Friday, January 30, 2009

Compelled to Excel or Markets in Motion

Compelled to Excel: Immigration, Education, and Opportunity among Chinese Americans

Author: Vivian S Loui

In the contemporary American imagination, Asian Americans are considered the quintessential immigrant success story, a powerful example of how the culture of immigrant families—rather than their race or class—matters in education and upward mobility. Drawing on extensive interviews with second-generation Chinese Americans attending Hunter College, a public commuter institution, and Columbia University, an elite Ivy League school, Vivian Louie challenges the idea that race and class do not matter. Though most Chinese immigrant families see higher education as a necessary safeguard against potential racial discrimination, Louie finds that class differences do indeed shape the students’ different paths to college.

How do second-generation Chinese Americans view their college plans? And how do they see their incorporation into American life? In addressing these questions, Louie finds that the views and experiences of Chinese Americans have much to do with the opportunities, challenges, and contradictions that all immigrants and their children confront in the United States.



Table of Contents:
Pt. 1Family journeys to America
1Mainstream, suburban America1
2Urban, ethnic-enclave America16
Pt. 2How children make sense of education : a family matter
3Ethnic culture, immigration, and race in America37
4Cultures-in-transition : gender and migration64
5"Ending up" at Hunter83
6A place at Columbia104
Pt. 3The second-generation experience
7Parental sacrifice and the obligations of children123
8Second-generation identities146
Conclusion : looking toward the future : a raceless world or a world divided by race?164

Interesting book: The e Learning Handbook or Parsing Techniques

Markets in Motion: A Financial Market History: 1900 to 2004

Author: Ned Davis

Markets in Motion is a graphical overview of the economic conditions and events that have influenced the U.S. stock market since 1900. Decade by decade, you'll examine how different economic and policitcal environments can be directly correlated to stock market movements. Each decade features graphs displaying the performance of the Dow Jones Average, the Dow Jones price to dividend ratio, industrial production, money supply, consumer price index, T bill rate, and the Discount rate. Embedded on the graphs are short descriptions of important political, economic, and historical events. Use this information to reference similar environments today and gain an edge in determining the future direction of the market.



Thursday, January 29, 2009

Dying to Live or The Cell

Dying to Live: A Story of U.S. Immigration in an Age of Global Apartheid

Author: Joseph Nevins

Illegal immigration has become one of the intensely controversial social issues of our day. What are the side effects of the United States' stern position on Mexican immigration? "Dying to Live: A Story of U.S. Immigration In an Age of Global Apartheid" is a definitive criticism by author Joseph Nevins of the U.S.'s practices on immigration today. Following the story of Julio Cesar Gallegos, a man who died crossing the border to try to reach his wife and son, it's an eye opening account of immigration that is judicially defined as illegal -- and the cruelty that sometimes lies within. Discussing human rights and homeland security as well, "Dying to Live" is a deftly written treatise on immigration, a must to those who want to further understand the subject. --Midwest Book Review

Booklist

Nevins writes a compelling indictment of this nation's immigration policy directed toward Mexico . . . thoughtful and elucidating exploration of this multifaceted problem.

International Socialist Review

...packs a many-sided, moving, and uncompromising account of the development of U.S. immigration and its associated politics into a short and readable book.

What People Are Saying

Susan Straight
"'Dying to Live' is a compelling, perceptive and invaluable book for our times."--(Susan Straight, author of "Highwire Moon")


Richard Walker
"...a fierce and courageous denunciation of the foul politics of immigration..."--(Richard Walker, professor of geography, UC Berkeley)


Noam Chomsky
"[A] remarkable book."


Mike Davis
"Invisible in life, like most exploited immigrants, Julio Cesar Gallegos now judges us from the hour of his terrible death."--(Mike Davis, author "Planet of Slums" and "In Praise of Barbarians")


David Bacon
"An important, visually moving book that adds to our knowledge of the border and its place in history."--(David Bacon, author "Communities Without Borders: Images and Voices from the World of Migration")


Deepa Fernandes
"Joseph Nevins blows the cover off the scapegoating of "illegal" immigrants by meticulously and grippingly compiling the history of why so many try to come to the U.S. and, tragically, why so many die. This book strikes at our very moral core."--(Deepa Fernandes, author of Targeted, Homeland Security and the Business of Immigration)




Table of Contents:

1 The bodies 17

2 The desert 29

3 The border 73

4 Juchipila, MexUSA 123

5 Beyond the boundary 165

Appendices 200

Bibliography 205

Notes 229

Index 245

Look this: Disuniting of America or Divided America

The Cell: Inside the 9/11 Plot, and Why the FBI and CIA Failed to Stop It

Author: John C Miller

In The Cell, John Miller, an award-winning journalist and coanchor of ABC's 20/20, along with veteran reporter Michael Stone and Chris Mitchell, takes readers back more than 10 years to the birth of the terrorist cell that later metastasized into al Qaeda's New York operation. This remarkable book offers a firsthand account of what it is to be a police officer, an FBI agent or a reporter obsessed with a case few people will take seriously. It contains a first-person account of Miller's face-to-face meeting with bin Laden and privides the first full-length treatment to piece together what led up to the events of 9/11, ultimately delivering the disturbing answer to the question: Why, with all the information the intelligence community had, was no one able to stop the 9/11 attacks?

John Miller is an Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist, cohost of ABC's 20/20 with Barbara Walters, and one of the few Western reporters ever to have interviewed Osama bin Laden. He lives in New York City.

Michael Stone is a veteran journalist who has covered many of New York's most notorious stories, including John Gotti, Robert Chambers, and the Central Park jogger assault, and is the author of Gangbusters. He lives in New York City.

Chris Mitchell is a senior editor at The Week. His previous collaboration, Jack Maple's The Crime Fighter, inspired the television drama The District. He lives in New York City.

Boston Globe

A riveting, frightening, and illuminating book.

USA Today

It asks the tough questions.

New York Times Book Review

[The authors] bring high credibiltiy to this streetwise, gritty police procedural . . . an important addition to the growing literature . . .

Washington Post Book World

[Has] the feel of a true crime documentary.

KLIATT

When the horror of September 11th was still fresh, nearly everyone craved for a basic and simple explanation of why the unthinkable had suddenly happened to the nation; a book or some sort of thoughtful article that would make everything clear. This book might not do that, but at least it illuminates the chaotic nature of the root situation, and the anarchic mindset that it spawned. Like all conspiracy books, this one presents an impressive scenario, full of revelations, finger pointing, and "what-ifs?" The tale begins ten years ago when one of the authors investigated a small, semi-disorganized Arab hate group. As time went on and events in the Middle East began to boil over, this group; this cell; eventually ended up morphing into Osama bin Laden's New York organization. The authors; professional journalists all; patch together numerous stories, names, anecdotes, and historical vignettes to create an exciting and fast-moving tale of deception and discovery. One of the book's highlights is the account of a clandestine interview that an author had with Osama bin Laden himself. Talking in a small cave in Afghanistan, the terrorist reveals that the Arab world lost all fear of the U.S. after its hasty withdrawal from Somalia. The book's strengths are also its weaknesses. As exciting and convincing as the narrative is, it seems to be a little too much so. The authors know how to ferret out facts and trace people down, but none has any sort of official connection with any police or government agency. Following the new "literary nonfiction" style of writing, they re-create lengthy conversations of years ago, and the inner thoughts and emotions of important characters are freely presented as ifin a screenplay. Surely this book is the first among a long line of titles that will be published on the subject in years to come. It is a good one for the interested reader to begin with, and it will be interesting to see what influence it will have. KLIATT Codes: SA;Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2002, Hyperion, 370p. notes. index., Puffer

Library Journal

9/11 The accusatory books about how the September 11 attacks could have been prevented are being published at a pace not seen since the assassination of JFK. These three reporters combine their considerable expertise and offer a better insight than most, owing to their familiarity with Islamic terrorist groups and Miller's incredible face-to-face interview with Osama bin Laden. They do well in laying the foundation for placing the blame on FBI and CIA officials, going back as far as the PanAm accident in Lockerbie, Scotland, and up to the attack on the U.S.S. Cole in Yemen Harbor. Unfortunately, listening to their account of the myriad leads to who was actually behind the various attacks is often confusing. Perhaps the unabridged version would do a better job of separating the various players with similar sounding names. That aside, the authors do manage to pinpoint moments in time when events might have been different if agencies cooperated, the departments of State and Defense were not always at odds, and the age-old practice of self-preservation were not so prevalent in the U.S. government. Read by Miller, this highly intelligent and challenging book sheds light on what culminated in the worst terrorist attack in history. Recommended for all public library and military collections.-Joseph L. Carlson, Lompoc P.L., CA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.



Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Leap of Faith or Fate of Liberty

Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life

Author: Queen Noor

Born in 1951 to a distinguished Arab-American family, Lisa Najeeb Halaby became the fourth wife of King Hussein at age 27. With her husband being not only Jordan's monarch but the spiritual leader of all Muslims, Lisa was unsure what her role would be. This moving memoir provides a timely look at one woman's story against a backdrop of 30 turbulent years: the displacement of over 1 million Palestinians by the creation of Israel, King Hussein's frustrated efforts for peace, and the effect of Saddam Hussein and the Gulf War on Jordan and the royal family. Queen Noor offers intimate new glimpses of King Hussein, Saddam Hussein, Queen Elizabeth, Arafat, and many other world leaders.

Houston Chronicle

Queen Noor has led a more interesting, committed life than the majority of authors writing their memoirs...it's hard to imagine a better story.

New York Times Book Review

Candid...an affecting wifely portrait of King Hussein.

USA Today

The book's ending has real power. Hussein's death from lymphoma was a painful ordeal for him, his wife, his family and his small grieving country.

Yet he conducted himself with kindness and concern for others to the end. If Queen Noor's object was to make the Arab world more human and understandable, she has succeeded. — Deirdre Donahue

The New York Times

Leap of Faith will not dispel its author's impression that she has often been misunderstood. On one hand, this is a glossy and decorous account of the queen's unusual experiences, with a polite tendency to accentuate the positive. ("I urged everyone I worked with to speak freely and offer honest, constructive criticism.") On the other, it is a fiery account of her husband's frustrations in dealing with international diplomacy in general and the United States and Israel in particular. — Janet Maslin

Publishers Weekly

Anyone who loved The King and I will readily warm to the love story of Queen Noor and the late King Hussein of Jordan. Born in America in 1951 as Lisa Halaby, Noor came from a wealthy, well-connected family and was part of Princeton's first co-ed class. Her father's aviation business produced a chance meeting with King Hussein in 1976, and a year or two later Noor realized the king was courting her. He was 41, she was 26. The rumor mills buzzed: was she the next Grace Kelly? Before long, the king renamed her Noor (light in Arabic), and she converted to Islam. They were married in the summer of 1978. From this point on, her story is mostly his, mainly covering his attempts to broker peace in the Middle East. There are meetings with Arafat, Saddam Hussein, American presidents and other leaders. Noor details Hussein's struggles to create Arab unity and his vision of peaceful coexistence with Israel. Her own activities developing village-based economic self-sufficiency projects and improving Jordan's medical, educational and cultural facilities take second place to her husband's struggles on the world stage. And while she occasionally acknowledges her domestic difficulties, Noor is careful not to allow personal problems to become any more than asides. Her pleasing memoir ends with the king's death after his struggle with cancer, although readers may suspect that this smart, courageous woman will remain a world presence for years to come. (On sale Mar. 18) Forecast: The legions of royalty fans will clamor for this long-awaited memoir, and with the queen's appearances on Good Morning America and Larry King Live, an excerpt in this month's Vogue and ubiquitous reviews, it should draw readers. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

We love stories about princesses. This particular royal tale is true and shows that being a contemporary princess (or queen) involves a tremendous amount of responsibility and not a little loneliness. Of Jordanian and Swedish descent, American-born and Princeton-educated Lisa Najeeb Halaby was 26 years old when she became the fourth wife of Jordan's King Hussein in 1978. Upon her conversion to Islam he chose Noor Al Hussein as her Arabic name, meaning "Light of Hussein." The Arab-Israeli conflict and Hussein's efforts at peacemaking are a large part of this work, part love story, part political commentary, told naturally from the Jordanian side. Hussein's stance estranged him at times from other Arabs (in particular Egyptians) as well as from Israelis, a point Noor emphasizes perhaps to make him more appealing to American readers. In addition to raising their four children (and his eight from previous marriages) and traveling with her husband, she chaired the board of the Noor Al Hussein Foundation, which promotes culture and development in Jordan, with an emphasis on women's issues. She now works with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. Noor ably reads the introduction, but the rest of the book is narrated by Suzanne Toren, whose precise, cultured tone is exactly what we expect from a queen.-Nann Blaine Hilyard, Zion-Benton P.L., IL Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

What People Are Saying

Diane Sawyer
Extremely eloquent, very personal, very candid.
Good Morning America




Table of Contents:
Chapter 1First Impressions1
Chapter 2Roots9
Chapter 3Tehran Journal35
Chapter 4An Audience with the King45
Chapter 5A Leap of Faith79
Chapter 6Honeymoon at Gleneagles105
Chapter 7A Young Bride in the Royal Household127
Chapter 8Pomp and Circumstance145
Chapter 9One Crisis after Another155
Chapter 10America through New Eyes189
Chapter 11At Home and Abroad219
Chapter 12"Women Hold Up Half the Sky"245
Chapter 13Parenthood269
Chapter 14Growing Pains289
Chapter 15Prelude to War299
Chapter 16Fire in the Gulf327
Chapter 17Test of Faith337
Chapter 18A Day Like No Other351
Chapter 19The Edge of the Abyss383
Chapter 20The White Bird399
Chapter 21The Skies Cried423
Epilogue437

See also: Sigma Maigre :le Guide d'un Praticien

Fate of Liberty

Author: Mark E Neely Jr

Abraham Lincoln was known as the Great Emancipator, but he was also the only president to suspend the writ of habeas corpus. In fact, Lincoln’s record on the Constitution and civil liberties has fueled more than a century of debate—from charges that he singled out Democrats for harrassment to his depiction as an absolute dictator. Mark E. Neely, Jr.’s Pulitzer Prize-winning history wades straight into the controversy, exploring the whole range of Lincoln’s constitutional polices, as well as showing just who was jailed and why.

    

According to Neely, Lincoln’s suspension of habeas corpus was a well-intentioned response to a floodtide of unforeseen events: the direct threat to Washington as Maryland flirted with secession, disintegrating public order in the border states, contraband trade with the South, corruption among army contractors, and the outcry against the first military draft in U.S. history. Drawing on letters from prisoners, records from military courts and federal prisons, as well as memoirs and archives, Neely paints a vivid picture of how Lincoln responded to these problems, how his policies were actually executed, and the virulent debates that followed. Lincoln emerges from this account with his legendary statesmanship intact—mindful of political realities, prone to temper the sentences of military courts, and more concerned with prosecuting the war effectively than with persecuting his opponents.

Neely also explores abuses of power under a regime of martial law: the routine torture of suspected deserters, widespread anti-Semitism among Union generals and officials,and the common practice of seizing civilian hostages. He finds that though the system of justice was flawed, it suffered less from merciless zeal or political partisanship than from inefficiency and the complexities of modern war.

“A major contribution, both to Lincoln literature and to the history of the Civil War.”

                                  —Don E. Fehrenbacher, author of The Dred Scott Case

“This is a brilliant book. Mark Neely has brought to his study of the most bitterly contested aspect of Abraham Lincoln’s presidency his own distinctive blend of scholarship, story-telling, and plain common sense.”

       —Geoffrey C. Ward, coauthor of The Civil War (with Ken and Ric Burns)

“This, the most original book about Lincoln in many a year, gives for the first time a true and adequate account of his policies in regard to civil liberties.

                        —Richard Nelson Current, author of Lincoln’s Loyalists



Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Fateful Triangle or Congress

Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel, and the Palestinians

Author: Noam Chomsky

Chomsky's seminal tome on Mideast politics, a classic in the fields of political science and Mideast affairs, now includes a new introduction, a foreword by Edward Said, and new chapters on the Palestinian uprising, the ongoing "peace process" (including the Oslo and Wye accords), and Israel's war on Lebanon. This new, updated edition highlights the book's lasting relevance.

ColorLines, Spring 2001 - Lamis Adoni

This is an incisive and in depth analysis by one of the most important thinkers of our time on U.S. policy in the Middle East. Chomsky traces the roots of the U.S. alliance with israel and methodically dissects the myth about America's self-declared role as an honest broker of peace in the region. He links U.S. policies to its economic interests, particulary securing the flow of cheap crude oil and sustaining U.S. military prescence and Israeli prowess in the region. A must read to understand what motivates U.S. policies and their repercussions on the people of the Middle East.

Booknews

Here's the 1983 edition with a new introduction by Chomsky, Edward Said's foreword, the Palestinian uprising, and the wearying peace process. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)



Book review: Patentrecht-Hauptsache: Ein Kurzer Guide

Congress: The Electoral Connection

Author: David Mayhew

In this second edition to a book that has now achieved canonical status, David R. Mayhew argues that the principal motivation of legislators is reelection and that the pursuit of this goal affects the way they behave and the way that they make public policy. In a new foreword for this edition, R. Douglas Arnold discusses why the book revolutionized the study of Congress and how it has stood the test of time. The book also contains a new preface by the author.



Table of Contents:
Foreword
1The electoral incentive11
2Processes and policies79

Monday, January 26, 2009

State of Emergency or A Great Improvisation

State of Emergency: The Third World Invasion and Conquest of America

Author: Patrick J Buchanan

"The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities," said Theodore Roosevelt. State of Emergency will demonstrate that this is exactly what is happening to America and may now be unstoppable.

