and caring enough to elicit such moving appeals for help yet unable to respond in the very personal ways the letter writers hoped.

KLIATT

A world of deep need comes into focus through a sampling of letters written by young people to Eleanor Roosevelt during the 1930s, the years when the Great Depression caused great economic and social distress. Ninety percent of the letters requesting aid of the president and his wife during this time were written by adults, but Cohen's search through archives reveals that children and teens, girls more often than boys, also wrote. Mrs. Roosevelt composed columns for the newspapers of the time and made radio broadcasts in which she spoke of great concern for the poverty-stricken state of the population, especially the youth, and invited listeners to write to her. President Roosevelt, in a memorable speech, said that one third of the nation was "ill clothed, ill housed, and ill fed," and here is very human evidence that he was correct. Cohen introduces the letters at length, and examples of the letters are clustered in chapters, which also begin with interpretive material. The letters almost always start with a note of apology for writing, and then reveal a heartrending desperation. The great majority of the writers requested clothing and imagined that Mrs. Roosevelt could dip into an extensive wardrobe of her personal discards or into a trove of used clothing it was rumored was stored in the White House attic. They believed that she could send them a package by return mail. It appears that the lack of proper clothing meant not only that the young people could not protect their bodies from the elements, but that it degraded them socially and prevented them from participating in important events surrounding high school graduation. Many asked for money and often offered to pay it back withinterest. They wanted it for daily needs (requests for food are surprisingly largely absent, and doctors reported little evidence of starvation), for gifts and bicycles, for medical and dental care for themselves and their families, and for books, tuition and typewriters. Government agencies developed income scales with which they estimated the lifestyle achievable at varying levels, and many of the correspondents clearly fell well below the minimum at which a family could sustain life with dignity. A final brief chapter comments on the response of Mrs. Roosevelt and her staff to the letters. A very few were answered fulfilling the request; most received rather cool form letters telling the writer that, because of the many similar letters Mrs. Roosevelt received, she could not send the desired aid. The editor feels the staff could have done a better job of personalizing the replies. The editor's essays are scholarly and will be challenging reading for most high school students, but they will appreciate the letters for how, through them, their counterparts of the 1930s become real persons. Teachers who treat the period will be delighted to find this fresh material on the library shelf. KLIATT Codes: SA—Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2002, Univ. of North Carolina Press, 266p. illus. notes. index., Boardman

Books about: Abnormal Pap Smears or The Womens Migraine Survival Guide

U. S. Presidents Factbook

Author: Elizabeth Jewell

Up-to-date through the 2004 election, the ultimate resource on the American presidency

Whether students are writing an essay on American history or parents are choosing which candidate gets their vote, the U.S. Presidents Factbook is one of the best resources on presidential history.

• Up-to-date with presidents from George Washington to the winner of the 2004 election. This is the only comprehensive and unbiased coverage of more than 200 years of American leadership.

• Includes each president's family history, career decisions, notable appointments, major legislative acts, and major successes and failures.

Main Street Revisited or Americas Lost War

2009-11-26T18:28:00.000-08:00

Main Street Revisited: Time, Space, and Image Building in Small-Town America

Author: Richard V Francaviglia

Main Street has come to symbolize a place of honest aspirations and few pretenses, a place where economics, community pride, and entertainment generate an intuitive appreciation of the small town as a vital part of the American experience. As an archetype for an entire class of places, Main Street has become one of America's most popular and idealized images. In Main Street Revisited, the first book to place the design of small downtowns in spatial and chronological context, Richard Francaviglia finds the sources of romanticized images of this archetype, including Walt Disney's Main Street USA, in towns as diverse as Marceline, Missouri, and Fort Collins, Colorado. Francaviglia interprets Main Street both as a real place and as an expression of collective assumptions, designs, and myths; his Main Streets are treasure troves of historic patterns. Using many historical and contemporary photographs and maps from his extensive fieldwork and research, he reveals a rich regional pattern of small-town development that serves as the basis for American community design. He underscores the significance of time in the development of Main Street's distinctive personality, focuses on the importance of space in the creation of place, and concentrates on popular images that have enshrined Main Street in the collective American consciousness. As a historical geographer with a long-standing interest in American popular culture, Francaviglia looks sympathetically but realistically at the ways in which Main Street's image developed and persists. He reaffirms that life can imitate art, that the cherished icons surrounding Main Street have become the substance of popular culture. Ultimately, his book is about the material culture that architects, town developers, and image makers have left us as their legacy. Seen through the lives of the visionaries who created them in their search for the perfect community, Main Streets above all symbolize both individual and collective human ene

Publishers Weekly

Whether in Sinclair Lewis novels, Jimmy Stewart films or Norman Rockwell paintings, no American image is as uniformly depicted as that of Main Street, with its Fourth of July parades, five-and-dime stores and barber poles. This book, part of Iowa's American Land and Life series, asks how and why the recognizably generic streetscape took shape. Francaviglia, an associate professor of history at the University of Texas at Arlington, documents the physical changes in downtown America over the years and offers 16 axioms that define the design and development of the small-town commercial center. Photographs taken from Maine to California reveal Main Street's material culture: building styles and materials, street plans, road surfaces and lighting. An interesting paradox emerges: that Main Street is both mundane and utopian, mundane in its aspirations to uniformity but utopian in that it embodies an ideal of life in America. Francaviglia's otherwise bland study culminates in a somewhat belabored defense of the influence of Disneyland's Main Street, U.S.A. on the very form and existence of America's downtown shopping districts since the 1950s. For historians of architecture and town planning, this book will offer a useful review of Main Street's development. But readers interested in why Main Street came to represent American ideals may be disappointed. Photos and illustrations. (June)

America's Lost War: Vietnam: 1945-1975 9American History Series)

Author: Charles E Neu

In college and high school classrooms across the United States, students display a keen interest in knowing more about what they rightly sense was a pivotal event in the recent past, one that brought a sea change in the life of the nation.

In a long-awaited alternative to the lengthy and overly expensive texts on the Vietnam War, Charles Neu presents America’s Lost War, a balanced, lively narrative account of that tragic conflict, one that sweeps across the whole time-span of the war and explores American, Vietnamese, and international perspectives. Recreating the physical and psychological landscape of the war, Neu fluidly describes policy disputes—among leaders of both the United States and North Vietnam—as well as individual policy makers, battles, and military realities, tracing the legacy of the “Vietnam” phenomenon that shapes American domestic politics and elections, as well as foreign relations, to the present day.

The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government or Worlds Apart

2009-11-25T13:16:00.000-08:00

The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, Vol. 1

Author: Jefferson Davis

The North had their orders: "Capture or kill Jefferson Davis," the rebel President of the Confederate South. Davis was captured, and upon his release from federal prison, crafted this intimate Civil War document that gives a powerful firsthand account of the South's defeat and the reasons behind its secession from the Union.

Book review: Contabilit�

Worlds Apart: Why Poverty Persists in Rural America

Author: Cynthia M Duncan

This book takes us to three remote rural areas in the United States to hear the colorful stories of their residentsthe poor and struggling, the rich and powerful, and those in between - as they talk about their families and work, the hard times they've known, and their hopes and dreams. Cynthia M. Duncan examines the nature of poverty in Blackwell in Appalachia and in the Mississippi Delta town of Dahlia. She finds in these towns a persistent inequality that erodes the fabric of the community, feeds corrupt politics, and undermines institutions crucial for helping poor families achieve the American Dream. In contrast, New England's Gray Mountain enjoys a rich civic culture that enables the poor to escape poverty. Focusing on the implications of the differences among these communities, the author provides powerful new insights into the dynamics of poverty, politics, and community change.

(American Journal of Sociology) - David Brown

Analyzing data from over 350 in-depth interviews conducted during 1990-95, Cynthia Duncan provides a vivid and highly nuanced description of life in rural America's poor communities. . . . I am enthusiastic about this book, and I recommend it highly.

(World & I) - Linda Simon

[An] absorbing, provocative book. . . . In her lavish use of direct quotes and firsthand observations, skillfully interwoven with commentary and historical and economic background, Duncan achieves an authenticity and believability rare in academic work, which make one take her seriously. . . . For an examination of persistent rural poverty in America, Worlds Apart is excellent.

(America) - Thomas Bokenkotter

The debate goes on, and Cynthia Duncan's Worlds Apart is must reading for anyone involved. Those who advocate the need for greater sense of social responsibility in our attitude toward the poor will find much support in this study.

Choice

The description of rural poverty in Worlds Apart are interesting and read almost like a novel. Sociologist Duncan compiles accounts of residents who describe their lives in three rural areas: a coal-mining town in Appalachia, a cotton-plantation town in the Mississippi Delta, and a mill town in northern Maine. . . . All levels.

Doubletake

Duncan combines theoretical sophistication with the gravity of real-life stories to tell of the absence of democratic processes in these areas, a main reason why the cycle of poverty continues. . . . Duncan weaves a narrative that should cause us profound national embarrassment over how, in a land of plenty, so many can have so little.

(Appalachian Journal) - Jim Sessions

This is a good book. It is imminently readable, filled with rich and revelatory interviews with both 'haves' and 'have nots' in 'Blackwell,' a coal county in Appalachia; 'Dahlia,' an agricultural plantation county of the Mississippi Delta; and 'Gray Mountain,' a mill town in northern New England. . . . . [Duncan] pursue[s] the ways in which poverty is perpetuated and what can be done about it.

Kirkus Reviews

University of New Hampshire sociologist Duncan (Rural Poverty in America, not reviewed) looks at the social relations and political and economic institutions that perpetuate poverty in rural America. "Blackwell" (place names have been changed) in Appalachia and "Dahlia" on the Mississippi Delta, are two of the poorest areas in the US. Duncan studied the lives of the residents of these places, and what she found was communities where the "haves" and "have nots" inhabit different worlds within historically structured, rigid class and, in Dahlia, race divisions. In both places local elites—coal company operators in Blackwell, plantation owners in Dahlia—control not only the economic life of the community but the political life as well. Their power is near absolute, and they use public institutions, including schools, to further their own interests and punish those who cross them. The poor remain "powerless, dependent, and do not participate" in civic life. A kind of stasis sets in where the poor see no option but to give way to those who have always had power, and the powerful resist change as it may threaten their status. In contrast, "Gray Mountain," in northern New England, is a town with a strong civic culture based on a blue-collar middle class that has created public institutions—from little league to effective schools—that serve all in the community. Duncan, through in-depth investigation and interviews, concludes that only a strong civic culture, a sense among citizens of community and the need to serve that community, can truly address poverty. Yet class and race relations in places like Blackwell and Dahlia preclude such a sense of community. Her answer, goingagainst so much conventional wisdom, is federal government intervention, especially to create equitable school systems where they do not exist. Only such intervention, Duncan asserts, will give the poor the knowledge of alternatives, the hope they now lack. Moving and troubling. Duncan has created a remarkable study of the persistent patterns of poverty and power. (The book's foreword is by Robert Coles.)

What People Are Saying

Robert Coles
A documentary exposition of great moral energy, informed by impressive intellectual skills: an extraordinary mix of social history, economic and political analysis, and direct observation by a boldly original researcher.

	Map of Northern New England, Central Appalachia, and the Mississippi Delta
	Foreword
	Preface
	List of People Profiled
ch. 1	Blackwell: Rigid Classes and Corrupt Politics in Appalachia's Coal Fields	1
	"Good Rich People" and "Bad Poor People"	3
	Blackwell Yesterday: Developing Appalachia's Coal Fields	11
	The Families That Run Things	17
	The Politics of Work in the Mountains	30
	Blackwell's Have-Nots: Scratching a Living Up the Hollows	39
	Blackwell's Haves: The Good Life on Redbud Hill	53
	Bringing Change to Blackwell	59
ch. 2	Dahlia: Racial Segregation and Planter Control in the Mississippi Delta	73
	Dahlia's Two Social Worlds	74
	Work in Dahlia: Creating and Maintaining the Plantation World	90
	Class and Caste in the Delta	96
	White Planters, Politicians, and Shopkeepers	111
	Leadership in the Black Community: The Old and the New "Toms"	123
	Dahlia's Emerging Middle Class	140
ch. 3	Gray Mountain: Equality and Civic Involvement in Northern New England	152
	A Blue-Collar Middle-Class Mill Town	154
	Participation and Investment in the 1990s	164
	The Big Middle "Continuum"	177
	Difficult Times Ahead: Putting Civic Culture to the Test	184
ch. 4	Social Change and Social Policy	187
	Cultural and Structural Causes of Persistent Poverty	187
	Class and Politics in Rural Communities	191
	Equality, Democracy, and Social Change	198
	Policies to Encourage Mobility and Build Civic Culture	200
	Appendix	209
	Notes	223
	Acknowledgments	229
	Index	231

Public Finance Administration or Seeking Higher Ground

2009-02-21T21:41:00.000-08:00

Public Finance Administration

Author: B J Reed

A unique, clearly written, and logically organized volume, Public Finance Administration, Second Edition provides a comprehensive focus on the management of public funds. Ideal for the nonexpert with a public administration background, this easy-to-read new edition is updated in content and examples. Authors B. J. Reed and John W. Swain begin with a broad introduction to public finance administration, including its relationship to public budgeting, the practice of public sector accounting, and the economic concepts of money and value. Next, they cover revenues and expenditures, including how they are administered and the importance of forecasting and cost analysis. Later chapters deal with such technical areas as managing cash flow, investment, debts, risk, purchasing, capital budgets, and the financial components of human resource management. The volume includes a look at the evaluative side of public finance such as auditing, assessing financial conditions, and the emerging use of development finance. In addition, the authors point to relevant web sites on the Internet for more information on public finance administration. Filling a need for courses in public finance administration, this volume provides a public administration based approach to the subject with a highly practical orientation.

Booknews

A textbook for class or self-study by readers with a background in public administration but not necessarily in finance. Describes the day-to-day handling of money belonging to government agencies or non-profit organizations, and the related technical support activities, rather than the political aspects of budgeting. The date of the first edition is not noted; the second updates the contents and examples, appends discussion questions to the chapters, and provides a Web site linked to Internet places relevant to specific chapters. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

	Preface
	Acknowledgments
1	Introduction	1
2	Budgeting and Finance Administration	11
3	Public-Sector Accounting	20
4	Money and Values: Monetary Values	54
5	Public Revenues	72
6	Revenue Administration	97
7	Forecasting and Estimating	114
8	Cost Analysis	135
9	Expenditure Administration	169
10	Purchasing	182
11	Cash Management	204
12	Investment Administration	219
13	Capital Budgeting	235
14	Public Debt Administration	245
15	Risk Management	269
16	Personnel and Pension Administration	285
17	Auditing	301
18	Assessing Financial Conditions	316
19	Financing Economic Development	332
	Index	349
	About the Authors	369

Go to: Princípios de Bens imóveis

Seeking Higher Ground: The Hurricane Katrina Crisis, Race, and Public Policy Reader

Author: Manning Marabl

Hurricane Katrina of August-September 2005, one of the most destructive natural disasters in U.S. history, dramatically illustrated the continuing racial and class inequalities of America. In this powerful reader, Seeking Higher Ground, prominent scholars and writers examine the racial impact of the disaster and the failure of governmental, corporate and private agencies to respond to the plight of the New Orleans black community. Contributing authors include Julianne Malveaux, Melissa Harris-Lacewell, Ronald Walters, Chester Hartman, Gregory D. Squires, Mindy Thompson Fullilove, Alan Stein, and Gene Preuss. This reader is the second volume of the Souls Critical Black Studies Series, edited by Manning Marable, and produced by the institute for Research in African-American Studies of Columbia University.

The Dynamics of Social Welfare Policy or Copyrights Paradox

2009-02-20T16:29:00.000-08:00

The Dynamics of Social Welfare Policy

Author: Joel Blau

The first edition of The Dynamics of Social Welfare Policy reinvented the standard social welfare policy text to speak to students in a vital new way. This second edition builds on its strengths, with a more accessible graphic design and a thorough update of the effects of recent political and legislative changes on social welfare programs.
The book begins by discussing how social problems are constructed. After an analysis of social welfare policy, its purposes, and functions, a unique policy model bolsters the text's overarching progressive narrative. Through this model, students learn how five key social forces-ideology, politics, history, economics, and social movements-interact both to create and to change the social welfare system. By applying this model to five critical social welfare policy issues-income security, employment, housing, health, and food-the text demonstrates to students that every kind of social work practice embodies a social welfare policy. The model is also telling in identifying the triggers of social change and the effects of race, class, and gender.
By applying the policy model to the latest developments in social welfare, the chapter-long case studies in this second edition equip students with knowledge about social welfare policy and the tools for comparative analysis. With this knowledge, students begin to understand that both the whole and the parts of the social welfare system affect what they actually do as social workers. Once they grasp this concept, they'll understand why it is so important to learn social welfare policy.
The Dynamics of Social Welfare Policy 2E captures the fluidity and change inherent in social policy like noother textbook. Its approach remains the most invigorating, forward-thinking one available. Highlights from this edition include:
* Revised data in text, charts, and graphs show how government policies are proving the points made throughout the chapters
*Exhaustive statistics are included about every major social program's budget, benefits, and participants
*Underlying policy model has been updated in response to the evolving political environment
*Content and writing style are appropriate to both bachelor's- and master's-level programs
*More graphics and attractive new two-color interior design make debates easier to grasp and the book easier to navigate
Visit www.oup.com/us/dynamics for access to the instructor's manual and test bank.

Book about: Not Your Mothers Cookbook or The Edible Tao

Copyright's Paradox

Author: Neil Weinstock Netanel

The United States Supreme Court famously labeled copyright "the engine of free expression" because it provides a vital economic incentive for much of the literature, commentary, music, art, and film that makes up our public discourse. Yet today's copyright law also does the opposite--it is often used to quash news reporting, political commentary, church dissent, historical scholarship, cultural critique, and artistic expression.
In Copyright's Paradox, Neil Weinstock Netanel explores the tensions between copyright law and free speech, revealing how copyright can impose unacceptable burdens on expression. Netanel provides concrete illustrations of how copyright often prevents speakers from effectively conveying their message, tracing this conflict across both traditional and digital media and considering current controversies such as the remix and copying culture rampant on YouTube and MySpace, hip-hop music and digital sampling, and the Google Book Search litigation. The author juxtaposes the dramatic expansion of copyright holders' proprietary control against the individual's newly found ability to digitally cut, paste, edit, remix, and distribute sound recordings, movies, TV programs, graphics, and texts the world over. He tests whether, in light of these developments and others, copyright still serves as a vital engine of free expression and he assesses how copyright does--and does not--burden speech. Taking First Amendment values as his lodestar, Netanel argues that copyright should be limited to how it can best promote robust debate and expressive diversity, and he presents a blueprint for how that can be accomplished.
Copyright and free speech will always stand in sometension. But there are ways in which copyright can continue to serve as an engine of free expression while leaving ample room for speakers to build on copyrighted works to convey their message, express their personal commitments, and create new art. This book shows us how.

Introduction: A "Largely Ignored Paradox"     3
From Mein Kampf to Google     13
What Is Freedom of Speech? (And How Does It Bear on Copyright?)     30
Copyright's Ungainly Expansion     54
Is Copyright "the Engine of Free Expression"?     81
Copyright's Free Speech Burdens     109
The Propertarian Counter-Argument     154
Copyright and the First Amendment     169
Remaking Copyright in the First Amendment's Image     195
Notes     219
Index     269

What to Do when the Shit Hits the Fan or What Every American Should Know about the Rest of the World

2009-02-19T07:50:00.000-08:00

What to Do When the Shit Hits the Fan

Author: Dave Black

Would you know how to prepare for an unforeseen emergency, or handle an unexpected disaster? With real-world considerations in mind, disaster preparedness consultant David Black shows us how to stay alive when tragedy strikes. His step-by-step actions can help us make it safely through a variety of crises, from catastrophic weather to terrorism to civil unrest. Black presents tailor-made plans for individuals, businesses, organizations, small groups, and communities to follow, in all regions of the country and broken down by type of emergency and environment. In addition, he provides a hierarchy for response including communication, healthcare, food, water, and shelter in the absence of institutions and commercially available services and supplies.

New interesting textbook: Nantuckets Bounty or Cookin with Honey

What Every American Should Know about the Rest of the World

Author: M L Rossi

What's the difference between Khomeini and Khaddafi? How can you tell a Tutsi from a Hutu? Is life really any better in Qatar? Learn the answers to these questions and more in What Every American Should Know About the Rest of the World.

What Every American Should Know About the Rest of the World, an entertaining guide to political science, current events, foreign affairs, and history is filled with:

*Straightforward explanations
*Cross-referenced entries
*Handy pronunciation guides
*Illustrations and maps

What Every American Should Know About the Rest of the World is the complete guide to what's happening at a time when knowledge about events on an international scale has never been more important.

About the Author:

Melissa Rossi is an award-winning veteran journalist who has penned articles for Newsweek, Newsday, Esquire, George, MSNBC, The New York Observer, and, until recently, wrote a regular column for National Geographic Traveler. She has written extensively about Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, and has lived abroad for many years.

Ann Hart - KLIATT

Inspired by September 11, in the author's words, "this book aims to provide you with: a contextual mapping of the world's geopolitical hot spots and a familiarity with the names, terms and ideas you need to know to decipher global events." Part almanac, part narrative, injected with subtle humor and commentary, it is informative, non-scholarly and formatted for a sound bite-accustomed audience, making the information easy to find. Forty-five topics, countries or regions are grouped by prominence in global politics under the headings: "Tickers," "Slow Tickers," "Talkers," and "The Big Picture." Touching on every world region, it mostly deals with the Middle East, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and some Latin and South American countries. The role of the United States, positive or negative, is always included. An Afterword discourages complacency and discusses reader participation in the geo-political situation. Rossi's experience as a journalist living abroad is a reassuring measure of her authority on her subjects. Her Korea chapter completely agreed with a Today Show feature aired on May 19, 2003. She includes small maps, photos, a glossary, bibliography, list of resources, notes and an index. As a reference tool, this is not as comprehensive as traditional almanacs in facts on economy, education, and history and geography, but it is a must-have for supplementing the current events curriculum. This type of work is outdated as soon as it is published (we have experienced the Iraqi War since), but it will continue to be extremely valuable in understanding the issues. Recommended for every literate and thinking American citizen. KLIATT Codes: JSA—Recommended for junior and seniorhigh school students, advanced students, and adults. 2003, Penguin Putnam, Plume, 382p. illus. maps. notes. bibliog. index.,

Three Approaches to Abortion or Spies for Hire

2009-02-18T02:38:00.000-08:00

Three Approaches to Abortion: A Compassionate and Thoughtful Guide to the Most Controversial Issue Today

Author: Peter Kreeft

The popular author and professor Peter Kreeft tackles the most controversial issue of our times in his always unique and compassionate style. He presents approaches to the abortion issue from a logical and psychological explanation of the pro-life position. Kreeft hopes that clear reason, rather than force, will help convince people of the truth about abortion and the need to protect innocent human life. Using a dialogical method he presents the objective logical arguments against abortion, the subjective, personal motives of the pro-life movement, and how these two factors influence the dialogue between the two sides of the abortion issue.

Book about: The Rise of Modern Business in Great Britain the United States and Japan Second Edition Revised and Updated or Professional Communication Series

Spies for Hire: The Secret World of Intelligence Outsourcing

Author: Tim Shorrock

In Spies for Hire, investigative reporter Tim Shorrock lifts the veil off a major story the government doesn't want us to know about -- the massive outsourcing of top secret intelligence activities to private-sector contractors.

Running spy networks overseas. Tracking down terrorists in the Middle East. Interrogating enemy prisoners. Analyzing data from spy satellites and intercepted phone calls. All of these are vital intelligence tasks that traditionally have been performed by government officials accountable to Congress and the American people. But that is no longer the case.

Starting during the Clinton administration, when intelligence budgets were cut drastically and privatization of government services became national policy, and expanding dramatically in the wake of 9/11, when the CIA and other agencies were frantically looking to hire analysts and linguists, the Intelligence Community has been relying more and more on corporations to perform sensitive tasks heretofore considered to be exclusively the work of federal employees. This outsourcing of intelligence activities is now a $50 billion-a-year business that consumes up to 70 percent of the U.S. intelligence budget. And it's a business that the government has tried hard to keep under wraps.

Drawing on interviews with key players in the Intelligence-Industrial Complex, contractors' annual reports and public filings with the government, and on-the-spot reporting from intelligence industry conferences and investor briefings, Spies for Hire provides the first behind-the-scenes look at this new way of spying. Shorrock shows how corporations such as Booz Allen Hamilton, Lockheed Martin, SAIC, CACIInternational, and IBM have become full partners with the CIA, the National Security Agency, and the Pentagon in their most sensitive foreign and domestic operations. He explores how this partnership has led to wasteful spending and threatens to erode the privacy protections and congressional oversight so important to American democracy.

Shorrock exposes the kinds of spy work the private sector is doing, such as interrogating prisoners in Iraq, managing covert operations, and collaborating with the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans' overseas phone calls and e-mails. And he casts light on a "shadow Intelligence Community" made up of former top intelligence officials who are now employed by companies that do this spy work, such as former CIA directors George Tenet and James Woolsey. Shorrock also traces the rise of Michael McConnell from his days as head of the NSA to being a top executive at Booz Allen Hamilton to returning to government as the nation's chief spymaster.

From CIA covert actions to NSA eavesdropping, from Abu Ghraib to Guantánamo, from the Pentagon's techno-driven war in Iraq to the coming global battles over information dominance and control of cyberspace, contractors are doing it all. Spies for Hire goes behind today's headlines to highlight how private corporations are aiding the growth of a new and frightening national surveillance state.

Publishers Weekly

Even James Bond is temping these days. According to investigative journalist Shorrock, the CIA and other intelligence agencies now have more contractors working for them than they do spies of their own. Often former staff hired back at double or triple their former government salaries, these private contractors do everything from fighting in Afghanistan to interrogating prisoners, aiming spy satellites and supervising secret agents. Shorrock gives a comprehensive-at times eye-glazing-rundown of the players in the industry, and his book is valuable for its detailed panorama of 21st-century intelligence work. He uncovers serious abuses-contractor CACI International figured prominently in the Abu Ghraib outrages-and nagging concerns about corrupt ties between intelligence officials and private corporations, industry lobbying for a national surveillance state, the withering of the intelligence agencies' in-house capacities and the displacement of an ethos of public service by a profit motive. However, the bulk of the outsourcing Shorrock unearths is rather pedestrian, involving the management of mundane IT systems and various administrative services, and this exposé insinuates more skullduggery than it demonstrates. (May)

Kirkus Reviews

Private corporations employing former high-ranking federal government and military officials are making huge profits from secret contracts with the CIA, NSA and various baronies in the Defense Department, avers freelance journalist Shorrock. In his first book, the author penetrates the covert worlds of corporations with names like CACI International Inc., Mantech International and Booz Allen Hamilton, as well as government agencies spending tens of billions of taxpayer dollars with no accountability. Dozens of previous titles have examined U.S. failures of information collection and analysis, especially leading up to and after 9/11. Shorrock excavates new dirt by focusing on the business of intelligence: the bottom line in dollars at the private corporations that win government contracts, often without competitive bidding or even public disclosure. The author does a remarkable job of learning as much as he can: gaining entry into conventions of defense contractors usually closed to journalists; sitting through the hearings of congressional committees whose members are regularly stonewalled by the government agencies they are supposed to oversee; reading through partially declassified documents. Peppered with acronyms, descriptions of highly technical hardware and hundreds of unfamiliar names both corporate and human, the book can be difficult to read, but Shorrock's prose is lucid, his passionate brief for open government inspiring. Occasionally, he describes fiascoes already known to the public, such as the nasty interrogation techniques at Abu Ghraib, that illuminate the shadowy role of private corporations performing highly profitable contracted duties once handled by governmentemployees. Shorrock forcefully makes the case that only members of Congress, ostensibly accountable to the citizens who elected them, can halt the inefficiencies and occasional outright financial corruption emanating from the private contractor/intelligence agency nexus. A sterling example of why investigative journalists are valuable during an era of deep, broad and unconscionable government secrecy. Agent: John Ware/John Ware Literary Agency

Antiquities Under Siege or International Political Economy

2009-02-16T21:26:00.000-08:00

Antiquities Under Siege: Cultural Heritage Protection after the Iraq War

Author: Lawrence Rothfield

As Saddam Hussein's government fell in April 2003, news accounts detailed the pillage of Iraq's National Museum. The museum's looting grabbed headlines worldwide, and public attention briefly focused on Iraq's threatened cultural heritage. Less dramatic, though far more devastating, was the subsequent epidemic of looting at thousands of archaeological sites around the country. Illegal digging on a massive scale continues to this day, virtually unchecked; Iraq's ten thousand officially recognized sites are being destroyed at a rate of roughly 10 percent per year.

This book contains the first full published account of the disasters that have befallen Iraq's cultural heritage, and it analyzes why the array of laws and international conventions, the advocacy efforts of cultural heritage organizations, and the military planning and implementation of cultural protection operations all failed, and continue to fail, to prevent massive and irreversible loss. Looking forward, the book identifies new planning procedures, policy mechanisms, and implementation strategies capable of succeeding, so the mistakes of Iraq will not be replicated in other regions in crisis whose cultural heritages are at risk. Both archaeologists and policymakers will benefit from this detailed study.

Book review: Principles of Information Systems or Stratagems and Spoils

International Political Economy: An Intellectual History

Author: Benjamin J Cohen

The field of international political economy gained prominence in the early 1970s--when the Arab oil embargo and other crises ended the postwar era of virtually unhindered economic growth in the United States and Europe--and today is an essential part of both political science and economics. This book offers the first comprehensive examination of this important field's development, the contrasting worldviews of its American and British schools, and the different ways scholars have sought to meet the challenges posed by an ever more complex and interdependent world economy.

Benjamin Cohen explains the critical role played by the early "intellectual entrepreneurs," a generation of pioneering scholars determined to bridge the gap between international economics and international politics. Among them were brilliant thinkers like Robert Keohane, Susan Strange, and others whose legacies endure to the present day. Cohen shows how their personalities and the historical contexts in which they worked influenced how the field evolved. He examines the distinctly different insights of the American and British schools and addresses issues that have been central to the field's development, including systemic transformation, system governance, and the place of the sovereign state in formal analysis. The definitive intellectual history of international political economy, this book is the ideal volume for IPE scholars and those interested in learning more about the field.

