Environmental Politics and Policy or The End of the European Era

Environmental Politics and Policy

Author: Walter A Rosenbaum

About the Author:
Walter A. Rosenbaum is professor emeritus of political science at the University of Florida

Booknews

More than an update of the earlier edition--in light of the global changes in the environment over the past four years, Rosenbaum has made substantial revisions and formed new conclusions concerning the environmental crisis. He summarizes major trends in environmental politics over the past 20 years, examines problems of policy implementation, and presents the challenges of the coming decade. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Table of Contents:

1	After earth day : American environmentalism in transformation	1
2	Making policy : the process	27
3	Making policy : institutions and politics	63
4	Common policy challenges : risk assessment and environmental justice	111
5	More choice : the battle over regulatory economics	140
6	Command and control in action : air and water pollution regulation	171
7	A regulatory thicket : toxic and hazardous substances	213
8	Energy : nuclear dreams, black gold, and vanishing crude	250
9	635 million acres of politics : the battle for public lands	285
10	The United States and climate diplomacy : the emerging politics of global environmentalism	326

Book about: Savoring Mexico or Soy Soy Soy

The End of the European Era

Author: Felix Gilbert

The new fifth edition of the leading text in twentieth-century European history offers a thorough revision that is up-to-date in its coverage and its scholarship. The new final chapter provides a clear, thorough analysis of the transformations that swept Europe in the 1990s—the unification of Germany, the collapse of the Soviet empire and the regime itself, the disintegration of Yugoslavia. The chapter also traces the efforts at European integration through the European Union and the enlargement of NATO. Throughout the new edition David Large has introduced discussions of women's history and strengthened the coverage of social history in general. He has also pared detail to ensure that the text remains accessible to students.

Booknews

A standard text now brought current through 1989-1990. A new edition (3d was in 1984) will be needed to reflect events of August 1991. A solid and concise treatment with a modest bibliography. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Chicken Soup for the Soul of America or Them

Chicken Soup for the Soul of America: Stories to Heal the Heart of Our Nation

Author: Jack Canfield

Most American heroes aren't in our history books, nor do they have monuments erected in their honor. Their names aren't in the headline news or memorialized in song. The true hero is simply someone who makes a difference-large or small-in the lives of others. They battle disease, crime, poverty and human rights violations. They clean up environments, mentor neglected children and truly care about others. Most importantly, anyone can be a hero in the eyes of another.

In Chicken Soup for the Soul of America, everyday heroes are celebrated. Heroes have always been in our midst, but the recent terrorist attacks on American soil have revealed many more heroes who have given their lives, love, time and strength to those in great need. In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 events, Americans have found courage and inspiration from so many heroes, and this book pays tribute to them all, as well as those who appear every day in our lives.

At a time when so many are in pain, these unique stories will touch readers with love and wisdom, the cornerstones of the American people and the hallmark of the well-loved Chicken Soup series.

New interesting textbook: Desenho de Produto

Them: Adventures with Extremists

Author: Jon Ronson

A wide variety of extremist groups — Islamic fundamentalists, neo-Nazis — share the oddly similar belief that a tiny shadowy elite rule the world from a secret room. In Them, journalist Jon Ronson has joined the extremists to track down the fabled secret room.

As a journalist and a Jew, Ronson was often considered one of "Them" but he had no idea if their meetings actually took place. Was he just not invited? Them takes us across three continents and into the secret room. Along the way he meets Omar Bakri Mohammed, considered one of the most dangerous men in Great Britain, PR-savvy Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard Thom Robb, and the survivors of Ruby Ridge. He is chased by men in dark glasses and unmasked as a Jew in the middle of a Jihad training camp. In the forests of northern California he even witnesses CEOs and leading politicians — like Dick Cheney and George Bush — undertake a bizarre owl ritual.

Ronson's investigations, by turns creepy and comical, reveal some alarming things about the looking-glass world of "us" and "them." Them is a deep and fascinating look at the lives and minds of extremists. Are the extremists onto something? Or is Jon Ronson becoming one of them?

Publishers Weekly

U.K. journalist Ronson offers a look into the world of political, cultural and religious "extremists" who dwell at the edges of popular culture and the conspiracy theorists who love them. His only criteria for groups' inclusion as extremists is "that they have been called extremists by others," which may explain why the Anti-Defamation League is profiled along with the modern-day KKK, radical Northern Ireland Protestant spokesperson Dr. Ian Paisley and a former BBC sportscaster who believes the world is ruled by a race of alien lizards. The best as well as most timely and unsettling of these essays follows Omar Bakri Mohammed, a radical Islamic militant, on his often bumbling effort to organize British Muslims into a jihad. (Bakri was arrested after September 11.) Ronson's journalism is motivated less out of a duty to inform the public than a desire to satisfy his own curiosity. At the heart of the book is Ronson's quest to find the Bilderberg Group, a secret cabal said to meet once a year to set the agenda of the "New World Order." Fortunately for the reader, his efforts lead somewhere: an informant tracks Bilderberg to a golf resort in Portugal; later, a prominent British politician and Bilderberg founder discusses it on the record. Once viewed up close through Ronson's light, ironic point of view, these "extremists" appear much less scary than their public images would suggest. It is how he reveals the all-too-real machinations of Western society's radical fringe and its various minions that makes this enjoyable work rather remarkable. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

British journalist and filmmaker Ronson spent the last five years with extremists: religious fundamentalists in Great Britain, Texas, and Cameroon; white supremacists in Arkansas, Michigan, and Idaho; and New World Order conspiracy chasers in Portugal and California. Despite their differences, all seem to believe that the world is controlled by an elite group known as "them." Although one may not find, say, the Ku Klux Klan funny on the surface, Ronson, well known for his "Human Zoo" column in the Guardian, makes each essay engaging by pointing out the irony of it all and accentuating the characters' foibles. He also presents their humanity the same humanity they would deny to others. Yet between the lines of satire, the extremists are unmasked for what they really are. They come off, above all, as mundane. This book was accompanied in Britain by a five-part TV documentary, The Secret Rulers of the World. Recommended for all academic and public libraries. Lee Arnold, Historical Soc. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A picaresque journey into the wonderland of delusional fanatics, often scary, yet wildly funny. Ronson, a British journalist and documentary filmmaker (Channel 4's The Secret Rulers of the World) explores the world of religious and political extremists, from Omar Bakri Mohammed, a hapless militant Islamic fundamentalist cheerfully trying to organize a jihad in North London, to David Icke, ranting that the world is run by a global elite descended from a race of extraterrestrial 12-foot lizards. (The response to Icke of the Anti-Defamation League, ever alert for anti-Semitism disguised by code words, suggests that paranoia is not confined to the lunatic fringes.) Most encounters, such as with an Arkansas Ku Klux Klan leader who eschews use of the "N" word (in public), or with Dr. Ian Paisley preaching his conspiracy theories in Cameroon, read like a comic novel, as the deadpan Ronson lets his subjects skewer themselves with their own words. Less laughable is his visit with Randy Weaver's daughter Rachel, which leads him to conclude that the killings at Ruby Ridge were made possible by the demonization of the Weavers as white supremacists. A subsequent brief meeting with skinheads at the Aryan Nation in Idaho is one of the most chilling episodes here. From his wanderings among extremists, Ronson learns that their most consistent belief is that the world is run by a cabal of international financiers and politicians, mostly Jews, known as the Bilderberg group, who periodically gather in a secret room to determine the planet's fate. Ronson's mission, to track down the secret rulers of the world and discover who they are and what they actually do, is the stuff of high comedy, and what he findsis about as sinister as a frat party. Ronson's eye for the telling detail and his gift for capturing hilarious dialogue make this an entertaining read, but laughs aside, this is serious and thought-provoking stuff, and likely to nettle left, right, and some in the middle too.