The United States of 1960 was a First World nation, 90% of whose people traced their ancestry to Europe, 97% of whom spoke English. We studied the same history and literature in school, went to the same movies, read the same books, listened to the same radio and TV, cherished the same heroes. We were one nation and one people.

That America is dead and gone. The deconstruction of America -- along the lines of culture and values, language and faith, allegiance and loyalty -- has begun. By 2050, Americans of European descent will be a minority in the United States. One hundred million Hispanics with ties of language and loyalty to Mexico and Latin America will be living here, concentrated in the Southwest

It is the thesis of State of Emergency that the Melting Pot is broken beyond repair, that assimilation and Americanization are not taking place, and that only action is to seal and secure America's borders to halt the flow of over a million legal and illegal immigrants a year, and to begin the Americanization of the tens of millions of aliens in our midst can save America. Our civilization cannot survive indefinitely what is going on.

 State of Emergency reveals who is doing this to us, why they are doing it, why this is our last chance, and how, if the will is there, we can yet saveAmerica from Balkanization and break-up.



Table of Contents:
1How civilizations perish1
2The invasion7
3Coming to America19
4The face of America : 205036
5Suicide of the GOP51
6Roots of paralysis68
7A grudge against the Gringo93
8The Aztlan plot119
9What is a nation?138
10The return of tribalism164
11Eurabia187
12"A nation of immigrants"?220
13Last chance245

Look this: Waking Giant or Values of the Game

A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America

Author: Stacy Schiff

“Stunning . . . a remarkably subtle and penetrating portrait of Franklin and his diplomacy.”—The New York Review of Books
     When Benjamin Franklin embarked for France in 1776, he well understood that he was taking on the greatest gamble of his career. The colonies were without money, munitions, gunpowder, or common cause; dispatched amid great secrecy, across a winter sea thick with enemy cruisers, Franklin was seventy years old, without any diplomatic training, and possessed of the most rudimentary French. His eight-year posting there serves not only as Franklin’s most vital service to his country—it was in large part on account of his fame, charisma, and ingenuity that France underwrote the American Revolution, and it was Franklin who helped negotiate the peace of 1783—but as the most revealing of the man. The French mission would prove the most inventive act in a life of astonishing inventions.
     In A Great Improvisation, Pulitzer Prize winner Stacy Schiff draws from new and little-known sources to illuminate the least-explored part of Franklin’s life. From these pages emerge a particularly human and yet fiercely determined Founding Father, as well as a profound sense of how fragile, improvisational, and international was our country’s bid for independence.

The New York Times - Walter Isaacson

Franklin was an ideal choice for the mission, as Stacy Schiff shows in this meticulously researched and judicious account of his eight years as a diplomatic dazzler and charmer in Paris.

The Washington Post. - Isabelle de Courtivron

Despite the undeniable impact on U.S.-French relations of two tumultuous centuries, A Great Improvisation reminds us that profound cultural differences between the two societies have not changed all that much -- and thus remain at the root of their conflicting visions of the world. Plus зa change . .

Publishers Weekly

Numerous bestselling volumes have been written recently on the man one biography called "the first American." Pulitzer Prize-winner Schiff (for Vera [Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov]) eloquently adds to our understanding of Benjamin Franklin with a graceful, sly and smart look at his seven-year sojourn in France in his quasi-secret quest to secure American independence by procuring an alliance with the French. Drawing on newly available sources, Schiff brilliantly chronicles the international intrigues and the political backbiting that surrounded Franklin during his mission. "A master of the oblique approach, a dabbler in shades of gray," she writes, "Franklin was a natural diplomat, genial and ruthless." She deftly recreates the glittering and gossipy late 18th-century Paris in which Franklin moved, and she brings to life such enigmatic French leaders as Jacques-Donatien Chaumont, Franklin's closest adviser and chief supplier of American aid, and Charles Vergennes, the French minister of foreign affairs, who helped Franklin write the French-American Alliance of 1778. Franklin also negotiated the peace of 1783 that led not only to the independence of the colonies from Britain but also to a bond between France and America that, Schiff says, lasted until WWII. Schiff's sure-handed historical research and her majestic prose offer glimpses into a little-explored chapter of Franklin's life and American history. Agent, Lois Wallace. (Apr. 2) Forecast: This should receive excellent review coverage, which will boost sales, and perhaps the blurb from Joseph Ellis will help. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

A Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer travels to Paris as Ben Franklin persuades the French to back the Colonies. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Here's breaking news for the Francophobic freedom-fries set: without France, there would have been no United States. "The majority of the guns fired on the British at Saratoga were French," writes ace biographer/historian Schiff (Vera [Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov], 1999; Saint-Exupery, 1994). "Four years later, when the British set down their muskets at Yorktown, they surrendered to forces that were nearly equal parts French and American, all of them fed and clothed and paid by France, and protected by de Grasse's fleet." Moreover, she adds, the French came up with the equivalent of $9 billion to secure American independence. But without Benjamin Franklin, Schiff argues, France likely would not have come to the aid of the fledgling republic. It was not only that Franklin, who a few years before had been an ardent royalist, presented the American cause as an ideal way for France to play knavish tricks on Britain, but also that Franklin was not Silas Deane. The latter, a staid Connecticut businessman, was Congress's representative in Paris, having arrived there just three days after the Declaration of Independence was promulgated; his duties also involved espionage, but Deane was an unable spy. Moreover, he was a bumpkin compared to the British ambassador, who had a grand time announcing every American defeat to the court at Versailles. Franklin's reputation as a sophisticate and man of letters and science preceded him, and he found himself welcome and even lionized. His steady lobbying soon brought material aid to the much-suffering rebels, though the French and Americans forged a partnership "founded on various illusions about the past and a general misunderstanding of the future"; theprofessional French military scorned the American militia as mere rabble, and the French in general felt that the Americans showed too little gratitude to them for their help. Which evens the score, one supposes, for subsequent American complaints that the French have been insufficiently grateful for our help. . . . A lively, well-written, and most timely study of diplomacy in action. Author tour

What People Are Saying

Edmund S. Morgan
Stacy Schiff's extensive scholarship, her eye for the colorful detail, and her lively wit combine to bring alive -- in full dress and in an absorbing narrative -- the cast of statesmen, adventurers, spies, courtiers, patriots and con men who have a part in the story of Benjamin Franklin's negotiations for American independence, and to fix among them America's greatest diplomat, winning his way (and America's) in a style of calculated disarray. An extraordinary book.


Ron Chernow
In sparkling prose, burnished to a high gloss, Stacy Schiff tells the tale of Benjamin Franklin in Paris with piquant humor, outrageous anecdotes worthy of the finest French farce, and a wealth of lapidary observations. Her Paris unfolds as a glittering carnival of spies, rogues, frauds, and flawed reformers, eccentric nobility and perpetually squabbling American diplomats. Towering above all is the protean figure of Franklin, an improbable compound of wit, cunning, hypocrisy, courage, and tireless devotion to his country. C'est magnifique!


Joseph J. Ellis
This is a book to savor. Every page has some new nugget of insight, or some graceful turn of phrase that generates a verbal airburst over the most psychologically agile American of his time, perhaps of all time. Schiff has given a genuine jolt to the recent surge of interest in Franklin, along the way demonstrating why she is generally regarded as one of the most gifted storytellers writing today.


Claude-Anne Lopez
This remarkable book breaks new ground. Stacy Schiff has dug deep into the archives of France (no mean feat!) and brought up a motherlode of gems which, polished by her wit, illuminate the doublespeak of the ambassadorial world, as well as the ferocious backbiting among the colonial envoys. From this maelstrom emerges Franklin, inventing the American foreign service as he had figured out electricity, bifocals, a new stove, the glass armonica -- step by cautious step.


Amanda Foreman
What a brilliant book. A Great Improvisation pays tribute to the extraordinary love affair between monarchist France and the republican Benjamin Franklin. Their child was America, conceived at home and nurtured into maturity by France. It is a story full of intrigue, jealousy and passion. But ultimately it is a celebration of one American's love for his country. Stacy Schiff has written a masterpiece, capturing a fleeting moment when the stars aligned between Congress and Versailles.




Saturday, January 24, 2009

Forced Into Glory or Globalization

Forced Into Glory: Abraham Lincoln and the White Dream

Author: Lerone Bennett

Beginning with the argument that the Emancipation Proclamation did not actually free African American slaves, this dissenting view of Lincoln's greatness surveys the president's policies, speeches, and private utterances and concludes that he had little real interest in abolition. Pointing to Lincoln's support for the fugitive slave laws, his friendship with slave-owning senator Henry Clay, and conversations in which he entertained the idea of deporting slaves in order to create an all-white nation, the book, concludes that the president was a racist at heart—and that the tragedies of Reconstruction and the Jim Crow era were the legacy of his shallow moral vision.