List of Illustrations     ix
Acknowledgments     xi
Abbreviations     xiii
Introduction     1
The American School     16
The British School     44
A Really Big Question     66
The Control Gap     95
The Mystery of the State     118
What Have We Learned?     142
New Bridges?     169
References     179
Index     199

Women of the Harvest or Democratic Education

2009-02-15T16:14:00.000-08:00

Women of the Harvest: Inspiring Stories of Contemporary Farmers

Author: Holly L Bollinger

Their vocations may vary from alpacas and vineyards to organic vegetables and medicinal herbs, but the women of Women of the Harvest: Inspiring Stories of Contemporary Farmers share one common thread—a deep connection to the land and to nature borne of their love for farming. Through the profiles of these seventeen amazing women from all over the United States, you will feel that bond—the warm sun beating on your face; your hands in the cool, moist dirt; tending and nurturing plants; raising animals. May the stories of Women of the Harvest inspire you to cultivate your dreams!

“Women who give in to their farm fantasies (I’ve never met a woman yet who hasn’t, at some point in her life, had a farm fantasy) are in for a sensory journey like none other. Digging in the soil makes you whole. It’s as simple and as complicated as that.
As our numbers grow, so do the abundance of opportunities and ideas. Sit back, read, and be inspired. There’s a whole new frontier awaiting us, but it starts here, armed with the inspiration of women farmers who’ve already landed their dream.”
—MaryJane Butters, founder of MaryJanesFarm and author of MaryJane’s Ideabook, Cookbook, Lifebook

Contents
Foreword by MaryJane Butters [to come]
Introduction
Chapter 1: Patricia Orlowitz, Washington, D.C.
Chapter 2: Lini Mazumdar, Londonderry, Vermont
Chapter 3: Donna Betts, Whipple, Ohio
Chapter 4: Sarah Polyock, Chetek, Wisconsin
Chapter 5: Eloise Stewart, Pinetta, Florida
Chapter 6: Laura Adams, Cedar Key, Florida
Chapter 7: Rose Koenig, Gainesville, Florida
Chapter 8: Jessica Norfleet, Newberry, Florida
Chapter 9: Jana Sweets, Tucson, Arizona
Chapter 10: Nancy Wilson, Fossil, Oregon
Chapter 11: Carolyn Lattin, Olympia, Washington
Chapter 12: Julie Safley, Hillsboro, Oregon
Chapter 13: Michelle Bienick, Applegate, Oregon
Chapter 14: Emma Jean Cervantes, La Mesa, New Mexico
Chapter 15: Maud Powell, Jacksonville, Oregon
Chapter 16: Maria Largaespada, Jacksonville, Oregon
Chapter 17: Peggy Case, Pagosa Springs, Colorado
Index

Interesting book: Thyme or The Family Table

Democratic Education

Author: Amy Gutmann

Who should have the authority to shape the education of citizens in a democracy? This is the central question posed by Amy Gutmann in the first book-length study of the democratic theory of education. The author tackles a wide range of issues, from the democratic case against book banning to the role of teachers' unions in education, as well as the vexed questions of public support for private schools and affirmative action in college admissions.

The Theology of the Hammer or A Death in Brazil

2009-02-14T11:00:00.000-08:00

The Theology of the Hammer

Author: Millard Fuller

The Fullers sold their business, donated all the money to charity, and went in search of a new dream. Twenty years later, Fuller and his wife are sharing that dream: Habitat for Humantity Interna-tional.

Publishers Weekly

The founder and president of Habitat for Humanity International, Millard Fuller, here shares his concept of ``hammer theology'' and his dream of eliminating poverty-ridden housing worldwide. Interweaving Christian scripture with his narrative, Fuller tells of the dramatic changes Habitat's hands-on ministry has effected in the lives both of the recipients of the organization's quality housing and of the volunteers who build it. He also writes autobiographically of his own spiritual journey, explaining how he came to start Habitat's phenomenal grassroots ministry. One is left, upon completing the book, with an almost mind-boggling sense of just how far-reaching, substantial and laudable Habitat has become. (May)

Books about: Ten Days of Birthright Israel or An Unbroken Agony

A Death in Brazil: A Book of Omissions

Author: Peter Robb

Deliciously sensuous and fascinating, Robb renders in vivid detail the intoxicating pleasures of Brazil’s food, music, literature, and landscape as he travels not only cross country but also back in time—from the days of slavery to modern day political intrigue and murder. Spellbinding and revelatory, Peter Robb paints a multi-layered portrait of Brazil as a country of intoxicating and passionate extremes.

New York Times

A Death in Brazil is not strictly about travel. It deals with Brazil's history, landscapes, society, culture, food and the baroque flamboyance of its political life...Mr. Robb writes about his themes not as a scholar or analyst but as if he were trekking through them hungrily, strenuously and sometimes at risk.—Richard Eder

The New Yorker

One night twenty years ago in Rio de Janeiro, the author was attacked by a knife-wielding burglar, who then broke down and stayed until dawn, unburdening his soul. Robb became fascinated with Brazil, and here offers a seductive synthesis of history, gastronomy, literature, pop culture, and current events. He is most drawn to the landscape of the northeast. Once home to communities of escaped slaves, the region has, more recently, produced such figures as the disgraced President Fernando Collor de Mello, who was impeached in 1992, and Luis (Lula) Inácio da Silva, a former metalworker who was elected President a decade later. Between the mouthwatering dishes and caipirinhas, Robb explores the extreme contrasts of wealth and poverty, beauty and brutality—tens of thousands of violent deaths each year—in what he considers the “most thrilling country in the Western Hemisphere.”

Publishers Weekly

The death of the title refers to a recent event, but Times Literary Supplement writer Robb gets his mysterious subtitle most directly from Machado de Assis, a 19th-century Brazilian novelist considered at length for his ability to weave discussion of the nation's racial and economic disparities into his wildly popular serial fictions for women's magazines. The term's origins, however, are biblical; First and Second Chronicles were called "Omissions" because they contained information left out of the preceding Books of Kings. Although Robb tries to fill in some of the gaps in recent Brazilian history, he doesn't so much uncover new data on the spectacularly corrupt 1990-1992 presidency of Fernando Collor as pull together some of the many disparate sources. Collor's rise and fall, and the murder of his chief henchman, form a solid backbone for the book, but one from which Robb frequently wanders to ruminate on centuries of Brazilian history filled with eroticism and violent upheaval. He also recounts his own travels through modern Brazil, devoting as much attention to the sensual delights of buchada de bode (stuffed goat's stomach) as he does to a threatening encounter with the military police. The overall result is a bit of a jumble, but it's a delightful jumble: a Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil with a Latin beat. At various points, Robb compares the unfolding Collor scandal to the soap opera staples of Brazilian television, and he's managed to capture the story's lurid surrealism with a deft, erudite touch. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

The motivation for Robb's latest work is unclear; perhaps he was in pursuit of a story as absorbing and darkly disturbing as his Midnight in Sicily, which he certainly found. Robb left Naples for Brazil's northeastern territory of Pernambuco, where he restricted his travels to the towns of Recife, Maceio, and Palmares, a viper's triangle of Brazil's corrupt ruling elite and home of Fernando Collor de Mello, who in 1990 became Brazil's first democratically elected president in 29 years (he would resign two years later over charges of corruption). Using this historic event as a touchstone, Robb weaves a narrative consisting of three threads: a montage of historical flashbacks of the region; an account of his investigations of government deceit, chicanery, and murder from 1989 to the recent election of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ("Lula"); and a description of his travels and encounters. What the reader discovers is that the book's title is intentionally disingenuous-there have been thousands of deaths in Brazil over the years, beginning with the massacre of indigenous tribes and resistance groups to the current "disappearance" of political dissenters and street urchins. Robb's revelations of political nepotism, intrigue, and passion read like a horribly real soap opera. Recommended for all libraries.-Lonnie Weatherby, McLennan Lib., McGill Univ., Montreal Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Under intellectual scrutiny from a part-time resident, the world's fifth largest country comes alive as "the oddest and most thrilling" in our hemisphere. Readers who pick this up expecting a travel guide will have to look beyond open sewers befouling pristine beaches and bags of garbage flung from apartment windows into the street where urchins sleep in cardboard boxes-and those are the lucky ones-to find Brazil's real allure. But Robb (M: The Man Who Became Caravaggio, 2000, etc.) does find it, and it runs sensuously deep and mysterious. The biggest mystery: Why is a country of such beautiful people with such variegated lushness still constantly gashed by violence, cruelty, and corruption? The source, Robb offers, is a gap between richest and poorest "six times greater than countries like China, India, and Pakistan" and perhaps unequaled anywhere. He tracks Brazil's culture of concentrated personal power and wealth from the colonial era, finding a strain of conspiratorial racism perversely at odds with a society where slavery was officially banned in 1888 and racial mixing has been energetically pursued for half a millennium. His "researches," which include an attempt (after a few Scotches in a bar) to confront a political thug suspected of several murders, reveal how a government deformed by influence peddling, corruption, and a menacing military has managed to ignore the most basic needs of traditionally disenfranchised constituents. Robb, however, views current President Lula da Silva as something of a messiah in a country where pursuit of sensual pleasures and a big lunch has thus far thwarted development of a public conscience. Fortunately for adventurous readers, a researcher ofmysteries also has to take time to nourish body and soul with things like grilled needlefish or the sumptuous polyglot bean stew called feijoada, washed down with Antarctic beer chilled to the point of freezing. An affectionate, probing cultural portrait, as stark as it is entertaining.

Computer Forensics and Cyber Crime or Economics of Monetary Union 7e

2009-02-13T05:47:00.000-08:00

Computer Forensics and Cyber Crime: An Introduction

Author: Marjie T Britz

Computer Forensics and Cyber Crime: An Introduction explores the current state of computer crime within the United States. Beginning with the 1970's, this work traces the history of technological crime, and identifies areas ripe for exploitation from technology savvy deviants. This book also evaluates forensic practices and software in light of government legislation, while providing a thorough analysis of emerging case law in a jurisprudential climate. Finally, this book outlines comprehensive guidelines for the development of computer forensic laboratories, the creation of computer crime task forces, and search and seizures of electronic equipment.

Book review: Cafe Food at Home or Chicken Etc

Economics of Monetary Union 7e

Author: Paul De Grauw

The seventh edition of 'Economics of Monetary Union' provides a concise analysis of the theories and policies relating to monetary union. De Grauwe analyses the costs and benefits associated with having one currency as well as the practical workings and current issues involved with the Euro.
In the first part of the book the author considers the implications of joining a monetary union through discussion based on an economic cost-benefit analysis. The second part of the book looks at the reality of monetary unions by analysing Europe's experiences, such as how the European Central Bank was designed to conduct a single monetary policy.
The seventh edition has been revised to include more discussion of monetary unions outside Europe and, to reflect this fast-moving area, updated coverage of new member states in transition and an updated discussion of the stability pact.
Online Resource Centre
An online resource centre, featuring supplements for lecturers including PowerPoint slides and an instructor manual, has been updated for this edition.

Racism in the United States or Christianity and American Democracy

2009-02-12T00:35:00.000-08:00

Racism in the United States: Implications for the Helping Professions

Author: Joshua Miller

With this fascinating text, you will start to analyze the social and psychological dynamics of racism and the implications it will carry for you as helping professional. Authors Joshua Miller and Ann Marie Garran investigate the many facets of racism in the United States, examining how racism exists not only outside of us, but inside of us as well. Human service workers must confront and challenge racism in both these areas. Those in the helping professions are ethically obligated to work for a society of fairness and social justice and to provide culturally responsive services to all clients, ensuring equal access and quality. The authors demonstrate that it is insufficient to solely focus on social structures, services, institutional practices, or on changing other people. They show that we must also look within and explore our own biases and blind spots which influence how we view ourselves and those whom we are committed to helping.

Preface     xvii
Acknowledgment     xxii
Introduction: Racism in the United States: Implications for the Helping Professions     xx
Background: Social Identity and Situating Ourselves     1
Social Identity     4
Situating Ourselves     5
Power, Privilege, and Social Identity     7
Comfort Zones, Learning Edges, Triggers, and Creating a Context for Learning     9
Setting Guidelines     10
Journal Writing     10
Creating a Safe Environment     11
Conclusion     11
Social Identity     11
Exploring Triggers     12
Racial Identity Formation     12
What Is Racism?     13
How Race and Racism Have Been Conceptualized     15
Historical Underpinnings     16
The Western Concept of Race     16
Theories about Racism     17
Ethnicity Theories     18
Race Relations Theories     19
Theories of Prejudice     20
Structural Theories of Racism     23
Critical Race Theory     25
The Contours of Racism     28
Levels of Racism     28
Direct and Indirect Racism     29
Intentional and Unintentional Racism     30
Sites of Racism     30
Frequency and Magnitude of Racism     30
The Spectrum of Racism     30
Intrapersonal     31
Interpersonal     32
Intergroup     32
Institutional     32
Official and State     32
Extreme, State Sanctioned     33
Conclusion     33
Applying the Spectrum of Racism     33
A Brief History of Racism in the United States and Implications for the Helping Professions     34
The Racial Contract     36
Native Americans     36
African Americans     38
Latinos/Hispanics     41
Asian Americans     44
Factors Common to Anti-Immigrant Racism     46
White Ethnic Groups     47
Push and Pull Factors     47
Discrimination Against White Ethnic Groups     48
Ethnicity and Race     49
Liminality     51
Racism and the Helping Professions in Historical Perspective     52
Progressive Era     52
The New Deal     55
The Civil Rights Movement and the Great Society     57
Conclusion     59
Differential Group Experience     60
The Web of Institutional Racism     61
The Nature of the Web of Racism     63
Residential Racism: Neighborhoods and Housing     66
Educational Racism: Public, Private, and Higher Education     68
Employment Racism     70
Racism and Wealth Accumulation and Upward Mobility     71
Environmental and Health Racism     73
Mental Health Racism     75
Access     75
Services Offered     75
Who Provides Treatment     76
The Structure of Services     76
Theoretical Biases     76
Racism in Clinical Encounters     77
Racism in the Criminal Justice System     78
Political Racism     80
Media Racism     83
Implications of the Web of Racism for the Helping Professions     84
Conclusion     86
The Web of Racism and Passports of Privilege     86
Why Is It so Difficult for People with Privilege to See Racism?     87
Consciousness     88
Invisible Knapsacks of Privilege     90
Socialization into White Privilege     91
The Role of the Family     92
The Discourse of Denigration and the Creation of Other     93
Renounced Targets     93
Triangulation     94
Stereotypes and What Can Be Done about Them     95
Sources of Resistance     95
Consequences of Unexamined Stereotypes     96
Confronting Stereotypes     98
Conclusion     101
Personal Audit     101
Confronting Stereotypes     102
Social Identity Formation and Group Membership     103
Identity     104
Racial and Ethnic Identity Theory     106
Multiracial/Biracial Identity Development     110
Theoretical Assumptions     111
Conceptual Expansions of Ethnic and Racial Identity Theory     111
Multidimensional Social Identity Development     112
Assumptions     114
Axes of Social Identity     115
Dimensions     116
Lifespan Context     117
Environmental Context     117
Resolutions/Stances     118
Social Identity Development Phases     119
Targeted Identity     121
Agent Identity     123
Identity and Intergroup Relations     125
What Can Prevent or Alleviate Intergroup Conflict?     127
Implications for the Helping Professions     129
Conclusion     130
Multidimensional Social Identity Exercise     131
Intersectionality, Racism and Other Forms of Social Oppression     134
Common Aspects of Social Oppression     135
Tilly's Model of Categorical Inequalities     135
Bell's Features of Social Oppression     136
Racism and Class Oppression     137
Race and Class Visibility     139
Race, Class, and Politics     141
Interaction of Race and Class Today     142
Racism and Sexism     143
Social Consequences of Racism and Sexism     145
Social Roles and Social Identity     146
Racism and Heterosexism     148
Heterosexism     149
The Interaction of Racism and Heterosexism     151
Immigration and Racism     153
Dynamics of Immigration     154
Significant Legislation     156
Immigration and Racism Today     156
Conclusion     161
Intersectionality     161
Racial Dialogue: Talking about Race and Racism     163
Why Undertake Racial Dialogues?     165
Why Is Racial Dialogue so Challenging?     166
Conducting Successful Racial Dialogues     168
Important Dimensions of Dialogue     171
Models and Stages of Intergroup Dialogue     172
Managing Effective Racial Dialogues     175
Racial Reconciliation and Inter-Racial Justice     180
Recognition     180
Responsibility     180
Reconstruction     180
Reparation     181
Conclusion     181
Preparing for Dialogue     182
Responses to Racism in the Community     183
Millville     184
Snapshots of Millville Residents     185
Racism in Millville     186
The Dynamics of Racism in Communities     187
Structural/Institutional Racism     187
Political Power     188
Social Identity and Group Membership     190
The Phenomenology of Community Racism     191
Social Cohesion and Community Integrity     192
Responding to Racism in the Community     194
Public Dialogue     194
Re-Storying the Community     195
Structural Interventions     196
Generating Social Capital in the Quest for Community Integrity     198
Anti-Racism Work in the Community     200
Assessment and Prioritization     200
Working with Existing Groups and Organizations     202
Working in Coalitions     203
Disruptive Strategies     204
Participatory Efforts     205
Self-Care     206
Conclusion     207
Mapping Your Community     207
Confronting Racism in Agencies and Organizations     209
Terminology     210
Types of Organizations     211
How Racism Is Manifested in Social Service Organizations     212
Policies     212
Interpersonal Relationships     215
Organizational Power     215
Resources Devoted to Anti-Racism     217
Developmental Models of Organizational Change     218
The Process of Becoming an Anti-Racism Organization     222
Mission Statement     223
Project Group     223
Assessment and Prioritization     224
An Anti-Racism Audit     224
Conclusion     225
Anti-Racism Agency Assessment     225
Cross-Racial Clinical Work      226
First Steps     228
Social Identity     228
Culture, Values, and Worldview     229
Power     231
Legacies of Racism Seen in Clinical Work     232
Anger     232
Rage     232
Guilt     233
Shame     233
Stress and Trauma     234
Grief and Mourning     234
Theoretical Biases     235
Barriers to Effective Cross-Racial Clinical Work     236
Internalized Racism     236
Inattention to Power and Privilege     237
Defensive Racial Dynamics     237
Guidelines for Effective Cross-Racial Clinical Work     239
Working with Social Identity     239
Focusing on Strengths     240
Listening and Observing     240
Working with Racial Transference and Counter-Transference     241
Ability to Tolerate and Respond to Strong Affect     242
Situating Clients in Their Historical and Social Context     243
Mirroring and Empathy     243
Bringing up Issues of Race and Racism     244
Responding to Bias     245
Issues for Clinicians Who Identify as White     246
Issues for Clinicians Who Identify as People of Color or Multiracial     247
Supervision and Consultation     247
Structural and Environmental Issues     249
Environment     249
Access     249
Staffing and Board Representation     250
Conclusion     250
Crossed Racial Identity between Worker and Client     250
Exploring Emotions     251
Teaching about Racism     252
Examples     255
Regina     255
Alicia     256
Michael     256
Course and Class Structure     257
Classroom Climate     259
Classroom Safety     260
Classroom Norms     261
Caucus Groups     262
Instructor Self-Awareness     263
Resistance     264
Supporting Anti-Racism Teaching     265
Understanding Students     266
Teaching Strategies and Techniques     267
Exercises     268
Interviewing in Fairs     269
Maintaining Balance     269
Availability of Teachers     270
Feeling Stuck     271
Conclusion     273
Exercise 12.1     273
Dismantling Racism: Creating the Web of Resistance     275
Creating the Web of Resistance     277
Core Values     277
The Intrapersonal Realm: Introspection and Education     279
The Interpersonal Realm: Engaging in Dialogue/Working in Coalitions     280
The Organizational Realm: Creating Anti-Racism Organizations     281
The Community Realm: Creating Inclusive Communities     281
Being Heard: The Realm of Discourse and Culture     281
The Political and Social Realm: Laws, Institutions, and Practices     282
Maintaining Motivation     285
Self-Care     285
Self-Compassion     286
Avoiding Humiliating Others     286
Working Together     287
Taking the Long View     287
Valuing the Process as Well as the Product     287
Growing as Activists     288
Eternal Vigilance     288
Anti-Racism Activist Self-Audit     289
Confronting Racism Without Humiliating Others     289
Study Circles Dialogues     291
Steps to Successful Intergroup Conversation: A Critical-Dialogic Model     292
Issues to Consider When Confronting Institutional Racism     294
Activities Toward Becoming an Anti-Racist Organization     295
Cultural Values and Worldviews     297
Culturally Influenced Behaviors     299
Questions about Cross-Cultural Contacts     300
Further Reading about Cross-Racial/Cultural Clinical Practice     301
Imaginary Letter     303
References     305
Index     320

Christianity and American Democracy

Author: Hugh Heclo

Christianity, not religion in general, has been important for American democracy. With this bold thesis, Hugh Heclo offers a panoramic view of how Christianity and democracy have shaped each other.

Heclo shows that amid deeply felt religious differences, a Protestant colonial society gradually convinced itself of the truly Christian reasons for, as well as the enlightened political advantages of, religious liberty. By the mid-twentieth century, American democracy and Christianity appeared locked in a mutual embrace. But it was a problematic union vulnerable to fundamental challenge in the Sixties. Despite the subsequent rise of the religious right and glib talk of a conservative Republican theocracy, Heclo sees a longer-term, reciprocal estrangement between Christianity and American democracy.

Responding to his challenging argument, Mary Jo Bane, Michael Kazin, and Alan Wolfe criticize, qualify, and amend it. Heclo's rejoinder suggests why both secularists and Christians should worry about a coming rupture between the Christian and democratic faiths. The result is a lively debate about a momentous tension in American public life.

Export Import Procedures and Documentation or Women Empowered

2009-02-10T19:23:00.000-08:00

Export/Import Procedures and Documentation

Author: Thomas E Johnson

Export/Import Procedures and Documentation is for the manufacturer importing raw materials or exporting products, distributors and agents, trading companies, bankers and attorneys, freight forwarders, customs brokers, transportation executives and employees, and many others working in this important segment of the business world. Virtually every piece of information you need is right here. With the help of this essential guidebook, your employees will gain confidence in dealing with difficult export/import situations - they'll always have tested, proven answers close at hand. Your company executives will know exactly what to do in such areas as pricing, solving disputes, dealing with officials, and more. Export/Import Procedures and Documentation can help you reduce export/import transaction costs by targeting and eliminating common problems. Its wealth of explanations and helpful suggestions is virtually guaranteed to save your company time and money in the competitive international arena. The second edition is the most complete, up-to-date resource you can get, covering vital new export/import developments, the impact of NAFTA, the many challenges wrought by the European Economic Community treaty, and the profound transformation in export controls in eastern Europe and Russia. Combining indispensable new information with tried and true standards, the second edition of Export/Import Procedures and Documentation is a resource that belongs on the desk of every export/import specialist.

Booknews

This combination desktop reference, training manual, and resource for some 100 forms and documents pertinent to import/export business matters is updated (last edition, 1994) to cover new regulations and protocols. The volume's nine chapters are divided into four major sections: organizing for export and import operations; procedures and documentation for exporting; procedures and documentation for importing; and specialized exporting and importing. Abundant appendices list pertinent rules, agreements, and other documents. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

The fourth edition of the reference for export/import professionals is revised to include new forms and instructions, new US Customs Service checklists, and new Automated Export System procedures. It overviews the entire export/import process and provides ready-to-use forms with instructions, cost-saving shortcuts, and tips on building a better operation. A training manual for new employees is included, plus a quick course on advanced techniques for more experienced professionals. There is also a glossary of 250 international trade terms. New to this edition is a section on e-commerce in international marketing, listings for export and import software, and a list of Web sites for 94 export and import agencies and information sources. Johnson is a partner in an international trade law firm. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Women Empowered: Inspiring Change in the Emerging World

Author: Phil Borges

The accomplishments of ordinary women in developing and war-ravaged countries who have broken through the barriers of oppression to make a positive difference in their communities is brilliantly told through radiant photography and riveting profiles. The heroic examples set by these women, whose bravery and determination enabled them to move beyond victimization to leadership, speak to the universal themes of courage, empowerment, and human rights. As part of CARE's campaign to empower women everywhere, Women Empowered reveals how determined women of all ages have effectively turned their struggles into triumphs.

Foreword   Madeleine K. Albright     6
Stirring the Fire   Phil Borges     10
The Women Portraits of Empowerment     14
Community Voice   Christy Turlington Burns     42
Protecting the Environment   Wangari Maathai     70
Improving health   Susan L. Ivey     71
Economic Opportunity   Sheila C. Johnson     93
Epilogue   Helene D. Gayle     110

Public and Its Problems or Deception and Abuse at the Fed

2009-02-09T14:10:00.000-08:00

Public and Its Problems

Author: John Dewey

In this classic statement of Dewey's social and political philosophy, he clarifies the meaning and implications of such concepts as "the public", "the state", "the government", and repeatedly demonstrates the interrelationships between fact and theory.

Book about: GoldMine 8 For Dummies or Beginning Database Design

Deception and Abuse at the Fed: Henry B. Gonzalez Battles Alan Greenspan's Bank

Author: Robert D Auerbach

The Federal Reserve-the central bank of the United States-is the most powerful peacetime bureaucracy in the federal government. Under the chairmanship of Alan Greenspan (1987-2006), the Fed achieved near mythical status for its part in managing the economy, and Greenspan was lauded as a genius. Few seemed to notice or care that Fed officials operated secretly with almost no public accountability. There was a courageous exception to this lack of oversight, however: Henry B. Gonzalez (D-TX)-chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services (banking) Committee.

In Deception and Abuse at the Fed, Robert Auerbach, a former banking committee investigator, recounts major instances of Fed mismanagement and abuse of power that were exposed by Rep. Gonzalez, including: Blocking Congress and the public from holding powerful Fed officials accountable by falsely declaring-for 17 years-it had no transcripts of its meetings; Manipulating the stock and bond markets in 1994 under cover of a preemptive strike against inflation; Allowing {dollar}5.5 billion to be sent to Saddam Hussein from a small Atlanta branch of a foreign bank-the result of faulty bank examination practices by the Fed; Stonewalling Congressional investigations and misleading the Washington Post about the {dollar}6,300 found on the Watergate burglars.

Auerbach provides documentation of these and other abuses at the Fed, which confirms Rep. Gonzalez's belief that no government agency should be allowed to operate with the secrecy and independence in which the Federal Reserve has shrouded itself. Auerbach concludes with recommendations for specific, broad-ranging reforms that will make the Fed accountable to thegovernment and the people of the United States.

The Twenty Years Crisis 1919 1939 or Role of Law in Social Work Practice and Administration

2009-02-08T08:57:00.000-08:00

The Twenty Years' Crisis 1919-1939: An Introduction to the Study of International Relations

Author: E H Carr

E. H. Carr's classic work on international relations, published in 1939, was immediately recognized by friend and foe alike as a defining work. The author was one of the most influential and controversial intellectuals of the 20th century. The issues and themes he developed continue to have relevance to modern day concerns with power and its distribution in the international system. Michael Cox's critical introduction provides the reader with background information about the author, the context for the book, and its main themes and contemporary relevance.

R.W. Seton-Watson

Brilliantly reasoned.

Library Journal

In Carr's 1939 title, one of the first serious studies in the area of international relations, he discusses theories of society, the nature of politics, the military, and more. This edition has been updated by Michael Cox, a professor of international politics at the University of Wales, Aberstwyth, where Carr himself was a professor decades earlier. This is more for the academic crowd. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

	Acknowledgements
	Introduction
	A Brief Guide to the Writings of E. H. Carr
	A Guide to the Secondary Literature on E. H. Carr
	From the First to the Second Editions of The Twenty Years' Crisis: A Case of Self-censorship?
	Glossary of Names
	Chronology
	Preface to the 1981 Printing
	Preface to Second Edition
	Preface to First Edition
Pt. 1	The Science of International Politics
1	The Beginning of a Science	3
2	Utopia and Reality	12
Pt. 2	The International Crisis
3	The Utopian Background	25
4	The Harmony of Interests	42
5	The Realist Critique	62
6	The Limitations of Realism	84
Pt. 3	Politics, Power and Morality
7	The Nature of Politics	91
8	Power in International Politics	97
(a)	Military Power	102
(b)	Economic Power	105
(c)	Power over Opinion	120
9	Morality in International Politics	135
Pt. 4	Laws and Change
10	The Foundations of Law	159
11	The Sanctity of Treaties	168
12	The Judicial Settlement of International Disputes	178
13	Peaceful Change	191
	Conclusion
14	The Prospects of a New International Order	209
	Index	221

Role of Law in Social Work Practice and Administration

Author: Theodore J Stein

The strong nexus between law and social work is beyond dispute: the law informs day-to-day social work practice and administration, and social workers are employed by the courts. Moreover, they work collaboratively with attorneys in legal aid offices, public defenders'offices, and other law enforcement settings, interviewing clients, preparing reports for use in court, interpreting social science information, and providing consultation on how best to approach client problems. This book addresses the relationship between the professions of social work and law and helps social workers develop the knowledge necessary to practice in a legal environment. The author focuses on how the law affects the day-to-day practice of social work; the creation, administration, and operation of social service agencies; and the ways in which social workers and attorneys collaborate to serve the public.

A Tale of Two Utopias or Saving the Constitution from Lawyers

2009-02-07T03:45:00.000-08:00

A Tale of Two Utopias: The Political Journey of the Generation of 1968

Author: Paul Berman

A Tale of Two Utopias is the story of the generation of 1968 - not the whole story, (which could never squeeze into a single book), but four representative episodes. It is the story of student radicalism in the years around 1968 - in America and around the world. The story of gay liberation and of modern identity politics - from their origins in the American New Left to the present. The story of the '68ers in the Eastern bloc - and how in 1989, in Czechoslovakia, the '68ers overthrew Communism. And it is the story of the thinkers in America and in France who have lived through these events, the leftism of 1968 and the liberal revolutions that broke out in 1989 - and have debated their meaning. Andre Glucksmann and the New Philosophers of Paris, Tom Hayden and Students for a Democratic Society, the Gay Liberation Front, Frank Zappa, Vaclav Havel and the Velvet Revolution, Francis Fukuyama and his "End of History" - those are the faces and figures of A Tale of Two Utopias.

Philip Leggiere

There's certainly no dearth of accounts of the 1960s, written from wildy diverse perspectives, grinding a host of ideological axes. Like a television re-run in endless syndication -- melodrama, comedy, farce or tragedy, take your pick -- the '60s live on, their legacy fodder for very '90s-style culture wars.