Table of Contents:

	Preface	9
1.	A Semi-Detached Ayatollah	19
2.	Running Through Cornfields	63
3.	The Secret Rulers of the World	107
4.	Bilderberg Sets a Trap!	123
5.	The Middlemen in New York	142
6.	There Are Lizards and There Are Lizards	148
7.	The Klansman Who Won't Use the N-Word	177
8.	Hollywood	202
9.	Living a Diamond Life in a Rocky World	217
10.	Dr. Paisley, I Presume	242
11.	Ceausescu's Shoes	266
12.	The Way Things Are Done	281
13.	The Clearing in the Forest	295
	Acknowledgments	329

The Guidebook for Linemen and Cablemen or United States Government Information

The Guidebook for Linemen and Cablemen

Author: Wayne Van Soelen

A comprehensive and reader-friendly book, The Guidebook for Linemen and Cablemen is a reference tool that contains the most-up-to date information for linemen, cablemen, foremen, and others associated with transmission and distribution departments of electric utility companies. This book discusses the equipment used as well as the responsibilities of a lineman and cablemen. It explains in detail the training and need for safety within this profession. This book is an invaluable resource, providing linemen and cablemen with the best quality and most up-to-date information for their fast growing, technology based, profession.

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction to Safe Work on Power Lines,
2. Electrical Power System Overview,
3. Electrical Units,
4. Alternating Current (A-C),
5. Three-Phase Circuits,
6. Awareness When In an Electrical Environment,
7. Constructing Power Lines,
8. Working with Conductor and Cable, 9 Operating Switchgear, 10 Circuit Protection, 11 Installing Protective Grounds, 12 Connecting and Troubleshooting Transformers, 13 Supplying Quality Power, 14 Working with Aerial Devices and Digger Derricks,
15 Rigging in Powerline Work, 16 Working it Hot, 17 Tree Work in an Electrical Utility Environment,
18 Working in Substations, 19 Outdoor Lighting Systems,
20. Working with Revenue Metering

Look this: Egg Gravy or 180 Barbecues

United States Government Information: Policies and Sources

Author: Peter Hernon

The first text to provide a comprehensive introduction to the information policies of the United States government and basic source material, this book provides students with an understanding of the underlying importance of policy and how it is formulated. It also shows how to locate information produced since the founding of the government in the 18th century, and traces policies and sources from that time to the emergence of electronic government resulting from the advent of the Internet. The discussion of finding aids and legislative history is reinforced with the inclusion of examples in the text as well as exercises. In addition to covering the three branches of the government, the text explains terminology and lists sources likely to provide relevant information on presidential communication and more.

Library Journal

Hernon (U.S. Government on the Web, Professional Media, LJ 10/1/99) and his coauthors have produced a valuable addition to the literature on federal government information. Their comprehensive overview traces the history of U.S. government information policy from its first mention in the Constitution through the changes instituted since the terrorist attacks of September 11. Government publishing is also well covered, from the first publications of the Congress up to today's transition to electronic information delivery and services. Each chapter includes source notes; additional information (including review and practice questions) is provided on an accompanying web site (accessible via www.lu.com) and CD-ROM (not available for review). There is the occasional bit of outdated information (e.g., concerning Patent and Trademark Depository Library collections) and apparent author biases toward particular policies and their outcomes, but these shortcomings do not detract from the volume's overall value. Although other works have discussed various aspects of government information, this survey offers the best introduction to the topic for historians, political scientists, teachers, and librarians. For every collection with a substantial focus on government information.-Patrick Ragains, Univ. of Nevada Lib., Reno

The Facilitator Excellence Handbook or Politics

The Facilitator Excellence Handbook

Author: Fran Rees

This is the thoroughly revised and updated edition of the best-selling The Facilitator Excellence Handbook. Written for both new and experienced facilitators, the second edition of The Facilitator Excellence Handbook offers a comprehensive guide for understanding the full range of skills, processes, and knowledge needed to become an effective facilitator.  The book addresses a variety of facilitation opportunities, challenges, and problems and also contains

• A variety of verbal and nonverbal facilitation techniques

• Step-by-step facilitation processes and tools

• Information on how to facilitate conflict resolution in groups and how to facilitate difficult situations

• Instructions for designing and leading group work

• Examples of how various levels of facilitator competency are called for in different types of groups

• Techniques for facilitating meetings, teams, virtual teams, and organization-wide projects

• Discussions on the art of facilitating and what makes a great facilitator

Table of Contents:

	Introduction : getting the most from this resource	1
Pt. 1	Overview of facilitation	9
Ch. 1	Facilitation in organizations today	11
Ch. 2	Role of the facilitator	23
Pt. 2	Basic facilitation skills	31
Ch. 3	Verbal techniques : what to say	33
Ch. 4	Nonverbal techniques : what to do	51
Ch. 5	Recording techniques	75
Ch. 6	Reading the group	97
Ch. 7	Facilitating consensus	111
Pt. 3	Facilitator methods and tools	117
Ch. 8	Generating and organizing material	121
Ch. 9	Ranking and evaluating material	151
Ch. 10	Facilitating difficult situations	179
Ch. 11	Facilitating conflict resolution	191
Pt. 4	Designing effective facilitations	211
Ch. 12	How to design a facilitation	213
Ch. 13	Organizing and enhancing group work	235
Ch. 14	Opening and closing activities	249
Pt. 5	The facilitator in action	259
Ch. 15	Levels of facilitator competency	261
Ch. 16	Facilitating meetings	285
Ch. 17	Facilitating teams	315
Ch. 18	Facilitating virtual teams	337
Ch. 19	Facilitating organization-wide projects	349
Pt. 6	Facilitator excellence	359
Ch. 20	Managing yourself	361
Ch. 21	The art of facilitating	375
Ch. 22	What makes a great facilitator?	381

Books about: Ride the Tiger to the Mountain or Cheating Destiny

Politics

Author: Aristotl

The Politics is one of the most influential texts in the history of political thought, and it raises issues which still confront anyone who wants to think seriously about the ways in which human societies are organized and governed. By examining the way societies are run--from households to city states--Aristotle establishes how successful constitutions can best be initiated and upheld.
For this edition, Sir Ernest Barker's fine translation, which has been widely used for nearly half a century, has been extensively revised to meet the needs of the modern reader. The accessible introduction and clear notes examine the historical and philosophical background of the work and discuss its significance for modern political thought.

Satans Circus or Herod

Satan's Circus: Murder, Vice, Police Corruption, and New York's Trial of the Century

Author: Mike Dash

They called it Satan’s Circus—a square mile of Midtown Manhattan where vice ruled, sin flourished, and depravity danced in every doorway. At the turn of the twentieth century, it was a place where everyone from the chorus girls to the beat cops was on the take and where bad boys became wicked men; a place where an upstanding young policeman such as Charley Becker could become the crookedest cop who ever stood behind a shield.

Murder was so common in the vice district that few people were surprised when the loudmouthed owner of a shabby casino was gunned down on the steps of its best hotel. But when, two weeks later, an ambitious district attorney charged Becker with ordering the murder, even the denizens of Satan’s Circus were surprised. The handsome lieutenant was a decorated hero, the renowned leader of New York’s vice-busting Special Squad. Was he a bad cop leading a double life, or a pawn felled by the sinister rogues who ran Manhattan’s underworld?

With appearances by the legendary and the notorious—including Big Tim Sullivan, the election-rigging vice lord of Tammany Hall; future president Theodore Roosevelt; beloved gangster Jack Zelig; and the newly famous author Stephen Crane—Satan’s Circus brings to life an almost-forgotten Gotham. Chronicling Charley Becker’s rise and fall, the book tells of the raucous, gaudy, and utterly corrupt city that made him, and recounts not one but two sensational murder trials that landed him in the electric chair.

The New York Times - Vincent Patrick

The Becker-Rosenthal affair has been reported on over the years by several writers, most notably Andy Logan, whose book Against the Evidence (1970) exhibited the fine craftsmanship she developed in her years as a New Yorker journalist in William Shawn's heyday. Now we have Satan's Circus: Murder, Vice, Police Corruption, and New York's Trial of the Century, by Mike Dash, the author of Tulipomania and Batavia's Graveyard. He has researched the case meticulously, and wisely incorporates into the story enough pertinent New York City history to provide context and atmosphere.