New interesting book: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition or Cortez Peters Championship Keyboarding Drills W Home Software and Users Guide

Globalization: Culture and Education in the New Millennium

Author: Marcelo M Suarez Orozco

Globalization defines our era. While it has created a great deal of debate in economic, policy, and grassroots circles, many aspects of the phenomenon remain virtual terra incognita. Education is at the heart of this continent of the unknown. This pathbreaking book examines how globalization and large-scale immigration are affecting children and youth, both in and out of schools. Taking into consideration broad historical, cultural, technological, and demographic changes, the contributors--all leading social scientists in their fields--suggest that these global transformations will require youth to develop new skills, sensibilities, and habits of mind that are far ahead of what most educational systems can now deliver.
Drawing from comparative and interdisciplinary materials, the authors examine the complex psychological, sociocultural, and historical implications of globalization for children and youth growing up today. The book explores why new and broader global visions are needed to educate children and youth to be informed, engaged, and critical citizens in the new millennium.



Table of Contents:
Globalization defines our era. While it has created a great deal of debate in economic, policy, and grassroots circles, many aspects of the phenomenon remain virtual terra incognita. Education is at the heart of this continent of the unknown. This pathbreaking book examines how globalization and large-scale immigration are affecting children and youth, both in and out of schools. Taking into consideration broad historical, cultural, technological, and demographic changes, the contributors--all leading social scientists in their fields--suggest that these global transformations will require youth to develop new skills, sensibilities, and habits of mind that are far ahead of what most educational systems can now deliver.

Drawing from comparative and interdisciplinary materials, the authors examine the complex psychological, sociocultural, and historical implications of globalization for children and youth growing up today. The book explores why new and broader global visions are needed to educate children and youth to be informed, engaged, and critical citizens in the new millennium.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Does Ethics Have a Chance in a World of Consumers or The Storm Gourmet

Does Ethics Have a Chance in a World of Consumers?

Author: Zygmunt Bauman

Zygmunt Bauman is one of the most admired social thinkers of our time. Once a Marxist sociologist, he has surrendered the narrowness of both Marxism and sociology, and dares to write in language that ordinary people can understand—about problems they feel ill equipped to solve. This book is no dry treatise but is instead what Bauman calls “a report from a battlefield,” part of the struggle to find new and adequate ways of thinking about the world in which we live. Rather than searching for solutions to what are perhaps the insoluble problems of the modern world, Bauman proposes that we reframe the way we think about these problems. In an era of routine travel, where most people circulate widely, the inherited beliefs that aid our thinking about the world have become an obstacle.

Bauman seeks to liberate us from the thinking that renders us hopeless in the face of our own domineering governments and threats from unknown forces abroad. He shows us we can give up belief in a hierarchical arrangement of states and powers. He challenges members of the “knowledge class” to overcome their estrangement from the rest of society. Gracefully, provocatively, Bauman urges us to think in new ways about a newly flexible, newly challenging modern world. As Bauman notes, quoting Vaclav Havel, “hope is not a prognostication.” It is, rather, alongside courage and will, a mundane, common weapon that is too seldom used.

What People Are Saying

Paul Gilroy
This thoughtful and elegant little book by one of the world's most humble but distinguished intellectuals conveys a sense that the wisdom of a lifetime is being distilled here in a pithy but above all in a usable form. --(Paul Gilroy, London School of Economics)


Ron Eyerman
Zygmunt Bauman's voice is as exemplary as it is powerful. He writes not only in Max Weber's spirit, but also in that of Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno, as well as Hannah Arendt and Norbert Elias. This is a very important collection by one of the leading thinkers of our time. --(Ron Eyerman, Yale University)




Table of Contents:

Introduction Threats or Chances? 1

1 What Chance of Ethics in the Globalized World of Consumers? 31

2 Categorial Murder, or the Legacy of the Twentieth Century and How to Remember It 78

3 Freedom in the Liquid-Modern Era 110

4 Hurried Life, or Liquid-Modern Challenges to Education 144

5 Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire, or the Arts between Administration and the Markets 194

6 Making the Planet Hospitable to Europe 225

Notes 259

Index 269

New interesting textbook: On the High Wire or Forestry Handbook

The Storm Gourmet: A Guide to Creating Extraordinary Meals Without Electricity

Author: Daphne Nikolopoulos

This book proves that, with a little planning and minimal effort, you can eat surprisingly well during power outages. In hurricane season, this book is a crucial resource. It can be used for any emergency or anytime you are without power. And you can use this book for quick, easy meals anytime, especially for camping or for quick summer meals. You will find shopping lists for creating the ultimate emergency pantry; more than 70 recipes using nonperishable and shelf-stable food items; suggested menus for quick, well-balanced meals; a practical guide to growing a storm-proof herb garden; advice, tips, and anecdotes about weathering the storm. The 12-page color insert displays the colorful and appetizing-yes, gourmet!-meals that can be prepared from canned goods with some fresh ingredients.

Library Journal

A survivor of Florida's recent hurricanes and the managing editor of Palm Beach Illustrated magazine, Nikolopoulos was struck by the lack of recipes for interesting meals that could be prepared without cooking appliances. Her attempt to fill that gap might be considered a niche cookbook whose usefulness extends beyond the disaster-stricken public that the author hopes to serve. Although Nikolopoulos claims that her recipes-more than 70 using nonperishable food items, e.g., Cranberry Orange Chicken and Rose Water-Scented Pistachio Pudding-can be prepared in blizzard conditions as well as in tropical climates, there are too many references to picking up tropical fruit from your neighbor's yard to make these dishes truly useful without some adaptation for those living in northern areas. Most of the ingredients are readily available, but some, often crucial items-like orange- and rose-blossom water, guava paste, instant pasta, and the ubiquitous "table cream"-are uncommon. With creativity, however, campers and those who don't have ready access to mangoes and avocados year-round could make use of this book. The recipes are easy to follow, and the variations in meals would certainly be welcomed during a crisis that resulted in power outages for more than a few days. For larger cookbook collections in public libraries, particularly where weather crises or campers create a demand.-Elizabeth Rogers, CEF Lib. Syst., Plattsburgh, NY Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.



Thursday, January 22, 2009

The Bonus Army or Terrorism in the 21st Century

The Bonus Army: An American Epic

Author: Paul Dickson

In the summer of 1932, at the height of the Depression, some forty-five thousand veterans of World War I descended on Washington, D.C., from all over the country to demand the bonus promised them eight years earlier for their wartime service. They lived in shantytowns, white and black together, and for two months they protested and rallied for their cause—an action that would have a profound effect on American history.

President Herbert Hoover, Army Chief of Staff Douglas MacArthur, and others feared the protesters would turn violent after the Senate defeated the "bonus bill" that the House had passed. On July 28, 1932, tanks rolled through the streets as MacArthur's troops evicted the bonus marchers: Newspapers and newsreels showed graphic images of American soldiers driving out their former comrades in arms. Democratic candidate, Franklin Roosevelt, in a critical contest with Hoover, upon reading newspaper accounts of the eviction said to an adviser, "This will elect me," though bonus armies would plague him in each of his first three years.

Through seminal research, including interviews with the last surviving witnesses, Paul Dickson and Thomas B. Allen tell the full and dramatic story of the Bonus Army and of the many celebrated figures involved in it: Evalyn Walsh McLean, the owner of the hope diamond, sided with the marchers; Roy Wilkins saw the model for racial integration here; J. Edgar Hoover built his reputation against the Bonus Army radicals; a young Gore Vidal witnessed the crisis while John dos Passos, Sherwood Anderson, and Sinclair Lewis wrote about it. Dickson and Allen also recover the voices of ordinary men who dared tilt at powerfulinjustice, and who ultimately transformed the nation: The march inspired Congress to pass the G. I. Bill of Rights in 1944, one of the most important pieces of social legislation in our history, which in large part created America’s middle class. The Bonus Army is an epic story in the saga of our country.