Most of these accounts are content to recycle stock images from collective memory. Rare is the history that views the '60s in exacting relation to what came before and what has followed. Rarer still is one that can critically reconstruct the consciousness of the time. In his new book A Tale of Two Utopias, social critic Paul Berman attempts to fill that gap by delivering an eclectic and often absorbing analysis of the international student New Left. Prolix and often unwieldy in its ambitiousness, A Tale of Two Utopias is not the place to go if you're looking for a light and lively narrative history, a 1960s complement to, say, David Halberstam's The Fifties. Despite its focus on the white youth rebellions of the era, it's not really the place to find a comprehensive treatment of the anti-war movement, rock culture or "sexual revolution" either.

What Berman does offer is a probing, if occasionally ponderous, meditation on the intellectual zeitgeist behind the insurgencies and near revolutions of 1968 (utopian moment number 1). And he speculates on that moment's influence on the wave of real revolutions (utopian moment number 2) in Eastern Europe in 1989. The ferment of 1968 was, according to Berman, the product of "a revolutionary exhilaration," inimical in spirit to "settled doctrinal orthodoxies and national boundaries." Berman attempts to evoke this evanescent spirit and to analyze its later manifestations in such phenomena as the Gay Liberation movement, the "New Social History," the Sandinistas, the works of Francis (The End of History) Fukuyama, French "post-Marxist" philosopher Andre Glucksman and the political alliance of Frank Zappa and Vaclav Havel.

Berman's literary gifts, however, are rarely as impressive as his talents as a historian and theorist. A Tale of Utopias is an intermittently brilliant work -- the critique of Fukuyama's work is particularly fine -- that forces readers to wade through some unnecessarily choppy and academic prose. -- Salon

Publishers Weekly

Long identified with the left, Berman (editor of Debating P.C.) writes with ambition and savvy about an impossibly broad subject: the left's journey from its multiple 1968 revolutionsnot merely the student and cultural uprisings, but the world attack on Western imperialism and the counterattack, within the communist bloc, against the entrenched dictatorships. Though he does not take on topics like feminism or race, Berman's global reachhe discusses generational splits in left-wing movements from Mexico to Francemakes his book intriguing and provocative. He then assays "the gay awakening," charting the Stonewall-era assumption of group identity to the rise of world gay consciousness. Next, he shifts to discuss Vaclav Havel, who he argues exemplified a movement not for socialist reconstruction but for personal integrity and became influenced by the French "'68er" Andr Glucksmann, who scored Western peaceniks for underestimating the oppression and expansionism of the Soviet Union. Finally, in the wake of the 1989 revolutions against communism, Berman tests Glucksmann's pessimism about progress with conservative Francis Fukuyama's "end of history" thesis about the inevitable success of Western democracy. Thanks to his biographical exegesis of Glucksmann's thought, Berman finds the Frenchman more convincing and, somewhat chastened, suggests the route from 1968 to 1989 should leave the world "humble, skeptical, anxious, afraid, shaken." Author tour. (July)

Kirkus Reviews

A provocative but desultory history, ultimately adding up to little, in which Berman (ed., Blacks and Jews, 1994, etc.) compares the radical political movements in 1968 with the liberal democratic revolution of 1989 in Europe.

Assassinations, riots, and the Vietnam War marred American public life in 1968; it was also a year of creative tension in public affairs, politics, and the arts, and saw the rise of radical student movements from Paris to Berkeley, aimed at transforming society. Berman traces several of the more distinctive movements (Tom Hayden's Students for a Democratic Society, the gay liberation movement, and the Paris Maoists) and contrasts them with the peaceful anti-Communist "revolution" of 1989 that resulted in the collapse of pro-Soviet regimes throughout Europe. While conceding the infinite variety of the radical impulse, Berman categorizes the movements of 1968 into four groups: (1) the "New Left" insurrections against institutionalized racism and sexism, and against middle-class values, originating in universities and driven by students and academics; (2) the development of a new, liberated spiritual sensibility, composed of insights derived from various Eastern religious traditions and other sources; (3) revolutions against right-wing dictatorships (e.g., Vietnam, Latin America); and (4) revolutions against left-wing dictatorships (e.g., Czechoslovakia). The period's upheavals had a lasting impact on Western societies, resulting in greater freedom for women, minorities, and gays, and liberalizing fashions and lifestyles. In the East (to which Berman devotes less attention), the legacy of the suppressed Prague Spring and decades of backwardness was a yearning for Western democracy and a market economy. In tantalizing but tangential essays, Berman throws in the Stonewall Riot, the 1990 visit of Frank Zappa to Czechoslovakia, and Francis Fukuyama's musings on the "end of history," with nebulous results.

An intelligent and well-reasoned effort, but Berman tries to cover too much ground; there are enough ideas here for five books and too little development for one.

Saving the Constitution from Lawyers: How Legal Training and Law Reviews Distort Constitutional Meaning

Author: Robert J Spitzer

This book is a sweeping indictment of the legal profession in the realm of constitutional interpretation. The adversarial, advocacy-based American legal system is well suited to American justice, in which one-sided arguments collide to produce a just outcome. But when applied to constitutional theorizing, the result is selective analysis, overheated rhetoric, distorted facts, and overstated conclusions. Such wayward theorizing finds its way into print in the nation's over 600 law journals - professional publications run by law students, not faculty or other professionals - and peer review is almost never used to evaluate worthiness. The consequences of this system are examined through three timely cases: the presidential veto, the "unitary theory" of the president's commander-in-chief power, and the Second Amendment's "right to bear arms." In each case, law reviews were the breeding ground for defective theories that won false legitimacy and political currency. This book concludes with recommendations for reform.

Teaching the Trees or More Damned Lies and Statistics how Numbers Confuse Public Issues

2009-02-05T22:32:00.000-08:00

Teaching the Trees: Lessons from the Forest

Author: Joan Maloof

In this collection of natural-history essays, biologist Joan Maloof embarks on a series of lively, fact-filled expeditions into forests of the eastern United States. Through Maloof's engaging, conversational style, each essay offers a lesson in stewardship as it explores the interwoven connections between a tree species and the animals and insects whose lives depend on it - and who, in-turn, work to ensure the tree's survival.

Publishers Weekly

Trees, the dominant life form of most undisturbed terrestrial ecosystems, get a fitting tribute in this engaging collection of eco-meditations. In each short chapter, Salisbury University naturalist Maloof profiles each familiar tree-from the mighty oak to the humble holly-in the forests near her Maryland home and explores its "magical web of relationships" with the plants, insects, birds, mammals, fungi and people who rely on it. Along the way she gently voices her environmentalist convictions, deploring the clear-cutting of mature forests and their replacement with monoculture pine plantations, urging the use of recycled paper and jousting with county officials who want to cut down a local forest for the timber proceeds (she stymies them by declaring it a "September 11th Memorial Forest" and draping the trees with tags bearing the names of the dead from Ground Zero). Lyrical overtones are provided by sprinkled-in snippets of poetry by Rilke, and illustrations by the 18th-century artist John Abbott add a lovely visual touch. The resulting mix of scientific lore and acute personal observation makes for a beguiling walk in the woods. 18 illus. (July 5) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

New interesting textbook: Casos en Dirección de Seguridad Social

More Damned Lies and Statistics - how Numbers Confuse Public Issues

Author: Joel Best

In this sequel to the acclaimed Damned Lies and Statistics, which the Boston Globe said "deserves a place next to the dictionary on every school, media, and home-office desk," Joel Best continues his straightforward, lively, and humorous account of how statistics are produced, used, and misused by everyone from researchers to journalists. Underlining the importance of critical thinking in all matters numerical, Best illustrates his points with examples of good and bad statistics about such contemporary concerns as school shootings, fatal hospital errors, bullying, teen suicides, deaths at the World Trade Center, college ratings, the risks of divorce, racial profiling, and fatalities caused by falling coconuts. More Damned Lies and Statistics encourages all of us to think in a more sophisticated and skeptical manner about how statistics are used to promote causes, create fear, and advance particular points of view.
Best identifies different sorts of numbers that shape how we think about public issues: missing numbers are relevant but overlooked; confusing numbers bewilder when they should inform; scary numbers play to our fears about the present and the future; authoritative numbers demand respect they don't deserve; magical numbers promise unrealistic, simple solutions to complex problems; and contentious numbers become the focus of data duels and stat wars. The author's use of pertinent, socially important examples documents the life-altering consequences of understanding or misunderstanding statistical information. He demystifies statistical measures by explaining in straightforward prose how decisions are made about what to count and what not to count, what assumptions getmade, and which figures are brought to our attention.
Best identifies different sorts of numbers that shape how we think about public issues. Entertaining, enlightening, and very timely, this book offers a basis for critical thinking about the numbers we encounter and a reminder that when it comes to the news, people count--in more ways than one.

Childbirth in the Global Village or Innocent Abroad

2009-02-04T17:19:00.000-08:00

Childbirth in the Global Village

Author: Dawn Hillier

In this new book, Dawn Hillier compares the experiences of mothers and midwives in America and England with those in Africa and Malaysia. Through vivid descriptions of actual births and careful examination of the local, national and international contexts in which they take place, she explores the roles of culture, policy and the academy in the promotion of political ideals about how human beings should come into this world. Childbirth in the Global Village will resonate with the experiences of midwives everywhere and makes a strong case for redesigning the midwifery curriculum to reflect the interconnectedness of childbirth, midwifery education and practice around the globe.

Book about: Low Salt Cooking or Hypnosis for a Joyful Pregnancy and Pain Free Labor and Delivery

Innocent Abroad: An Intimate Account of American Peace Diplomacy in the Middle East

Author: Martin Indyk

Making peace in the long-troubled Middle East is likely to be one of the top priorities of the next American president. He will need to take account of the important lessons from past attempts, which are described and analyzed here in a gripping book by a renowned expert who served twice as U.S. ambassador to Israel and as Middle East adviser to President Clinton.

Martin Indyk draws on his many years of intense involvement in the region to provide the inside story of the last time the United States employed sustained diplomacy to end the Arab-Israeli conflict and change the behavior of rogue regimes in Iraq and Iran.

Innocent Abroad is an insightful history and a poignant memoir. Indyk provides a fascinating examination of the ironic consequences when American naïveté meets Middle Eastern cynicism in the region's political bazaars. He dissects the very different strategies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to explain why they both faced such difficulties remaking the Middle East in their images of a more peaceful or democratic place. He provides new details of the breakdown of the Arab-Israeli peace talks at Camp David, of the CIA's failure to overthrow Saddam Hussein, and of Clinton's attempts to negotiate with Iran's president.

Indyk takes us inside the Oval Office, the Situation Room, the palaces of Arab potentates, and the offices of Israeli prime ministers. He draws intimate portraits of the American, Israeli, and Arab leaders he worked with, including Israel's Yitzhak Rabin, Ehud Barak, and Ariel Sharon; the PLO's Yasser Arafat; Egypt's Hosni Mubarak; and Syria's Hafez al-Asad. He describes in vivid detail high-level meetings, demonstrating howdifficult it is for American presidents to understand the motives and intentions of Middle Eastern leaders and how easy it is for them to miss those rare moments when these leaders are willing to act in ways that can produce breakthroughs to peace.

Innocent Abroad is an extraordinarily candid and enthralling account, crucially important in grasping the obstacles that have confounded the efforts of recent presidents. As a new administration takes power, this experienced diplomat distills the lessons of past failures to chart a new way forward that will be required reading.

Publishers Weekly

Missteps and missed opportunities proliferate in this gripping insider history of Middle Eastern diplomacy during the Clinton administration. Indyk, former ambassador to Israel, examines the contradictions inherent in Clinton's Iraq policy with a remarkable level of self-criticism and brings a nuanced perspective to his analysis of Iraq's alleged WMD programs and the reasons for and against war. The book emphasizes Clinton's initial strategic focus on Syrian-Israeli relations, and the author's discussion of Syria runs parallel to his central narrative about the Israel-Palestine conflict, which traces the tumultuous eight years from the hopeful handshake between Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat in 1993 through the beginning of the second intifada. The author achieves an impressive balance of scale, packing a tremendous amount of anecdotal information throughout, creating a portrait of diplomacy that reveals the influence of countless small details, from ceremonial gifts to friendly kisses, on world affairs. At the same time, the book surveys the enduring challenges that plagued the Clinton team's efforts to bring peace to the region, making insightful connections between the history in which the author participated and the present state of the region. (Jan.)

Kirkus Reviews

A vivid insider's account of the Clinton administration's Middle East statecraft. Where Patrick Tyler's excellent A World of Trouble (2008) spreads over six decades, Indyk drills down, focusing on a single administration's Middle East diplomacy. From his positions as National Security Council member and two-time ambassador to Israel, Indyk closely observed the personalities and myriad political considerations that drove Middle East policymaking from 1992 to 2000. His in-the-room recollections of major players like Syria's Asad, Jordan's King Hussein, Egypt's Mubarak and PLO Chairman Arafat, as well as Israeli leaders Rabin, Peres, Netanyahu, Barak and Sharon add color and dimension to his meticulous reconstruction of the intricacies of high-level diplomacy. Clinton set out to leave well enough alone in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, to enforce a "dual containment" of Iraq and Iran and to broker an Arab-Israeli peace, first by achieving a breakthrough with Syria. Though he enjoyed some successes (an unexpected peace treaty between Israel and Jordan, for example) the strategy for the most part unraveled. Indyk hints at Clinton's lack of unwavering principle and political discipline, but he attributes the diplomatic failure largely to the resistance of Arab leaders to change, Israeli political rivalries, Palestinian dysfunctionalism and periodic outbursts of violence and terror that sabotaged any chance for peace. Nevertheless, the author also squarely blames American ignorance, naivete and idealism, examples of which abound here, all comically summarized by a botched instance of presidential gift-giving to Jordan's king and queen. Sympathetic to the earnest efforts of his foreign-policycolleagues-Warren Christopher, Madeleine Albright, Sandy Berger, Anthony Lake, Dennis Ross and Strobe Talbott-Indyk reserves his scorn for the succeeding Bush administration's abandonment of the excruciatingly difficult peace process he so memorably describes. An important cautionary tale-required reading for the next president. Agent: Gloria Loomis/Watkins Loomis

Attack On America or The United Nations and Changing World Politics

2009-02-03T12:06:00.000-08:00

Attack On America: New York, Jerusalem, and the Role of Terrorism in the Last Days

Author: John Hage

In March of 2001, John Hagee published The Battle for Jerusalem, which warned that the escalating conflict in the Middle East would reach American shores and the American people would not be spared from the violence. On September 11, that horrible prediction came true. Attack on America brings that book up to the minute, answering questions that have risen from the tragedy, including: Why has this happened to America? How should America respond? Is there biblical prophecy that forewarned of this attack? Hagee, a respected Middle East scholar, uses his extensive knowledge of current affairs, history, and biblical teachings to craft the comprehensive book on both what has happened and the centuries old-conflict behind it. He also takes a hard look at what this new step in the struggle will mean for America-and the world-in the days and years to come.

Interesting textbook: Lei de Comércio de Negócios e Online Contemporânea:Legal, Internet, Ambientes Éticos, e Globais

The United Nations and Changing World Politics, Vol. 5

Author: Thomas G Weiss

With updates throughout, this newly revised fifth edition serves as the definitive text for courses dealing with the United Nations. Built around three critical themes in international relations-international peace and security, human rights and humanitarian affairs, and building peace through sustainable development-The United Nations and Changing World Politics, fifth edition, guides students through the complexity of politics and history of the UN. Students of all levels will learn what the UN is, how it operates, and what its relationships are with the universe of external actors and institutions, from sovereign states to the plethora of nongovernmental and intergovernmental organizations now playing important roles in world politics. This new edition is fully revised to take into account recent events, including the aftermath of September 11th and the war on terrorism, the war in Iraq, the first deliberations of the International Criminal Court, and the largest-ever world summit on the occasion of the UN’s sixtieth anniversary.

The Choices Justices Make or Theodore Roosevelt

2009-02-02T06:53:00.000-08:00

The Choices Justices Make

Author: Lee Epstein

The Choices Justices Make argues convincingly that Supreme Court justices are policy-makers who strategically select courses of action by weighing not only their own preferences but also the actions they expect from their colleagues on the Court, Congress, and the president.

Enriched with unique data, stories, and internal documents culled from four justices' private papers, this book makes a strong case for the factors that hold sway on justices as they decide which cases to accept, how to vote in conference, and how to word their written opinions.

Charles Sheldon

THE CHOICES JUSTICES MAKE is essential reading for all of us interested in Supreme Court decision-making. The provenance of this intriguing study is Walter Murphy's ELEMENTS OF JUDICIAL STRATEGY published in 1964. As you may recall, Murphy supported his intuitive contentions that the justices behaved in strategic sorts of ways with quotes from court memoranda and personal papers of the justices. (See Murphy's novel THE VICAR OF CHRIST, Macmillan, 1979 for another use of his data.) Following his lead and guided by the rational choice model, Epstein and Knight gather aggregate data from justices' personal papers to confirm what Murphy had suggested. Members of the nation's high bench behave strategically. The justices' ability to achieve policy goals depends upon their perception of the preferences of other Justices, of the "choices they expect [their colleagues] to make, and of the institutional context in which they act." Law, then, as set by the Supreme Court becomes "the long term product of short-term strategic decision-making." The authors argue that relying on "votes" or the attitudinal model to understand high court behavior is not wrong but rather is incomplete. More is involved than justices responding to ideological values. Assuming their goal is to instill the law with their policy preferences, the actions justices take toward this goal are strategic actions. To support their several assertions the authors rely on information gleaned from the private papers of Justices Brennan, Marshall and Powell supplemented by previous research on the Court. The decisional process, from accepting review, conference discussions and tentative votes, opinion assignment and writing, draft opinion circulation, to final filing of the signed opinions is fraught with evidence of strategic interactions between justices. As an example, in CRAIG v. BOREN (429 US 190,1976) Brennan assumes the opinion drafting responsibilities for the Court. He prefers application of the strict scrutiny test regarding a gender classification. However, as a result of conference discussions and tentative votes, he knows that he cannot muster a majority for the more demanding test. If he pushes for his strict scrutiny preference a majority of his colleagues may be driven into the least demanding rational basis test, which for Brennan is unacceptable. His final draft gains the needed votes for the intermediate or heightened scrutiny test after accommodating the concerns of some of his colleagues. Although not gaining his preferred goal, his strategy has prevented the Court from adopting the least demanding test for gender classification. The authors convincingly show that these kinds of strategic choices are quite common. Can we be sure that justices are nearly always pursuing policy goals when they display strategic behavior? In addition to relying on previous studies regarding the pursuit of policy, the authors screened the conference notes of Brennan and Powell for policy oriented remarks. Nearly half the remarks were indications of preferred policy. For example, Stevens remarked on the HISHON case (gender discrimination in law firm partnerships) during conference that "A partner is not an employee. . . . But clearly prohibited is policy not to hire blacks or women." Also over two-thirds of the memoranda exchanged during opinion circulation were directed toward policy. Their review leads the authors to conclude that "Although justices occasionally pursue other goals and the occasional justice never pursues policy, most justices in most cases seek to establish law as close as possible to their own policy preferences." To confirm strategic behavior the authors look for "distinct" and "discrete" evidence that justices are engaged in political choices. The justices' papers are screened for signs of bargaining, thinking ahead, "manipulating the agenda, and engaging in sophisticated opinion writing." Bargaining is common throughout the process. The ultimate weapon in granting concessions on whether to hear a case is a dissenting opinion. According to Justice Stevens: "Occasionally a written statement of reasons for granting certiorari is more persuasive than the Justice's oral contribution to the Conference." Bargaining over the merits of a case is readily evident. An example among many: Powell sent O'Connor this memo along with his opinion draft. "Here is the first draft . . . .As I need you for a Court, and also because of your experience and special interest, I send the draft to you before circulating it. I had in mind, of course, the two concerns that you have expressed to me." A tabulation of substantive bargaining memoranda shows an average of nearly nine memos in each of the 125 landmark cases decided in the 1983 term and an average of nearly four in each of the total of 157 decisions for the term. Because of his role as Chief Justice and because of his policy preferences, Burger provides amble evidence of attempts to manipulate the agenda of the Court. As you might imagine, Douglas calls him to task for his sometimes blatant manipulations. The authors document the numerous changes in draft opinions to support their contention that the politics of opinion writing is a common form of strategic behavior Institutions (internal norms, rules and procedures and external considerations) also structure the strategic behavior of the justices. The "rule of four" and opinion writing assignments constitute the internal structures within which the justices act and relations with Congress (separation of powers) and the public (legitimacy) are the external institutions that guide the justices' strategic thinking. The choices involved in ROE v. WADE (1973) provide the authors with a case study of manipulating opinion assignments for strategic reasons. However, ROE was not an exception. The justices care about who assigns and to whom an opinion is assigned for it provides them with opportunities for strategic behavior. Not only are the justices constrained by the internal norms and rules but are expected to pay heed to Congress and to the American public. The authors begin their analysis with a review of the politics surrounding MARBURY and MCCARDLE to show the Court being checked by the president or Congress. The authors add further evidence of the importance of separation of powers from a number of other studies. Stare decisis proves to be a strong norm for maintaining public legitimacy. The point of the authors again is that both internal and external structures supply some predictability to the justice's behavior, prompting strategic choices. We are not told how new justices become socialized into strategic behavior, whether the Court bureaucracy plays a restraining role, whether lower courts help set the agenda, what strategies may be used during oral arguments in open court, and what part the law clerks play in the process. Nonetheless there is more than enough material to challenge our thinking on Court politics. Epstein and Knight have provided us with an intriguing framework for analyzing Supreme Court's role in policy making. However, they admit that what remains is the goal "to understand how [strategic] choices come together to explain the substantive content of law. The authors provide the means to check their data, through their internet website. They also build nicely on existing scholarship on the Supreme Court. Nearly every page has a footnote, expanding further on their assertions and answering questions that arise. Also the endnotes provide a valuable bibliography for further study. The book should be read by all of us who are interested in the politics of Supreme Court decision-making.

New interesting book: Easy Everyday or Cranberry Companion

Theodore Roosevelt: Preacher of Righteousness

Author: Joshua David Hawley

Often dismissed by scholars as an opportunistic politician whose ideas lacked historical import, Theodore Roosevelt has been underestimated as a thinker. But to disdain Roosevelt’s politics is to overlook his important and lasting contributions to the shape of modern America, says the author of this compelling new study of the 26th president of the United States. Joshua Hawley examines Roosevelt’s political thought more deeply than ever before to arrive at a fully revised understanding of his legacy: Roosevelt galvanized a twenty-year period of national reform that permanently altered American politics and Americans’ expectations for government, social progress, and presidents.

The book explores the historical context of Theodore Roosevelt’s politics, its intellectual sources, its practice, and its effect on his era and our own. Hawley finds that Roosevelt developed a coherent political science centered on the theme of righteousness, and this “warrior republicanism” was what made the progressive era possible. The debates of Roosevelt’s era were driven largely by his ideas, and from those debates emerged the grammar of our contemporary politics. Casting new light on the fertility and breadth of Roosevelt’s thought, Hawley reveals the full extent of his achievement in twentieth-century intellectual history.

Foreword   David M. Kennedy     xi
Preface     xv
In the Father's House     1
A Small, Ornithological Boy     20
Race and Destiny     32
The Code of a Warrior     48
Apostle of Expansion     75
The Fate of Coming Years     91
Master-Spirit     115
Warrior Republicanism     138
The Progress of a Progressive     163
A Prophet's Return     190
Battle for the Lord     207
The Valley of Vision     235
Epilogue     260
Author's Note     269
Notes     271
Index     307

Reforms at Risk or Kill Bin Laden

2009-02-01T01:40:00.000-08:00

Reforms at Risk: What Happens after Major Policy Changes Are Enacted

Author: Eric M Patashnik

Reforms at Risk is the first book to closely examine what happens to sweeping and seemingly successful policy reforms after they are passed. Most books focus on the politics of reform adoption, yet as Eric Patashnik shows here, the political struggle does not end when major reforms become enacted. Why do certain highly praised policy reforms endure while others are quietly reversed or eroded away?

Patashnik peers into some of the most critical arenas of domestic-policy reform--including taxes, agricultural subsidies, airline deregulation, emissions trading, welfare state reform, and reform of government procurement--to identify the factors that enable reform measures to survive. He argues that the reforms that stick destroy an existing policy subsystem and reconfigure the political dynamic. Patashnik demonstrates that sustainable reforms create positive policy feedbacks, transform institutions, and often unleash the "creative destructiveness" of market forces.

Reforms at Risk debunks the argument that reforms inevitably fail because Congress is prey to special interests, and the book provides a more realistic portrait of the possibilities and limits of positive change in American government. It is essential reading for scholars and practitioners of U.S. politics and public policy, offering practical lessons for anyone who wants to ensure that hard-fought reform victories survive.

Book about: The Real Jimmy Carter or Just Jackie

Kill Bin Laden: A Delta Force Commander's Account of the Hunt for the World's Most Wanted Man

Author: Dalton Fury

This work offers a firsthand account of the Battle of Tora Bora and an insider's look at the extraordinary nature of America's supersecret counterterrorist unit---an elite and mysterious group known as Delta Force.

Ho Chi Minh or Weak Courts Strong Rights

2009-01-30T20:27:00.000-08:00

Ho Chi Minh: A Life

Author: William J Duiker

Ho Chi Minh's epic life helped shape the twentieth century. But until now, there has never been a major biography of this immensely important and elusive figure. Finally, William J. Duiker, a world-renowned authority on Vietnam, has filled this gap with an astonishing work of history that takes full advantage of information and archives only recently declassified. What emerges is a riveting portrait of a man who went from a tiny village to the heady environment of London and Paris during and after World War I; from years in prison and on the run to a place on the world stage alongside the key players of our time.

It is not possible to understand modern Vietnam and the roots of the lengthy conflict in Indochina without examining Ho Chi Minh's life. By accessing original documents in five languages, Duiker has been able to shed new light on the question of Ho's primary motivation: Was he simply a patriot bent on achieving Vietnamese independence, or a chameleon who constructed a deceptive nationalist image solely to win support, at home and abroad, for global proletarian revolution? Engrossing and impeccably researched, Ho Chi Minh is a revelatory portrait of one of the most towering and mysterious figures of our time, a charismatic leader whose legacy continues to inspire and confound.

New York Times Book Review

... William J. Duiker's magnificent new biography... has managed not only to fill in the missing pieces of Ho's life but to provide the best account of Ho as a diplomat and a strategist.

Frances FitzGerald

Magnificent . . . Duiker has managed not only to fill in the missing pieces of Ho's life but . . . of Ho as a diplomat and a strategist. —New York Times Book Review

Booklist

An absorbing biography that never falters.

Chicago Tribune

Sweeping . . . the first full-scale treatment of Ho from start to finish.

Washington Post Book World

A major scholarly achievement . . . It is the most authoritative account of Ho's life we are likely to have for a long time to come.

Los Angeles Times Book Review

Impressive . . . a welcome intrusion on the silence that has surrounded Ho Chi Minh.

Publishers Weekly

It's difficult to think of someone more qualified to write this biography than Duiker (The Communist Road to Power in Vietnam), the retired Penn State University historian who has specialized in the Vietnam War for more than three decades. In his massive, thoroughly researched and--in the main--quite accessible new biography, Duiker succeeds extremely well in illuminating the life and times of Ho Chi Minh--long North Vietnam's leader, a man Duiker calls a "master motivator and strategist" and "one of the most influential political figures of the twentieth century." Covering both the personal and political life of the revolutionary leader, Duiker fascinatingly traces Ho's early travels to New York, Boston and Paris, as well as his many years in exile in France, China, Thailand and (during WWII and the war against the French of 1945 to 1954) in the rugged mountains of northern Vietnam--eras in Ho's life for which documentation has only recently become available. Duiker's detailed recounting of the momentous and extremely complicated events that took place in 1945 following the Japanese surrender, when Ho Chi Minh's Vietminh revolutionary party seized power in northern Vietnam, is riveting. And his account of the not-always-harmonious relations between Ho and the Communist leaders of China and the Soviet Union probes a subject that has long been overlooked by Western scholars. In the end, Duiker portrays Ho Chi Minh as a fervently anticolonial nationalist who, though a committed Marxist, honestly thought he could count on the United States, which had promised to oppose French colonization after WWII. Referring to a long-raging debate about Ho, he says, "The issue is not whether he was a nationalist or a Communist--in his own way he was both." 32 pages of b&w photos not seen by PW. (Sept.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Library Journal

Neither the cryptic, diabolical enemy nor the icon of the Left, "Uncle Ho" is now the subject of this objective historical study. Vietnam expert Duiker (The Communist Road to Power in Vietnam) here writes the first biography of Ho to use critical sources in Vietnamese, French, Chinese, Russian, and English. His narrative encompasses the last days of the Vietnamese monarchy, in which Ho's father was an official; the French conquest of and attempt to dominate Indochina; the anti-imperialist struggle, aided by Russian and Chinese national and Communist interests; and the career of Ho, who died in 1969, revered by some as the Father of the Revolution and reviled by others as a murderous tyrant. The author carefully sorts out the intricate, often ambiguous evidence, supplying enough background for the interested general reader and enough detail, especially in the extensive notes, for the demanding specialist. Highly recommended for larger collections.--Charles W. Hayford, Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

New York Times Book Review - Frances Fitzgerald

Other Western historians have come closer to Ho as a person and to the cultural context of his revolution, but Duiker has managed not only to fill in the missing pieces of Ho's life but to provide the best account of Ho as a diplomat and a strategist.

Kirkus Reviews

A masterful, balanced biography of the charismatic Communist leader. To

produce this rich, layered life of a man who has achieved mythic status

among the Vietnamese, Duiker draws on his years in the Foreign Service (one

of his postings was to the US Embassy in Saigon during the Vietnam

War)…Required reading for students of the 20th century ñ and for all who

want to understand how a man can come to epitomize a cause and sire a

nation.

What People Are Saying

Marilyn Young
The quality of lucid intelligence, indefatigable scholarship, and clarity of judgment that have marked all of William Duiker's studies of the Vietnamese revolution are realized in fullest measure in his superb biography of Ho Chi Minh. (Marilyn Young, author of The Vietnam Wars: 1945-1990)

Stanley Karnow
Much has been written about Ho Chi Minh, but nothing equals William J. Duiker's biography. Meticulously researched, profoundly perceptive, and highly readable, it finally demystifies one of the most fascinating, enigmatic, controversial, and influential figures of the 20th century. (Stanley Karnow, author of Vietnam: A History)

Duong Van Mai Elliott
William J. Duiker has captured the essence of Ho's complex persona and mixed legacy. In lucid and eloquent prose, Duiker brings Ho to life с not only as a dedicated fighter for Vietnam's independence, as a committed revolutionary and a charismatic leader, but also as a fallible man. Anyone who wants to understand Ho both as the man and the myth, as well as the origin and history of the Vietnam War, should read this definitive biography. (Duong Van Mai Elliott, author of The Sacred Willow: Four Generations in the Life of a Vietnamese Family)

Weak Courts, Strong Rights: Judicial Review and Social Welfare Rights in Comparative Constitutional Law

Author: Mark Tushnet

Unlike many other countries, the United States has few constitutional guarantees of social welfare rights such as income, housing, or healthcare. In part this is because many Americans believe that the courts cannot possibly enforce such guarantees. However, recent innovations in constitutional design in other countries suggest that such rights can be judicially enforced--not by increasing the power of the courts but by decreasing it. In Weak Courts, Strong Rights, Mark Tushnet uses a comparative legal perspective to show how creating weaker forms of judicial review may actually allow for stronger social welfare rights under American constitutional law.