Publishers Weekly

The sole police officer to be executed in U.S. history, NYPD lieutenant Charles Becker died in the electric chair in 1915 for the murder of a lowlife gambler who pimped his own wife. Set apart from other, mostly Irish, New York policemen by his German ancestry and "markedly intelligent," Becker bribed his way in 1894 onto a force infected by Tammany Hall and worked undercover patrolling the crime-riddled midtown Manhattan district called Satan's Circus, the city's center of entertainment and vice. Acquitted in 1896 of charges of falsely arresting a woman for prostitution, a charge testified to by novelist Stephen Crane, Becker went on to commit graft, perjury and theft, but by 1911 he headed his own vice squad and by 1912 he had built up a vast extortion racket. Gambler Herman Rosenthal, one of Becker's victims, exposed him to the media and the DA, and when Rosenthal was shot to death, Becker became the notorious prime suspect although some doubted his guilt. Peopled by mobsters and crooked cops and politicians, and chronicling the early years of the NYPD as well as Becker's ruin and comeuppance, this engrossing, well-researched history by the author of Batavia's Graveyard immerses readers in the corrupt hurly-burly that was old New York. Map. (June)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Frederick J. Augustyn - Library Journal

Journalist and historian Dash (Batavia's Graveyard) proves that truth is often stranger than fiction with this monograph on Charles Becker (1870-1915), the only New York City police officer to be executed for murder. A Republican of German descent who stood out in a predominantly Irish and Democratic police force, Becker presided over Satan's Circus (a.k.a. the Tenderloin), midtown Manhattan's entertainment, gambling, and prostitution zone. His indictment and conviction for conspiracy to murder gambler Herman Rosenthal resulted in what the contemporary press called the "trial of the century" in 1912, followed by a retrial in 1914 and Becker's subsequent electrocution. Drawing from legal documents, newspapers, magazines, detective reports found in the Municipal Archives, the private Becker family collections, and Sullivan County (NY) repositories, Dash crisply traces the descent of a "crooked cop" in the context of a corrupt and crime-ridden metropolis. He augments his tale with appearances by characters like Tammany politico "Big Tim" Sullivan, writer Stephen Crane, and Police Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt. Using colloquialisms he freely explains--e.g., "sporting men" frequenting "blind tigers" (unlicensed drinking dens)--Dash serves up an intriguing story that will interest social historians and general readers alike. Highly recommended. [See Prepub Alert, LJ2/15/07.]

Kirkus Reviews

Dash (Batavia's Graveyard, 2001, etc.) provides a colorful tour of early-20th-century New York in this Police Gazette-style tale of the only New York cop ever executed for murder. The killing of well-known gambler Herman Rosenthal took place in 1912 outside a midtown hotel in "Satan's Circus," the street name for midtown Manhattan's wide-open Tenderloin district. The author has done a herculean job of ferreting out the comings and goings of a menagerie of hookers and hoodlums, introducing us to folks with names like Gyp the Blood, Lefty Louie and Bald Jack Rose. He also provides some eye-opening evidence on the corruption that permeated the city, which served as the personal playground of Tammany Hall bosses, gambling czars like Arnold Rothstein and policemen who with impunity neatly carved up millions in bribes and graft money. Dash delivers their stories in a clear if rather wooden prose offset by anecdotes and nuggets of trivia. (For instance, the fact that assistant police commissioner Winfield Sheehan later went to Hollywood and discovered Rita Hayworth and John Wayne.) The author's chief problem lies in the character of his protagonist, corrupt police lieutenant Charley Becker. Early on in his career, Becker had a well-publicized run-in with young writer Stephen Crane over his false arrest of a prostitute. At the time of his trial, he admitted to massive bribe-taking during his years on the police force. Generating sympathy for this dour, stone-faced brute would have been a tall order in any case, but Dash fails to provide more than a grainy out-of-focus portrait. Nor, for that matter, does he offer a verdict on whether Becker was actually guilty of the celebrated murder or not.Copious notes and research buttress the text, but photographs of at least some of the colorful heroes and villains who roam its pages would have livened things up considerably. A worthwhile history lesson, less compelling as a personal crime drama. Agent: Patrick Walsh/Conville & Walsh

New interesting book: Field Guide To Wilderness Medicine or Sexual Assault on the College Campus

Herod: King of the Jews and Friend of the Romans

Author: Peter Richardson

Peter Richardson's biographical study of Herod (73-4 BCE) offers insight into the personality of the man who served as the most prominent member of the substantial Herodian family and whose rule shaped the world in which the Christian faith arose. Richardson reveals Herod to be far more complex and important than is generally perceived and demonstrates that an understanding of Herod holds great value for comprehending the relationship between Judea and Rome. Setting his study against the crosscurrents of Jewish and Roman culture in the first century, Richardson emphasizes the social and historical context in which Herod's life unfolded and evaluates the family matters, patronage, religious developments, and ethnic issues that shaped his reign. Richardson details Herod's active participation in political events during the making of the Roman Empire and his close association with such prominent figures as Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Cassius, Octavian (Augustus), Cleopatra, and Marcus Agrippa. In addition to telling Herod's life story, Richardson recounts the legends that grew up around the man - including his responsibility for a massacre of young children in Bethlehem. Richardson's accessible, and relatively positive, assessment of Herod sheds new light on a fascinating but much maligned character.

Society of Biblical Literature - Rebecca Gray

...[A] portrait of Herod that is considerably richer and more generous than the standard one. The book makes an especially important contribution to the understanding of Herod's religious convictions, broadly conceived....In general, the book is a model of what can be achieved through careful integration of sources of various types, attention to detail and to historical context, and fair-minded interpretation. It will be of interest to anyone concerned with the history of Jewish Palestine in the late Second-Temple period.

They Dare to Speak out or Higher Purpose

They Dare to Speak out: People and Institutions Confront Israel's Lobby

Author: Paul Findley

The first book to speak out against the pervasive influence of the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on American politics, policy, and institutions resonates today as never before. With careful documentation and specific case histories, former congressman Paul Findley demonstrates how the Israel lobby helps to shape important aspects of U.S. foreign policy and influences congressional, senatorial, and even presidential elections. Described are the undue influence AIPAC exerts in the Senate and the House and the pressure AIPAC brings to bear on university professors and journalists who seem too sympathetic to Arab and Islamic states and too critical of Israel and its policies. Along with many longtime outspoken critics, new voices speaking out include former President Jimmy Carter, U.S. Representative Cynthia McKinney, Senator Robert Byrd, prominent Arab-American Dr. Ziad Asali, Rabbi Michael Lerner, and journalist Charles Reese. In addition, the lack of open debate among politicians with regard to the U.S. policy in the Middle East is lamented, and AIPAC is blamed in part for this censorship. Connections are drawn between America’s unconditional support of Israel and the raging anti-American passions around the world—and ultimately the tragic events of 9/11. This replaces 1556520735.

Table of Contents:

	Preface	vii
1	Rescue and Involvement	1
2	King of the Hill	27
3	Stilling the Still, Small Voices	51
4	The Deliberative Body Fails to Deliberate	81
5	The Lobby and the Oval Office	117
6	Penetrating the Defenses at Defense and State	147
7	The Assault on Assault	187
8	Subverting Academic Freedom	209
9	Paving the Way for the Messiah	249
10	Not All Jews Toe the Line	281
11	Scattering the Seeds of Catastrophe	313
12	What Price Israel?	349
	Acknowledgments	375
	Notes	379
	Index	395

New interesting book: Shamans Mystics and Doctors or Touch

Higher Purpose: Profiles in Presidential Courage

Author: Thomas J Whalen

In the American political system we know today, courage and the presidency are rarely spoken of in the same sentence. With a few notable exceptions, recent occupants of the Oval Office have appeared all too willing to sacrifice principle for the sake of political expediency. Extreme partisanship, special-interest money, and an unhealthy obsession with opinion polls have discouraged modern presidents from assuming unpopular stands. Forgotten is the axiomatic wisdom of Andrew Jackson: One man of courage makes a majority. Thomas Whalen's A Higher Purpose seeks to prove the inherent truth behind Jackson's words by relating the stories of nine historic decisions made by commanders-in-chief over two centuries of American history.