Library Journal

Usually treated as a minor episode during the Great Depression, the Bonus Army (if remembered at all) has served to contrast the leadership styles of Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt. In 1932, World War I veterans struggling to survive the Depression organized to seek immediate payment of a bonus they were not to have received until 1945. Prolific authors Dickson (Sputnik: The Shock of the Century) and Allen (Spymaster) provide the drama behind this story and give it context. Though Hoover is usually depicted as sending in Gen. Douglas MacArthur to quash the veterans, while FDR sent Eleanor to hear their concerns, the story is revealed to be a great deal more complex. Both Hoover and FDR opposed the bonus on economic grounds. MacArthur, it turns out, was inclined to see Communist plots behind events and therefore ignored presidential instructions. FDR and the Congress ultimately transformed the Bonus Army protest into one of the most significant pieces of legislation in American history: the GI Bill of Rights. That the Bonus Army was an integrated movement, unlike the military at that time, helps make this a fascinating and readable book. Recommended for all libraries.-William D. Pederson, Louisiana State Univ., Shreveport Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Here a demonstrator is clubbed and tear-gassed, but there real reforms are won: thus unfolds this memorable story of a now-forgotten episode in 20th-century history. The idea that WWI veterans should receive a bonus for their service took years to build and years more to fulfill. As popular historians Dickson (Sputnik, 2001) and Allen (Code Name Downfall, 1995, etc.) write, part of the delay was a matter of political clout; whereas Civil War vets formed a powerful and populous voting bloc and agitated for pensions, by the time Woodrow Wilson sent troops off to war in Europe, his notion was that soldiers would pay for their own life insurance and "there would be no demand for postwar compensation to those who were not injured during their service." Veterans in Oregon thought otherwise, and soon African-American vets from Virginia and hill-country farmers from Tennessee would join in their call for what was now being called a "bonus" for service. When neither Congress nor presidents would cough up, the vets began to organize nationally, and in 1932 thousands arrived in Washington to protest the Senate's defeat of a bill that would have funds for them. Sure that the leaders were Communists, Army Chief of Staff Douglas MacArthur sent in troops, routing the ethnically mixed protestors and killing some. On hearing the news, Franklin Roosevelt reportedly said to an aide, "This will elect me," and indeed it seemed one of the last straws for the Hoover administration. Ironically, the Bonus Army's leadership was far more inclined to the right than the left, so that even as MacArthur was blustering about the Reds, a group of financiers approached a retired Marine Corps general to lead an army ofveterans to stage a coup. The general replied, "If you get these 500,000 soldiers advocating anything smelling of fascism, I am going to get 500,000 more and lick the hell out of you, and we will have real war right at home."The lesson the New Deal government took home: avoid ticking off discontented veterans, whence the GI Bill. A lively, engaging work of history. Agent: Gail Ross/Gail Ross Literary Agency



New interesting book: Entertaining in the Northwest Style or Stir the Pot

Terrorism in the 21st Century

Author: Cindy C Combs

“The book’s major strengths are its content, which is excellent, its organization, which is logical, and the fact that it devotes considerable attention to counterterrorist strategies and operations.”

–Nicholas J. Steneck, The Ohio State University

Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century
Fifth Edition

Cindy C. Combs

Putting terrorism into historical perspective, Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century offers tools like the latest data and numerous case studies to facilitate the critical analysis of terrorist acts and break down what, who, why, and how. The text surveys national and international responses, evaluating their effectiveness and concluding with notes on emerging threats and trends to help readers understand the phenomenon of terrorism and its future.

New and Updated Case Studies
• U.S. Prisoners in the "War on Terror"
• Palestine Liberation Authority
• Iran’s Support Network
• Bin Laden’s Tapes
• Free Militia Training Manual
• Department of Homeland Security
• Animal Liberation Front and PETA
• The PATRIOT Act
• "Fake Bomb" Smuggling
• A.Q. Khan and Nuclear Proliferation

Please visit us at www.pearsonhighered.com



Wednesday, January 21, 2009

The Imperial Presidency or Peak Everything

The Imperial Presidency

Author: Arthur Meier Schlesinger

From two-time Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., comes one of the most important and influential investigations of the American presidency. The Imperial Presidency traces the growth of presidential power over two centuries, from George Washington to George W. Bush, examining how it has both served and harmed the Constitution and what Americans can do about it in years to come. The book that gave the phrase "imperial presidency" to the language, this is a work of "substantial scholarship written with lucidity, charm, and wit" (The New Yorker).



Table of Contents:
1What the Founding Fathers intended1
2Where the Founding Fathers disagreed13
3The rise of presidential war35
4Congress makes a comeback68
5The presidency resurgent : the Second World War100
6The presidency ascendant : Korea127
7The presidency rampant : Vietnam177
8The revolutionary presidency : Washington208
9Democracy and foreign policy278
10The secrecy system331
11The future of the presidency377
Epilogue : after the imperial presidency420

Read also The Labor Relations Process or Girl from Botany Bay

Peak Everything: Waking up to the Century of Declines

Author: Richard Heinberg

The twentieth century saw unprecedented growth in population, energy consumption, and food production. As the population shifted from rural to urban, the impact of humans on the environment increased dramatically.

The twenty-first century ushered in an era of declines, in a number of crucial parameters:

  • Global oil, natural gas, and coal extraction
  • Yearly grain harvests
  • Climate stability
  • Population
  • Economic growth
  • Fresh water
  • Minerals and ores, such as copper and platinum

To adapt to this profoundly different world, we must begin now to make radical changes to our attitudes, behaviors, and expectations.

Peak Everything addresses many of the cultural, psychological, and practical changes we will have to make as nature rapidly dictates our new limits. This latest book from Richard Heinberg, author of three of the most important books on Peak Oil, touches on the most important aspects of the human condition at this unique moment in time.

A combination of wry commentary and sober forecasting on subjects as diverse as farming and industrial design, this book tells how we might make the transition from the Age of Excess to the Era of Modesty with grace and satisfaction, while preserving the best of our collective achievements. A must-read for individuals, business leaders, and policymakers who are serious about effecting real change.

Richard Heinberg is a journalist, lecturer, and the author of seven books, including The Party's Over, Powerdown, and The Oil Depletion Protocol. He is one of the world's foremost Peak Oil educators.



Tuesday, January 20, 2009

The New Industrial State or Big Lies

The New Industrial State

Author: John Kenneth Galbraith

With searing wit and incisive commentary, John Kenneth Galbraith redefined America's perception of itself in The New Industrial State, one of his landmark works. The United States is no longer a free-enterprise society, Galbraith argues, but a structured state controlled by the largest companies. Advertising is the means by which these companies manage demand and create consumer "need" where none previously existed. Multinational corporations are the continuation of this power system on an international level. The goal of these companies is not the betterment of society, but immortality through an uninterrupted stream of earnings.

First published in 1967, The New Industrial State continues to resonate today.



Table of Contents:
General Editor's Introduction     ix
Foreword   James K. Galbraith     xi
Acknowledgments     xxv
Introduction to the Fourth Edition     xxvii
Change and the Planning System     1
The Imperatives of Technology     13
The Nature of Industrial Planning     25
Planning and the Supply of Capital     42
Capital and Power     56
The Technostructure     73
The Corporation     89
The Entrepreneur and the Technostructure     108
A Digression on the Firm under Socialism     123
The Approved Contradiction     138
The General Theory of Motivation     162
Motivation in Perspective     176
Motivation and the Technostructure     186
The Principle of Consistency     199
The Goals of the Planning System     207
Prices in the Planning System     223
Prices in the Planning System (Continued)     235
The Management of Specific Demand     245
The Revised Sequence     263
The Regulation of Aggregate Demand     273
The Nature of Employment and Unemployment     289
The Control of the Wage-Price Spiral     305
The Planning System and the Union I     322
The Planning System and the Union II     337
The Educational and Scientific Estate     347
The Planning System and the State I     365
The Planning System and the State II     377
A Further Summary     390
The Planning System and the Arms Race     398
The Further Dimensions     419
The Planning Lacunae     432
Of Toil     443
Education and Emancipation     452
The Political Lead     462
The Future of the Planning System     473
An Addendum on Economic Method and the Nature of Social Argument     489
Index     503

Read also Die Zukunft der Musik

Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth

Author: Joe Conason

and/or stickers showing their discounted price. More about bargain books

Monday, January 19, 2009

One Economics Many Recipes or Doonesburycoms The Sandbox

One Economics, Many Recipes: Globalization, Institutions, and Economic Growth

Author: Dani Rodrik

In One Economics, Many Recipes, leading economist Dani Rodrik argues that neither globalizers nor antiglobalizers have got it right. While economic globalization can be a boon for countries that are trying to dig out of poverty, success usually requires following policies that are tailored to local economic and political realities rather than obeying the dictates of the international globalization establishment. A definitive statement of Rodrik's original and influential perspective on economic growth and globalization, One Economics, Many Recipes shows how successful countries craft their own unique strategies--and what other countries can learn from them.

To most proglobalizers, globalization is a source of economic salvation for developing nations, and to fully benefit from it nations must follow a universal set of rules designed by organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization and enforced by international investors and capital markets. But to most antiglobalizers, such global rules spell nothing but trouble, and the more poor nations shield themselves from them, the better off they are. Rodrik rejects the simplifications of both sides, showing that poor countries get rich not by copying what Washington technocrats preach or what others have done, but by overcoming their own highly specific constraints. And, far from conflicting with economic science, this is exactly what good economics teaches.



Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments     ix
Introduction     1
Economic Growth
Fifty Years of Growth (and Lack Thereof): An Interpretation     13
Growth Diagnostics     56
Synthesis: A Practical Approach to Growth Strategies     85
Institutions
Industrial Policy for the Twenty-first Century     99
Institutions for High-Quality Growth     153
Getting Institutions Right     184
Globalization
Governance of Economic Globalization     195
The Global Governance of Trade As If Development Really Mattered     213
Globalization for Whom?     237
References     243
Index     257

Book about: Worlds Greatest Wines or Quick and Easy Asian Tapas and Noodles

Doonesbury.com's The Sandbox: Dispatches from Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan

Author: G B Trudeau

Launched as a military blog (or "milblog") by Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau in October 2006, The Sandbox is an online forum through which service members in Afghanistan and Iraq share their stories with readers here at home. In hundreds of fascinating and compelling posts, soldiers write passionately, eloquently, and movingly of their day-to-day lives, of their mission, and of the drama that unfolds daily around them.