Under "strong-form" judicial review, as in the United States, judicial interpretations of the constitution are binding on other branches of government. In contrast, "weak-form" review allows the legislature and executive to reject constitutional rulings by the judiciary--as long as they do so publicly. Tushnet describes how weak-form review works in Great Britain and Canada and discusses the extent to which legislatures can be expected to enforce constitutional norms on their own. With that background, he turns to social welfare rights, explaining the connection between the "state action" or "horizontal effect" doctrine and the enforcement of social welfare rights. Tushnet then draws together the analysis of weak-form review and that of social welfare rights, explaining how weak-form review could be used to enforce those rights. He demonstrates that there is a clear judicial path--not an insurmountable judicial hurdle--to better enforcement of constitutional social welfare rights.

Preface     ix
Acknowledgments     xv
Strong-Form and Weak-Form Judicial Review
Why Comparative Constitutional Law?     3
Alternative Forms of Judicial Review     18
The Possible Instability of Weak-Form Review and Its Implications     43
Legislative Responsibility for Enforcing the Constitution
Why and How to Evaluate Constitutional Performance     79
Constitutional Decision Making Outside the Courts     111
Judicial Enforcement of Social and Economic Rights
The State Action Doctrine and Social and Economic Rights     161
Structures of Judicial Review, Horizontal Effect, and Social Welfare Rights     196
Enforcing Social and Economic Rights     227
Table of Cases     265
Index     269

The Spiritual Dimension of Leadership or Surrender or Starve

2009-01-29T15:15:00.000-08:00

The Spiritual Dimension of Leadership: 8 Key Principles to Leading More Effectively

Author: Paul D Houston

"In this book, Paul Houston and Steve Sokolow sow seeds of wisdom that offer hope and sound guiding principles for America's educational leaders."
-Richard W. Riley, former U.S. Secretary of Education and former Governor of South Carolina

"This book fills a troubling void in the leadership literature by highlighting the vital spiritual side of a leader's role."
-Terrence E. Deal, Author Leading With Soul and Reframing the Path to School Leadership

"Houston and Sokolow focus on how leaders can remain true to their core beliefs and still lead successful organizations. This should be required reading for all leaders and prospective leaders."
-Vincent L. Ferrandino, Executive Director
National Association of Elementary School Principals

"I can't imagine a more timely and important book for educators."
-Margaret J. Wheatley, Author, Leadership and the New Science

"Houston and Sokolow have done an extraordinary job of looking beyond the traditional view of leadership to incorporate a spiritual dimension."
-Dr. Gerald N. Tirozzi, Executive Director
National Association of Secondary School Principals

"The Spiritual Dimension of Leadership reminds us that the job of leadership is complex, but the actions we take can be very simple and yet have a big impact."
-Anne L. Bryant, Executive Director
National School Boards Association

Infuse your leadership practice-and your life-with greater purpose and wisdom!

This book illuminates many of the core values, beliefs, and principles that can guide,sustain, and inspire leaders during difficult times. These values and principles have underlying spiritual roots. The more aware of them you are, and the more you express them in leadership practice, the more effective you become.

Paul D. Houston, Executive Director of the American Association of School Administrators, and Stephen L. Sokolow, a founding partner and Executive Director of the Center for Empowered Leadership, offer the following eight key leadership principles to help you become a more enlightened leader:

Intention
Attention
Unique gifts and talents
Gratitude
Unique life lessons
Holistic perspective
Openness
Trust

Reap the many rewards of practicing these principles and journey down a path of awareness and insight that will empower you and those you lead to create the best possible future for our children.

Book about: To Catch a Predator or Breast Cancer

Surrender or Starve: Travels in Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, and Eritrea

Author: Robert D Kaplan

Robert D. Kaplan is one of our leading international journalists, someone who can explain the most complicated and volatile regions and show why they’re relevant to our world. In Surrender or Starve, Kaplan illuminates the fault lines in the Horn of Africa, which is emerging as a crucial region for America’s ongoing war on terrorism.

Reporting from Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Eritrea, Kaplan examines the factors behind the famine that ravaged the region in the 1980s, exploring the ethnic, religious, and class conflicts that are crucial for understanding the region today. He offers a new foreword and afterword that show how the nations have developed since the famine, and why this region will only grow more important to the United States. Wielding his trademark ability to blend on-the-ground reporting and cogent analysis, Robert D. Kaplan introduces us to a fascinating part of the world, one that it would behoove all of us to know more about.

Victory Denied or The Argument

2009-01-28T10:02:00.000-08:00

Victory Denied: Everything You Know about Iraq Is Wrong!

Author: Roger T Aeschliman

"Everything you know about Iraq is wrong" is more than just the sub-title of the startling upbeat memoir "Victory Denied." It is the truth. The war in Iraq IS over, the insurgency is reeling from hammer-blows and Iraq's future is bright. What's wrong in Iraq is the American national media reporting only the worst of the worst, day after day, ignoring every iota of good news and improvements in the country. "Victory Denied" takes you all over Iraq as a part of the Joint Visitors Bureau official dignitary escort team, into meetings with US and Iraqi Generals, US and Iraqi governmental officials, Iraqi citizens, and the soldiers who are there getting the job done. It is a remarkable memoir, written boots-on-the-ground by a deployed Kansas Army National Guardsman with a professional background in media, government and politics. These skills served him well as he navigated the halls of the US Embassy in Baghdad, crossed vast deserts to opulent palaces, and toured up the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers to the very borders of Iran and Syria, dodging diplomats and Congressional aides as well as bullets. Even more it is the personal and moving story of an American soldier leaving home to do his duty when called. Aeschliman is erudite and thoughtful - a true renaissance man - writing as eloquently on the diverse subjects of history, botany, zoology, astronomy, sociology, philosophy and religion, as well as military affairs and current events. Additionally this book is a love story, a deeply touching account of a husband, father, son, and community leader in love with his wife, children, parents and his city, state and the United States of America. "Victory Denied" will shock the public discourseover Iraq and will change the face of our 2008 Presidential campaign.

Go to: Cocina asiatica or Preserved

The Argument: Billionaires, Bloggers, and the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics

Author: Matt Bai

Widely cited by journalists and bloggers as the man to read to understand the political races, New York Times Magazine writer Matt Bai has written a book about the Democratic Party that's as riveting as it is timely and vital. The Argument takes readers to the front lines of the grassroots progressive movement that is seizing power from the party's weakened D.C. establishment, capturing a colorful cast of donors and power brokers struggling to articulate a direction: an argument. The result is a fascinating, uniquely candid look at present-day politics.

The New York Times - Michiko Kakutani

In his illuminating new book, the journalist Matt Bai examines the health of the Democratic Party, focusing on the insurgent progressive movement that is taking on the Washington establishment—a largely Internet-driven movement that's brought together wealthy venture capitalists, determined to help build a re-energized party; angry bloggers, furious with the Bush administration and fed up with Democratic moderates; and isolated suburban liberals in red states, eager to use the Web to connect with like-minded citizens around the country.The Argument…combines lots of energetic reporting on the ground with some astute political analysis. The result is a colorful topographical map of the Democratic landscape: an anatomy of the party's new progressive wing and its contentious relationship with centrist groups like the Democratic Leadership Council, and some sharply observed portraits of progressive power brokers like Howard Dean, the bloggers Jerome Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas Zъniga and the union leader Andy Stern.

The New York Times Book Review - Nick Gillespie

With the possible exception of the Republican, is there a major political party more stupefyingly brain-dead than the Democrats? That's the ultimate takeaway from The Argument, Matt Bai's sharply written, exhaustively reported and thoroughly depressing account of "billionaires, bloggers, and the battle to remake Democratic politics" along unabashedly "progressive" (read: New Deal and Great Society) lines.

The Washington Post - Jose Antonio Vargas

…unsparing, incisive and altogether engaging…a must read for anyone unaware of the seismic shift that's afoot among the Democrats…a layered, colorful portrait of a party in transition.

The New York Times - Michiko Kakutani

Illuminating . . . A colorful topographical map of the Democratic landscape.

The Economist

Engaging and painstakingly reported.

The New York Times Book Review - Nick Gillespie

Sharply written, exhaustively reported.

Washington Monthly - Kevin Drum

I had more fun reading The Argument than I've had reading any political book in ages. It was fun the way The Boys on the Bus was fun. The way Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72 was fun. . . . Or maybe even the way Primary Colors was fun.

What People Are Saying

Joe Klein
What a terrific book! Matt Bai has written the semi-secret history of the Democratic Party as it has writhed toward success in the first decade of 21st century. Filled with hilariously strange characters and situations, this is also a thoroughly reported--and dead serious--look at the direction politics is headed at an important moment in our history. If you want to understand what promises to be a crucial political year in 2008, The Argument is certainly the place to start (Joe Klein, Time Magazine political columnist and author of Politics Lost)

Evan Thomas
Matt Bai has written a wonderful book--honest, insightful, and funny. Democrats should read it and weep--or learn from it. (Evan Thomas, Newsweek)

Roger Rosenblatt
This is both an original and a significant book - something very hard to come by. Matt Bai has not only disclosed the dead zones in the Democratic Party; he also has hit upon the questions that could bring the Party - and the country - back to life. As if that were not sufficient, he writes succinctly yet beautifully. The Argument is probably the most important political study of recent years.

Michael Tomasky
One of the most fascinating, underreported, and misunderstood political stories of the Bush era has been the liberal effort to push the Democratic Party to be more aggressive and to stop getting rolled by conservatives...Matt Bai conveys this important behind-the-scenes story with unmatched insight, wisdom, and sympathy. (Michael Tomasky, editor, Guardian America)

Rumsfelds Wars or The Commission

2009-01-27T04:48:00.000-08:00

Rumsfeld's Wars: The Arrogance of Power

Author: Dale R Herspring

Not since Robert McNamara has a secretary of defense been so hated by the military and derided by the public, yet played such a critical role in national security policy—with such disastrous results.

Donald Rumsfeld was a natural for secretary of defense, a position he'd already occupied once before. He was smart. He worked hard. He was skeptical of the status quo in military affairs and dedicated to high-tech innovations. He seemed the right man at the right time—but history was to prove otherwise.

Now Dale Herspring, a political conservative and lifelong Republican, offers a nonpartisan assessment of Rumsfeld's impact on the U.S. military establishment from 2001 to 2006, focusing especially on the Iraq War—from the decision to invade through the development and execution of operational strategy and the enormous failures associated with the postwar reconstruction of Iraq.

Extending the critique of civil-military relations he began in The Pentagon and the Presidency, Herspring highlights the relationship between the secretary and senior military leadership, showing how Rumsfeld and a handful of advisers—notably Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith—manipulated intelligence and often ignored the military in order to implement their policies. And he demonstrates that the secretary's domineering leadership style and trademark arrogance undermined his vision for both military transformation and Iraq.

Herspring shows that, contrary to his public deference to the generals, Rumsfeld dictated strategy and operations—sometimes even tactics—to prove his transformation theories. He signed off on abolishing the Iraqi army, famously refused to see theneed for a counterinsurgency plan, and seemed more than willing to tolerate the torture of prisoners. Meanwhile, the military became demoralized and junior officers left in droves.

Rumsfeld's Wars revisits and reignites the concept of "arrogance of power," once associated with our dogged failure to understand the true nature of a tragic war in Southeast Asia. It provides further evidence that success in military affairs is hard to achieve without mutual respect between civilian authorities and military leaders—and offers a definitive case study in how not to run the office of secretary of defense.

This book is part of the Modern War Studies series.

What People Are Saying

Charles Stevenson
With careful documentation and scathing analysis, Herspring demonstrates that Rumsfeld failed in far more than his management of the Iraq war. This conservative critique of the once-vaunted secretary of defense also exposes Rumsfeld's confused approach to military transformation and his arrogant handling of civil-military relations. (Charles Stevenson, author of SecDef: The Nearly Impossible Job of Secretary of Defense and Warriors and Politicians)

John A. Nagl
Rumsfeld's Wars is an important analysis of the impact of the most influential secretary of defense in several generations. . . . Highly recommended. (John A. Nagl, author of Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam)

Charles Stevenson

With careful documentation and scathing analysis, Herspring demonstrates that Rumsfeld failed in far more than his management of the Iraq war. This conservative critique of the once-vaunted secretary of defense also exposes Rumsfeld's confused approach to military transformation and his arrogant handling of civil-military relations. (Charles Stevenson, author of SecDef: The Nearly Impossible Job of Secretary of Defense and Warriors and Politicians)

John A. Nagl

Rumsfeld's Wars is an important analysis of the impact of the most influential secretary of defense in several generations. . . . Highly recommended. (John A. Nagl, author of Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam)

Go to: Airline Deregulation and Laissez Faire Mythology or American Capitalism

The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation

Author: Philip Shenon

In a work of history that will make headlines, New York Times reporter Philip Shenon investigates the investigation of 9/11 and tells the inside story of most important federal commission since the the Warren Commission. Shenon uncovers startling new information about the inner workings of the 9/11 Commission and its relationship with the Bush White House. The Commission will change our understanding of the 9/11 investigation -- and of the attacks themselves.

The New York Times - Evan Thomas

Mr. Shenon is a skillful writer and storyteller as well as a dogged reporter. In The Commission he makes bureaucratic warfare exciting, largely because he has a keen grasp of human frailty and folly…Ultimately, as Mr. Shenon shows, the failure at the highest levels of the United States government was human. That is the real back story of 9/11.

The Washington Post - Michael Dobbs

Shenon has provided a detailed narrative of the most important government investigative body since the Warren Commission. The Commission is full of vivid anecdotes…

The New York Times Book Review - Jacob Heilbrunn

Though the 9/11 Commission might not seem like the stuff of high drama, Shenon, an investigative reporter at The New York Times, expertly quarries numerous documents and interviews to produce a mesmerizing account. He offers vivid portraits of everyone from Henry Kissinger to Samuel R. Berger, from George Tenet to Condoleezza Rice. Few reputations emerge unscathed.

Betrayal or Administrative Law

2009-01-25T23:28:00.000-08:00

Betrayal: The True Story of J. Edgar Hoover and the Nazi Saboteurs Captured During WWII

Author: David Alan Johnson

"At 4 AM on a foggy morning in 1942, Nazi submarines discharged eight men along the coasts of Long Island and Florida. A few days later, J. Edgar Hoover further burnished his reputation by announcing the swift capture of Nazi soldiers found prowling our shores, intent on sabotage." "Omitted from the record (and still denied by the FBI) is the true story behind Hoover's greatest publicity coup: the saboteurs' leader, George Dasch, betrayed his own country by turning himself in first to a disbelieving FBI. Hoover promised Dasch clemency and assurances that the jerry-rigged "military tribunal" created to try the men as "unlawful combatants" was merely a formality to protect loved ones from Nazi retribution." Using documentation from the FBI archives, interviews and memoirs, David Alan Johnson carefully recounts the mounting betrayals in this saga.

Acknowledgments     vii
Preface     xi
To America and Back     1
Operation Pastorius     19
Differing Objectives     37
Getting off the Beach     67
"Don't Ask Me Nothing"     101
The Rude Awakening     123
The Verdict Was Already In     157
Not from Fear     199
Reputation and Notoriety     215
Outcasts and Celebrities     241
Afterword: History Repeats     259
Bibliography     275
Index     283

Look this: Way We Look or Borgs Perceived Exertion and Pain Scales

Administrative Law: Bureaucracy in a Democracy

Author: Daniel E Hall

Using carefully edited cases, this book examines administrative law in the context of accountability and discusses administrative agencies and the laws that govern their behavior. Written in a straightforward style, it uses a theme of democracy to connect a variety of administrative law topics. Written in a straightforward style, it uses a theme of democracy to connect a variety of administrative law topics. Its flexible presentation combines both narrative and cases, which offers an easy way to include materials most relevant to the course. This edition features recent Supreme Court decisions, new sections on ethical expectations and liability, expanded coverage of computerized research, and a continued emphasis on the law, legal reasoning and agency accountability. Anyone in administrative law, legal studies, political science, public administration, and criminal justice.

Booknews

This textbook examines administrative law with an eye toward accountability and the prevention of abuse. It introduces the basic knowledge relating to administrative agencies and the laws that govern their behavior, illustrating major principles with case excerpts. Chapters address issues like agency discretion, the requirements of fairness, delegation, agency rule making, adjudications, and the methods of maintaining accountability through review, access, and liability. Hall teaches at the University of Central Florida. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Defying Dixie or Unexpected George Washington

2009-01-24T18:15:00.000-08:00

Defying Dixie: The Radical Roots of Civil Rights, 1919-1950

Author: Glenda Elizabeth Gilmor

A groundbreaking history of the Southern movement for social justice that gave birth to civil rights.

The civil rights movement that loomed over the 1950s and 1960s was the tip of an iceberg, the legal and political remnant of a broad, raucous, deeply American movement for social justice that flourished from the 1920s through the 1940s. This contentious mix of home-grown radicals, labor activists, newspaper editors, black workers, and intellectuals employed every strategy imaginable to take Dixie down, from a ludicrous attempt to organize black workers with a stage production of Pushkin—in Russian—to the courageous fight of striking workers against police and corporate violence in Gastonia in 1929. In a dramatic narrative Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore deftly shows how the movement unfolded against national and global developments, gaining focus and finally arriving at a narrow but effective legal strategy for securing desegregation and political rights. Little-known heroes abound in a book that will recast our understanding of the most important social movement in twentieth-century America.

The Washington Post - Raymond Arsenault

Gilmore…transformed our understanding of the Southern progressive movement with her first book, Gender and Jim Crow, published in 1996. Defying Dixie promises to do the same for the emerging freedom struggle of the post-World War I era. The early stages of what Jacquelyn Dowd Hall has aptly labeled "the long Civil Rights Movement" have attracted considerable scholarly attention in recent years, so much so that most historians no longer feel comfortable with accounts of the movement that begin in the mid-1950s with the Brown decision or the Montgomery bus boycott. But even the most enlightened civil rights historians will find new material and much to ponder in Gilmore's richly textured study of the Southern communists, socialists and expatriates who challenged Jim Crow during the three decades following the Bolshevik Revolution…no one who reads this eye-opening book will come away with anything less than a renewed appreciation for the complex origins and evolution of a freedom struggle that changed the South, the nation and the world.

The New York Times - Maurice Isserman

As Gilmore acknowledges, she is not the first to explore the notion of the "long civil rights movement," stretching back many years before Brown v. Board of Education and the Montgomery bus boycott. Readers of histories by John Egerton, Patricia Sullivan and others will recognize many of the characters and events discussed in Gilmore's account. The return visit is mostly worthwhile thanks to her gift for vivid description and a number of interesting observations she offers along the way.

Publishers Weekly

Yale historian Gilmore turns a wide lens on the battle against Jim Crow in this worthy if overstuffed collective biography of the black and white Southern activists whose work before the larger Civil Rights movement constitute its neglected, forgotten or repressed origins. Expanding the "temporal and geographical boundaries" of the fight for racial equality, Gilmore's scholarship considers international racial politics and traces a progression from 1920s Communists, who joined forces in the late 1930s with a radical left to form a Southern popular front, to the 1940s grassroots activists. Gilmore (Who Were the Progressives?) lavishes attention on the "first American-born black Communist," Lovett Fort-Whiteman, who died in a Siberian gulag in 1939; and on FDR-era civil rights activist Pauli Murray, distinguished by her fight against segregation at the University of North Carolina in 1939 and her involvement in the defense of Virginia sharecropper Odell Walker, ultimately executed for killing his white landlord. Gilmore's sweeping, fresh consideration of pre-movement civil rights activity, with its links to both the exportation of American racism and the importation of Communist egalitarianism, is full of informative gems, but the mining is left to the reader. (Jan.)

Kirkus Reviews

Gilmore (History/Yale Univ.; Gender and Jim Crow: Women and the Politics of White Supremacy in North Carolina, 1896-1920, 1996) reconstructs the battle of radical Southern activists against Jim Crow in the three decades preceding Brown v. Board of Education. During the first half of the 20th century, the Communist Party attracted those determined to dismantle the South's white regime. Its forthright commitment to racial equality far outstripped any declaration by the NAACP, the agenda of any regional commissions dedicated to racial harmony and the platforms of the Republican or Democratic parties. Gilmore's wide-ranging research uncovers the fascinating story of how communists, socialists, liberals, legal and labor activists helped lay the groundwork for the mainstream civil-rights breakthroughs of the 1960s. Although she hobbles an already complex narrative with irritating academic tics-e.g., the tiresome use of "privilege" as a verb and, notwithstanding her concession that the Scottsboro defendants "were really boys," her insistence on preciously denominating the case as the Scottsboro "Boys"-she offers colorful set pieces about the 1929 Gastonia, N.C., textile strike; the ill-conceived 1932 attempt to film in Moscow Black and White, a movie about working conditions in Birmingham, Ala.; the origin and ambiance of The Intimate Bookshop in Chapel Hill, N.C., a simultaneous hotbed and safe haven for radical thought; and the 1942 sit-ins by Howard University students in Washington, D.C., cafeterias. Famous names-A. Philip Randolph, Paul Robeson, Eleanor Roosevelt, Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson, Thurgood Marshall-dot the narrative, but this story's charm lies in the sensitivemini-portraits of lesser-known recurring characters: Lovett Fort-Whiteman, the first American-born black communist; Junius Scales, child of privilege turned communist; Frank Porter Graham, heroic UNC president; tortured professor Max Yergan; smarmy sociologist Howard Odum; and the narrative's star, Pauli Murray, an utterly relentless, remarkable activist whose life by itself is worthy of book treatment. For Americans who believe the modern civil-rights movement began with the Montgomery bus boycott, Gilmore ably readjusts the record.

Unexpected George Washington: His Private Life

Author: Harlow Giles Unger

Advance Praise for The Unexpected George Washington

"This is a biography that unquestionably lives up to its title. Readers will discover numerous, often touching traits that they never knew about the Father of the Country. Harlow Unger has written a one-of-a-kind book that will please and fascinate everyone."
—Thomas Fleming, author Washington's Secret War: The Hidden History of Valley Forge

"It's hard to imagine George Washington as playful, tender, or funny. But Harlow Unger searches to find these seldom-seen aspects of the private man, and the result is a far more complete and believable founding father."
— James C. Rees, Executive Director, Historic Mount Vernon

Acclaim for Lafayette

"Harlow Unger has cornered the market on muses to emerge as America's most readable historian. His new biography of the Marquis de Lafayette combines a thoroughgoing account of the age of revolution, a probing psychological study of a complex man, and a literary style that goes down like cream."
—Florence King, contributing editor, National Review

"To American readers Unger's biography will provide a stark reminder of just how near run a thing was our War of Independence and the degree to which our forefathers' victory hinged on the help of our French allies, marshalled for George Washington by his 'adopted' son, Lafayette."
—Larry Collins, coauthor, Is Paris Burning? and O Jerusalem!

"An admirable account of his [Lafayette's] life and extraordinary career on both sides of the Atlantic."
— The Sunday Telegraph (London)

List of Maps and Illustrations.

Acknowledgments.

Author’s Note.

Introduction.

1 A Quest for Power and Glory.

2 An Agreeable Consort for Life.

3 "Fox Hunting . . . but Catchd Nothing."

4 A Death in the Family.

5 The Glorious Cause.

6 "The Fate of Unborn Millions."

7 An Affectionate Friend.

8 The Long Journey Home.

9 A Broken Promise.

10 “God Bless Our Washington!”

11 “Tranquillity Reigns”

12 The Voice of Your Country.

13 Vine and Fig Tree Revisited.

14 “First in the Hearts of His Countrymen”.

Epilogue.

Notes.

Selected Bibliography of Principal Sources.

Credits.

Index.

Hackers Delight or The American Crisis

2009-01-23T13:03:00.000-08:00

Hacker's Delight

Author: Henry S Warren

"This is the first book that promises to tell the deep, dark secrets of computer arithmetic, and it delivers in spades. It contains every trick I knew plus many, many more. A godsend for library developers, compiler writers, and lovers of elegant hacks, it deserves a spot on your shelf right next to Knuth."--Josh Bloch

"When I first saw the title, I figured that the book must be either a cookbook for breaking into computers (unlikely) or some sort of compendium of little programming tricks. It's the latter, but it's thorough, almost encyclopedic, in its coverage." --Guy Steele

These are the timesaving techniques relished by computer hackers--those devoted and persistent code developers who seek elegant and efficient ways to build better software. The truth is that much of the computer programmer's job involves a healthy mix of arithmetic and logic. In Hacker's Delight, veteran programmer Hank Warren shares the tricks he has collected from his considerable experience in the worlds of application and system programming. Most of these techniques are eminently practical, but a few are included just because they are interesting and unexpected. The resulting work is an irresistible collection that will help even the most seasoned programmers better their craft.

Topics covered include:

A broad collection of useful programming tricks

Small algorithms for common tasks

Power-of-2 boundaries and bounds checking

Rearranging bits and bytes

Integer division and division by constants

Some elementary functions on integers

Gray code

Hilbert's space-fillingcurve

And even formulas for prime numbers!

This book is for anyone who wants to create efficient code. Hacker's Delight will help you learn to program at a higher level--well beyond what is generally taught in schools and training courses--and will advance you substantially further than is possible through ordinary self-study alone.
0201914654B06272002

Booknews

A computer scientist deeply embedded in IBM has compiled small programming tricks he has come across over his four decades in the field. Most work only on computers that represent integers in two's- complement form, and are easily adapted to machines with various register sizes, though a 32-bit machine is assumed when the register length is relevant. He gives proofs only when the algorithm is not obvious, and not always then. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

	Foreword
	Preface
Ch. 1	Introduction	1
Ch. 2	Basics	11
Ch. 3	Power-of-2-Boundaries	45
Ch. 4	Arithmetic Bounds	51
Ch. 5	Counting Bits	65
Ch. 6	Searching Words	91
Ch. 7	Rearranging Bits and Bytes	101
Ch. 8	Multiplication	129
Ch. 9	Integer Division	137
Ch. 10	Integer Division by Constants	155
Ch. 11	Some Elementary Functions	203
Ch. 12	Unusual Bases for Number Systems	223
Ch. 13	Gray Code	235
Ch. 14	Hilbert's Curve	241
Ch. 15	Floating-point	261
Ch. 16	Formulas for Primes	271
App. A	Arithmetic Tables for a 4-Bit Machine	285
App. B	Newton's Method	289
	Bibliography	291
	Index	297

Book about: El Guía del Empresario de Derecho comercial

The American Crisis

Author: Thomas Pain

THOMAS PAINE, in his Will, speaks of this work as The American Crisis, remembering perhaps that a number of political pamphlets had appeared in London, 1775-1776, under general title of " The Crisis." By the blunder of an early English publisher of Paine's writings, one essay in the London " Crisis " was attributed to Paine, and the error has continued to cause confusion. This publisher was D. I. Eaton, who printed as the first number of Paine's " Crisis " an essay taken from the London publication. But his prefatory note says: " Since the printing of this book, the publisher is informed that No. 1, or first Crisis in this publication, is not one of the thirteen which Paine wrote, but a letter previous to them."

Running for All the Right Reasons or Abraham Lincoln

2009-01-22T07:50:00.000-08:00

Running for All the Right Reasons: A Saudi-born Woman's Pursuit of Democracy

Author: Feriel Masry

In 2004, Ferial Masry, born in Mecca, became the first Saudi American to run for political office in U.S. history. A recent immigrant and naturalized citizen with a heavy Middle Eastern accent, Masry made a spirited run for the California State Assembly seat in a staunchly Republican district, which sparked worldwide interest. She was ABC's Person of the Week, was interviewed by Peter Jennings, and made headlines in the New York Times and Associated Press. Against all odds, her grassroots campaign succeeded in winning the write-in vote, a historic victory for all Arab Americans.

Running for All the Right Reasons chronicles Masry's remarkable life, from her childhood in Mecca and her decision to emigrate to the United States to her career as an educator and her bold entry into the world of politics. Masry's story, as well as her passionate belief in democracy and commitment to her community, is the stuff of legends.

Illustrations Foreword James Zogby Zogby, James Introduction Susan Chenard Chenard, Susan Pt. 1 My Childhood Memories in Mecca (Late 1940s-1950s)
1 My Childhood in Mecca 3
2 Through a Child's Eyes 19 Pt. 2 Lessons from Abroad/Early Activism (1960s-1970s)
3 Lessons from Abroad in Egypt, England, and Nigeria 45 Pt. 3 Coming to America (1979-2003)
4 Embracing American Democracy 71 Pt. 4 Omar's Decision (March 2003)
5 The Defining Moment 89 Pt. 5 On the Campaign Trail (2004-2006)
6 The First Campaign, 2004 107
7 Going Back 136
8 The Second Campaign, 2005-2006 156 Pt. 6 Present Times (2007)
9 Future Vision of Democracy 177 Glossary 189

Interesting textbook: Valor de Cliente Superior na Nova Economia:Conceitos e Casos, volume.0

Abraham Lincoln: His Speeches and Writings

Author: Roy Prentice Basler

Compiled in 1946, this essential collection includes nearly 250 of Lincoln's letters, speeches, and thoughts, including the oft-quoted Gettysburg Address, Emancipation Proclamation, and Inaugural Addresses. Furthermore, editor Roy P. Basler directs our attention to Lincoln's less-remembered -- but no less important -- words, including a lengthy denouncement of the Supreme Court's 1857 Dred Scott decision and numerous letters -- to Grant, McClellan, Stanton, and to his wife, Mary Todd. Basler has here culled the best of Lincoln's political, personal, and even poetic writings, adding extensive explanatory notes to help present-day Americans better understand the president who saved the Union.

Since his ascendancy from a log cabin to the White House, Lincoln has been the subject of more books and writings than any other American. His principled character continues to captivate us even today -- a time when we are in more need than ever of his plainspoken and moving language.