Publishers Weekly

Boston University social scientist Whalen (Kennedy Versus Lodge) insightfully applies to residents of the White House JFK's rubric from his Profiles in Courage. As Kennedy did, Whalen seeks heroes who display a willingness to go against the political tide in order to do what is right. The ultimate example is Gerald Ford, who took the profoundly unpopular step of pardoning Nixon and then paid the political price in the next presidential election. Whalen also cites FDR's maneuvering to support Great Britain against the Nazis in the days before Pearl Harbor despite an isolationist and antiwar electorate; Harry Truman's firing of the abrasive but wildly popular Douglas MacArthur; and Kennedy's siding with civil rights interests challenging segregation at the University of Alabama. Several other examples are less obvious instances of presidential courage. These include Andrew Jackson's heartfelt yet ill-advised fight against a national bank and Grover Cleveland's opposition to the annexation of the Hawaiian islands. Two more events in Whalen's roster are debatable. Was Lincoln going against, or with, political currents when he drafted the Emancipation Proclamation? And was Theodore Roosevelt not catering to his large Progressive base when he broke up the Northern Securities railroad companies' combination? These quibbles aside, Whalen's study constitutes intriguingly construed history, eloquently told. Illus. (Sept.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Kirkus Reviews

A highly readable exercise forthrightly modeled on JFK's Profiles in Courage, examining nine instances in which American presidents have acted against their own political interest. Some are well known, others not-or at least not in their full details. Everyone knows, for example, that the Emancipation Proclamation aroused scorn in the rebellious states; few recall how bitterly it divided Lincoln's nominal supporters in the North. Whalen (Social Science/Boston Univ.) opens each tale of moral courage with a mini-portrait of the president involved. Some episodes feel too large for the book's slight frame: Andrew Jackson's war against the aristocratic Bank of the United States, which plunged the nation into financial panic; Teddy Roosevelt's prosecution of J. Pierpont Morgan's Northern Securities Company as an illegal railroad combination under the antitrust laws; and FDR's Lend Lease agreement with Britain, which frightened and angered a large portion of the mostly isolationist public. For the most part, however, the author has chosen bite-sized incidents of presidential courage perfectly suited to his theme: Truman's firing of insubordinate World War II icon General Douglas MacArthur; Chester Arthur's unexpected transformation from a machine politician to a civil service reformer; JFK's 1963 address committing his administration to civil rights; Gerald Ford's unpopular pardoning of Richard Nixon. Whalen pointedly distinguishes between presidential courage and presidential recklessness, using the example of George Bush's decision to invade Iraq, but at the same time somewhat contradictorily laments recent presidents' willingness "to sacrifice principle for the sake of political expediency."He acknowledges this will not be "the final word," and indeed one might wonder why Jimmy Carter's relinquishment of the Panama Canal in 1977 was not every bit as morally courageous as Grover Cleveland's principled refusal to annex Hawaii in 1893. Uneven but entertaining.

What People Are Saying

Donald A. Ritchie
"This is a timely and engaging study of moral courage in high office. . . . "--(Donald A. Ritchie, author of Reporting from Washington: The History of the Washington Press Corps)

James N. Giglio
"Concentrates on nine U.S. presidents who exhibited moral courage while confronting national crises. An excellent read especially for the non-specialist...."--(James N. Giglio, author of The Presidency of John F. Kennedy, Revised, Updated Edition)

Leon Panetta
"These historic examples of presidential courage are needed now more than ever."

1920 or Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation

1920: The Year of the Six Presidents

Author: David Pietrusza

The presidential election of 1920 was one of the most dramatic ever. For the only time in the nation's history, six once-and-future presidents hoped to end up in the White House: Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, and Theodore Roosevelt. It was an election that saw unprecedented levels of publicity — the Republicans outspent the Democrats by 4 to 1 — and it was the first to garner extensive newspaper and newsreel coverage. It was also the first election in which women could vote. Meanwhile, the 1920 census showed that America had become an urban nation — automobiles, mass production, chain stores, and easy credit were transforming the economy and America was limbering up for the most spectacular decade of its history, the roaring '20s. Award-winning historian David Pietrusza's riveting new work presents a dazzling panorama of presidential personalities, ambitions, plots, and counterplots — a picture of modern America at the crossroads.

Publishers Weekly

Pietrusza's (Rothstein) chronicle of the presidential election of 1920 is absorbing, despite the subtitle's rather tangential claim that the election involved six men who had served or would serve as president: Harding, Wilson, Coolidge, Hoover and both Roosevelts (though Teddy had died in 1919). This book isn't really about them, nor is it merely the story of one electoral race. Rather, Pietrusza is telling a grander tale, of a country toppling into "modernity, or what passed for it." In 1920, the automobile had overtaken the horse, jazz and the fox-trot were replacing the camp meeting as popular entertainment, people were learning to buy on installment, and more and more of those fox-trotting shoppers lived in cities. Presidential candidates, for the first time, courted women voters. (Democrat Cox was divorced, which was expected to play badly with the fairer sex.) Both parties waffled on the so-called race question, seeking black votes while either tacitly or explicitly endorsing white supremacy. Given Harding's electoral victory and death during his term, Pietrusza could have devoted more space to the abiding importance of this election. All in all, Pietrusza has produced a broad, satisfying political and social history, in the style of Doris Kearns Goodwin. 16 pages of b&w illus. (Feb. 7) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Thomas J. Baldino - Library Journal

Lest anyone get the wrong idea, the United States did nothave six presidents in 1920. The author stretches the truth a bit to dramatize a historical anomaly: six men—a sitting president, former president, and four eventual presidents—competed in the 1920 presidential election. Actually, President Woodrow Wilson was physically incapacitated at the start of the year, and Theodore Roosevelt had died in 1919, but the legacies of both presidents shaped the 1920 election campaign. Pietrusza (Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series) sufficiently contends that this election marked the birth of modern American politics. Each of the main characters is introduced sequentially, with brief biographical information, beginning with Wilson and his failed attempt to have his League of Nations treaty adopted by the Senate, to TR and his split with Taft and the mainstream Republican Party, to Warren Harding, winner of the election, to Coolidge, Harding's vice president and successor upon death, to Hoover and finally FDR. Pietrusza wisely includes considerable information on Eugene Debs, the Socialist candidate that year. The many issues and forces that swirled during that time, from the fear of Communists and Socialists and the terrorism they allegedly perpetrated to technological advances and Prohibition, make for a fascinating and compelling tale of an often-overlooked election in our history. Highly recommended.

Kirkus Reviews

A rousing chronicle of the political year that saw six American presidents, past, present and future, vying simultaneously for high office. Poised between the administrations of Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson and the ensuing decade that would earn itself the qualifier "roaring," 1920 found Americans craving a pause, a return to the soothing "normalcy" of a bygone era. Who better fit the national mood than the thoroughly undistinguished Senator Warren G. Harding? After an intense primary season and many convention ballots, the Republican Party finally settled on the affable Ohioan and his law-and-order running-mate, Massachusetts Governor Calvin Coolidge, choices made easier by the sudden death of the beloved TR, himself eyeing a comeback, and the one man capable of disturbing the party's predilection for calm. Incumbent President Wilson, bedridden after a debilitating stroke, shed no tears over the death of his bitter enemy and unaccountably believed the Democratic Party would extend his discredited presidency by nominating him for an unprecedented third term. Instead, the party chose Ohio Governor James Cox, like Harding a former small-town newspaper editor, and for vice-president, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, a charming fellow from New York, who came with the added advantage of that hallowed name Roosevelt: Franklin D. Only Herbert Hoover's seeming desire to be anointed rather than nominated (he refused to disclose his party affiliation) kept this internationally acclaimed humanitarian from being a bigger factor in the race. Other figures who helped shape the political battle-Eugene Debs, Hiram Johnson, Leonard Wood, William McAdoo, A. Mitchell Palmer, Nicholas MurrayButler, Alfred E. Smith-are highlighted as well. Pietrusza (Rothstein: The Life Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series, 2003) adds color and dimension with smart discussions of Prohibition, women's suffrage, immigration, civil rights, the League of Nations and labor strife, and he offers animated portraits of William Jennings Bryan, Carrie Chapman Catt, Henry Ford, Marcus Garvey, Sacco and Vanzetti, William Randolph Hearst, H.L. Mencken and many others. A hugely fascinating episode in American history, told with insight and great humor, by an author in command of his subject. Agent: Robert Wilson/Wilson Media