A dog adopts a unit on patrol in Baghdad and guards its flank; a soldier chronicles an epic day of close-call encounters with IEDs; an Afghan translator talks earnestly with his American friend about love and theology; a dad far from home meditates on time and history in the desert night under ancient stars; a Chuck Norris action figure witnesses surreal moments of humor in the cramped cab of a Humvee --Doonesbury.com's The Sandbox: Dispatches from Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan presents a rich outpouring of stories, from the hilarious to the thrilling to the heartbreaking, and helps us understand what so many of our countrymen are going through and the sacrifices they are making on our behalf.

  • "I really feel like most people look at this war as little more than a television event. How many have ever taken the time to stop and think about what we go through every day over here? The bullets, rockets, and IEDs are not the hard part. The hard part is knowing that life goes on back at home." --FC1 (SW) Anthony McCloskey
  • "The man looks at me, his jaw working in anger. For a brief second, I get the impression that he is going to attack, and then suddenly, as if the energy has gone out of him, his shoulders slump slightly and he looksdown at his brother's body." --1LT Adam Tiffen
  • "Out here in the desert, Time is King; the minutes are his minions and the months his sabers by which you are knighted. The King controls all that you do, when you come and go, and how long until you see your children." --Capt. Lee Kelley
  • "It's easy to say "We have to go to war" if you're not we, and it's easy to say "Bring home the troops" if they are not your brothers getting left behind on the return trip." --Spc. Michael O'Mahoney



Great Speeches or One Christmas in Washington

Great Speeches: Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Author: Franklin D Roosevelt

Twenty-seven representative speeches spanning the career of one of the greatest speakers in American political history. High points include FDR's First Inaugural Address; his message to Congress, delivered the day after the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor ("a date which will live in infamy"); and his Fourth Inaugural Address.



Interesting textbook: O Futuro de Música

One Christmas in Washington: Churchill and Roosevelt Forge the Grand Alliance

Author: David J Bercuson

Christmas in Washington is the fascinating, in-depth look at one of the most crucial periods in modern history: the weeks between December 1941 and January 1942, when Churchill and Roosevelt- seemingly on the run after Dunkirk and Pearl Harbor-met at the White House, forging what turned out to be the Grand Alliance- while in the background, a gloomy and confused America went about their Christmas celebrations.

Herwig and Bercuson grippingly recreate the dramatic days of the Washington War Conference of 1941-1942, code-named ARCADIA, using the diaries, meeting notes, personal letters, and detailed minutes that contain day-by day, almost hour-by-hour accounts of these historic events. The authors-whose previous book The Destruction of the Bismarck was the companion to James Cameron's Discovery Channel special Expedition: Bismarck-take a penetrating look at the high level meetings that lasted long into the night and at the scenes behind the scenes: the social events and intrigues, Churchill's booming intrusion into the daily life of the White House, the strained relationship between Churchill and Eleanor Roosevelt, the key role played by Roosevelt's close advisor Harry Hopkins. As with any momentous gathering of world leaders, there was high politics and low gossip, and both contributed to earth-shaking events of this momentous time.

Kirkus Reviews

Fighting fascism is hard. Fighting it while arguing who's in charge of the struggle only makes things harder. Multinational military coalitions have been around since the time of the Peloponnesian War, Canadian military historians Bercuson and Herwig write. But WWII imposed requirements of a novel sort on the coalition that formed between Britain and the U.S.; both Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt knew that "Allied victory would demand that their two nations fight virtually as one," and that forging this unity both on the battlefield and in the production of war materiel was essential. Over a ten-day period around Christmas 1941, the two met in Washington to lay the foundations for what Churchill would dub "the grand alliance." Although the two liked each other and shared a highly developed understanding of world politics, their work was complicated by their accompanying retinues, among whose ranks were an American admiral who despised the British and a British air marshal who insisted that American air forces be put under British command. Hammering out logistical details was one problem; Bercuson and Herwig slyly note that supplying Churchill with his vast daily alcohol requirements exhausted the White House booze allowance and required dipping into State Department funds. Determining a workable chain of military command was another; interestingly, we learn, Roosevelt initially recommended that a British general be put in charge of the combined American, British and Dutch forces who made up the first iteration of the Allies. He did so knowing that friction among Commonwealth leaders made an American commander the better choice, information he likely acquired "through Americaninterception and decrypting of British diplomatic radio traffic." Espionage aside, among the highlights of this account is its look at the Allied leaders' timetable for the war, which matched historical events closely in many respects-but also departed from them significantly. Students of WWII, especially of its diplomatic and geopolitical aspects, will want to have a look.



Sunday, January 18, 2009

Economics or Into the Devils Den

Economics: Making Sense of the Modern Economy

Author: Simon Cox

With typical Economist style and clarity, Economist Economics provides accessible and expert analysis that shows how to make sense of the modern economy. Substantially revised from the successful first edition, the book offers an in-depth examination of different aspects of the modern economy. Aimed at those in business, it is organized in four parts:
- The Global Economy, which looks at global balances, China, U.S. influence, and central banks.
- Globalization, which examines the whole issue of globalization and global capital.
- After the New Economy, which analyzes what impact e-economics has had and will have.
- Economic Facts and Fallacies, which spells out basic economic truths and exposes some economic canards.



New interesting textbook: Financial Modelling with Jump Processes or Wireless Communications and Networking

Into the Devil's Den

Author: Dave Hall

In 1996, the Aryan Nations was considered to be the most dangerous white supremacist group in the United States. This brutally violent neo-Nazi organization dreamed of carving an isolated homeland out of the American northwest–a dream they would finance by robbery, intimidation, and murder. For years, the FBI had sought to infiltrate the Aryan Nations, only to be thwarted by the group’s extreme paranoia of new members.

Enter Dave Hall, a tattooed, 350-pound, six-foot-four former biker. A black belt in martial arts, he could fight, drink, and ride with the best–which is to say, the worst–of them. But Hall was no stereotypical biker. A thoughtful, articulate man blessed with a photographic memory and an unshakeable core of decency, Hall was looking for a new direction in life. After Hall was arrested for his minor involvement in a drug deal, FBI special agent Tym Burkey gave him a choice: go to jail or become an informant. Hall didn’t go to jail.

So began a most unlikely partnership, between a hell-raising former biker and a by-the-book FBI man. The oddest of odd couples, they would slowly forge a unique friendship based on trust and support–a friendship that Hall especially would come to value in the months and years ahead.

For what was supposed to be a short-term assignment grew to something much longer, and bigger in scope, as Hall became the Ohio Aryan Nations leader’s right hand man. And more and more, Hall suspected that a significant terrorist action was being planned, something on the order of the Oklahoma City bombing.

Yet with the clock ticking, Hall found his hold onreality crumbling as he was forced into behaviors and beliefs that repelled him. With the ever-present threat of discovery and death hanging over his head, he felt his psyche start to fragment, leading to estrangement from his family and friends, and vicious bouts of insomnia, night terrors, and panic attacks. But it was too late to back out. Together, Hall and Burkey would have to finish their dance with the Devil.

Harrowing and intense, this true-life thriller is a testament to bravery, dedication, and friendship–and a timely reminder that America’s homegrown terrorists can be just as deadly as those from overseas.