What People Are Saying

David Donald
This is the most comprehensive and readable one volume collection of Lincoln's writings ever published. David Donald, author of Lincoln Reconsidered and Lincoln's Herndon

Karl Sandberg
I know of no other Lincoln student who, across a long period, has so completely familiarized himself with Lincoln's letters, speeches, and state papers. Many of these items he has brooded over so long that they have become a part of him. His book is honest and able.

Jefferson and His Time or Righteous Propagation

2009-01-21T02:37:00.000-08:00

Jefferson and His Time

Author: Dumas Malon

Dumas Malone's classic biography Jefferson and His Time — originally published in six volumes over a period of thirty-four years, between 1948 and 198 — was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in history and became the standard work on Jefferson's life. The University of Virginia Press is pleased to announce that the complete, illustrated six-volume biography is available for the first time in a handsome boxed set. Merrill Peterson, editor of the Library of America edition of Thomas Jefferson's writings, has contributed a new foreword to the Virginia edition.

Author Biography: Dumas Malone, 1892-1986, spent thirty-eight years researching and writing Jefferson and His Time. In 1975 he received the Pulitzer Prize in history for the first five volumes. From 1923 to 1929 he taught at the University of Virginia; he left there to join the Dictionary of American Biography, bringing that work to completion as editor-in-chief. Subsequently, he served for seven years as director of the Harvard University Press. After serving on the faculties of Yale and Columbia, Malone retired to the University of Virginia in 1959 as the Jefferson Foundation Professor of History, a position he held until his retirement in 1962. He remained at the university as biographer-in-residence and finished his Jefferson biography at the University of Virginia, where it was begun.

New interesting book: Ulcer Free or Self Harm Behavior and Eating Disorders

Righteous Propagation: African Americans and the Politics of Racial Destiny after Reconstruction

Author: Michele Mitchell

Mitchell investigates an anxious period in U.S. history when African Americans negotiated domestic relationships, forged institutions, and clashed over strategies intended to preserve themselves as a people. Notions about "racial destiny" informed African Americans' views on emigration to Liberia, imperialism, sexuality, conduct, home environments, material culture, miscegenation and nationalism. This provocative book reinterprets black protest and politics after emancipation.

Hitlers Priests or Countdown to Crisis

2009-01-19T23:46:00.000-08:00

Hitler's Priests: Catholic Clergy and National Socialism

Author: Kevin P Spicer

Shaken by military defeat and economic depression after War World I, Germans sought to restore their nation's dignity and power. In this context the National Socialist Party, with its promise of a revivified Germany, drew supporters. Among the most zealous were a number of Catholic clergymen known as "brown priests" who volunteered as Nazi propagandists. In this insightful study, Spicer unearths a dark subchapter in Roman Catholic history, introduces the principal clergymen who participated in the Nazi movement, examines their motives, details their advocacy of National Socialism, and explores the consequences of their political activism.

Some brown priests, particularly war veterans, advocated National Socialism because it appealed to their patriotic ardor. Others had less laudatory motives: disaffection with clerical life, conflicts with Church superiors, or ambition for personal power and fame. Whatever their individual motives, they employed their skills as orators, writers, and teachers to proclaim the message of Nazism. Especially during the early 1930s, when the Church forbade membership in the party, these clergymen strove to prove that Catholicism was compatible with National Socialism, thereby justifying their support of Nazi ideology. Father Dr. Philipp Haeuser, a scholar and pastor, went so far as to promote antisemitism while deifying Adolf Hitler. The Führer's antisemitism, Spicer argues, did not deter clergymen such as Haeuser because, although the Church officially rejected the Nazis' extreme racism, Catholic teachings tolerated hostility toward Jews by blaming them for Christ's crucifixion.

While a handful of brown priests enjoyed the forbearanceof their bishops, others endured reprimand or even dismissal; a few found new vocations with the Third Reich. After the fall of the Reich, the most visible brown priests faced trial for their part in the crimes of National Socialism, a movement they had once so earnestly supported.

In addition to this intriguing history about clergymen trying to reconcile faith and politics, Spicer provides a master list-verified by extensive research in Church and government archives-of Catholic clergy who publicly supported National Socialism.

The Washington Post - James J. Sheehan

deeply researched and deeply disturbing…A priest and member of the Congregation of Holy Cross, Spicer has an insider's grasp of the church's organization and governance. He has combed through an impressive number of diocesan and government archives to assemble a list of 138 "brown priests," who were either members of the Nazi party or at least active supporters of its program. His book is devoted to a detailed account of the radical nationalism and virulent anti-Semitism that led these men to believe they could be followers of both Hitler and Christ.

What People Are Saying

Peter Hayes
"[Spicer] keeps his rhetorical balance very well, managing to convey the thinking of his protagonists fairly yet also to be judgmental where appropriate. His research is impeccably thorough and unparalleled in the existing literature."--(Peter Hayes, Northwestern University)

Beth A. Griech-Polelle
"Hitler's Priests will contribute to the much debated argument of the level of Catholic Church resistance, conformity, and accommodation to the Nazi regime. Spicer's use of archival materials is almost superhuman and he has done a true detective's job in tracking down priests who I'm sure the Catholic Church leadership would rather be left missing from the historical record."--(Beth A. Griech-Polelle, Bowling Green State University)

Countdown to Crisis: The Coming Nuclear Showdown with Iran

Author: Kenneth R Timmerman

In his chilling new book, New York Times bestselling author Kenneth R. Timmerman blows the lid off the greatest threat America faces: the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Using his exclusive access to previously classified documents, Iranian defectors and officials, and high-level sources in the U.S. government and intelligence community, Timmerman blows the lid off previously unreported threats and our intelligence community's failure to deal with these dangers.

And now it could be too late.

To get the complete story on Iran's radical Islamic regime, Timmerman crisscrosses the globe, taking the reader into secret terrorist gatherings in Tehran, into tense meetings in the White House, to debriefings at an obscure CIA outpost in Azerbaijan, to diplomatic face-offs in the Kremlin, and to many other spots along the way. His extensive investigative reporting allows him to lay bare the true nature of the Iranian threat.

For Americans interested in the truth about Iran, Countdown to Crisis may amount to a call for action-or even a case for war.

nationally syndicated columnist - Cal Thomas

"Ken Timmerman delivers another blockbuster, this time on Iran and its clandestine nuclear program. Few things are more relevant to today's world than what happens in the Middle East-especially in Iran, a major player in the 'axis of evil.' Read this book, be warned, and then equip yourself for battle."

9/11 Commission member and former Secretary of the Navy - John F. Lehman

"With so many amateur intelligence experts clouding the public dialogue, it is a pleasure to read the work of an author of real professionalism. Timmerman adds texture and clarity to the gross failures of our intelligence establishment and new visibility to the role of Iran in the Islamist war against America."

The Devil We Know or Government 20

2009-01-19T12:32:00.000-08:00

The Devil We Know: Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower

Author: Robert Baer

Over the past thirty years, while the United States has turned either a blind or dismissive eye, Iran has emerged as a nation every bit as capable of altering America’s destiny as traditional superpowers Russia and China. Indeed, one of this book’s central arguments is that, in some ways, Iran’s grip on America’s future is even tighter.

As ex–CIA operative Robert Baer masterfully shows, Iran has maneuvered itself into the elite superpower ranks by exploiting Americans’ false perceptions of what Iran is—by letting us believe it is a country run by scowling religious fanatics, too preoccupied with theocratic jostling and terrorist agendas to strengthen its political and economic foundations.

The reality is much more frightening—and yet contained in the potential catastrophe is an implicit political response that, if we’re bold enough to adopt it, could avert disaster.

Baer’s on-the-ground sleuthing and interviews with key Middle East players—everyone from an Iranian ayatollah to the king of Bahrain to the head of Israel’s internal security—paint a picture of the centuries-old Shia nation that is starkly the opposite of the one normally drawn. For example, Iran’s hate-spouting President Ahmadinejad is by no means the true spokesman for Iranian foreign policy, nor is Iran making it the highest priority to become a nuclear player.

Even so, Baer has discovered that Iran is currently engaged in a soft takeover of the Middle East, that the proxy method of war-making and co-option it perfected with Hezbollah in Lebanon is being exported throughout the region, that Iran now controls asignificant portion of Iraq, that it is extending its influence over Jordan and Egypt, that the Arab Emirates and other Gulf States are being pulled into its sphere, and that it will shortly have a firm hold on the world’s oil spigot.

By mixing anecdotes with information gleaned from clandestine sources, Baer superbly demonstrates that Iran, far from being a wild-eyed rogue state, is a rational actor—one skilled in the game of nations and so effective at thwarting perceived Western colonialism that even rival Sunnis relish fighting under its banner.

For U.S. policy makers, the choices have narrowed: either cede the world’s most important energy corridors to a nation that can match us militarily with its asymmetric capabilities (which include the use of suicide bombers)—or deal with the devil we know. We might just find that in allying with Iran, we’ll have increased not just our own security but that of all Middle East nations.The alternative—to continue goading Iran into establishing hegemony over the Muslim world—is too chilling to contemplate.

From the Hardcover edition.

Publishers Weekly

Former CIA operative Baer (See No Evil) challenges the conventional wisdom regarding Iran in this timely and provocative analysis, arguing that Iran has already "half-won" its undeclared 30-year war with the United States and is rapidly becoming a superpower. In Baer's analysis, Iran has succeeded by using carefully vetted proxies such as Hezbollah and by appealing across the Muslim sectarian divide to Sunni Arabs, and is well on its way to establishing an empire in the Persian Gulf. Baer claims that since "Iran's dominance in the Middle East is a fait accompli," the United States has no viable choice but to ask for a truce and enter into negotiations prepared to drop sanctions against Iran and accept a partition of Iraq, which is already, and irretrievably, lost. Baer's assumptions are often questionable-most tellingly that Iran is now trustworthy-and his conclusions premature: he states unequivocally, for example, that "the Iranians have annexed the entire south [of Iraq]." But his brief adds an important perspective to a crucial international debate. (Sept.)

Kirkus Reviews

Former CIA agent Baer (Blow the House Down, 2006, etc.) examines Iran's growing influence in the Middle East, fundamentally challenging commonly held U.S. views. America doesn't recognize or understand this rising superpower, the author argues. Dissecting Iran's rapid evolution, the Baer notes numerous examples of modernization-use of the Internet, a burgeoning youth culture, sexual freedom-that are rarely reported outside the country. His central aim is to establish how Iran has maneuvered into a dominant position in the Middle East, largely thanks to the war in Iraq. By weakening the Iraqi army and decimating the moderate Shia clergy, Baer contends, the United States has unwittingly opened the gateway for Iran to seize control of Iraq's oil resources. As evidence of this, he points to the Afghan city of Herat, now full of Iranian goods, including gasoline. A radical new approach is required, the author suggests, if America is to gain leverage with Iran. This will involve negotiating with the country to turn it into an ally, not an enemy. The book's most intriguing passages analyze the mind-set that has enabled Iran to attain such a powerful position. Iran's leaders keep their military authorities hidden, they don't keep important paperwork, and they have learned valuable lessons from past mistakes, particularly those made during the bloody 1980-88 war with Iraq. Terrorist tactics have waned, Baer notes; there have been no known instances of Iranian suicide bombers since 1988, and behavior typified by notorious Iranian terrorist Imad Mughniyah has become a thing of the past. Many of the author's interviewees, including a former aide to Ayatollah Khomeini, believe that Iran is already asuperpower, and Baer concludes by emphasizing the urgent need for the United States to engage in a meaningful dialogue with the country's leaders. An important text studded with keen insights into a nation about which America remains dangerously misinformed.

Government 2.0: Using Technology to Improve Education, Cut Red Tape, Reduce Gridlock, and Enhance Democracy

Author: William D Eggers

A well-written, lively, optimistic book that calls for the transformation of technology in government from lipstick on a bulldog to total information awareness. This book is proactive in nature (see what these governments are really doing), does not call for a wholesale and costly transformation, and employs a subtle shaming of those governments that have not yet joined the 21st century. William Eggers's argument, conservative in nature, states that the world of politics would quickly and markedly benefit from this digital transformation in terms of a fiscal payoff, but a more profound change would result as governments become more transparent, more democratic, and more efficient.

Enormous Crime or Locked in the Cabinet

2009-01-19T02:20:00.000-08:00

Enormous Crime: The Definitive Account of American POWs Abandoned in Southeast Asia

Author: Bill Hendon

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
An Enormous Crime is nothing less than shocking. Based on thousands of pages of public and previously classified documents, it makes an utterly convincing case that when the American government withdrew its forces from Vietnam, it knowingly abandoned hundreds of POWs to their fate. The product of twenty-five years of research by former Congressman Bill Hendon and attorney Elizabeth A. Stewart, this book brilliantly reveals the reasons why these American soldiers and airmen were held back by the North Vietnamese at Operation Homecoming in 1973, what these brave men have endured, and how administration after administration of their own government has turned its back on them.
This authoritative exposé is based on open-source documents and reports, and thousands of declassified intelligence reports and satellite imagery, as well as author interviews and personal experience. An Enormous Crime is a singular work, telling a story unlike any other in our history: ugly, harrowing, and true.

Kirkus Reviews

A sprawling indictment of eight U.S. administrations. The charge: sacrificing American war prisoners in the interest of focusing, as Bush aides have said, "not on Vietnam's past but on its future."Beginning in 1966, write former Rep. Hendon (R-NC) and attorney Stewart, GIs captured in South Vietnam were moved north along the Ho Chi Minh Trail and other routes. Cataloguing sightings with the diligence of Vincent Bugliosi-whose Reclaiming History (2007), on the JFK assassination, is something of a companion piece-Hendon and Stewart reckon that hundreds of POWs had crossed the Demilitarized Zone by the time of the Tet Offensive, their numbers swelled by pilots downed over North Vietnam. Many of these soldiers, Hendon and Stewart charge, were used as human shields against American bombing attacks on power plants, military headquarters and other strategically important venues. North Vietnam and its allies in Laos and Cambodia weren't particularly forthcoming on all these things, but the U.S. played a dirty hand, too; by the authors' account, the prisoners' ultimate release was bound up in negotiations conducted by Henry Kissinger, "the surrogate president," who reneged on promises of U.S. aid owing to supposed violations of previous accords, thus closing off a diplomatic channel for repatriation. Fast forward to 1987, when Ross Perot traveled to Vietnam and told the foreign minister, who insisted that there were no POWs there, "Don't embarrass yourselves, I know too much." Fruitful negotiations ensued, the authors report, only to be brushed aside by the Reagan administration-even though, they claim, at least 100 U.S. prisoners were still alive in Vietnam. Hendon and Stewart, who appearnonpartisan in their disdain for governmental inaction and double-dealing, close by offering advice to President Bush to send an army of former presidents and their staffs to negotiate the release of the remaining captives. Much of the authors' evidence is circumstantial, but there's an awful lot of it. A convincing, urgent argument.

Interesting book: Hope in the Face of Cancer or If Only I Could Quit

Locked in the Cabinet

Author: Robert B Reich

Robert Reich's unique perspective as Secretary of Labor, presidential advisor, and long-running observer of American economics and politics makes this bestselling memoir an intimate, funny, and sobering portrait of government at its highest levels, an unflinching document of expedience and courage, rampant cynicism and genuine (although often wavering) idealism. In Locked in the Cabinet, Reich debunks and demystifies Washington as never before. He honors the much-maligned civil servants who make government work and skewers the politicians who often bring it to a halt. He tells us what he and Bill Clinton dreamed of achieving and why some of those dreams never came true.

Library Journal

If you've ever wondered what it's like to be in a powerful position in government, author Reich's memoirs of his stint as President Clinton's Labor Secretary (1992-96) is a good place to start. Known as the "conscience" of the Clinton administration, Reich reveals a life inside the loop that is a funny, enlightening personal account of his efforts to put his boomer ideals into practice. These journal entries deal with the relentless pressure from all sides about pending legislation, ridiculous interactions with elected officials and lobbyists, advice to the President on wage and labor issues, and interactions with such powerful officials as Alan Greenspan, Newt Gingrich, and, of course, his 20-year pal, Bill Clinton. Reich's experience as a writer (e.g., The Work of Nations, Vintage, 1992), not a laborer, posed peculiar difficulties in building relationships with labor leaders. From striking baseball players to union bosses to shameless politicians, Reich has had to deal with them all in his strong commitment to Clinton's goals while struggling to maintain family balance, classifying him as one of the more successful labor leaders in history. This is essential for larger public libraries in metropolitan areas with heavy interest in memoirs of insider politicos.Dale Farris, Groves, Tex.

Political Fictions or Invasion

2009-01-18T13:07:00.000-08:00

Political Fictions

Author: Joan Didion

In 1988, Joan Didion began looking at the American political process for The New York Review of Books. What she found was not a mechanism that offered the nation’s citizens a voice in its affairs but one designed by—and for—“that handful of insiders who invent, year in and year out, the narrative of public life.” The eight pieces collected here from The New York Review build, one on the other, to a stunning whole, a portrait of the American political landscape that tells us, devastatingly, how we got where we are today.

In Political Fictions, tracing the dreamwork that was already clear at the time of the first Bush ascendance in 1988, Didion covers the ways in which the continuing and polarizing nostalgia for an imagined America led to the entrenchment of a small percentage of the electorate as the nation’s deciding political force, the ways in which the two major political parties have worked to narrow the electorate to this manageable element, the readiness with which the media collaborated in this process, and, finally and at length, how this mindset led inexorably over the past dozen years to the crisis that was the 2000 election. In this book Didion cuts to the core of the deceptions and deflections to explain and illuminate what came to be called “the disconnect”—and to reveal a political class increasingly intolerant of the nation that sustains it.

Joan Didion’s profound understanding of America’s political and cultural terrain, her sense of historical irony, and the play of her imagination make Political Fictions a disturbing and brilliant tour de force.

Book Magazine

Though hardly unpredictable, the title Political Fictions does not quite do justice to Joan Didion's biting new collection of essays. After all, for decades now, Didion has been warning us about the seductions of storytelling—about the way collective myths determine our fates and misshape our lives. No surprise, then, that when Didion turns to political subjects, she should find another example of the issue. The essays collected in this volume, all of which debuted in The New York Review of Books between 1988 and 2000, are the first of Didion's work to focus on the competitive arena of electoral politics. They track the path of the nation's political culture, from Michael Dukakis' humiliation at the hands of George Bush, through Bill Clinton's impeachment trial, through the soporific rhetoric and bitter struggles of the 2000 presidential campaign. In every scene, Didion discovers signs of a single, fundamental problem: "The political process ... [does] not reflect but increasingly ... [proceeds] from a series of fables about American experience." Democracy, as Didion sees it, is not a system of majority rule or an expression of voter choice; it is a cheap spectacle acted out by the craven officials and smug journalists of Washington's "political class."

The observation is not entirely new. Back in the 1920s, in his influential polemic Public Opinion, Walter Lippman first pointed out that the citizens of mass democracies were less political actors than the acted upon. They did not intelligently direct their public servants; they were the deluded creatures of media manipulation. Like many other subsequent critics, Didion echoes Lippman's argument and updatesit by showing how Lippman's case has become more persuasive with the dominance of television and the triumph of the focus group. But the lesson Didion draws from this situation—and the feature that lends her book its incandescent power—is the direct reverse of her predecessor's. Lippman claimed that the overwhelming complexity of modern society made ordinary voters credulous and inept; the nation's affairs would have to be directed, therefore, by a professional elite. Didion is outraged by that notion. That Lippman's predictions seem to have come to pass, that masses of citizens can't be bothered to vote—and that still larger numbers seem to feel insensibly numbed by politics-as-usual—inspires Didion to prophetic rage. "Half the nation's citizens," she thunders, have "only a vassal relationship to the government under which they [live]." The real subject of these pieces, in other words, appears in one of the book's two essays on the Clinton scandal: "disenfranchising America."

In truth, Didion's moral disquiet has always been part of the power of her writing. While her new-journalistic contemporaries were enthusing over the giddy variety of American life during the '60s and '70s, Didion's essays turned time and again to portents that matters were going awry. There were always hints of moral panic beneath the elegantly chiseled surface of her prose, a feeling that America seemed headed down some increasingly dark and uncontrollable paths. Now, turning from the nooks and crannies of ordinary life on which her essays once focused to cast her attention to Washington, Didion lets her fury out of the bag. The essays in Political Fictions grow increasingly angry as the book moves along. They begin, with the 1988 presidential campaign, in a tone of weary knowingness, as Didion laments the tranquilizing of political life beneath "the narcosis of the [media] event." By the time she reaches the Clinton scandal, they have turned into barely restrained rage.

The shocking title of Didion's essay on the media coverage of that event, "Vichy Washington," sums up the core of her thinking and some of the risks of the passion she brings to it. Throughout Political Fictions, Didion rides particularly hard on political journalists. They have compromised their special mission by falling beneath the spell of the Capitol, she argues, and her essays dissect their grandstanding with pitiless, and often breathtaking, intelligence. Yet convincing as her case may be, there is surely something wrong in the suggestion that the nation's mediacrats are not just self-serving or misguided but collaborators with an occupying power. Challenging one set of political fables, Didion threatens to replace them with a rather melodramatic narrative of her own.

Indeed, so forceful is Didion's polemic that it's easy to forget that a number of her assertions are dubious. That the nation's voters are longing for candidates who will care more about issues than "character," that citizens who don't vote have become "vassals" of a parasitic elite, that electoral politics are driven by "fictions" and have little to do with genuine conflicts of interest and belief—these are all questionable notions, and they bear the hallmarks of their own kind of fable. Such is the anger and beauty of Didion's work, though, that while one reads, it is hard not to nod one's head in assent.
—Sean McCann

Publishers Weekly

Eight essays by noted novelist and nonfiction writer Didion (The Last Thing He Wanted, etc.), many originally published either in whole or in part in the New York Review of Books, cover politics from 1988 through the 2000 election. At her best, Didion is provocative, persuasive and highly entertaining. She presents a fresh perspective on the oft-analyzed Reagan and Clinton presidencies, especially the Lewinsky scandal. As the title implies, her focus is how the press, think tanks, political strategists and opinion makers conspire to create stories that reflect their biases and serve their own self-interest. Didion's willingness to skewer nearly everyone is one of the pleasures of the book. The bestsellers of Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward, according to Didion, "are books in which measurable cerebral activity is virtually absent." Cokie Roberts, along with the rest of the Washington press corps, is depicted as a whining moralist aghast at the public's failure to grasp the message in the Clinton-Lewinsky story, which is, as Didion quotes Roberts, "that people who act immorally and lie get punished." Another pleasure is Didion's forthrightness. She tackles directly Vice President Gore's decision to run away from Clinton during the 2000 election. She is unafraid to closely examine the increase in religious rhetoric in American politics. On that topic, many Americans will find disturbing Didion's analysis of the relationship between President Bush's compassionate conservatism, faith-based initiatives and evangelical Christianity. This book will offend many Democrats, particularly of the Democratic Leadership Council persuasion, and many more Republicans, but it is members of the presswho fare most poorly. To Didion, they are purveyors of fables of their own making, or worse, fables conceived by political strategists with designs on votes, not news. (Sept. 18) ~ Forecast: Higher-brow readers who missed Didion's pieces in the New York Review of Books will grab this, with its first printing of 40,000. She will do publicity in N.Y., L.A., and D.C., and national media including NPR, Charlie Rose and C-Span. This is a selection of Reader's Subscription Book Club. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

In this collection of pieces reprinted from the New York Review of Books, Didion reveals her discovery that much of what goes on in American political life is gasp! inauthentic, designed for media propagation. Moreover, a small political and media elite dominates the political discussion, excluding working-class Americans (with whom Didion laughably identifies herself) from any meaningful role (those pesky elections notwithstanding). These grumpy, ephemeral essays, in turn trivial and tediously repetitious, contain single sentences that run nine lines and many others that are shorter but still opaque. Didion fans interested in her explanation of Newt Gingrich's personal unpopularity or her analysis of Ken Starr's obsession with Clinton can hunt up these exegeses in the old issues of the Review. For Didion fans only; not recommended. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 5/1/01.] Cynthia Harrison, George Washington Univ., Washington, DC Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Blindingly brilliant-and sometimes just blind-pieces covering a dozen years (1988-2000) of American politics, all originally published in The New York Review of Books. Primarily, these essays reflect the always-scintillating Didion's preoccupation with "the process," or "the traditional ways in which power is exchanged and the status quo maintained." Participants in the process-candidates, political consultants, activists, and commentators-form an echo chamber of conventional wisdom. Unlike other observers, Didion holds no interest in dissecting issues, reporting behind the scenes, or sending up electoral bad taste with Menckenesque glee. Instead, as a novelist and screenwriter, she is fascinated by the "narrative" that political insiders create to explain and often distort events. This fixation simultaneously sharpens and narrows her frame of reference. Her essay "The West Wing of Oz" vibrates with cynical amusement over how the Reagan and Bush I administrations used sleight-of-hand to distract attention from foreign-policy disasters such as Iran-contra. Democrats, she charges, have abandoned their traditional low-income base in an attempt to corral a shrinking electoral center. Often, she files her subjects with astonishing thoroughness. Thus, Newt Gingrich emerges as a captive of management and motivational mantras; Bill Clinton as the son of a traveling salesman who understands "how the deal gets done"; and Bob Woodward as an author of bestsellers "in which measurable cerebral activity is virtually absent." Yet Didion explains nothing about the massive demographic and social changes underlying the two parties' frantic scramble for the middle; and she sometimes uses high-concepttitles that distort as much as the "narratives" she decries (e.g., "Political Pornography" for Woodward's books, or "Vichy Washington" for the Capitol elite's disgust with Clinton at the height of the Lewinsky scandal). Didion's vision is like a searchlight that throws light into dark corners while leaving other areas inexplicably unilluminated. First printing of 40,000; Reader's Subscription Book Club selection

Invasion: How America Still Welcomes Terrorists, Criminals, and Other Foreign Menaces to Our Shores

Author: Michelle Malkin

Michelle Malkin shows how every component of our immigration system failed leading up to the September 11 terrorist attacks. Ready or not, Invasion tells the truth about the dangers we face within our own borders.

A Falling off the Edge or Sun Tzus Art of War Spirituality for Conflict

2009-01-18T01:54:00.000-08:00

A Falling off the Edge: Travels Through the Dark Heart of Globalization

Author: Alex Perry

If the world is flat, as the prophets of globalization proclaim, then what happens on the underside? Alex Perry answers with this eye-opening journey through the planet's most dangerous hotspots

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, international corporations, governments and Western pundits have embraced the idea of a global village: a shrinking, booming world in which everyone benefits. But what if the coming boom is an explosion?

Alex Perry, award-winning TIME correspondent, travels from the South China Sea to the highlands of Afghanistan to the Sahara—and observes globalization on the ground, instead of from the executive suite.

Perry takes readers to Shenzen, China's boom city where sweatshops pay under-age workers less than $4 a day; and to Bombay, where the gap between rich and poor means million-dollar apartments overlook million-people slums. He shares a beer with Southeast Asian pirates who prey on the world's busiest shipping artery. And he puts us in the middle of a firefight between American Special Forces and the Taliban.

He shows that for every winner in our brave new world, there are tens of thousands of losers. And be they Chinese army veterans, Indian Maoist rebels or the Somali branch of al Qaeda, they are very, very angry.

Falling Off the Edge is a tour de force of frontline reporting, which reveals with alarming clarity that globalization, far from a planetary panacea, starts wars.

Publishers Weekly

Time 's Africa bureau chief, Perry belongs to a cadre of journalists who thrive in the thick of a war zone; he admits that his editor once commented that "someone had died in the opening paragraph of every story I had written." Because he's seen so much, the book would have hit the mark had he fully probed the stories of his subjects, among them Indonesian pirates, Bombay's vacuous elite and a Muslim Indian terrorist who "predicts a future of relentless violence." Unfortunately, his book is poorly organized and dizzyingly disjointed; he dissects the prodigious growth of Asian cities, jets north to comment on the reign of the Nepali king and flies south to interview a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber. The stories don't build to any concrete conclusion, individually or collectively. Perry is sincere but his analysis is simplistic; he dismisses the opinions of academics who haven't first traveled extensively in Asia and Africa and concludes China will "make it" because China's central government "gets it" while India "looks a lot shakier." Perry's firsthand experience provides one necessary piece but not enough of the puzzle to construct an accurate picture of the consequences of globalization. (Oct.)

Sarah Statz Cords - Library Journal

Time magazine's Africa bureau chief, Perry opens with a story of the Stone Age Jarawa tribe and their encounters with modern society in 1997. It's an arresting but somewhat jarring start that sets the rather uneven tone of the book. Perry has covered his share of conflicts and has a journalist's eye for telling details. In four different sections, he investigates global hotspots, details conflicts resulting from resource competition and differing worldviews, describes how confusing it can be to determine who is really benefiting from globalization, and questions whether war will always be a part of the human experience, regardless (or because) of shifting borders. Each chapter offers firsthand reports from frontiers of global competition, including Shenzhen (China), Bombay, Nepal, Kenya, and Karbala (Iraq). The book's downfall is that it proceeds from location to location with very little cohesiveness, and Perry can't quite seem to decide whether his subject is business, politics, society, or war. Perhaps that is the point, but it still makes for disjointed reading. Larger public libraries may consider it to round out their international affairs collections; otherwise, not recommended.

Kirkus Reviews

Globalization sounds good in theory but proves disastrous in practice, Time Africa bureau chief Perry demonstrates. Covering hot spots from South Asia to South Africa, the author reports some alarming developments since 9/11. Globalization-that is, a cost-directed consolidation of capital, labor and markets that Perry characterizes as "global governance without global government"-tends to enrich the few and impoverish the many, accelerating a worldwide sense of injustice and resentment. Despite buoyant growth in such developing nations as China and India, real income of the poorest ten percent is falling, exacerbated by the fact that population growth often outstrips economic growth. The explosion of crime, worsening of pollution, growing AIDS populations, spread of Islamic fundamentalism and war all have roots in the globalization frenzy, the author systematically reveals. In China, for example, the city of Shenzhen seems to be booming, exhibiting "the same energy, the same-get ahead ethos and the same towering respect for a buck" as nearby Hong Kong. But it's "an unregulated free-for-all . . . Tijuana, with Chinese characteristics," writes Perry. Sweatshops operate with impunity, and there's a brisk trade in illegal wares of every sort, including endangered species served as restaurant food. In India, "offshoring" (moving labor West to East) is not proving to be the country's panacea; there is no middle class, infrastructure or education to speak of, and while a handful get richer, 900 million Indians still earn $2 per day or less. The author traces the origins of several key wars, such as those in Nigeria and Darfur, in terms of spreading global misery, some of it due to climate changedirectly linked to Western pollution. Maoists in Nepal, Naxals in India and Tamils in Sri Lanka-not to mention al-Qaeda-all target the instruments of modern-day globalization. Perry, to his great credit, is on the beat, scratching under surfaces and helping to clear away the obfuscation around this important issue. A critical look at the myths and national delusions surrounding globalization. Agent: Howard Yoon/Gail Ross Literary Agency

Contents Prologue....................1
PART I - INCOMING 1 Boom, then Bang....................9
2 Speed Bumps in Shenzhen....................00
3 Waking Up in Bombay....................00
PART II - FIVE FIGHTS 4 Crime Wars....................000
5 Oil and Water....................000
6 The New Left Revolution....................000
7 Tribes, and the Cult of the Martyr....................000
8 Fire-starters....................000
PART III - FOG 9 First Casualty....................000
10 The Myth of Asia....................000
11 Leadership....................000
PART IV - POST MORTEM 12 Is War Good?....................000
Endnotes....................000
Acknowledgements....................000

Books about: Hysterectomy Hoax or 100 Questions and Answers about Myeloma

Sun Tzu's Art of War--Spirituality for Conflict: Annotated and Explained

Author: Sun Tzu

Written 2,500 years ago by Chinese general Sun Tzu, The Art of War is a poetic and potent treatise on military strategy still in use in war colleges around the world. Yet its principles transcend warfare and have practical applications to all the conflicts and crises we face in our lives-in our workplaces, our families, even within ourselves.