Books about: Talking with My Mouth Full or Short and Sweet Dessert Deck

Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe

Author: Juan J Linz

Since their classic volume The Breakdown of Democratic Regimes was published in 1978, Juan J. Linz and Alfred Stepan have increasingly focused on the questions of how, in the modern world, nondemocratic regimes can be eroded and democratic regimes crafted. In Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation, they break new ground in numerous areas. They reconceptualize the major types of modern nondemocratic regimes and point out for each type the available paths to democratic transition and the tasks of democratic consolidation. They argue that, although "nation-state" and "democracy" often have conflicting logics, multiple and complementary political identities are feasible under a common roof of state-guaranteed rights. They also illustrate how, without an effective state, there can be neither effective citizenship nor successful privatization. Further, they provide criteria and evidence for politicians and scholars alike to distinguish between democratic consolidation and pseudo-democratization, and they present conceptually driven survey data for the fourteen countries studied.

Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation contains the first systematic comparative analysis of the process of democratic consolidation in southern Europe and the southern cone of South America, and it is the first book to ground post-Communist Europe within the literature of comparative politics and democratic theory.

"This is an important volume by two major scholars on a central topic--one of broad interest to people in comparative politics, to those interested in democracy, and to regional specialists on Southern Latin America and on Central and Eastern Europe. The book willunquestionably be a major contribution to the literature on constructing democratic governance."--Abraham F. Lowenthal, University of Southern California

Tony Judt

Has the virtue of broad comparative reference. -- New York Review of Books

Table of Contents:

	List of Figures, Tables, and Exhibits
	Preface and Acknowledgments
1	Democracy and Its Arenas	3
2	"Stateness," Nationalism, and Democratization	16
3	Modern Nondemocratic Regimes	38
4	The Implications of Prior Regime Type for Transition Paths and Consolidation Tasks	55
5	Actors and Contexts	66
6	The Paradigmatic Case of Reforma Pactada-Ruptura Pactada: Spain	87
7	From Interim Government to Simultaneous Transition and Consolidation: Portugal	116
8	Crisis of a Nonhierarchical Military Regime: Greece	130
9	Southern Europe: Concluding Reflections	139
10	A Risk-Prone Consolidated Democracy: Uruguay	151
11	Crises of Efficacy, Legitimacy, and Democratic State "Presence": Brazil	166
12	From an Impossible to a Possible Democratic Game: Argentina	190
13	Incomplete Transition/Near Consolidation? Chile	205
14	South America: Concluding Reflections	219
15	Post-Communism's Prehistories	235
16	Authoritarian Communism, Ethical Civil Society, and Ambivalent Political Society: Poland	255
17	Varieties of Post-Totalitarian Regimes: Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria	293
18	The Effects of Totalitarianism-cum-Sultanism on Democratic Transition: Romania	344
19	The Problems of "Stateness" and Transitions: The USSR and Russia	366
20	When Democracy and the Nation-State Are Conflicting Logics: Estonia and Latvia	401
21	Post-Communist Europe: Concluding Comparative Reflections	434
	Index	459

Presidential Diversions or J Edgar Hoover

Presidential Diversions: Presidents at Play from George Washington to George W. Bush

Author: Paul F Boller

Paul F. Boller, Jr.'s widely admired and bestselling anecdotal histories have uncovered new aspects and hidden dimensions in the lives of our presidents. Now he turns to an uncharted - but unexpectedly revealing - element of our leaders' personalities as he brings us stories of what the presidents did for fun. In thumbnail portraits of every president through George W. Bush, Boller chronicles their taste in games, sports, and cultural activities. George Washington had a passion for dancing and John Quincy Adams skinny-dipped in the Potomac; Grover Cleveland loved beer gardens and Woodrow Wilson made a failed effort to write fiction; Calvin Coolidge cherished his afternoon naps, as did Lyndon Johnson his four-pack-a-day cigarette habit; Jimmy Carter was a surprisingly skilled high diver and Bush Senior loved to parachute. The sketches revitalize even the most familiar of our leaders, showing us a new side of our presidents - and their presidencies.

Publishers Weekly

Overall, this harmless collection of presidential trivia is perfect for those with a taste for such gossip: the toenail clippings of history. Texas Christian University's Boller lays out his survey of chief executive hobbies in 42 short chapters.Washington rode horses, danced and attended the theater. Jefferson liked to hike, invent contraptions, design buildings and study nature. Truman threw horseshoes and played piano. Sometimes Boller must grasp at straws in order to find something to say, since presidents are often, by nature and necessity, workaholics. Since Andrew Johnson entertained himself only by playing with his grandchildren, Boller must give a long peroration on Johnson's defensiveness about his lowly origins. Lyndon Johnson, too, couldn't understand why people wasted time in leisure, but he drove motor boats at recklessly high speeds and we are told at some length what a good dancer he was. The current Bush, as we all know from media reports, likes to exercise, clear brush on his ranch, fish, hunt and golf. Boller's book will be enjoyed by fans of his previous works (Presidential Anecdotes; Presidential Wives) and all others who take their history "light." (June)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Kirkus Reviews

Thumbnail sketches of America's 43 presidents, highlighting the amusements, pastimes and hobbies that helped each shoulder the weight of office. Grant and Harding appear never to have risked working too hard while in office, but most chief executives were type-A personalities who had to be coaxed by family and friends into taking time out for pleasure. Reagan, like Lincoln and FDR before him, took refuge in humorous storytelling, a talent foreign to the rigid Polk, Buchanan and both Adamses. For most of our presidents, their job's all-consuming nature left little time for diversions. Accordingly, Boller (Presidential Campaigns, 2004, etc.) sometimes pads by relating how each man spent his leisure time before and after office. Eisenhower's and Ford's football days were long behind them by the time they entered the White House; Jimmy Carter started writing poetry and Bush I took up skydiving after their presidencies ended. Boller's decision to include a chapter on each of the presidents occasionally leads to strained connections. It's also a stretch to give each chief exec his very own adjective: "studious" Rutherford B. Hayes, "bookish" James A. Garfield, "doughty" Grover Cleveland, etc. Still, taken together, some interesting trends emerge. Presidential exercise? Watch horseback riding give way to walking, then to running and mountain biking. Presidential reading? See Greek and Roman classics replaced by Zane Grey and Ian Fleming. Swimming, fishing and golf emerge as the most popular presidential sports, cards the favorite game. Boller identifies still another constant: the inescapably political dimension to anything a president does, even how he chooses to spend his leisure. BenjaminHarrison was criticized for boating on Sundays; McKinley and Kennedy both hid their enthusiasm for golf (too "undignified" in 1896, too much like Ike in 1960); and Truman moved his poker games from the White House to the presidential yacht. Perhaps better dipped into than read through. Still, an entertaining look at presidents at play.

New interesting textbook: BusinessToday or Information Systems Solutions

J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography

Author: Rick Geary

A True History of Violence (and Crimefighting, Politics, and Power)
 

In the hands of gifted cartoonist Rick Geary, J. Edgar Hoover’s life becomes a timely and pointed guide to eight presidents—from Calvin Coolidge to Richard Nixon—and everything from Prohibition to cold war espionage. From a nascent FBI’s headlinegrabbing tracking down of Dillinger and Machine Gun Kelly in the 1930s to Hoover’s increasingly paranoid post-WWII authorizing of illegal wiretaps, blackmail, and circumvention of Supreme Court decisions, J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography provides a special window into the life of an outsized American and a bird’seye view on the twentieth century.