Publishers Weekly

In 1996, Dave Hall, an unemployed ex-biker, found himself facing a prison sentence for a minor marijuana charge. With biker friends who associated with the Ohio branch of the Aryan Nations-then considered the FBI's most dangerous domestic terrorist group-and its charismatic, bloodthirsty pastor, Harold "Ray" Redfeairn, Hall agreed to help the FBI infiltrate the AN. Hall encounters this quasi-Christian cult that interprets the Bible as a bizarre racist, anti-Semitic tract and advocates violent revolution to destroy non-Aryan races. Swallowing his disgust, he patiently wins Redfeairn's confidence, eventually becoming his right-hand man and designated successor. As presented here, the world of gun-obsessed, antigovernment fringe groups, whose weapon-worship becomes their ultimate undoing, horrifies and entertains. Hall's work led to several arrests and eventually crippled the AN, which has not recovered. Neither has Hall, who claims, "When you dance with the devil, the devil doesn't change, the devil changes you." The book shifts between Hall's and FBI agent Burkey's perspectives, but the main voice belongs to crime writer Ramsland who knits these stories into a seamless drama filled with suspense, vivid characters and colorful events. (Apr. 15)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Kirkus Reviews

Ex-biker ends up a top FBI informant inside a white supremacist group. In 1996, Hall was living on disability checks in Dayton, Ohio, fixing the occasional motorcycle for friends and taking it easy. That changed after he provided a marijuana connection to a distant relative, who turned out to be working with the feds. Special Agent Burkey persuaded Hall to use his biker-club connections to infiltrate the local chapter of the Aryan Nation. The story of Hall's smooth climb up the AN's chain of command is related in straightforward fashion; his words alternate with Burkey's terse accounts in a dual memoir stitched together by prolific crime scribe Ramsland (Inside the Minds of Healthcare Serial Killers, 2007, etc.). At 6'4" and 350 lbs., sporting abundant tattoos, Hall looked like many other AN members, but he was hardly comfortable in his hatemongering surroundings. He had biracial nieces and nephews, and he viewed his new "friends" as psychopathic losers who couldn't hack real life. But he acted his part well and was soon being groomed for a pastoral position in the AN's pseudo-Christian hierarchy. A paranoid, trigger-happy bunch of KKK rednecks, militia types and Nazi skinheads made highly dangerous companions, but Burkey kept Hall burrowing deeper. A year after the Oklahoma City bombing, the FBI was fiercely focused on preventing another attack by white supremacists like Timothy McVeigh. Pretending to be a bile-filed racist took its toll on the easygoing Hall. By the time he was made privy to plans for truck bombings and the assassination of white-supremacist scourge Morris Dees, he was having panic attacks, knocking back Xanax and drinking himself to sleep. While the knocked-togetherprose shows signs of Ramsland's overly busy schedule, she does a good job of keeping the focus on Hall's problematic double life, relegating the FBI's role to the background. This view of the domestic terrorist underground benefits hugely from an impressively charismatic informant's ringside seat. Informative, plainly recounted trip into a nexus of homegrown evil.



The Ten Things You Cant Say in America or Mao Zedong

The Ten Things You Can't Say in America

Author: L Elder

Straight Talk From the Firebrand Libertarian Who Struck a Chord Across AmericaLarry Elder tells truths this nation's public figures are afraid to address. In The Ten Things You Can't Say in America, he turns conventional "wisdom" on its head and backs up his commonsense philosophy with cold, hard facts many ignore. Elder says what no one else will:Blacks are more racist than whites.White condescension is mor damaging than white racismThere is no health-care crisisThe War on Drugs is the new Vietnam...and we're losingRepublicans and Democrats are the same beast in different rhetoricGun control advocates have blood on their hands.America's greatest problem? Illegitimacy.The welfare state is our national narcotic.There is no glass ceiling.The media bias: it's real, it's widespread, it's destructive

Publishers Weekly

Los Angeles radio talk-show host and nationally syndicated columnist Elder, who is African-American, has incurred the wrath of many blacks for his outspoken assertion that racism in the U.S. no longer represents a serious threat to blacks' upward mobility. This conversational, bluntly candid manifesto should prove equally controversial. Elder, who favors much less government and much less regulation, blames both Republicans and Democrats for creating and maintaining a bloated welfare state that stifles individual initiative and free enterprise. His "Ten-Point Plan" for transforming America calls for abolishing the IRS; passing a national sales tax; reducing government by 80%; ending welfare and entitlements, including Social Security, Medicare, and farm and tobacco subsidies; legalizing drugs; abolishing the minimum wage (which, he claims, undermines job creation for blacks, teenagers and entry-level workers); and eliminating corporate taxes. He also opposes affirmative action, hate-crime legislation and virtually any regulation of handguns, including registration. Elder (who is slated to host the forthcoming TV show The Moral Court) further accuses the white-run media of condescending to blacks by overemphasizing stories of racism and by subtly applying a lower set of expectations to African-Americans' behavior. Taking swipes at Bill and Hillary Clinton, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Johnnie Cochran, Louis Farrakhan and others, he blasts the black leadership, which, he insists, should focus on ways to morally and legally discourage "the young, irresponsible and unwed from having children." In Elder's apt phrase, we have become a nation of "victicrats," people blaming their ills on others and demanding special treatment while refusing to accept personal responsibility. While many readers will consider his prescriptions simplistic, they'll find his candor and straight talk refreshing. (Sept.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.



Table of Contents:
Prefacexi
1.Blacks Are More Racist than Whites1
2.White Condescension Is as Bad as Black Racism67
3.The Media Bias--It's Real, It's Widespread, It's Destructive101
4.The Glass Ceiling--Full of Holes133
5.America's Greatest Problem: Not Crime, Racism, or Bad Schools--It's Illegitimacy154
6.There Is No Health-Care "Crisis"169
7.America's Welfare State: The Tyranny of the Statist Quo189
8.Republicans Versus Democrats--Maybe a Dime's Worth of Difference231
9.The War Against Drugs Is Vietnam II: We're Losing This One, Too252
10.Gun Control Advocates--Good Guys with Blood on Their Hands268
Appendix301
Notes319
Index339

See also: Lhe admitirei Que:um Guia Gradual de Achado de Fundos, Desenho de Projetos de Vitória, e Escrita de Propostas de Subvenção Potentes

Mao Zedong: A Penguin Life

Author: Jonathan D Spenc

An intimate history of one of the most formidable and elusive rulers in modern history

From humble origins in the provinces, Mao Zedong rose to absolute power, unifying with an iron fist a vast country torn apart by years of weak leadership, colonialism, and war. This sharply drawn and insightful account brings to life this modern-day emperor and the tumultuous era that he did so much to shape.



Saturday, January 17, 2009

God and the State or Body Politics

God and the State

Author: Mikhail Aleksandrovich Bakunin

Most colorful anarchist explains philosophy of history, oppression by organized religion, etc. Mind-opening.



See also: Julie and Julia or 1 Pan 50 Muffins

Body Politics: Five Practices of the Christian Community before the Watching World

Author: John Howard Yoder

About the Author

John Howard Yoder (1927-1997) taught ethics and theology as a professor at Notre Dame University and Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary. He received his doctorate from the University of Basel, Switzerland. Widely sought around the world as a theological educator, ethicist, and interpreter of biblical pacifism, he is best known for The Politics of Jesus.

Fuller Theological Seminary - Nancey Murphy

"A crucial advance in recent philosophy and theology is (re)discovery of the fact that we do not know what our words mean if we do not know how to put them into practice. Yoder's Body Politics embodies this understanding of the intimate dialectic of thought and life, doctrine and liturgical practice."

Bluffton College - Gerald J. Biesecker-Mast

Binding and loosing, baptism, eucharist, multiplicity of gifts, and open meeting; these five New Testament practices were central in the life of the early Christian community. Some of them are still echoed in the practice of the church today. But the full social, ethical, and communal meaning of the original practices has often been covered by centuries of ritual and interpretation.

John Howard Yoder, in his inimitably direct and discerning style, uncovers the original meaning of the five practices and shows why the recovery of these practices is so important for the social, economic, and political witness of the church today.

"Protestant Christians are often tempted to think of the public practices of the church as ornamental or secondary representations of more fundamental theological realities such as personal spirituality or social ethics. In Body Politics, Yoder shows how the communication practices of the church-from decision making to baptism to table-fellowship-constitute the building materials for God's coming reign."



Just Another Soldier or The Trial of Donald Rumsfeld

Just Another Soldier: A Year on the Ground in Iraq

Author: Jason Christopher Hartley

This is not your father's war

This is Iraq, where a soldier's first duty is reinforcing his Humvee with sheet metal and sand bags. Or, in the absence of plumbing, burning barrels of human waste. Where any dead dog on the side of the road might be concealing an insurgent's bomb and anyone could be the enemy.

At age 17, Jason Christopher Hartley joined the Army National Guard. Thirteen years later, he is called to active duty, to serve in Iraq. Sent to a town called Ad Dujayl, made notorious by Saddam Hussein's 1982 massacre, Hartley is thrust into the center of America's war against terrorism. This is his story.

"If you are distrustful of the media and want to know exactly what's going on in Iraq, you'll have to pray for divine enlightenment, because only god knows what the hell is going on over here. However, if you want to know how it feels to be a soldier in Iraq, to hear something honest and raw, that I can help you with."

Sometimes profane, often poignant, and always nakedly candid, Just Another Soldier takes the reader past the images seen on CNN and the nightly news, into the day to day reality of life on the ground as an infantryman, attached to the 1st Division, in the first war of the 21st century. From the adrenaline rush of storming a suspected insurgent's house, to the sheer boredom of down time on the base, to the horror of dead civilians, Hartley examines his role as a man, as a soldier and as an American on foreign soil. His quest to discover the balance between his compassionate side and his baser instincts, results in a searing portrait of today's Army and a remarkable personal narrative written in a fresh and excitingnew voice. Just Another Soldier is more than a war story; it delivers an intimate look at a generation of young men and women on the front lines of American policy.

Whether you're for or against the war in Iraq, this is essential reading.