Thomas Huynh guides you through Sun Tzu's masterwork, highlighting principles that encourage a perceptive and spiritual approach to conflict, enabling you to: Prevent conflicts before they arise, Peacefully and quickly resolve conflicts when they do arise, Act with courage, intelligence and benevolence in adversarial situations, Convert potential enemies into friends, Control your emotions before they control you.

Now you can experience the effectiveness of Sun Tzu's teachings even if you have no previous knowledge of The Art of War. Insightful yet unobtrusive facing-page commentary explains the subtleties of the text, allowing you to unlock the power of its teachings and help prevent and resolve the conflicts in your own life.

Graham Christian Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information - School Library Journal

In Japan and China, certain kinds of athletic and military practices are absolutely continuous with self-knowledge and spiritual awareness. No rediscovered classic has enjoyed greater currency than Sun Tzu's Art of War, which has been repackaged as a kind of ancient business manual. Skylight Paths has restored Sun's place among spiritual classics of the East with this fresh, new, annotated translation of a timely and perennially popular classic for a nonscholarly audience.

A Chicago Firehouse or To the Scaffold

2009-01-17T13:42:00.000-08:00

A Chicago Firehouse: Stories of Wrigleyville's Engine 78 (Voices of America Series)

Author: Karen Krus

From its humble beginnings in 1884 as a one-story frame building with one bay to house Hose Company 4 and its team of horses, Engine Company 78 has been the firefighting sentinel at the end of Waveland Avenue, sitting in the shadow of Wrigley Field. Using vintage photographs and moving stories from firefighters themselves, Karen Kruse captures the spirit and heroism of this historic Chicago landmark.

Captain Robert F. Kruse served the Chicago Fire Department for 30 years, half of those at Wrigleyville's Engine 78. Growing up within the tight-knit firefighting community, Ms. Kruse records the dramatic and touching stories from her father's and his peers' experiences, and combines them in this volume exploring the unique history of Lakeview's firehouse, including a foreword by Mike Ditka and preface by Fire Commissioner James Joyce. With details about little known historic districts and a brief guide to Chicago's cemeteries and their relations to firefighters, A Chicago Firehouse: Stories of Wrigleyville's Engine 78 relays in first-hand accounts some of Chicago's most fiery tragedies, the brave men who battled them, and the diversity of the neighborhood that housed them.

New interesting textbook: Menu Solutions or Food Service Management by Checklist

To the Scaffold: The Life of Marie Antoinette

Author: Carolly Erickson

One of history's most misunderstood figures, Marie Antoinette represents the extravagance and the decadence of pre-Revolution France. Yet there was an innocence about Antoinette, thrust as a child into the chillingly formal French court.

Married to the maladroit, ill-mannered Dauphin, Antoinette found pleasure in costly entertainments and garments. She spent lavishly while her overtaxed and increasingly hostile subjects blamed her for France's plight. In time Antoinette matured into a courageous Queen, and when their enemies finally closed in, Antoinette followed her inept husband to the guillotine in one last act of bravery.

In To the Scaffold, Carolly Erickson provides an estimation of a lost Queen that is psychologically acute, richly detailed, and deeply moving.

Publishers Weekly

In this smoothly written biography, Erickson contends that Marie Antoinette had only one extramarital love, and depicts her as courageous and dignified at her execution. (June)

Library Journal

``In the cemetery of the Madeleine, gravediggers cursed the cold and prepared a hole in the earth to receive the frail remains of another prisoner, as a harsh autumn wind blew up around the gravestones and bent the branches of the leafless trees.'' With these words, popular biographer Erickson ( Bonnie Prince Charlie, LJ 12/88) brings to a close the story begun on a cold birthday almost 38 years earlier of the tragic French queen. Though this sympathetic account would appear to add little new to historical record or interpretation, Erickson's descriptive writing talents will insure a readership for this book. This is the author's first French subject. Perhaps her next biographical study should be of a person less studied than the tragic queen.-- William C. McCully, Park Ridge P.L., Ill.

School Library Journal

YA-- Much maligned in her lifetime, Marie Antoinette is likewise much misunderstood by history, which portrays her as a vain, selfish, and insensitive woman of limited intellect. Erickson attempts to right the wrongs and correct the image of this queen in an easily read biography that avoids both academic cant and ``psychohistorical'' pretension. Tracing Marie Antoinette from her childhood among her 13 brothers and sisters at the court of her legendary mother, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, the author portrays her not as the selfish queen of lore but as a reasonably intelligent, opinionated woman of decidedly conservative bent whose ultimate ``crime,'' for which she paid with her life, was having the wrong title in the wrong place at the wrong time. To the Scaffold will be enjoyed by students of European and French history. --Roberta Lisker, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA

Spoiling for a Fight or A Hundred and One Days

2009-01-17T03:29:00.000-08:00

Spoiling for a Fight: The Rise of Eliot Spitzer

Author: Brooke A Masters

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A Hundred and One Days

Author: Asne Seierstad

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Last Bridge to Nowhere or Entertaining at the White House with Nancy Reagan

2009-01-16T14:17:00.000-08:00

Last Bridge to Nowhere: FBI Confidential Source Account of Alaska's Political Corruption Scandal

Author: Frank Prewitt

The Department of Justice is entering its sixth year investigating and prosecuting one of the biggest cases of political corruption in U.S. history. At issue is the high stakes game of taxing and developing an Alaska gas pipeline and the toxic slick of political corruption that Sarah Palin faced. Wired for light and sound, the author embarks on an incredible journey into the undercover world of FBI surveillance and the corroding influence of special interest, money and power.

Last Bridge To Nowhere is a disturbingly humorous tale that exposes the underside of power politics, offering thoughtful observations on character, responsibility and public trust. But the pages turn more like a season special of Desperate Housewives Go To Washington: political intrigue and provocative crime, tossed and served in a delicious wrap of irreverence.

You'll laugh, you may even cry, but you don't want to miss this book.

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Entertaining at the White House with Nancy Reagan

Author: Peter Schifando

What do you serve the Sultan of Oman and his enormous entourage for dinner? Who should sit next to a foreign dignitary who doesn't speak a word of English? Why is it that there is always less silverware at the end of a state dinner than you had when the night began?

Former First Lady Nancy Reagan answers these questions and more as she provides a rare and intimately personal look at life as a White House hostess. Mrs. Reagan embraced this role with a unique energy and joie de vivre rare among her predecessors, and she has been waiting for the right moment in history to share her stories. From tales of her first event as a White House hostess (the President's surprise 70th birthday party, which was mistakenly announced by Tom Brokaw on Today that very morning), to the state dinner at which Mikhail Gorbachev refused to wear a tuxedo, to John Travolta's infamous dance with Princess Diana, Mrs. Reagan has seen it all. She will write the book's foreword, and world-renowned interior designers Peter Schifando and Jonathan Joseph have worked closely with her to create the ultimate insider's guide to these fantastic soirees.

Chock full of personal anecdotes and glorious photographs from the former First Lady's private collection, the Ronald Reagan Library, and the White House Historical Society, as well as historical tidbits, Entertaining at the White House with Nancy Reagan is the definitive source on classic formal entertaining.

Take This Job and Ship It or Lincoln and the Court

2009-01-14T19:01:00.000-08:00

Take This Job and Ship It: How Corporate Greed and Brain-Dead Politics Are Selling Out America

Author: Byron L Dorgan

As big companies move their jobs to China, sell their products through the Cayman Islands to avoid taxes, they undermine American workers and threaten our future.

For some commentators, they world may seem "flat," but Senator Byron L. Dorgan knows better. With both barrels blazing, the senator from North Dakota contends in this forceful and provocative book that while exporting jobs may be good for the giant corporations, it is a disaster for America as a whole.

Trade can't be "free" when our small businesses and working people are expected to compete with exploited workers and slave labor in third-world nations that care little about the conditions in their factories and not at all about the pollution they generate.

Our trade deficit now increases by $2 billion a day, but pharmaceutical companies have such influence in Washington that Medicare, by current law, is not allowed to negotiate lower drug prices. We import oil on an ever-increasing scale, putting ourselves into debt with the Saudis, the Kuwaitis, and other Middle Eastern nations; with their windfall profits, they continue to buy American assets. China's booming economy and abundance of cheap labor is threatening our economic survival as America's manufacturing base is dismantled.

We have mortgaged our fortunes, our principles, and our way of life.

With biting wit and an unerring moral compass, Dorgan weaves colorful stories about the dancing grapes from Fruit of the Loom underwear, Fig Newton's escape to Mexico, the disappearance of the flag decal from Huffy bicycles, and how a trade agreement sent exotic dancers to Canada. He exposes the absurdity of our global-trade policies, and isn't afraid to name names.

Dorgan pulls no punches and, most important, he offers a refreshing, bold strategy for putting our country back on track. America can once again be a booming exporter as well as a good trading partner with the whole world, but to mindlessly cheer on the loss of more than 3 million jobs (and that's only the beginning) is just plain folly. In the long run, the United States cannot help the rest of the world by impoverishing its own people and bankrupting its own economy. With a little courage and some original thinking, the negative trade balance can be slowed, even stopped and reversed.

Senator Dorgan's is a message that must be heard -- before it's too late.

About the Author
SENATOR BYRON L. DORGAN has served for twenty-four years in the U.S. Congress. He spent twelve years in the U.S. House of Representatives and served on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, and is now serving his third term in the Senate.

Elected to the Senate in 1992, he has been a member of the Democratic leadership for ten years. He has served as the Assistant Democratic Floor Leader and is currently the chairman of the Democratic Policy Committee. He has become one of America's leading voices calling for a change in the economic and trade policies that have resulted in shipping American jobs overseas, under-cutting our farmers and workers, and creating a mountain of trade debt that threatens our country's future.

He lives in Bismarck, North Dakota, and in McLean, Virginia, when the Senate is in session. He is married to Kimberly Dorgan and has four children -- Scott, Brendon, Haley and Shelly (deceased).

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Lincoln and the Court

Author: Brian McGinty

In a meticulously researched and engagingly written narrative, Brian McGinty rescues the story of Abraham Lincoln and the Supreme Court from long and undeserved neglect, recounting the compelling history of the Civil War president's relations with the nation's highest tribunal and the role it played in resolving the agonizing issues raised by the conflict.

Lincoln was, more than any other president in the nation's history, a "lawyerly" president, the veteran of thousands of courtroom battles, where victories were won, not by raw strength or superior numbers, but by appeals to reason, citations of precedent, and invocations of justice. He brought his nearly twenty-five years of experience as a practicing lawyer to bear on his presidential duties to nominate Supreme Court justices, preside over a major reorganization of the federal court system, and respond to Supreme Court decisions—some of which gravely threatened the Union cause.

The Civil War was, on one level, a struggle between competing visions of constitutional law, represented on the one side by Lincoln's insistence that the United States was a permanent Union of one people united by a "supreme law," and on the other by Jefferson Davis's argument that the United States was a compact of sovereign states whose legal ties could be dissolved at any time and for any reason, subject only to the judgment of the dissolving states that the cause for dissolution was sufficient. Alternately opposed and supported by the justices of the Supreme Court, Lincoln steered the war-torn nation on a sometimes uncertain, but ultimately triumphant, path to victory, saving the Union, freeing the slaves, and preserving theConstitution for future generations.

Publishers Weekly

McGinty (The Oatman Massacre: A Tale of Desert Captivity and Survival) offers a lucid review of the major Civil War Supreme Court cases. The Civil War, as McGinty explains, was a struggle over constitutional interpretation: did Lincoln have the constitutional authority to do whatever he thought necessary to compel seceding states back to the Union? He thought so, but Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney sometimes stood in his way. The first major clash was over Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus, which Taney declared unconstitutional in the 1861 Merryman case. In 1862 came another battle, the Prize cases, regarding the constitutionality of Lincoln's declaring a blockade of Confederate ports. The Court also heard cases about whether a Union citizen could criticize a president during wartime and whether the Treasury Department could regulate trade between a Union state and the Confederacy. McGinty says that the Court "could have struck down the president's major war measures" but "chose not to do so." The author covers some of the same territory as James Simon's 2006 Lincoln and Chief Justice Taney, and at times one wishes for more rigorous, subtle analysis of the meaning of the Court's role in the Civil War. Still, McGinty's engaging account, which treats a topic with obvious parallels to the present, will delight history buffs. 16 b&w illus. (Feb.)

Charles Lane - Washington Post

[A] fascinating book...The issue of presidential power in wartime is as fresh as today's headlines.

Margaret Heilbrun - Library Journal

It's not easy to find Lincoln territory where good, open grazing land remains, but McGinty has found it. Combining expertise as an attorney and historian with a style that welcomes readers, he gives us Lincoln the lawyer-president who worked with a Supreme Court to which he ultimately appointed five members. The Civil War brought forth numerous legal conflicts, and McGinty shows that the personalities and issues involved were as vital and fascinating as those we are more familiar with on the military side. Highly recommended.

School Library Journal

Introduction     1
A Solemn Oath     12
Dred Scott     38
First Blood     65
Judges and Circuits     92
The Prizes     118
The Boom of Cannon     176
The Old Lion     193
A New Chief     212
A Law for Rulers and People     238
The Union Is Unbroken     265
History in Marble     292
Afterword: The Legacy     300
Notes     319
Bibliography     350
Acknowledgments     364
Index     365

Andrew Jackson or The Enduring Debate

2009-01-14T06:48:00.000-08:00

Andrew Jackson: [The American Presidents Series]

Author: Sean Wilentz

The towering figure who remade American politics—the champion of the ordinary citizen and the scourge of entrenched privilege

The Founding Fathers espoused a republican government, but they were distrustful of the common people, having designed a constitutional system that would temper popular passions. But as the revolutionary generation passed from the scene in the 1820s, a new movement, based on the principle of broader democracy, gathered force and united behind Andrew Jackson, the charismatic general who had defeated the British at New Orleans and who embodied the hopes of ordinary Americans. Raising his voice against the artificial inequalities fostered by birth, station, monied power, and political privilege, Jackson brought American politics into a new age.
Sean Wilentz, one of America’s leading historians of the nineteenth century, recounts the fiery career of this larger-than-life figure, a man whose high ideals were matched in equal measure by his failures and moral blind spots, a man who is remembered for the accomplishments of his eight years in office and for the bitter enemies he made. It was in Jackson’s time that the great conflicts of American politics—urban versus rural, federal versus state, free versus slave—crystallized, and Jackson was not shy about taking a vigorous stand. It was under Jackson that modern American politics began, and his legacy continues to inform our debates to the present day.

Publishers Weekly

In the latest installment of the American Presidents series edited by Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Princeton historian Wilentz shows that our complicated seventh president was a central figure in the development of American democracy. Wilentz gives Jackson's early years their due, discussing his storied military accomplishments, especially in routing the British in the War of 1812, and rehearsing the central crises of Jackson's presidential administration-South Carolina's nullification of the protective tariff and his own battle against the Bank of the United States. But Wilentz's most significant interpretations concern Indian policy and slavery. With constitutional and security concerns, Jackson's support for removal of Indians from their lands, says Wilentz, was not "overtly malevolent," but was nonetheless "ruinous" for Indians. Even more strongly, Wilentz condemns the "self-regarding sanctimony of posterity" in judging Jackson insufficiently antislavery; Jackson's main aim, he says, was not to promote slavery, but to keep the divisive issue out of national politics. Wilentz (The Rise of American Democracy) also astutely reads the Eaton affair-a scandal that erupted early in Jackson's presidency, over the wife of one of his cabinet members-as evidence that, then as now, parlor politics and partisan politics often intersected. It is rare that historians manage both Wilentz's deep interpretation and lively narrative. Agent, the Wylie Agency. (Jan. 2) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

In this concise and very readable history of Andrew Jackson's controversial presidency, Wilentz (history, Princeton Univ.; The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln) offers a balanced viewpoint. During his time in office (1829-37), Jackson took a stand on several contentious issues, among them the treatment of native Americans (he supported states' rights in relocating them to the west) and the Bank of the United States (he vetoed its charter). To the author, Jackson's decisions stemmed from his belief in the democratic principle of majority will and in fighting for the lower classes against the privileged. Yes, Jackson was prone to making mistakes owing to honor and pride, but Wilentz believes that he remained true to his ideals. Because of the book's brevity and focus, we miss out on Jackson's charisma (he was the most popular man of his time) and era. For those elements, readers will have to turn to H.W. Brands's Andrew Jackson: His Life & Times or Robert Remini's The Life of Andrew Jackson. Donald B. Cole's The Presidency of Andrew Jackson, provides scholars with more details, but Cole's message does not focus so much on Jackson's own drive for democracy. Wilentz's book is a great first read for students and general readers because of its affordability, new assessments, and writing style. Recommended for public and academic libraries.-Bryan Craig, Ursuline Coll., Pepper Pike, OH Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Old Hickory was a man of actions, not ideas-but a better president than past historians have held. Few politicians these days, even of a demagogic bent, go out of their way to claim descent along Jacksonian lines, and for good reason: The conservatives of Jackson's time reviled him as "an American Caesar who had stirred the blockhead masses, seized power, and installed a new despotism"; the liberals of the day and their intellectual progeny reviled Jackson for his anti-abolitionism and his conduct of genocidal campaigns against southeastern Indian peoples. Wilentz (The Rise of American Democracy, 2005, etc.) allows the inutility of using modern labels to categorize political views of the past, and in all events, Jackson is hard to pin down. Wilentz portrays Jackson as a populist who was fonder of Jeffersonian movement than of Federalist stability, who prized egalitarianism over privilege and who personified what other historians have called the Age of Democratic Revolution, which began with the American and French experiments and ended with 1848. He "dedicated his presidency to vindicating and expanding [the prospect that America could be the world's best hope] by ridding the nation of a recrudescent corrupt privilege that he believed was killing it," and he was particularly committed to defeating the entrenched wealthy in their own temples-namely, the new banks. Jacksonian monetary policy, always a confusing topic, is rendered fairly lucidly here, though Wilentz plays against tough odds when he has to condense the controversies over hard money versus soft and the effects of international debt on the economy of the early republic into only a few paragraphs. In the end, Wilentz does asolid job of explaining the contributions of the Jackson presidency-and notes that, despite Jackson's expansionist reputation, during his eight years in office, "Andrew Jackson did not add an inch of soil to the American dominion."A worthy introduction to the Age of Jackson, now receiving increased attention from historians.

Book about: Competing for Advantage or Brave New War

The Enduring Debate: Classic and Contemporary Readings in American Politics

Author: David T Canon

The most comprehensive reader available for courses in American government, The Enduring Debate, Fourth Edition, balances classic and contemporary selections from a variety of scholarly and popular sources. In addition, each chapter presents at least two readings in debate-style format, encouraging students to read critically and to explore the different sides of an issue.

University of California, Irvine - Mark P. Petracca

The best selection yet of readings necessary for an introduction to American politics and highly appropriate for undergraduates.

Bloomsburg University - Gloria T. Cohen-Dion

This is an excellent book; presenting the issues before the "debate" from several different perspectives is a fine idea.

Competing for Advantage or Brave New War

2009-01-13T19:16:00.000-08:00

Competing for Advantage

Author: Robert E Hoskisson

Discover what it takes to create a sustainable competitive advantage in management and business today with this straightforward, powerful strategic management resources. COMPETING FOR ADVANTAGE, 2E focuses specifically on the issues most important to today's current or future practitioner. The book details the processes and tools you need to better understand and effectively contribute to your organization's strategic management process. Applied examples illustrate the latest thinking, practices, and research in strategic management today with in-depth discussions that examine critical topics such as strategic leadership and corporate governance. Access to relevant cases, a focus on the emerging issues such as ethics, and an emphasis on technology throughout prepare you for success in the fast-paced, ever-changing global economy in which today's firms compete.

Brave New War: The Next Stage of Terrorism and the End of Globalization

Author: James Fallows

"For my money, John Robb, a former Air Force officer and tech guru, is the futurists' futurist."
—Slate

War in the twenty-first century will be very different from what we've come to expect. Terrorism and guerrilla warfare are rapidly evolving to allow nonstate networks to challenge the structure and order of nation-states. It is a change on par with the rise of the Internet and China, and will dramatically change how you and your kids will view security.

In Brave New War, the counterterrorism expert John Robb reveals how the same technology that has enabled globalization also allows terrorists and criminals to join forces against larger adversaries with relative ease and to carry out small, inexpensive actions—like sabotaging an oil pipeline—that will generate a huge return. He shows how taking steps to combat the shutdown of the world's oil, high-tech, and financial markets could cost us the thing we've come to value the most—worldwide economic and cultural integration—and the crucial steps we must take now to safeguard our systems and ourselves against this new method of warfare.

Foreword by James Fallows.

Preface.

Part I. THE FUTURE OF WAR IS NOW.

1 The Superempowered Competition.

2 Disorder on the Doorstep.

3 A New Strategic Weapon.

Part II. GLOBAL GUERRILLAS.

4 The Long Tail of Warfare Emerges.

5 Systems Disruption.

6 Open-Source Warfare.

Part III. HOW GLOBALIZATION WILL PUT AN END TO GLOBALIZATION.

7 Guerrilla Entrepreneurs.

8 Rethinking Security.

9 A Brittle Security Breakdown.

Notes.

Further Reading.

Index.

Homeland Security or Public Policymaking

2009-01-13T09:02:00.000-08:00

Homeland Security: A Complete Guide To Understanding, Preventing, And Surviving Terrorism

Author: Mark Sauter

Homeland Security: A Complete Guide to Understanding, Preventing and Surviving Terrorism is the authoritative textbook on one of the most important topics facing our nation. From complex policy issues to common terrorist tactics, Homeland Security provides a practical foundation for professionals, students, and concerned citizens alike. Designed for readers who need to understand both the “big picture” and their own roles in the war against terror, the book provides a clear, comprehensive and fascinating overview of an increasingly complex and misunderstood topic. This indispensable reference, filled with fascinating real-life examples and tips, covers the basics of homeland security such as: national strategies and principles; federal, state and local roles; terrorist history and tactics; cyber-terrorism; business preparedness; critical infrastructure protection; weapons of mass destruction; and key policy issues. Perfect for academic and training classrooms, each chapter includes an overview, learning objectives, source document, discussion topic, summary, and quiz.

Media Reviews: "Homeland Security is much more than a textbook. It is an indispensable reference resource for those seeking to understand how terrorists operate and the structures and mechanisms that have been developed to respond to the magnitude of the terrorist threats confronting us" Washington Times, "Securing America" By Joshua Sinai, August 2, 2005 >Published

Mark Sauter is COO of the Chesapeake Innovation Center, America’s first business accelerator for homeland security high technology. A graduate of Harvard University and the Columbia University Graduate Schoolof Journalism, Sauter served as a U.S. Army infantry and Special Forces officer. He witnessed the impact of terrorism firsthand while a resident of Lower Manhattan on 9/11.

James Carafano, Ph.D., is a senior fellow for homeland security and defense with the Davis Institute for International Studies and the Heritage Foundation. An accomplished teacher and historian, Dr. Carafano has taught at West Point, Georgetown University, the National Defense University, and the U.S. Naval War College.

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Public Policymaking

Author: Anderson

To explain the fundamentals of public policy, this best-selling text focuses on the process behind the crafting of legislation. By examining the individual steps—from identifying a problem, to agenda setting, to evaluation, revision, or termination of a policy—students are able to see how different factors influence the creation of policy. Each chapter features at least one case study to illustrate how general ideas are applied to specific policy issues.

Recent policy enactments dissected for discussion include the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, the 2002 National Commission on Terrorist Attacks, 1996 Federal Agricultural Improvement and Reform Act, and the PATRIOT Act.
Up-to-date examples—including coverage of Election 2004—help students make sense of difficult topics.

1. The Study of Public Policy
The Plan of This Book
What Is Public Policy?
Categories of Public Policies
Approaches to Policy Study
Methodological Difficulties in Studying Public Policy
2. The Policy-Makers and Their Environment
The Policy Environment
The Official Policy-Makers
Nongovernmental Participants
Levels of Politics
Case Study: The Endangered Snail Darter
3. Policy Formation: Problems, Agendas, and Formulation
Policy Problems
The Policy Agenda
The Agenda-Setting Process
Nondecisions
The Loss of Agenda Status
Two Cases in Agenda Setting
Case Study: Coal-Mine Safety
Case Study: Environmental Pollution Control
The Formulation of Policy Proposals
Policy Formulation as a Technical Process
Case Study: Formulating Policy: The Family and Medical Leave Act
A Concluding Comment
4. Policy Adoption
Theories of Decision-Making
Decision Criteria
The Public Interest
Styles of Decision-Making
Presidential Decision-Making
Case Study: Policy Adoption: Consumer Bankruptcy
5. Budgeting and Public Policy
The Budget and Public Policy
The National Budgetary Process
Case Study: The Struggle to Balance the Budget
6. Policy Implementation
Federalism and Implementation
Who Implements Policy?
Administrative Organization
Administrative Politics
Administrative Policymaking
Case Study: National Park Service Fire Policy
Case Study: The Elementary andSecondary Education Act
Techniques of Control
Case Study: The Clean Air Act's Emissions-Trading System
Compliance
7. Policy Impact, Evaluation, and Change
Policy Impact
Policy Evaluation
Policy Evaluation Processes
Case Study: The GAO and Food Safety
Problems in Policy Evaluation
Policy Evaluation: The Use and Misuse of Cost-Benefit Analysis
Case Study: The Politics of Evaluation: Head Start
Policy Termination
Case Study: The Policy Cycle: Airline Regulation and Deregulation
8. Concluding Comments

Painting the Map Red or So Wrong for So Long

2009-01-12T19:50:00.000-08:00

Painting the Map Red: The Fight to Create a Permanent Republican Majority

Author: Hugh Hewitt

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	Introduction : sixty seats to win the war : the strategy for 2006	1
1	The values we value	11
2	How big is this tent? : no longer the party of Lincoln (Chafee, that is)	39
3	GOP message 1 : the democratic left and the MSM have declared war on the military, again	49
4	GOP message 2 : the democratic left has declared war on religion	83
5	GOP message 3 : the democractic left and its senators have declared war on the judiciary	107
6	GOP message 4 : the democratic left wants to radically redefine marriage while portraying republicans as bigoted	129
7	GOP message 5 : the democratic left is addicted to venom, and that venom is poisoning the political process	139
8	The GOP's necessary discipline: smile when you say that, mister	153
9	The potential disaster of civil war within the GOP : border security	159
10	Looking ahead 1 : Hillary/Obama and the last gasp of the democratic party	163
11	Looking ahead 2 : the Bush succession	169
12	The great divide	177
	Conclusion : "gentlemen, I am a party man"

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So Wrong for So Long: How the Press, the Pundits, and the President Failed on Iraq

Author: Greg Mitchell

In early 2003, Greg Mitchell was one of the few mainstream journalists to seriously question the stated reasons for invading Iraq. In the years since, he has repeatedly challenged the media to probe the conduct of the war and its toll on our troops. Now, after five years of war, he traces the conflict – from the "runup" to the "surge" – and the media's coverage of it, in this important collection of commentaries with significant new additions: an original introduction and dozens of pages of fresh material that unify the essays.
If a free press is the watchdog of democracy, then Greg Mitchell must be the watchdog of the watchdogs, tracking the performance of the media at Editor & Publisher, the influential magazine of the newspaper industry. Over the past five years, in his widely read column, "Pressing Issues," he has repeatedly been ahead of the curve in intensely scrutinizing both the president and the press–and the controversies swirling around Donald Rumsfeld, Pat Tillman, "Scooter" Libby, Ann Coulter and numerous other figures.
His book is a unique history of the entire war &ndash and as topical as today's headlines. Whether writing early warnings that anticipated a long and bloody war, analyzing Stephen Colbert's in-his-face mockery of George W. Bush, or imagining the president confessing his sins to Oprah Winfrey, Greg Mitchell explores how we got into the war in Iraq–and why we just can't seem to get out. With tens of thousands of American troops still in Iraq, debate over the war continues to rage on TV news and across editorial pages. Against this backdrop of controversy, Greg Mitchell is the rare journalist who has seen it all with clear eyes. In So Wrong for So Long, he can finally tell the whole story.
Publishers Weekly
In this pertinent but ego-driven compilation of writings on the Iraq War, Mitchell, editor of media industry magazine Editor & Publisher, argues that, from the outset, the press did not adequately question the reasoning behind American operations in Iraq. Quoting his publication, Mitchell condemns the press's tendency "to accept the military's word first and ask questions later," citing specific examples like the media's blind approval of Secretary of State Powell's Feb., 2003, speech favoring a call to arms. Mitchell describes incidents like this as a symptom of the media's "failure of will" to probe matters of national security. His thesis-that a weak press deserves blame for the Iraq quagmire-is hard to argue with, but it's not exactly news. Still, he provides a valuable roundup of media reactions from across the spectrum, and his grievances are substantial. Ultimately, though, Mitchell is difficult to distinguish from the one-sided, single-minded figures he rails against; readers will learn a great deal about the media politics behind the Iraq war, but will have to decide for themselves how trustworthy a pundit Mitchell really is.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Reviews
As Keith Olbermann reminds us every weeknight, it's been some 1,750 days and counting since George Bush crowed, "Mission accomplished!" Editor & Publisher editor Mitchell further rubs Bush's nose in it, and commemorates other erroneous nabobs as well. This book gathers some five years' worth of Mitchell's media-watchdog opinion pieces from that august journal, consistent in their opposition to the Iraq misadventure and prescient in their having assumed from the first that Bush would indeed invade: " . . . as early as October 7, 2002, Editor & Publisher . . . was opening one story with 'As the United States prepares to invade Iraq . . . " Mitchell was one of the first to question New York Times reporter Judith Miller's coziness with the administration and its claims through her of the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Saddam Hussein's bunkers. He was also quick to criticize MSNBC news host Chris Matthews's assertion, on that very day of Bush's mission-accomplished declaration, "He won the war. He was an effective commander. Everybody recognizes that, I believe, except a few critics." Matthews, one hopes, is reminded of that statement daily, and one hopes that the New York Times reporters who assured readers that the troops were coming home in May 2003 are reminded of their wrong call as well. The problem is one of complacency and complicity. Mitchell quotes Washington Post correspondent and Colin Powell biographer Karen DeYoung as having observed, quite rightly, "We are inevitably the mouthpiece for whatever administration is in power." True, Mitchell suggests, but that's not the way it's supposed to be. Visiting such points on the timeline as the Pat Tillmandeath-by-friendly-fire coverup, the Miller affair (and her subsequent buyout) and the suicides of several American soldiers in protest against corruption, Mitchell charts how disastrously wrongheaded the war has been from the start, and how numerous and various the wrongheaded have been. A lucid chronology of error, worthy of shelving alongside the best of the Iraq books to date. Agent: Sarah Lazin/Sarah Lazin Books
What People Are Saying
Bill Moyers
A razor-sharp critique of how the media and the government connived in one of the great blunders of American foreign policy. Every aspiring journalist, every veteran, every pundit—and every citizen who cares about the difference between illusion and reality, propaganda and the truth, and looks to the press to help keep them separate—should read this book. Twice.