Publishers Weekly

Geary returns to the finely detailed style of historical case study made so fascinating in his Library of Victorian Murder series, this time moving away from visceral horror to the arena of political power and the transgressions wrought by those who wield it. He traces the life and career of the creator of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, weaving a compelling portrait of a man isolated by authority and his desire for secrecy while simultaneously making a name for himself and his agency in the war against organized crime. But behind the details known to the public were petty power plays, possible connections to La Cosa Nostra and rumors of homosexuality and cross-dressing. All surrounded a government official whose ultraconservative ways and fascistic tactics bordered on the criminal when they suited his goals, and led Eleanor Roosevelt to consider the FBI one step away from becoming an American Gestapo. Encompassing events from the Great Depression, WWII, McCarthyism, the Cold War, the Kennedy administration, the Civil Rights movement and Watergate, Geary's work serves as an engrossing, easy to take history lesson. (Jan.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

School Library Journal

Gr 10 Up -This comprehensive, highly detailed account is captivating. Hoover, director of the FBI for nearly 50 years, has been elevated to iconic status in the annals of U.S. history and pop culture. His story is well represented by this master illustrator's old-fashioned, highly stylized, black-and-white line art and high-crime drama-superhero comic-book format. Geary has done his homework: the cover and splash page distinctly mimic 1930s advertisements for the popular Warner Brothersa' film G-Men , showcasing a machine-gun-toting, dapper Hoover looking much like James Cagney, who played him in the movie. The author provides a fascinating look at how pop culture (films, radio, pulp magazines, comic strips, etc.) worked to aggrandize the status of Hoover, who craftily used entertainment for propagandistic and self-promotional purposes. He befriended the likes of Jack Warner, who glamorized the FBI in his film. An interesting point that Geary reiterates is Hoover's strategy to remain nonpartisan while wooing presidential supporters from both parties. He maintains an unbiased, objective point of view, but still dishes up some dirt. This excellent graphic biography makes the life of Hoover and the history of the FBI both accessible and engaging.-Jodi Mitchell, Berkeley Public Library, CA

Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

The life and times of America's top cop, by prolific author/artist Geary (The Bloody Benders, 2007, etc.). His work for National Lampoon and Heavy Metal illustrates his long-standing taste for the pulpier side of things, but Geary also does solid work in historical comics, albeit ones with a gruesome true-crime slant. He brings the same clean artwork and swift but steady pacing to his graphic biography of J. Edgar Hoover. Born in Washington, D.C., in 1895, Hoover came from a religious clan whose "family business" was the federal bureaucracy. Obsessively hardworking from an early age, with few friends but a careful eye toward staying politically neutral in order to advance his career, Hoover swiftly moved up the ladder from a lowly Department of Justice post procured for him by a cousin in 1917 to head the Bureau of Investigation by 1924. Geary expertly marks the exacting effort with which Hoover set out during the Depression years to transform the oft-ignored, nearly powerless bureau into a well-publicized and widely idealized national crime-fighting, gangster-busting force. Hoover was obsessed almost equally by fighting what he saw as the immoral poison of liberalism and by consolidating his power with that of the FBI-the two often seen as the same thing to Hoover and, thanks to his intense media lobbying, to the nation itself. In the postwar years, he became the embodiment of an American reactionary. Geary doesn't stoop to rumor-mongering about Hoover's sexuality-he points out that the cross-dressing story is most likely false-but he gives the director's lengthy, marriage-like relationship with second-in-command Clyde Tolson the importance it deserves, particularly since Hoover publiclyproclaimed such a rigid, outdated view of sexual morality. As solid, thrilling and informative a guide to the life of the America's most powerful authoritarian as one could ask for.

Hitler or How to Be Invisible

Hitler: 1889-1936: Hubris

Author: Ian Kershaw

Hailed as the most compelling biography of the German dictator yet written, IanKershaw's Hitler brings us closer than ever before to the heart of its subject's immense darkness. Hitler here emerges from obscurity to uncontested rule over a disillusioned people desperate to escape from political and economic chaos. Hitler's path to power leads from the anti-Semitism of prewar Vienna through the First World War, the nationalism of Bavaria in the 1920s, and the undermining of German democracy by extremists of the right and left that opens the door for his seizure of the state in 1933. Drawing on previously untapped sources—including Joseph Goebbels's diaries, recently discovered in Moscow—this volume ends with the promulgation of the Nuremberg laws that pushed German Jews to the fringes of society and the march of the German army into the Rhineland, Hitler's first step toward the abyss of war. Horrifying, unstoppably readable, rich with analysis whose implications remain all too relevant as we near the end of Hitler's century, this is "biography of profound importance" (Thomas Childers, Boston Globe).

Istvan Deak

Kershaw demonstrates how naive almost all the politicians and political writers of the time were concerning Hitler....[He] wisely avoids the controversy about Hitler's "greatness," and warns that even the argument fo rhisnegative greatness is potentially apologetic. —The New Republic

Washington Post

A much-needed, readable, up-to-date biography.

The New York Times Book Review - Walter Reich

Masterly...Kershaw is able to clarify, perhaps better than any biographer who preceded him, what made Hitler's dictatorial power possible.

Wall Street Journal

The most astute assessment of Hitler's bond with the German people yet written.

London Review of Books - Wolfgang Mommsen

The sense of his own greatness instilled in Hitler by his following had reached a new peak; as Kershaw sees it, he was following the path that he believed had been laid out for him by Providence with the confidence of a sleepwalker.

Baltimore Sun

In the quest for the definitive explanation of the Hitler phenomenon, Ian Kershaw's prodigious work is an eminently worthy contender. Meticulously detailed...Kershaw brilliantly sets down how Hitler influenced events to serve his grandiose visions.

Library Journal

The first of two volumes from a British biographer.

National Review - Richard Lowry

...[B]ypasses the grand philosophical musings and explanatory muddle with a straightforward narrative of Hilter's rise.To the confounding question, How could it happen?, Kershaw has a basic, implicit answer: politics.

The Christian Science Monitor - Leonard Bushkoff

Ian Kershaw avoids fanciful interpretations; there is no psycho-history or its equivalent....The book makes one ponder the troubling parallels in some of today's fragmented countries where a sense of national unity and the public good are lacking...

The Washington Post

A much-needed, readable, up-to-date biography.

Kirkus Reviews

A monumental biography that seeks to be the final word (at least for this century) on the subject. British historian Kershaw (University of Sheffield) has spent an academic career thinking judiciously and writing clearly about Hitler, the Weimar Republic, and Nazi Germany. This massive work, which will consist of two volumes, promises to be the most comprehensive biography of Hitler to date. And although the writing is clear and mercifully free of far-fetched theories attempting to fathom Hitler's evil, it still takes some dedication to historical truth to finish such a work and realize that the story is only half told. This is epic history on a grand scale; from rural Austria and Vienna to Munich and cosmopolitan Berlin; from the battlefields of the Great War to the exaggerations of the beer hall; from Hitler's rejection by the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna to his election as chancellor of Germany. As narrative biography, Kershaw's account clearly portrays how Hitler evolved from a rejected artist to a political novice and then to messianic illusion. Besides the use of Goebbels's diaries, recently discovered in Moscow, there is little that is new here; Kershaw's achievement lies in his retelling the tale in greater detail and avoiding some of the more outlandish theories concerning Hitler. No one writing on Hitler, though, can avoid some attempt at explanation. Kershaw writes - and few would argue - that "the First World War made Hitler possible," but goes on to argue against the interpretation that Hitler was somehow the logical outcome of German history's "special path." Kershaw's Hitler is no "psychopathic god" but deeply rooted in the history and culture of Vienna, the Great War,and German racial nationalism. Thus, what emerges is a fascinating dialectic between the socioeconomic causes of Hitler's rise and the responsibility of the German people for his reign of terror.

What People Are Saying

Ian Kershaw
"Numerous people said, "...why are you working on this? It's so horrible..." But it always struck me it was of such vital importance to the 20th century....This is not very long ago, and yet it seems to be on another planet...