Interesting textbook: The Lost Children of Wilder or Robert Moses and the Modern City

The Trial of Donald Rumsfeld: A Prosecution by Book

Author: Michael Ratner

The evidence that the Bush administration is guilty of war crimes, presented in the form of a court case brought by one of the premier civil rights organizations in the United States.

"He won't be tried in the United States. He can't be tried by an international tribunal. So Donald Rumsfeld will have to be prosecuted by book."—from The Trial of Donald Rumsfeld

The Trial of Donald Rumsfeld lays out the evidence that high-level officials of the Bush administration ordered, authorized, implemented, and permitted war crimes, in particular the crimes of torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.

Using primary source documents ranging from Rumsfeld's "techniques chart" and Iraqi plaintiffs' statements to the testimony of whistleblowers and key pieces of reportage, the book sets forth evidence of a torture program that took place throughout the world: in Afghanistan, Iraq, Guantánamo, secret CIA prisons, and other places unknown.

The accused are accorded a defense drawn from their memos and public statements. Readers are allowed to judge whether the Bush administration has engaged in torture and whom among the administration to hold responsible.

Reminiscent of Christopher Hitchens's bestselling The Trial of Henry Kissinger, The Trial of Donald Rumsfeld constitutes one of the only attempts to hold high-ranking Bush administration officials criminally responsible for their actions.

Includes excerpts from:
• testimony from Abu Ghraib victims and the Tipton Three
• the interrogation log from Mohammed al Qahtani's detainment at Guantánamo
• the Gonzales, Yoo, andBybee memos
• the U.S. Army's Fay/Jones Report on the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib
• the August 2004 Final Report of the Independent Panel to Review Department of Defense Detention Operations
• testimony from the former head of Abu Ghraib, Janis Karpinski
• and analyses by Peter Weiss, Wolfgang Kaleck, Vincent Warren, and others

Publishers Weekly

The Bush administration's security and intelligence-gathering policies have inspired few critiques as thorough as Ratner's. The president of the progressive Center for Constitutional Rights presents a mock trial of 14 U.S. government and military officials, Donald Rumsfeld chief among them; with immunity from criminal prosecution while in office, Bush and Cheney are named as unindicted co-conspirators. The charge is torture and war crimes. The opening statement describes the Bush administration's alleged "torture program" in detail and the role the "defendants" played. The "prosecution evidence" includes statements of former Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo detainees describing tortures such as sleep deprivation, water-boarding and stress positions. Ratner presents the defense primarily through government documents, such as the infamous John Yoo memo rejecting the application of the Geneva Accords to detainees. This "defense" is followed by a rebuttal based on international law that systematically rejects the government's arguments. Of course, a real trial would give the defense an opening and closing statement, and books don't allow for cross-examination. Though his case appears strong, Ratner's conceit will appeal primarily to those who have already voted "guilty." Photos. (Sept.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.



Friday, January 16, 2009

To Serve the President or UNIX and Linux Forensic Analysis

To Serve the President: Continuity and Innovation in the White House Staff

Author: Bradley H Patterson

"Opens a window onto the closely guarded Oval Office turf: the operations, offices, and people of the complete White House team. Describes its organizational structure, recent innovations made in the face of changing events, what people do, while revealing the total size and cost of the contemporary White House team"--Provided by publisher.

Margaret Heilbrun - Library Journal

This is not a policy book. Patterson (The White House Staff: Inside the West Wing and Beyond), veteran of the Eisenhower, Nixon, and Ford White Houses, offers his third chronological volume on the what, who, and how of White House staffing. Here, he provides detailed and accessible insight into the George W. Bush White House. The White House staff is part of the Executive Office of the President and now encompasses 135 offices, from policy wonks to speechwriters to Air Force One personnel and Situation Room employees, all working "to assist and advise the president." Using interviews with scores of recent staffers, Patterson moves from office to office, describing how the Bush White House has functioned and changed. From an expert clearly devoted to the cause of White House service; for large presidential collections in all libraries.



Book review: Partisan Politics Divided Government and the Economy or Personal Finance8th Edition

UNIX and Linux Forensic Analysis

Author: Chris Pogu

This book addresses topics in the area of forensic analysis of systems running on variants of the UNIX operating system, which is the choice of hackers for their attack platforms. According to a 2007 IDC report, UNIX servers account for the second-largest segment of spending (behind Windows) in the worldwide server market with $4.2 billion in 2Q07, representing 31.7% of corporate server spending. UNIX systems have not been analyzed to any significant depth largely due to a lack of understanding on the part of the investigator, an understanding and knowledge base that has been achieved by the attacker. The companion DVD provides a simulated or "live" UNIX environment where readers can test the skills they've learned in the book and use custom tools developed by the authors.

The book begins with a chapter to describe why and how the book was written, and for whom, and then immediately begins addressing the issues of live response (volatile) data collection and analysis. The book continues by addressing issues of collecting and analyzing the contents of physical memory (i.e., RAM). The following chapters address /proc analysis, revealing the wealth of significant evidence, and analysis of files created by or on UNIX systems. Then the book addresses the underground world of UNIX hacking and reveals methods and techniques used by hackers, malware coders, and anti-forensic developers. The book then illustrates to the investigator how to analyze these files and extract the information they need to perform a comprehensive forensic analysis. The final chapter includes a detailed discussion of Loadable Kernel Modules and Malware. The companion DVD provides a simulated or "live"UNIX environment where readers can test the skills they've learned in the book and use custom tools developed by the authors.

Throughout the book the author provides a wealth of unique information, providing tools, techniques and information that won't be found anywhere else. Not only are the tools provided, but the author also provides sample files so that after completing a detailed walk-through, the reader can immediately practice the new-found skills.

* The companion DVD for the book contains significant, unique materials (movies, spreadsheet, code, etc.) not available any place else.
* This book contains information about UNIX forensic analysis that is not available anywhere else. Much of the information is a result of the author's own unique research and work.
* The authors have the combined experience of Law Enforcement, Military, and Corporate forensics. This unique perspective makes this book attractive to ALL forensic investigators.



Table of Contents:

Ch. 1 Introduction 1

Ch. 2 Understanding Unix 9

Ch. 3 Live Response: Data Collection 39

Ch. 4 Initial Triage and Live Response: Data Analysis 71

Ch. 5 The Hacking Top 10 99

Ch. 6 The /Proc File System 153

Ch. 7 File Analysis 169

Ch. 8 Malware 183

Appendix Implementing Cybercrime Detection Techniques on Windows and *nix 195

Index 229

Fire Department Incident Safety Officer or The Logic of Political Survival

Fire Department Incident Safety Officer

Author: David W Dodson

The best way to reduce firefighter injuries and deaths at incidents is the appointment of a well-prepared proactive Incident Safety Officer(ISO). This book primes aspiring and current Safety Officers to meet and exceed the specific job functions outlined in the 2007 Edition of NFPA 1521: Standard for Fire Department Safety Officer, as well as to aggressively pursue the operation of a highly efficient safety program. Extensively revised, the second edition of Fire Department Incident Safety Officer incorporates topics specifically focused on further developing and improving existing safety programs. Fundamental coverage of job functions for successful handling of incidents involving hazardous materials, technical rescue, wildland fire, and other disasters is accompanied by explanations of the critical skills required to be a proficient Safety Officer, including the processes of reading smoke, anticipating risk, predicting building collapse, and improving firefighter rehabilitation.



See also: State of War or Man the State and War

The Logic of Political Survival

Author: Bruce Bueno de Mesquita

CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title for 2004 and Winner of the 2004 Best Book Award presented by the Conflict Processes section of the American Political Science Association (APSA)

The authors of this ambitious book address a fundamental political question: why are leaders who produce peace and prosperity turned out of office while those who preside over corruption, war, and misery endure? Considering this political puzzle, they also answer the related economic question of why some countries experience successful economic development and others do not.

The authors construct a provocative theory on the selection of leaders and present specific formal models from which their central claims can be deduced. They show how political leaders allocate resources and how institutions for selecting leaders create incentives for leaders to pursue good and bad public policy. They also extend the model to explain the consequences of war on political survival. Throughout the book, they provide illustrations from history, ranging from ancient Sparta to Vichy France, and test the model against statistics gathered from cross-national data. The authors explain the political intuition underlying their theory in nontechnical language, reserving formal proofs for chapter appendixes. They conclude by presenting policy prescriptions based on what has been demonstrated theoretically and empirically.



Table of Contents:
Preface
IA Theory of Political Incentives1
1Reigning in the Prince3
2The Theory: Definitions and Intuition37
3A Model of the Selectorate Theory77
IIPolicy Choice and Political Survival127
4Institutions for Kleptocracy or Growth129
5Institutions, Peace, and Prosperity173
6War, Peace, and Coalition Size215
7Political Survival273
IIIChoosing Institutions327
8Institutional Preferences: Change from Within329
9The Enemy Outside and Within: War and Changes of Leaders and Regimes405
10Promoting Peace and Prosperity461
Notes487
References503
Index519