Arianna Huffington
With the tragic war in Iraq dragging on, and the drumbeat for new conflicts growing louder, this is more than a five-year history of the biggest foreign policy debacle of our times—it's a cautionary tale as relevant as this morning's headlines. Read it and weep; read it and get enraged; read it and make sure it doesn't happen again.

Paul Rieckhoff
Anyone who cares about the integrity of the American media should read this book. . . . Examining the most complex issue of our time, he connects the dots like no one else has. (Paul Rieckhoff, Executive Director, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and author of Chasing Ghosts)

Glenn Greenwald
Greg Mitchell has established himself as one of our country's most perceptive media critics, and here he provides invaluable insight into how massive journalistic failures enabled the greatest strategic disaster in the nation's history. (Glenn Greenwald, Salon.com columnist and author of A Tragic Legacy and How Would a Patriot Act?)

The Hebrew Republic or The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere

2009-01-12T08:33:00.000-08:00

The Hebrew Republic: How Secular Democracy and Global Enterprise Will Bring Israel Peace At Last

Author: Bernard Avishai

Political economist Bernard Avishai has been writing and thinking about Israel since moving there to volunteer during the 1967 War. now he synthesizes his years of study and searching into a short, urgent polemic that posits that the country must become a more complete democracy if it has any chance for a peaceful future. He explores the connection between Israel’s democratic crisis and the problems besetting the nation—the expansion of settlements, the alienation of Israeli Arabs, and the exploding ultraorthodox population. He also makes an intriguing case for Israel’s new global enterprises to change the country’s future for the better.

With every year, peace in Israel seems to recede further into the distance, while Israeli arts and businesses advance. This contradiction cannot endure much longer. But in cutting through the inflammatory arguments of partisans on all sides, Avishai offers something even more enticing than pragmatic solutions—he offers hope.

Publishers Weekly

Addressing the state of Israel's democracy as well as security, Avishai (The Tragedy of Zionism), a contributor to the New York Review of Books, presents a three-fold approach to obtaining long-term peace and security. Most original and no doubt controversial is the idea of establishing a "Hebrew republic" that "would be patently the state of the Jewish people," but would not privilege Jews and Judaism. (Avishai details current discrimination against Arab Israelis.) The other parts are negotiating a peace accord with the Palestinians along the lines of the Geneva Initiative and forming an Israeli-Palestinian-Jordanian economic union. Avishai distills his approach through conversations with 50 Israeli-Jewish, Israeli-Arab and Palestinian figures, including former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, novelist A.B. Yehoshua and Samir Abdullah, director of the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute. He also has a fascinating discussion with some young Israeli Jews who wrestle with how Jewish, and how integrated into the Middle East, Israel should be. His plan for economic union will be achievable only with a peace accord, and Avishai has little to say on how to get there. But he covers a great many key topics relating to Israel's internal dynamics as well as its regional and global position, now and in the future. (Apr.)

Kirkus Reviews

An earnest plan to end sectarian and ethnic violence in Israel by rallying warring factions to a common cause. Israel, observes Harvard Business Review consulting editor Avishai, "is a society where institutional discrimination against individuals for an accident of birth or a profession of faith has been so routine it is hardly noticed"-except, of course, by those most discriminated against, the Palestinian and Arab populations. Of late there has been much discussion concerning the rightness of the Law of Return, with some critics advancing the view that it is essentially unfair that a new Jewish immigrant from, say, Brooklyn, automatically trumps a Palestinian whose family has been on the ground for untold generations. Determining who is properly Jewish is not so much the question-though it is a question-as who is Israeli, and until that question is resolved there will be continued troubles, Avishai predicts. There are more divisions to address. Avishai identifies not 12 but five tribes of Israel, each comprising about 20 percent of the electorate: the Ashkenazim Jews of mostly European descent, the North African Mizrahi Jews, the "hypereducated" and "hypersecular" Russian Jews, the "ultranationalist" and "theocratic" Orthodox Jews and, finally, the Israeli Arabs. The first four tribes are afraid of the fifth, Avishai writes, while "Tribe Three hates Four, condescends to Two, and doubts One; Two hates One, resents Three and (for different reasons) Four; One is afraid of Two, patronizes Three, and hates Four; Four hates One, proselytizes Two, and is afraid of Three." Given such conditions-and given that Four disproportionately manages to pull down about 40 percent of the vote-it seemsunlikely that concord can ever be reached, but Avishai sees hope in measures whereby the Arab population is brought into full citizenship, Israel's economy grows in the global market and a country is built "where people say they are Israeli," not Jewish. Well-intended, well-reasoned and well-written, though how practical a proposal remains to be seen. Agent: Jim Rutman/Sterling Lord Literistic

Prologue
The Situation     1
Jewish and Democratic     15
Basic Laws     23
West Bank Settler     59
"A Spade to Dig With"     85
The Decline-and Rise-of the Hebrew Republic     119
The Center's Liberal Demography     128
The Business of Integration     169
Hebrew Revolution     212
Conclusion: Closing the Circle     244
Acknowledgments     269
A Note on Transliteration     273
Endnotes     275
Index     281

Interesting textbook: Endangered Peoples of the Arctic or Study Guide to Accompany Principles of Corp Finance

The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgois Society

Author: Jrgen Habermas

This is Jurgen Habermas's most concrete historical-sociological book and one of the key contributions to political thought in the postwar period. It will be a revelation to those who have known Habermas only through his theoretical writing to find his later interests in problems of legitimation and communication foreshadowed in this lucid study of the origins, nature, and evolution of public opinion in democratic societies.

Personal Faith Public Policy or The State Boys Rebellion

2009-01-11T15:42:00.000-08:00

Personal Faith, Public Policy

Author: Harry R Jackson

Is there a set of public policies and personal choices we can make that will ensure another four hundred years of God's blessing upon America? Today we stand at a crossroads. In Personal Faith, Public Policy, Harry Jackson and Tony Perkins take a fresh, balanced look at the core issues we are facing today, laying out a comprehensive strategy that can bring evangelicals together across racial and denominational lines to: 1 Preserve and Protect Life by continuing our fight for the unborn; addressing issues such as child abuse, stem cell research, elder care and euthanasia, and capital punishment; and standing firm against those who would take innocent life through acts of terrorism, 2 Reform Immigration Policy by improving our legal immigration process while dealing with our rampant illegal immigration problem, 3 Alleviate Domestic Poverty and Ensure Justice at home by reforming health care and reasserting our mission to help the working poor, orphans, widows, and the destitute to find personal, spiritual, and financial refuge, 4 Cultivate Racial Harmony and Diversity by developing partnerships across racial lines and raising up minority leaders in key politically active ministries, 5 Protect Religious Freedom by learning the truth about the separation of church and state, the current religious liberties battleground, and what the Bible says about the freedom of religion, 6 Defend Marriage and Family by supporting promarriage policies and divorce reform at both the national and state levels, 7 Protect the Environment by properly caring for God's creation and making changes in America's energy policies. America's future can be as bright as the promises of God. To realize these promises,we must take action on these seven critical steps in our private lives, in our churches, and collectively in our public policy.

Interesting book: Data and Computer Communications or Word 2003 Bible

The State Boys Rebellion

Author: Michael DAntonio

A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist tells the amazing story of how a group of imprisoned boys won their freedom, found justice, and survived one of the darkest and least-known episodes of American history.

In the early twentieth century, United States health officials used IQ tests to single out "feebleminded" children and force them into institutions where they were denied education, sterilized, drugged, and abused. Under programs that ran into the 1970s, more than 250,000 children were separated from their families, although many of them were merely unwanted orphans, truants, or delinquents.

The State Boys Rebellion conveys the shocking truth about America's eugenic era through the experiences of a group of boys held at the Fernald State School in Massachusetts starting in the late 1940s. In the tradition of Erin Brockovich, it recounts the boys' dramatic struggle to demand their rights and secure their freedom. It also covers their horrifying discovery many years later that they had been fed radioactive oatmeal in Cold War experiments -- and the subsequent legal battle that ultimately won them a multimillion-dollar settlement.

Meticulously researched through school archives, previously sealed papers, and interviews with the surviving State Boys, this deft exposé is a powerful reminder of the terrifying consequences of unchecked power as well as an inspiring testament to the strength of the human spirit.

The Washington Post - E. Anthony Rotundo

D'Antonio's book is both engaging and valuable. His State Boys are fascinating people who maintained their humanity and pride against the daily assaults of institutional life. He renders them as vivid individuals, and the warmth of his plainspoken prose makes their stories irresistible.

The New York Times - Anthony Walton

D'Antonio's narrative strikes an admirable balance between the larger social context and scientific theories -- ''most troubling . . . is that it all began with a grand desire to do good'' -- and the children's lived experience … The rebellion of the state boys was less an isolated act -- though D'Antonio narrates the residents' climactic takeover of one building and the fateful consequences for those involved -- than a way of being. Despite the inhumane conditions in which they lived, the state boys, through countless small acts of self-assertion, and through the enduring friendships they formed with one another, refused to accept the state's categorization of them as anything less than fully human.

Publishers Weekly

The 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment shockingly demonstrated that the world's most powerful narcotic might well be unlimited power over the powerless. Emancipation movements the world over have also taught us that even the most abjectly powerless will, given enough time, fight for their freedom and dignity. These two precepts are at the heart of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist D'Antonio's startling account of the wholesale incarceration of the mentally retarded during the middle decades of the last century. The bastard child of progressivism and eugenics, the institutionalization by the 1930s of needy children with below-average IQs was a well-established part of the legal system. The effect of this was to consign many children to overcrowded and underfunded medical prisons where physical, emotional and sexual abuse was rampant-and quite literally without end. D'Antonio wisely chooses one institution, the Walter E. Fernald School for the Feebleminded, in Massachusetts, where a group of boys, utterly (and correctly) convinced of their lack of abnormal status, after nearly two decades of confinement, in 1957 instigated a violent uprising in Ward 22, the prisonlike facility where misbehaving inmates were periodically sent. Thanks to their indomitable conviction that their institutionalization was unjust and the growing awareness on the part of certain sympathetic outsiders over several decades, these young men were finally able to help put an end to this ghastly system. D'Antonio (Atomic Harvest, etc.) deftly combines detailed archival research and extensive personal interviews to paint a richly nuanced picture of a horrifying and shamefully underexposed part of our country's recent history. Agent, David McCormick. (May) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

This disturbing account covers both a specific incident that occurred in 1957 at Fernald, a Massachusetts school for mentally impaired youth, and the many other associated acts of defiance that the young male students undertook to reclaim their dignity in a degrading environment. D'Antonio, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author/journalist (Atomic Harvest: Hanford and the Lethal Toll of America's Nuclear Arsenal), shows how the eugenics movement and IQ testing led officials to found schools to house "morons," unfortunate children often mislabeled as feeble-minded. D'Antonio describes daily institutional life at Fernald, including pervasive abuse, basing his account on case notes, records, government reports, and interviews with former inmates who lived there in the late 1940s and 1950s. The impact of deinstitutionalization 20 years later is also examined through its effects on the young men, who have been compelled to develop various coping mechanisms to deal with their pasts. The final resolution of their stirring saga was a lawsuit against the school challenging its right to allow radiation experimentation without informed consent. Though not as artfully written as Alex Beam's Gracefully Insane: Life and Death Inside America's Premier Mental Hospital, which focused on a more obviously significant institution, this is still a worthwhile contribution to the literature that illuminates the darker side of American social history. Recommended for special collections on the history of mental retardation and for large public libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 1/03.] Antoinette Brinkman, Evansville, IN Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A dip into the appalling archives of an American movement to institutionalize the "feeble-minded" that persisted well into the 1970s. Pulitzer-winner D'Antonio (Atomic Harvest, 1993, etc.) efficiently takes readers unfamiliar with eugenics as an outgrowth of the Progressive political movement through some hair-raising background. Beginning around 1900, scientists posited that intelligence levels and mental defects were 100% genetically transferable (i.e., inherited), a contention that resulted in a mass scare. If allowed to roam society unsterilized and reproduce, Americans concluded, "substandards" would eventually reduce us literally to a nation of babbling idiots. The eventual result, D'Antonio reminds (as hard as it is to believe), was that nascent Nazi movement in Germany actually looked to the US as a model for control of the genetically unfit, later adding its own unique ethnic perspectives. The author then zeroes in on Fred Boyce, a kid in Massachusetts shuttled from one foster home to another and finally, in 1949, committed to the state's Walter E. Fernald School for the Feebleminded along with many other "typical morons" who today would be recognized as completely normal kids whose speech, learning, and/or physical disabilities set them apart. But in the mid-20th century, D'Antonio notes, "Across the nation, 84 institutions housed a total of 150,000 children and 26 more state schools were under construction." Boyce's years of ordeal are documented along with the parallel struggles of several close buddies as they fought to overcome abuse, neglect, and eternal ennui to break free of the Fernald pigeonhole and reenter society as husbands and fathers. As a crowning indignity, itwas revealed only a decade ago, Fred and other members of Fernald's Science Club were at one time administered doses of irradiated calcium (in breakfast oatmeal) without their knowledge or consent as part of an "outside experiment."Gross injustice wrought by pseudo-science seen intimately from the inside. Agent: David McCormick

Holy Simplicity or Walden or Life in the Woods

2009-01-11T05:30:00.000-08:00

Holy Simplicity: The Little Way of Mother Teresa, Dorothy Day & Therese of Lisieux

Author: Joel Schorn

Seeing God in every moment-is it possible? Does God really "walk among the pots and pans," as Saint Teresa of Avila once said? Do we ignore the seemingly forgettable moments of life to our own spiritual peril? Mother Teresa, Dorothy Day and Therese of Lisieux started small and stayed small, even though their works and heroism have since earned them worldwide acclaim.

Holy Simplicity reveals how these three modern Catholic women found holiness in letting God's love flow into the most ordinary tasks-Mother Teresa and Dorothy Day among the poor and Therese within the confines of the cloister. Their stories will inspire you to seek God in the challenges of ordinary life, a little way to holiness that, as Dorothy Day pointed out, unleashes forces "that help to overcome evil in the world."

About the Author:
Joel Schorn is a writer and editor in Chicago

Introduction     1
Names     3
Inspirational Moments     9
The Little Way     19
All Are Called     29
Prayer     41
Hidden Treasures     51
Downwardly Mobile     59
One Person at a Time     71
Works of Peace     83
The Embrace of Suffering     91
Spiritual Poverty     103
A Challenge to Christians     111
Time Lines     119
Notes     123

New interesting textbook: From Your Ice Cream Maker or Rick Steins Complete Seafood

Walden or Life in the Woods: and "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience"

Author: Henry David Thoreau

In the spring of 1845, Henry David Thoreau built a wooden hut on the shores of Walden Pond outside Concord, Massachusetts, intending to devote himself--for a time--to a simple life. The product of his two-year stay there was this volume of classic essays--one of the great books of American letters and a masterpiece of reflective philosophizing. Accounts of his daily life are interwoven with musings on the virtues of self-reliance and individual freedom, on society, government, and other topics--all expressed with clear-headed wisdom and remarkable beauty of style. Unabridged republication of the work published by Ticknor and Fields, Boston, 1854. Introductory note. 1 line illustration. 1 map.

Publishers Weekly

Shrinking Walden into picture book size is somewhat like trying to fit Moby Dick into an aquarium. Still, Lowe's selections from Thoreau's iconoclastic work will give children a brief taste of this classic. Using only quotations from the original work, Lowe tells the story of Thoreau's year in the woods, emphasizing his descriptions of nature,stet comma and action rather than his philosophical musings. Readers see the young Thoreau putting shingles on his roof, hoeing beans, welcoming a stranger; they can revel in the natural wonders he describes--the ``whip-poor-wills,'' in summer, the drifting snow in winter, the ice breaking in the pond in spring. Sabuda's superb linoleum-cut prints lend a hard-edged brilliance to the dark woods--where sunlight is filtered through etched leaves, and moonlight shimmers on the waters of the pond made famous by a young man's experiment with life. All ages. (Nov.)

Library Journal

Walden's original publisher releases an annotated edition to celebrate the book's 150th anniversary.

School Library Journal

YA-An unintended effect of the cultural diversity curriculum is that we lose touch with seminal works such as Walden. Written for an audience thoroughly versed in Western tradition, many of Thoreau's metaphors and references are unrecognizable to today's students. Though some references were intended to prove his erudition, one is chagrined at the number of necessary explications of standard classical concepts. Though some annotations are noisy comments upon Thoreau's life, most are informative and enhance the work. Many YAs will view Thoreau's natural essays as he intended, thanks to Harding's efforts. A must for libraries.-Hugh McAloon, Prince William County Public Library, VA

Booknews

Bill McKibben ("The End of Nature", "The Age of Missing Information") provides an introduction and notes to the text of the 1854 edition. Downplaying the recent appropriation of both the book and the author by environmentalists, he emphasizes Thoreau's social and cultural prescience, and focuses on the two questions of how much is enough and how we know what we want. No index or bibliography. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

More George W Bushisms or Constitutional Law

2009-01-10T09:56:00.000-08:00

More George W. Bushisms: More of Slate's Accidental Wit and Wisdom of Our 43rd President

Author: Jacob Weisberg

"Most of you probably didn't know that I have a new book out. Some guy put together a collection of my wit and wisdom -- or, as he calls it, my accidental wit and wisdom. [Laughter] But I'm kind of proud that my words are already in book form."

-- President George W. Bush,

discussing and reading from George W. Bushisms

By now, most of you probably do know about George W. Bushisms, the bestselling collection of misstatements made on the campaign trail by our president. Now, in More George W. Bushisms, Jacob Weisberg reveals that the malapropisms didn't stop on Inauguration Day:

"I've coined new words like misunderstanding and Hispanically."
"I haven't had a chance to talk, but I'm confident we'll get a bill that I can live with if we don't."
"Our nation must come together to unite."

"There's no question that the minute I got elected, the storm clouds on the horizon were getting nearly directly overhead."

These and many other presidential pearls are hilariously on display in More George W. Bushisms.

Publishers Weekly

Follow a man around with a tape recorder long enough and he will say ridiculous things. If he is George W. Bush, to judge by this collection of verbal gaffes, he will say many ridiculous things-some funny ("It's about past seven in the evening here so we're actually in different time lines";) some callow ("This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating"); some mysterious ("We'll be a country where the fabrics are made up of groups and loving centers"); but most just embarrassing ("Of all states that understands local control of schools, Iowa is such a state"). Undoubtedly Bush struggles to "express himself with clarity and coherence," in the words of Garry Trudeau's foreword, but the tacit corollary-that he is a fool and unfit for the presidency-is not demonstrated here. While the characteristic "Bushisms" on display-stammering, misstatements, stubborn disagreements between subject and verb-may hint at the President's rumored dyslexia, mostly they portray a man whose limited rhetorical gifts cannot stand up to the 24/7 media glare. Defensive Bush supporters will find this an endearing proof of his authenticity; his detractors will laugh heartily but should, of course, look elsewhere for a substantive critique. B&w photos. (Nov. 5) Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.

New interesting book: How to Quit Smoking without Gaining Weight or Skinny Bitch

Constitutional Law: Cases, Comments, Questions

Author: Jesse H Choper

The new 10th edition--and the best edition ever--of this long-popular constitutional law casebook is designed to stimulate critical examination of present and potential developments in constitutional law. The many provocative and insightful notes, comments and questions, which have long been a hallmark of the book, have been thoroughly updated and greatly enriched. Every part of the book has been extensively revised--even the sections on the origins of substantive due process and the Lochner era. The current edition accords special recognition to the abortion and homosexual sodomy cases, probably more criticized and more praised than any Supreme Court rulings in the last half century, by including fuller commentary from every direction on these issues than any other casebook in the field. Finally, this edition continues to be one of the very few that contains a substantial section on the death penalty, important most recently not only because of the connection to substantive due process but also because, like the homosexual sodomy cases, of the opinions' use of foreign and international law.

Planetizen Contemporary Debates in Urban Planning or No True Glory

2009-01-09T23:43:00.000-08:00

Planetizen Contemporary Debates in Urban Planning

Author: Abhijeet Chavan

Planetizen's Contemporary Debates in Urban Planning is a fascinating review of major topics and issues discussed in the field of urban planning, assembled by editors at Planetizen, the leading source of news and information for the planning and development community on the web. The book brings together a wide range of editorial and discussion topics, coupled with commentary and overviews to create an enlightening record of the continuously evolving philosophy of building and managing cities.
The book's contributors include the most well-known experts in the planning and design fields, among them James Howard Kunstler, Alex Garvin, Andres Duany, Joel Kotkin, and Wendell Cox. These and other prominent thinkers offer passionate debates and thought-provoking commentary on the most important and controversial topics in the field of urban planning and design: gentrification, eminent domain, the philosophical divide between the Smart Growth community, libertarians and New Urbanists, regional growth patterns, urban design trends, transportation systems, and reaction to disasters such as Katrina and 9/11 that changed the way we look at cities and security.
Planetizen's Contemporary Debates in Urban Planning provides readers with a unique and accessible introduction to a broad array of ideas and perspectives. With the increasing awareness of the need for sound urban planning to ensure the economic, environmental, and social health of modern society, Planetizen's Contemporary Debates in Urban Planning gives professionals in the field and concerned citizens alike a deeper understanding of the critical, complex issues that continue to challenge urban planners,designers, and developers.

Look this: Complete Book of Indian Cooking or Food Culture in Spain

No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah

Author: Bing West

"This is the face of war as only those who have fought it can describe it."
—Senator John McCain

Fallujah: Iraq's most dangerous city unexpectedly emerged as the major battleground of the Iraqi insurgency. For twenty months, one American battalion after another tried to quell the violence, culminating in a bloody, full-scale assault. Victory came at a terrible price: 151 Americans and thousands of Iraqis were left dead.

The epic battle for Fallujah revealed the startling connections between policy and combat that are a part of the new reality of war.

The Marines had planned to slip into Fallujah as soft as fog. But after four American contractors were brutally murdered, President Bush ordered an attack on the city against the advice of the Marines. The assault sparked a political firestorm, and the Marines were forced to withdraw amid controversy and confusion only to be ordered a second time to take a city that had become an inferno of hate and the lair of the archterrorist al-Zarqawi.

Based on months spent with the battalions in Fallujah and hundreds of interviews at every level senior policymakers, negotiators, generals, and soldiers and Marines on the front lines No True Glory is a testament to the bravery of the American soldier and a cautionary tale about the complex and often costly interconnected roles of policy, politics, and battle in the twenty-first century.

Tom Ricks - Washington Post

No True Glory is the best book on the U.S. military in Iraq to emerge so far.

Booklist

A remarkably detailed, vivid firsthand account of the American military experience. West's focus is on the frontline, putting the reader at the negotiating table with U.S. military commanders and Fallujan sheiks, imams, and rebel leaders; in the barracks; and on the street, fighting hand to hand, house to house, in some of the fiercest battles of the Fallujah campaign and the Iraq war.

LA Times Book Review

West describes the fury of the fighting in Fallujah and Ramadi in a style that makes him part historian, part novelist the grunts' Homer.

Washington Post Book World

Exhaustively reported...West paints a picture of highly capable Marines struggling to make the best of untenable political circumstances.

Christian Science Monitor

West successfully brings the war back home in all its agonizing and illuminating detail. From the combat stories of those on the ground all the way up to the White House, West is uniquely placed to write a chronicle of the fight. The narrative truly shines.

Library Journal

Himself a marine in Vietnam, West was author of the multi-award-winning The March Up: Taking Baghdad with the United States Marines. Now he covers the bitter struggle to take Fallujah. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

What People Are Saying

James R. Schlesinger
Former Secretary of Defense, James R. Schlesinger
No True Glory is the gripping account of the valor of the Marines in the fiercest urban combat since Hue. Yet, the even-handed description of the vacillation regarding policy will likely please neither some of our senior officers nor the White House.

General Carl E. Mundy
General Carl E. Mundy, former Commandant of the Marine Corps
The finest chronicle of the strategy behind battle and the fighting during battle that I've ever read!

Getting a Grip or The Girl with the Crooked Nose

2009-01-09T11:31:00.000-08:00

Getting a Grip: Clarity, Creativity and Courage in a World Gone Mad

Author: Frances Moore Lapp

Getting a Grip: Clarity, Creativity & Courage in a World Gone Mad is a little book with a big message. Frances Moore Lappe--author of fifteen books, including three-million-copy bestseller Diet for a Small Planet--distills her world-spanning experience and wisdom in a conversational yet hard-hitting style to creat a rare "aha" book. In nine short chapters, Lappe leaves readers feeling liberated and courageous. She flouts conventional right-versus-left divisions and affirms readers' basic sanity--their intuitive knowledge that it is possible to stop grasping at straws and grasp the real roots of today's crises, from hunger and poverty to climate change and terrorism. Because we are creatures of the mind, says Lappe, it is the power of "frame"--our core assumptions about how the world works--that determines outcomes. She pinpoints the dominant failing frame now driving out planet toward disaster. By interweaving fresh insights, startling facts, and stirring vignettes of ordinary people pursuing creative solutions to our most pressing global problems, Lappe uncovers a new, empowering "frame" through which real solutions are emerging worldwide.

She write: "My book's intent is to enable us to see what is happening all around us but is still invisible to most of us. It is about people in all walks pf life who are penetrating the spiral of despair and reversing it with new ideas, ingenious innovation--and courage."

Publishers Weekly

This determinedly optimistic manifesto-cum-workbook by the author of Diet for a Small Planetbegins with the question, "Why are we as societies creating a world that we as individuals abhor?" Lappé posits that U.S. culture is grounded in a worldview of scarcity, creating a society of "competitive materialists" who practice a "Thin Democracy" of electoral politics in a "one rule" market economy that returns wealth to wealth and leads to an ever-increasing concentration of power." Yet she believes there is "no reason we can't" create a values-guided, empowering democracy based on the premise of "plenty," where individuals and communities take charge of public life and engage in active listening, conflict mediation, dialogue and judgment. Full of charts comparing "Thin Democracy" constructs with "Living Democracy" alternatives, and ending with a study guide for community "Group Talk," the book includes numerous examples of people practicing "Living Democracy," from Nobel Prize-winner Muhammad Yunus, instigator of the international microcredit movement, to School Mediation Associates, which teaches conflict resolution and peer mediations skills. Unfortunately, Lappé's coverage of many of these inspiring stories is unintelligibly thin, too often referring readers to her Web site for backup. (Oct. 31)

Rachel Bridgewater - Library Journal

Prominent author (Diet for a Small Planet), activist, and advocate, Lappé now offers a slim manifesto that promises to show readers how to reframe their understanding of democracy as a way out of what she refers to as a "spiral of powerlessness." Lappé argues that our current definition of democracy, "elections plus a market," creates benefits for corporate interests and the rich but not for the average citizen. She argues for a dynamic, values-driven model of democracy that she calls "Living Democracy." As a manifesto, the work is mostly effective. Lappé rallies her readers, striking a welcome tone of hope and optimism, and many of her reframing techniques are compelling and inspiring. Unfortunately, she peppers the book with facts and statistics that are too decontextualized to work as evidence. She does better when she draws on inspiring anecdotes from people and communities practicing the kind of democratic principles she describes. Lappé is a prominent thinker; most public and academic libraries should consider this title.

Interesting book: Derecho comercial y el Ambiente Legal, Edición Estándar

The Girl with the Crooked Nose: A Tale of Murder, Obsession, and Forensic Artistry

Author: Ted Botha

In The Girl with the Crooked Nose, Ted Botha tells the absorbing story of Frank Bender, a gifted, self-taught artist who can bring back the dead and the vanished through a unique, macabre sculpting talent. Bender has been the key to solving at least nine murders and tracking down numerous criminals. Then he is called upon to tackle the most challenging and bizarre case of his career.

Someone is killing the young women of Juarez. Since 1993, the decomposing bodies of as many as four hundred victims, known as feminicidios, have been found in the desert surrounding this gritty Mexican border town. In 2003, prodded by local political pressure and international attention, the Mexican authorities turn to the United States to help solve these horrific crimes. The man they turn to is Bender.

Through breathtakingly realistic sculptures, Bender reconstructs the faces of unknown murder victims or fugitives whose appearances are certain to have changed over years on the run. The busts are based in part on the painstaking application of forensic science to fleshless human skulls and in part on deep intuition, an uncanny ability to discern not only a missing face but also the personality behind it.

Arriving in Mexico, Bender works in secrecy, in a culture of corruption and casual violence where the line between criminals and law enforcement is blurry, braving anonymous threats and sinister coincidences to give eight skulls back their faces and, hopefully, their histories. Drawn to one skull in particular–"The Girl With the Crooked Nose"–Bender gradually comes to suspect that perhaps he is not meant to succeed, and that the true solution to themystery of the feminicidios is far more terrible than anyone has dared to imagine.