[He was asked:] After all his years of research, does he dream of Hitler? "I have never dreamed about Hitler....I've dreamed about the fate of my rugby team, but never about Hitler."
— Interviewed in The New York Times, March 22, 1999

Book review: Va de Vi Cookbook or Wandering and Feasting

How to Be Invisible: The Essential Guide to Protecting Your Personal Privacy, Your Assets, and Your Life

Author: J J Luna

From cyberspace to crawl spaces, new innovations in information gathering have left the private life of the average person open to scrutiny, and worse, exploitation. In this thoroughly revised update of his immensely popular guide How to Be Invisible, J.J. Luna shows you how to protect yourself from these information predators by securing your vehicle and real estate ownership, your bank accounts, your business dealings, your computer files, your home address, and more.

J.J. Luna, a highly trained and experienced security consultant, shows you how to achieve the privacy you crave and deserve, whether you just want to shield yourself from casual scrutiny or take your life savings with you and disappearing without a trace. Whatever your needs, Luna reveals the shocking secrets that private detectives and other seekers of personal information use to uncover information and then shows how to make a serious commitment to safeguarding yourself.

There is a prevailing sense in our society that true privacy is a thing of the past. Filled with vivid real life stories drawn from the headlines and from Luna's own consulting experience, How to Be Invisible, Revised Edition is a critical antidote to the privacy concerns that continue only to grow in magnitude as new and more efficient ways of undermining our personal security are made available. Privacy is a commonly-lamented casualty of the Information Age and of the world's changing climate-but that doesn't mean you have to stand for it.

Kirkus Reviews

A subversive, disturbing, and altogether remarkable exposure of our frightening transparency to government agencies, investigators, the media, and more malign forces. Luna, a security consultant who "spent 11 years running a secret operation in Franco's Spain" (presumably outwitting the state police), begins by presenting formidable evidence of the demolition of personal privacy in the information age, as well as a chilling hypothetical selection of ways in which this state of affairs can ruin the existence of Joe & Jane Citizen (from false criminal accusations to stalking to lawsuits). His wryly presented conclusion—that advanced privacy measures are "flood insurance"—are borne out through the clear-headed instructional chapters that follow. First he shows how to protect one's physical space: how to construct an alternative mail-drop and "ghost" address, how to keep your real domicile unknown, and how to avoid using one's social-security number and birthdate for identification purposes. Although his suggestions seem surprisingly simple, he offers stern disclaimers to consult legal professionals. Further chapters delve deeply into the complicated netherworld of trusts, limited-liability companies, personal nominees, secret home businesses, anonymous travel, hidden ownership of vehicles and real estate, and so forth. One cannot but note that such information, although certainly invaluable to people in particular demographics (such as undercover cops or abused women, who might well need to "disappear"), is most often utilized by a new breed of transnational organized crime (with examples evident from Nick Leeson to the Russian Mafia). Yet Luna—whoseslightlyornate prose suggests Nero Wolfe after several Belgian ales—makes a bracing, serious argument for the aggressive defense of one's informational and asset privacy, acidly noting throughout how governmental entities constantly attempt to seal the doors of invisibility, as in their harrassment of mail-receiving services. This is a memorable work which should be considered by many and undoubtedly will be acted upon by some.

Table of Contents:

	Preface	xi
1	How This Book Can Make You Invisible	3
2	U.S. Mail--Serious Dangers	20
3	When Is a "Lie" Not a Lie?	39
4	Mailboxes, Public and Private	47
5	How to Obtain Your Own "Ghost" Address	57
6	Repairmen, Home Deliveries, House Calls, FedEx, UPS	72
7	Untraceable Trash, Anonymous Utilities	83
8	Your Social Security Number and Date of Birth	90
9	Your Alternate Names and Signatures	110
10	Telephones and Answering Machines	121
11	Cell Phones and Pagers	140
12	Handheld Two-Way Radios	148
13	How to Find and Use Nominees	157
14	Bank Accounts and Money Transfers	161
15	Limited Liability Companies	173
16	Hidden Ownership of Vehicles and Real Estate	182
17	Personal Computers	197
18	E-Mail and the Internet	211
19	How to Secretly Run a Home-Based Business	232
20	Secret Spaces, Hidden Places	240
21	Cool Stuff That Did Not Fit In Earlier	248
22	An Exam, a Secret, and an Invitation	266
	Glossary	275
	Appendix	276
	Index	279

The Stillborn God or Hackers Challenge 3

The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics, and the Modern West

Author: Mark Lilla

A brilliant account of religion's role in the political thinking of the West, from the Enlightenment to the close of World War II.

The wish to bring political life under God's authority is nothing new, and it's clear that today religious passions are again driving world politics, confounding expectations of a secular future. In this major book, Mark Lilla reveals the sources of this age-old quest-and its surprising role in shaping Western thought. Making us look deeper into our beliefs about religion, politics, and the fate of civilizations, Lilla reminds us of the modern West's unique trajectory and how to remain on it. Illuminating and challenging, The Stillborn God is a watershed in the history of ideas.

The New York Times - Rebecca Newberger Goldstein

One can read Lilla's story and draw precisely the opposite normative conclusions from the ones he asks us to draw: that the West's experimental testing and retesting of political theology, trying to see if there is any safe way of mixing politics and religion, has delivered an answer from which all may learn. Separating church and state works; mixing them tends toward disaster. But draw what normative conclusions you will from The Stillborn God, this provocative book is to be applauded for doing justice to the complexity of our long attempt to reconcile our transcendental aspirations with human well-being.

Publishers Weekly

This searching history of western thinking about the relationship between religion and politics was inspired not by 9/11, but by Nazi Germany, where, says University of Chicago professor Lilla (The Reckless Mind), politics and religion were horrifyingly intertwined. To explain the emergence of Nazism's political theology, Lilla reaches back to the early modern era, when thinkers like Locke and Hume began to suggest that religion and politics should be separate enterprises. Some theorists, convinced that Christianity bred violence, argued that government must be totally detached from religion. Others, who believed that rightly practiced religion could contribute to modern life, promoted a "liberal theology," which sought to articulate Christianity and Judaism in the idiom of reason. (Lilla's reading of liberal Jewish thinker Hermann Cohen is especially arresting.) Liberal theologians, Lilla says, credulously assumed human society was progressive and never dreamed that fanaticism could capture the imaginations of modern people-assumptions that were proven wrong by Hitler. If Lilla castigates liberal theology for its naïveté, he also praises America and Western Europe for simultaneously separating religion from politics, creating space for religion, and staving off "sectarian violence" and "theocracy." Lilla's work, which will influence discussions of politics and theology for the next generation, makes clear how remarkable an accomplishment that is. (Sept. 14)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Gary P. Gillum - Library Journal

Noted historian Lilla's (Committee on Social Thought, Univ. of Chicago; The Reckless Mind: Intellectuals in Politics) newest book is according to the back cover "a sobering and thought-provoking work making us question what we thought we knew about religion, politics, and the fate of civilizations." Lilla helps us to take stock and, as he writes in his introduction, "think harder about how we live now and what is required if we wish our experiment to continue." He addresses the strengths and weaknesses of current political thought and the modern institutions we take for granted, and he further distinguishes among the Ethical God, the Bourgeois God, the Redeeming God, and the Stillborn God of our current political thought. This is a fascinating and edifying analytical history of ideas offering many observations, among them, that our world is becoming as fragile as the medieval world-increasingly intolerant, dogmatic, and fearful. For readers who love theology and philosophy as well as such thinkers as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, David Hume, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Immanuel Kant, Lilla's reasoned survey of secular and religious politics is a major gift to modern thought. Recommended for academic and public libraries.