Ted Botha brilliantly weaves Bender’s story–the cases he has solved, the intricacies of his art, the colorful characters he encounters, and the personal cost of his strange obsession–with the chilling story of the Juarez investigation. With a conclusion as shocking as its story is gripping, The Girl with the Crooked Nose will haunt readers long after the last page is turned.

“…[a] crackling account of a quirky, maverick forensics artist, Frank Bender, and his largely successful efforts in facial reconstruction of murder victims…. extraordinary is Botha's writing, with his unerring depiction of Bender's painstaking work and the eventual unraveling of the brutal crimes it solves…. the tales in this book accurately capture the dark motives and complexities of senseless murder, and even the most savvy true-crime reader will not be able to resist the author's insightful storytelling."—Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly

There is a bewildering, frustrating quality in Botha's crackling account of a quirky, maverick forensics artist, Frank Bender, and his largely successful efforts in facial reconstruction of murder victims. The steady, no-nonsense approach of the author (Mongo: Adventures in Trash ) is marred by the herky-jerky sequences of the narrative as he switches from Bender's hit-and-miss past triumphs to a monumental murder case south of the border in the sordid Mexican area near Ciudad Juárez, where about 400 women have been raped, tortured and killed. National and international recognition of Bender's uncanny skill grows, but the psychological toll wears on his home life and his interaction with authorities. What is extraordinary is Botha's writing, with his unerring depiction of Bender's painstaking work and the eventual unraveling of the brutal crimes it solves. Although Bender is not successful with every case, including the epic Mexican serial killings, the tales in this book accurately capture the dark motives and complexities of senseless murder, and even the most savvy true-crime reader will not be able to resist the author's insightful storytelling. 16 pages of photos. (May 13)

Kirkus Reviews

The real-life saga of Frank Bender, who unexpectedly rode a commercial photography career to a parallel gig reconstructing the faces of unidentified murder victims and suspects. Now in his mid-60s, Bender calls Philadelphia home, yet his work with clay and other materials on behalf of law-enforcement agencies has taken him to dozens of locales. Botha (Mongo: Adventures in Trash, 2004, etc.) cuts back and forth between Philadelphia, where Bender labors in his studio, and the Mexican state of Chihuahua, across the border from El Paso, Texas, where Bender is helping police identify dozens of the young women murdered year after year dating back to 1993. The chronology jumps around, with 1977 serving as one of the key years. New at ceramics and collaborating with Philadelphia medical examiners, the self-taught, intuitive Bender almost immediately helped solve the cold case of an unidentified murdered woman who turned out to be Anna Duval. Bender's painted clay cast, photographed and distributed to law-enforcement agencies, caught the attention of a New Jersey policeman who realized it looked like the picture of a former Philadelphia-area resident who had moved to Arizona, then went missing. Early success gave Bender confidence to continue his new occupation, and law-enforcement agencies reason to seek him out. Although the book fits into the true-crime genre, it is as much a biography of Bender. Botha examines his marriage and extramarital affairs, his fathering skills, his friendships and his financial ups-and-downs in addition to documenting cases solved, cases unsolved and the arcane techniques of facial reconstruction. Readers given to queasiness may find the gory details excessive, butfans of crime-solving procedurals will love it. Agent: Luke Janklow/Janklow & Nesbit

Stealing from Each Other or Great Catherine

2009-01-09T00:19:00.000-08:00

Stealing from Each Other: How the Welfare State Robs Americans of Money and Spirit

Author: Edgar K Browning

Almost all Americans would be better off if none of the federal welfare-state policies of the last century--including Social Security--had ever been enacted. So argues economist Edgar Browning, and with good reason: In 1900, government played a very small role in the day-to-day activities of American citizens. There was no income tax. No Social Security. No federal welfare programs. No minimum wage laws. No federal involvement in education. Government was small, spending well under 10 percent of our incomes. But now, federal, state, and local governments spend more than 33 percent of our incomes. Why has government grown so much over the past century? The answer, in Browning's devastating critique of the modern welfare state, is simple: the rise of egalitarian ideology--an ideology that has not just harmed the economy but made us all poorer. This book examines all facets of the welfare state in the U.S. and its egalitarian underpinnings. Egalitarians claim, for instance, that markets are unfair and that we must have redistributive policies to produce "social justice." This reasoning supposedly justifies the two-thirds of federal spending that simply robs Peter to pay Paul. We are stealing from each other. Browning's research and trenchant analysis show that: -Almost all U.S. citizens are harmed by the welfare state--even many of its apparent beneficiaries. -Welfare-state policies have large hidden costs which all told have reduced the average income of Americans by about 25 percent. -There is much less inequality and poverty than is commonly believed. -Most taxpayers will receive less back from Social Security than they put in. Provocative? Indeed. But such conclusionsresult from the most thoroughgoing economic analysis of the modern welfare state yet written. Written for a general audience, Stealing from Each Other covers everything informed citizens need to know about inequality, poverty, welfare, Social Security, taxation, and the true costs of government redistributive policies.

Great Catherine

Author: Carolly Erickson

From the moment the fourteen-year-old Princess Sophia of Anhalt-Zerbst agreed to marry the heir to the Russian throne, she was mired in a quicksand of intrigue. Precociously intelligent, self-confident, and attractive but with a stubborn, wayward streak, Sophia withstood a degree of emotional battering that would have broken a weaker spirit until at last she emerged, triumphant over her many enemies, as Empress Catherine II of Russia.

Her achievements as empress were prodigious. She brought vast new lands under Russian rule. She raised the prestige of Russia in Europe. She began the process of imposing legal and political order on the chaos she inherited from her predecessors. Yet few historical figures have been so enthusiastically vilified as Catherine the Great. Whispers that she had ordered her husband's murder grew to murmurs that she was an immoral woman and finally to shouts that she was a depraved, lust-crazed nymphomaniac. With deft mastery of historical narrative and an unsurpassed ability to make the past live again, Carolly Erickson uncovers the real woman behind the tarnished image—an indomitable, feisty, often visionary ruler who, in an age of caveats and constraints, blithely went her own way.

Great Catherine reveals the complexities of this great ruler's nature, her craving for love, her insecurities, the inevitable sorrows and disappointments of a strong empress who dared not share her power with any man yet longed to be led and guided by a loving consort. Great Catherine is a fresh portrait of an infamous historical figure, one that reveals how Catherine's flawed triumph guaranteed her posthumous fame and enhanced the might andrenown of Russia for generations to come.

Publishers Weekly

To her critics, Catherine the Great (1729-96), Empress of Russia, was an imperialist who eradicated Polish sovereignty and waged financially draining wars, an absolutist ruler who brought back the defunct secret police, an insatiable sexual adventuress and a possible accomplice in the murder of her husband Peter III. Historian and biographer Erickson ( Blood Mary ), in this sympathetic, vibrant portrait, presents a shrewd, headstrong, cultivated woman, a political reformer and supporter of education and the arts, who codified laws, built schools and asserted her independece in a land where women had low status. Born Sophie Augusta Fredericka, princess of a tiny German state, Catherine (the baptismal name she took upon joining the Russian Orthodox Church) rightly feared her tyrannical, drunken husband who wanted to dethrone her and replace her with his mistress. Catherine's menage a trois with Gregory Potemkin, her chief deputy, and her young Polish secretary, Peter Zavadovsky, elicited an avalanche of censure and gossip. Drawing on Catherine's memoirs and letters, Erickson has fashioned an engrossing, astonishingly vivid, if not always convincing portrait. (June)

Library Journal

Sophie Augusta Fredericka, an obscure German princess from Anhalt-Zerbst, married the heir to the Russian Empire and ended up ruling by herself for 34 years. Before she seized power, she survived the treacherous Russian court by her wits, diligently using her time to study the Russian language and the works of Voltaire, Montesquieu, Tacitus, and Diderot. Erickson (To the Scaffold: The Life of Marie Antoinette, LJ 3/1/91) has painted a fascinating picture of an extraordinary woman. Intellectually, Catherine wanted to be an enlightened, Western-style ruler; her subjects turned her into a benevolent despot. She drafted an impressive code of laws, reformed and reorganized the government of her vast empire, and generally improved the economic conditions of her people. She took an important, often belligerent role in foreign relations and was notorious for her liaisons with various men of her court. This sympathetic but balanced and detailed account is based in part on several autobiographies that the empress herself wrote. Recommended for most collections.-Katharine Galloway Garstka, Intergraph Corp., Huntsville, Ala.

School Library Journal

YA-When the German Princess Sophia journeyed to the Russian court of Empress Elizabeth, the shy young woman could not have believed that she would transform herself into the powerful Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia. Clever, witty, and deeply devoted to her adopted country, Catherine would work to turn Russia toward the West by focusing on European life, customs, culture, and the arts. After being married to the weak, demented Grand Duke Peter, she suffered from constant abuse and intrigue at his hands, but she never let him destroy her courageous spirit and determination. While many biographers of this fascinating ruler have focused on Catherine's love life and the extravagances of the Russian court, Erickson has chosen to relate Catherine's story by emphasizing her ambition to govern wisely. The strong narrative moves along at a brisk pace without stinting on the vivid details that bring the court of 18th-century Imperial Russia into sharp focus. The author captures the intellectual and social milieu as well as the brilliant, often opulent lifestyle of Empress Catherine II. An accessible and engaging introduction to a great ruler and the country she sought to enlighten.-Mary T. Gerrity, Queen Anne School Library, Upper Marlboro, MD

William Wallace or Inside Egypt

2009-01-08T14:06:00.000-08:00

William Wallace: Brave Heart

Author: James MacKay

Sir William Wallace of Ellerslie, now the subject of a major film, is one of history's greatest heroes, and one of its greatest enigmas - a figure whose edges have been blurred by myth and legend. Even the date and place of his birth have been mis-stated. This biography tells of a man who, without wealth or noble birth, rose to become the Guardian of Scotland. It describes the heroism and betrayal, the valiant deeds and attrocities, and the struggle of a small nation against a brutal empire.

Look this: First Mothers or Fixing Failed States

Inside Egypt: The Land of the Pharaohs on the Brink of a Revolution

Author: John R Bradley

Five decades after Nasser and the Free Officers overthrew the British-backed monarchy in a dramatic coup d'état, the future of Egypt grows more uncertain by the day. John Bradley examines the junctions of Egyptian politics and society as they slowly disintegrate under the twin pressures of a ruthless military dictatorship at home and a flawed Middle East policy in Washington. Inside Egypt is a tour-de-force of the most brutal Arab state where torture and corruption are endemic--but one that is also a key U.S. all and a historic regional trendsetter. This uniquely insightful book brings to vivid life Egypt's competing identities and political trends, as the Mubarak dynasty struggles to resolve a succession crisis and the disciplined Islamists wait patiently in the wings for a chance to seize power.

Egypt has long played a pivotal role in the Arab world's cultural and political development. Today, one out of four Arabs is an Egyptian. Furthermore, Egypt is crucial to Washington's strategic goals in the Middle East. However, as journalist Bradley (Saudi Arabia Exposed) demonstrates, Egypt suffers from a host of sociopolitical and economic problems that are undermining the government's stability. In this highly readable and thoughtful volume, Bradley provides a devastating critique of Egypt's current dictatorial government. He traces the evolution of Egypt's authoritarianism from the end of the monarchy in 1952 (and the emergence of Nasserism) to the Mubarak regime. His fluency in Egyptian Arabic allows him to see Egypt and its myriad social problems through the eyes of ordinary people who are the real victims of the pervasive corruption, torture, and other degradation of life in that country. In addition, as Bradley clarifies, its pro-Western dictatorship makes Egypt Washington's favored destination for the practice of "rendition," which sends individuals overseas to be tortured. This book is aimed at the general reader, but scholars would also benefit from the author's keen insight. Recommended for academic and public libraries.

Kirkus Reviews

Journalist Bradley (Saudi Arabia Exposed, 2005) trains a sharp reportorial eye on the nearly failed nation-state in the cross hairs of world conflict. The author doesn't dwell too long on Egypt's storied past. Instead, he gives a blistering overview of what it's like to live today in this autocratic, hopelessly corrupt society. The Egypt he depicts is a place where anyone can be jailed or tortured at any time for no reason, where Islamic fundamentalism is slowly gaining a foothold among people formerly proud of their diverse heritage, where in some places the only viable form of employment for young men is prostitution, both gay and straight. Bradley also examines why the United States spends $2 billion per year propping up President Hosni Mubarak ("the third-longest-ruling Egyptian leader in the past four thousand years"), despite his crackdowns on anything approaching democracy and his blatant favoring of anything that will bring in more tourist dollars over the best interests of the Egyptian populace. Mubarak is able to gin up American interest, the author notes, by playing up the threat of the Muslim Brotherhood, a nominally political organization that provides social services far more efficiently than the government does and wants to reinstate the Caliphate. Needless to say, Bradley isn't hopeful about the future, fearing that an Iranian-style theocracy is in the cards for a once-proud nation whose pedigree dates back more than 5,000 years. Unlikely to win the author any friends among the Egyptian political elite, but terrifically well told and extremely sobering.

The Anti Intellectual Presidency or Finding Grace

2009-01-08T00:54:00.000-08:00

The Anti-Intellectual Presidency: The Decline of Presidential Rhetoric from George Washington to George W. Bush

Author: Elvin T Lim

Why has it been so long since an American president has effectively and consistently presented well-crafted, intellectually substantive arguments to the American public? Why have presidential utterances fallen from the rousing speeches of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Wilson, and FDR to a series of robotic repetitions of talking points and sixty-second soundbites, largely designed to obfuscate rather than illuminate?
In The Anti-Intellectual Presidency, Elvin Lim draws on interviews with more than 40 presidential speechwriters to investigate this relentless qualitative decline, over the course of 200 years, in our presidents' ability to communicate with the public. Lim argues that the ever-increasing pressure for presidents to manage public opinion and perception has created a "pathology of vacuous rhetoric and imagery" where gesture and appearance matter more than accomplishment and fact. Lim tracks the campaign to simplify presidential discourse through presidential and speechwriting decisions made from the Truman to the present administration, explaining how and why presidents have embraced anti-intellectualism and vague platitudes as a public relations strategy. Lim sees this anti-intellectual stance as a deliberate choice rather than a reflection of presidents' intellectual limitations. Only the smart, he suggests, know how to dumb down. The result, he shows, is a dangerous debasement of our political discourse and a quality of rhetoric which has been described, charitably, as "a linguistic struggle" and, perhaps more accurately, as "dogs barking idiotically through endless nights."
Sharply written and incisively argued, The Anti-Intellectual Presidency sheds new light onthe murky depths of presidential oratory, illuminating both the causes and consequences of this substantive impoverishment.

Publishers Weekly

This slim, scathing book does not mince words about the current state of presidential rhetoric, frankly deploring its "nosedive from our founding era." Drawing upon interviews with 42 presidential speech writers, Lim investigates what he sees as a particularly American phenomenon whereby "most presidents have preferred to appear less, not more intellectually inclined than they actually were." He reveals the long "institutional pedigree" of anti-intellectualism in presidential addresses, from Harding to Eisenhower, Clinton ("an intelligent but anti-intellectual president") to Bush, as presidents have positioned intellectuals as the "piñatas of American politics." Lim builds his case systematically, introducing fascinating indices to measure oratorical sophistication or simplicity. A massive campaign of "linguistic simplification" is afoot, he argues, and he dissects inaugural addresses and presidential public papers, charting average sentence length, Flesch Readability and the preponderance of platitudes to evince a growing "reification of style over substance." While his methodology is occasionally esoteric, Lim's presentation of the consequences of the manipulation of language in the political arena is clear and compelling, and will delight grammarians and political aficionados alike. (June)

The Problem of Presidential Rhetoric     3
The Linguistic Simplification of Presidential Rhetoric     19
The Anti-Intellectual Speechwriters     40
The Substantive Impoverishment of Presidential Rhetoric     54
Institutionalizing the Anti-Intellectual Presidency     77
Indicting the Anti-Intellectual Presidency     100
Reforming the Anti-Intellectual Presidency     115
The General Inquirer (GI)     123
Definitions of General Inquirer Categories Used     127
Annual Messages, 1790-2006     129
Inaugural Addresses, 1789-2005     135
Presidential Speechwriters Interviewed     137
The Flesch Readability Score     141
Notes     143
Index     175

Interesting textbook: Little Book of Cocktails or Making Sense of Wine

Finding Grace: The Face of America's Homeless

Author: Lynn Blodgett

An amateur photographer from the age of 10, Lynn Blodgett studied under Andrew Eccles, a renowned photographer who was selected by The New York Times to shoot the cover of their millennium issue. Blodgett is also a businessman with a social conscience who travels the country as head of the nation’s largest provider of computer-based services to state and local governments. He does extensive fundraising across the country, with the funds going to benefit local homeless shelters and projects. During his travels over the last few years, he began keeping a photographic journal of the homeless people he met, along with their stories, in every city he visited. The result is this powerful collection of words and images that show how people who go through life ignored and reviled manage to endure, often with grace and humanity, the grimmest of life’s circumstances.

This book evolved out of a class assignment in a photography workshop that Blodgett took with Andrew Eccles, a nationally prominent photographer. Blodgett has been taking pictures since the age of ten, and while making a living in corporate America, he pursued his passion for photography on weekends and in workshops. Eccles has continued to advise Blodgett in his art and has witnessed his evolution into "a remarkable photographer." This book of 140 black-and-white photographs is the culmination of a year's picture taking across America of the homeless, a group of society that many of us do not choose to see or interact with. In these photographs, we see the faces of men, women, and children who are the homeless; the overused axiom of one picture equals a thousand words has never been a more accurate statement. These photographs capture the people and the stories behind the faces. A powerful and impactful book; recommended for all libraries.

Guns Bullets And Gunfights or Conscience of a Conservative

2009-01-07T13:41:00.000-08:00

Guns, Bullets, And Gunfights: Lessons And Tales From A Modern-Day Gunfighter

Author: Jim Cirillo

Learn what it takes to survive a real gunfight from someone who's been in many - Jim Cirillo, top gun in the New York City Police Department stakeout unit. Read about the stress and intensity of an actual shoot-out and how to maximize your training, ammo and weapons to prevail.

Conscience of a Conservative

Author: Barry Goldwater

With a New Introduction by Patrick J. Buchanan.

Here is the path-breaking book that rocketed a political philosophy into the forefront of the nation's consciousness, written in words whose vigor and relevance have not tarnished with age:

I have little interest in streamlining government or in making it more efficient, for I mean to reduce its size. I do not undertake to promote welfare, for I propose to extend freedom. My aim is not pass laws, but to repeal them. it is not to inaugurate new programs, but to cancel old ones that do violence to the Constitution, or that have failed in their purpose, or that impose on the people an unwarranted financial burden. I will not attempt to discover whether legislation is "needed" before I have first determined whether it is constitutionally permissible. And if I should later be attacked for neglecting my constituents' "interests," I shall replay that I was informed their main interest is liberty and that in that cause I am dong the very best I can.

General Editor's Introduction     vii
Foreword   George F. Will     ix
Preface     xxi
The Conscience of a Conservative     1
The Perils of Power     7
States' Rights     17
And Civil Rights     25
Freedom for the Farmer     33
Freedom for Labor     39
Taxes and Spending     53
The Welfare State     63
Some Notes on Education     71
The Soviet Menace     81
Afterword   Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.     121
Index     139

Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism or The Edge of Disaster

2009-01-07T01:27:00.000-08:00

Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism

Author: Richard H Robbins

Robbins Back Cover Copy

Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism

Fourth Edition

By: Richard H. Robbins

Basic Approach:

This award-winning text explores one of the most successful cultures and society the world has ever seen–capitalism. From capitalism's European roots more than 500 years ago to the present, this text examines the problems caused by its expansion, inequality, environmental destruction, and social unrest.

Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism provides the reader with the anthropological, economic, and historical framework to understand the origins of global problems, why globalization and the global expansion of the culture of capitalism has generated protest and resistance, and the steps necessary to solve global problems. Up-to-date information throughout the text helps students maintain a current view of the rapidity of global change.

New to This Edition:

New Section! on the informal economy and one of its major components, the global drug trade.
New Section! on the war in Iraq and concomitant issues such as media spin, the free trade agenda, and the role of energy in the global economy.
New Material! on the role of spin and the media, particularly as it relates to climate change.
Extended Discussion! of the role of money in economic growth.
Additional Material! on the role of holidays to stimulate consumption.

What the reviewers are saying…

“The book is unique in its area.” —James Bearden / SUNY Geneseo

“I find the style extremely engaging and the material presented to be extremely interesting. This is the only book I’ve ever used that has prompted students to repeatedly comment on how much they’re learning.” —Thomas B. Stevenson / Ohio University

“I continue to believe that it is important to expose freshmen students to many of the points and topics raised by Robbins in his textbook. Thank God there is a good text like this that I can use for this course!” —Vaughn M. Bryant / Texas A&M University

________________________________________________________________________

** Anthropology Experience ad **

Booknews

A text for a college course on global problems, focusing on those that students will have been exposed to from mass media. Incorporates the study of the biases that privileged students usually bring to the subject without realizing it, biases that would be strongly reinforced by the media coverage. Illustrated with exceptionally high quality black-and-white photographs. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Pt. I	The consumer, the laborer, the capitalist, and the nation-state in the society of perpetual growth : introduction	1
Ch. 1	Constructing the consumer	13
Ch. 2	The laborer in the culture of capitalism	39
Ch. 3	The rise of the merchant, industrialist, and capital controller	65
Ch. 4	The nation-state in the culture of capitalism	108
Pt. II	The global impact of the culture of capitalism : introduction	137
Ch. 5	The problem of population growth	145
Ch. 6	Hunger, poverty, and economic development	175
Ch. 7	Environment and consumption	206
Ch. 8	Disease	233
Ch. 9	Indigenous groups and ethnic conflict	262
Pt. III	Resistance and rebellion : introduction	293
Ch. 10	Peasant protest, rebellion, and resistance	301
Ch. 11	Antisystemic protest	329
Ch. 12	Religion and antisystemic protest	355
Ch. 14	Constructing the citizen-activist	383

Books about: War on the Middle Class or With Their Eyes

The Edge of Disaster: Rebuilding a Resilient Nation

Author: Stephen Flynn

Why do we remain unprepared for the next terrorist attack or natural disaster?
Where are we most vulnerable?
How have we allowed our government to be so negligent?
Who will keep you and your family safe?
Is America living on borrowed time?
How can we become a more resilient nation? Americans are in denial when it comes to facing up to how vulnerable our nation is to disaster, be it terrorist attack or act of God. We have learned little from the cataclysms of September 11 and Hurricane Katrina. When it comes to catastrophe, America is living on borrowed time–and squandering it. In this new book, leading security expert Stephen Flynn issues a call to action, demanding that we wake up and prepare immediately for a safer future.

The truth is acts of terror cannot always be prevented, and nature continues to show its fury in frighteningly unpredictable ways. Resiliency, argues Flynn, must now become our national motto. With chilling frankness and clarity, Flynn paints an all too real scenario of the threats we face within our own borders. A terrorist attack on a tanker carrying liquefied natural gas into Boston Harbor could kill thousands and leave millions more of New Englanders without power or heat. The destruction of a ship with a cargo of oil in Long Beach, California, could bring the West Coast economy to its knees and endanger the surrounding population. But even these all-too-plausible terrorist scenarios pale in comparison to the potential destruction wrought by a major earthquake or hurricane.

Our growing exposure to man-made and natural perils is largely rooted in our own negligence, as we take for granted the infrastructure handed down to us byearlier generations. Once the envy of the world, this infrastructure is now crumbling. After decades of neglect, our public health system leaves us at the mercy of microbes that could kill millions in the next flu pandemic. Flash flooding could wipe out a fifty-year-old dam north of Phoenix, placing thousands of homes and lives at risk. The next San Francisco earthquake could destroy century-old levees, contaminating the freshwater supply that most of California relies on for survival.

It doesn’t have to be this way. The Edge of Disaster tells us what we can do about it, as individuals and as a society. We can–and, Flynn argues, we must–construct a more resilient nation. With the wounds of recent national tragedies still unhealed, the time to act is now.

Flynn argues that by tackling head-on, eyes open the perils that lie before us, we can remain true to our most important and endearing national trait: our sense of optimism about the future and our conviction that we can change it for the better for ourselves–and our children.

“Steve Flynn offers the answer not only to protecting America from terrorist attacks and natural disaster but also to revitalizing our democracy. This book is a must-read for all members of Congress, 2008 presidential candidates, and ordinary citizens who want to build a better and safer future.”
–Anne-Marie Slaughter, dean, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University Advance praise for The Edge of Disaster

“Steve Flynn has done it again. Like America the Vulnerable before it, The Edge of Disaster is the must-read book for every American, elected official, and presidential candidate who is committed to ensuring that our nation continue to thrive in perilous times.”
–Mark Warner, former governor of Virginia “Since 9/11, protecting our nation against a terrorist attack has consumed policy makers in Washington. What Stephen Flynn points out in The Edge of Disaster is that much of this effort has been directed overseas, often at the expense of our homeland and its much more likely areas of vulnerability. Laying out a series of potential disasters both manmade and natural, Flynn calls for a greater emphasis on preparedness and the ability of communities and the nation to recover. Painting an often frustrating and infuriating picture of missed opportunities, The Edge of Disaster is a call to action. The time to act is now. We can only hope that policy makers are listening.”
–Christine Todd Whitman, former governor of New Jersey and
former administrator, Environmental Protection Agency (2001-03) “Steve Flynn’s book makes the very persuasive argument that national security preparedness is linked to natural disaster preparedness. By investing significantly in our critical infrastructure, in citizen preparedness, and most importantly in leadership, we can be better prepared for all hazards. A great book that I highly recommend.”
–James Lee Witt, former director, Federal Emergency Management Agency “Steve Flynn has become a relentless contributor to the dialogue on prioritizing the work of the post-9/11 security environment. The Edge of Disaster calls into question the neglect of domestic preparedness in favor of the Department of Defense-driven offensive in the global war on terrorism. The book offers provocative challenges to both our elected and our private-sector leaders, and both should read it thoroughly.”
–Admiral James M. Loy, former commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, and former deputy secretary of homeland security

The Washington Post - John McQuaid

Flynn brings considerable experience to the issue, from a stint as a Coast Guard officer to his current perch at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he studies homeland security issues. His argument is straightforward and sensible: We need to build "resiliency" into the systems that make modern American life possible -- transportation, communications, trade, basic infrastructure and government agencies. Our leaders lecture us that future disasters are inevitable, and they're right. So we'd better start figuring out how to take a punch. By intelligently marshaling our resources before catastrophes occur, we can cushion almost any blow.

Library Journal

Avian flu. Earthquake. Exploding chemical plants. Homeland security expert Flynn reports on a lot of bad things that could happen post-9/11. With a four-city tour. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

	The Dream of a New Society	7
	The Moral History of the Baby Boom Generation	21
	The Gay Awakening	123
	Zappa and Havel	195
	Backward Glance at the End of History	254
	Note on Sources	341
	Index	345

	Preface : people count
1	Missing numbers	1
2	Confusing numbers	26
3	Scary numbers	63
4	Authoritative numbers	91
5	Magical numbers	116
6	Contentious numbers	144
7	Toward statistical literacy?	170

	Original Preface
	Foreword
	Acknowledgments
1	Imperial Tempest	3
2	The World's Biggest Forgotten War	48
3	The African Killing Fields	105
4	Strategic Fallout	139
5	Aid: Rolling the Rock of Sisyphus	182
	Postscript	199
	Selected Bibliography	209
	Index	215

Human Rights Books

Wayward Contracts or Identities Affiliations and Allegiances

Wayward Contracts: The Crisis of Political Obligation in England, 1640-1674

Table of Contents:

Identities, Affiliations, and Allegiances

J M Coetzee and the Idea of the Public Intellectual or Shermans March through the Carolinas

J. M. Coetzee and the Idea of the Public Intellectual

Table of Contents:

Sherman's March through the Carolinas

Convicted In The Womb or Battleground Chicago

Convicted In The Womb

Publishers Weekly

Library Journal

Kirkus Reviews

Battleground Chicago: The Police and the 1968 Democratic National Convention

Table of Contents:

International Human Rights or Modern Weapons Caching

International Human Rights: Problems of Law, Policy, and Practice

Modern Weapons Caching: A Down to Earth Approach to Beating the Government Gun Grab

Table of Contents:

Loving Enemies or Masculinities

Loving Enemies: A Manual for Ordinary People

Masculinities: An Anthropology of Football, Polo and Tango

Table of Contents:

Social Work and Human Rights or Civil Disobedience Solitude and Life without Principle

Social Work and Human Rights: A Foundation for Policy and Practice

Civil Disobedience, Solitude and Life without Principle

Table of Contents:

Someday Well All Be Free or Arms and Influence

Someday We'll All Be Free

The Washington Post - Hakim Hasan

Arms and Influence

Dear Mrs Roosevelt or U S Presidents Factbook

Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: Letters from Children of the Great Depression

KLIATT

U. S. Presidents Factbook

Main Street Revisited or Americas Lost War

Main Street Revisited: Time, Space, and Image Building in Small-Town America

Publishers Weekly

Table of Contents:

America's Lost War: Vietnam: 1945-1975 9American History Series)

The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government or Worlds Apart

The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, Vol. 1

Worlds Apart: Why Poverty Persists in Rural America

(American Journal of Sociology) - David Brown

(World & I) - Linda Simon

(America) - Thomas Bokenkotter

Choice

Doubletake

(Appalachian Journal) - Jim Sessions

Kirkus Reviews

What People Are Saying

Table of Contents:

Public Finance Administration or Seeking Higher Ground

Public Finance Administration

Booknews

Table of Contents:

Seeking Higher Ground: The Hurricane Katrina Crisis, Race, and Public Policy Reader

The Dynamics of Social Welfare Policy or Copyrights Paradox

The Dynamics of Social Welfare Policy

Copyright's Paradox

Table of Contents:

What to Do when the Shit Hits the Fan or What Every American Should Know about the Rest of the World

What to Do When the Shit Hits the Fan

What Every American Should Know about the Rest of the World

Ann Hart - KLIATT

Three Approaches to Abortion or Spies for Hire

Three Approaches to Abortion: A Compassionate and Thoughtful Guide to the Most Controversial Issue Today

Spies for Hire: The Secret World of Intelligence Outsourcing

Publishers Weekly

Kirkus Reviews

Table of Contents:

Antiquities Under Siege or International Political Economy

Antiquities Under Siege: Cultural Heritage Protection after the Iraq War

International Political Economy: An Intellectual History

Table of Contents:

Women of the Harvest or Democratic Education

Women of the Harvest: Inspiring Stories of Contemporary Farmers

Table of Contents:

Democratic Education