Kirkus Reviews

An elegant and timely investigation of the rise, and fall, and rise, of political theology. Once upon a time, everyone assumed religion and politics went hand in hand. Here, Lilla (Committee on Social Thought/Univ. of Chicago; The Reckless Mind: Intellectuals in Politics, 2001, etc.) traces the relatively recent Western divide between the two. Lilla opens by distinguishing three different kinds of political theology-those that imagine God as immanent, remote or transcendent-and by sketching the different ways Judaism and Christianity conceive of God's involvement with the world. He then tours post-medieval Western thought. On one end sits Hobbes (who, with Locke and Hume, untangled religion from statecraft); on the other end sit Kant and Hegel. In between those two poles is the most significant section of the book-Lilla's reading of Rousseau's "The Profession of Faith of the Savoyard Vicar," a section of Emile (and the most sustained treatment Rousseau ever offered of religion). Rousseau was the first to articulate the belief that religion is an expression of man's essential goodness. In wanting to have it both ways-wanting a secular politics shot through with some domesticated sense of piety-Rousseau was, in a sense, undermining the profound break that his forebears had made with religion. The titular stillborn God is Rousseau's step-child: The liberal religion Emile spawned was dealt a paralyzing blow in the mid-20th century, because it ultimately couldn't stand up to the monstrous reemergence of the political theology of Nazi Germany. Lilla offers no tidy answers at the end of the book. Given the purchase political theology has on so many people, even today, Westerners must ask whetherthey wish the separation between politics and religion to continue. Dense and rewarding.

Interesting book: Sex Power Conflict Evolutionary and Feminist Perspectives or Understanding Organizational Culture

Hacker's Challenge 3: 20 Brand-New Forensic Scenarios and Solutions

Author: David Pollino

The stories about phishing attacks against banks are so true-to-life, it’s chilling.” --Joel Dubin, CISSP, Microsoft MVP in Security

Every day, hackers are devising new ways to break into your network. Do you have what it takes to stop them? Find out in Hacker’s Challenge 3. Inside, top-tier security experts offer 20 brand-new, real-world network security incidents to test your computer forensics and response skills. All the latest hot-button topics are covered, including phishing and pharming scams, internal corporate hacking, Cisco IOS, wireless, iSCSI storage, VoIP, Windows, Mac OS X, and UNIX/Linux hacks, and much more. Each challenge includes a detailed explanation of the incident--how the break-in was detected, evidence and clues, technical background such as log files and network maps, and a series of questions for you to solve. In Part II, you’ll get a detailed analysis of how the experts solved each incident.

David Pollino has a strong background in security, wireless, and networking. David is currently a security practitioner working in financial services. During his career, he has worked for an industry-leading security consulting company, a large financial services company, and a tier 1 ISP. David often speaks at security events and has frequently been quoted in online and printed journals regarding security issues. During his career as a consultant and network engineer, David has worked for clients across multiple industries, including financial services, service providers, high technology, manufacturing, and government. He co-authored Wireless Security (RSA Press, 2002) and Hacker'sChallenge and Hacker's Challenge 2 (McGraw-Hill/Osborne, 2001 and 2002, respectively).

Bill Pennington, CISSP, has six years of professional experience in information security and eleven years in information technology. His duties at WhiteHat include managing research and development, guiding product and technology direction, managing web application assessment teams, and developing and delivering WhiteHat Security training. Bill has performed web application assessments for more than four years in a variety of industry verticals including financial services, e-commerce, and biotechnology. He is familiar with Mac OS X, Linux, Solaris, Windows, and OpenBSD, and he is a Certified Information Security Systems Practitioner (CISSP) and Certified Cisco Network Administrator (CCNA). He has broad experience in web application security, penetration testing, computer forensics, and intrusion detection systems. Prior to joining WhiteHat, Bill was a principal consultant and technical lead for assessment services at Guardent, a nationwide security services provider.

Tony Bradley, CISSP-ISSAP, MCSE2k, has eight years of computer networking and administration experience, focusing the last four on network security and malware protection. Tony is a network security architect providing design, implementation, and management of network security solutions for a variety of Fortune 500 customers. He is also the editor and writer for the About.com Internet/Network Security website and frequently contributes to a variety of technical and security publications, both in print and on the Web. You can view his writing portfolio at http://www.s3kur3.com.

Himanshu Dwivedi is a founding partner of iSEC Partners, an independent provider of information security services and tools. He has 12 years of experience in security and IT. Before forming iSEC, he was Technical Director for @stake's Bay Area security practice. Himanshu's professional focus includes strategic security services, which leverages his experience with software development, infrastructure security, application security, tool development, and secure product design. He is considered an industry expert in storage security, specifically Fibre Channel/iSCSI SANs and CIFS/NFS NAS systems. Himanshu has presented at major security conferences throughout the world, including Black Hat, Storage Networking World, Syscan Singapore, and Bellua Indonesia. Himanshu also has a patent pending for a storage security design architecture that can be implemented on enterprise storage products for Fibre Channel networks. Himanshu has also authored two additional security books, including Securing Storage: A Practical Guide to SAN and NAS Security (Addison-Wesley, 2005) and Implementing SSH: Strategies for Optimizing the Secure Shell (Wiley, 2003).

And Then There Were Four or Cases in Macro Social Work Practice

And Then There Were Four

Author: Ellen Stein

This book was born when we four-childhood friends from our school days-realized that each of us had different and unique memories of growing up in pre-Holocaust Berlin. We wanted to share these stories not only with our families and friends, but with others.

In so doing, we honor our parents and acknowledge the distinctive ways in which they coped with overwhelming circumstances. Their efforts and their courage made it possible for us to survive.

We also remember our sometimes miraculous escapes, our subsequent adventures, and the challenges of adapting to a new culture and a foreign language. We even discovered occasional joy in the process. We cherish our lasting friendship and look forward to what the future still has to offer.

LE CHAYIM ! TO LIFE !

Go to: Cuba Cocina or Flavors of India

Cases in Macro Social Work Practice

Author: David Fauri

Cases in Macro Social Work Practice

Third Edition

 

David P. Fauri, Virginia Commonwealth University

Stephen P. Wernet, St. Louis University

F. Ellen Netting, Virginia Commonwealth University

 

 

Overview

The third edition of Cases in Macro Social Work Practice provides relevant, contemporary, macro practice case scenarios that reflect practice dilemmas and challenges typically experienced by social workers in organizational, community, and policy practice areas.  The text emphasizes the change process in both domestic and international settings with a theoretical and practice perspective.

 

New to This Edition

•  Leadership in and understanding of cross-cultural practice settings

•  Strategic planning and leadership in nonprofit organizations

• New cases set in South America and Africa that add international and NGO aspects and complement an existing caseset in Central America
• Complete literature updates with each case to assist students in delving further into specific settings, problems, and interventions

 

Cases in Macro Social Work Practice is designed to accompany Social Work Macro Practice, Fourth Edition, ©2008, by Netting / Kettner / McMurtry. To find our more about this special package, please contact your local sales representative at ablongman.com/replocator.

 

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<MyHelpingLab ad>

Table of Contents:

About the Editors     vii
About the Contributors     ix
Introduction     1
Using the Case Method in the Classroom     1
The Case Method: An Introduction     3
Conceptual Background: The Case Method in Education for the Professions     4
Using Cases as Learning Tools     6
Theories, Concepts, and Practice Applications: Selecting Cases in This Book According to Themes     7
Understanding Problems and Populations     11
Lee and the Amazing Multifaceted Community Needs Assessment   Marsha A. Marley   Mary E. Rogge   Robin L. Ersing     13
References     17
Hate Crimes Legislation: Legislative Advocacy for the GLBT Community   D. Veronica Creech   Stephen P. Wernet   Jeff Wunrow     31
References     35
The Underground Advocates: Legislative Advocacy for and with Service Users with Disabilities   Stephen French Gilson     45
References     48
The Guatemalan Stove Project   Melissa L. Abell     61
References     64
The Community as the Arena of Change     77
The Reverend and Me: Faith Communities and Public Welfare   Robert Wineburg     79
References     82
Riverton: Envisioning a Sustainable Community   Jonathan Scherch     92
References     95
The Native Hawaiian Children's Center: Changing Methods from Casework to Community Practice   Elizabeth A. Mulroy   Jon K. Matsuoka     107
References     110
Lindblom County: How Diversity Influenced Philanthropic Sufficiency   Roger A. Lohmann     121
References     125
The Organization as the Arena of Change     137
Growing Hope: Strategic Planning and Organizational Change   Alan Erdman   Stephen P. Wernet     139
References     142
The Women's Co-Op: The Clash of Two Organizational Cultures   Cheryl A. Hyde     155
References     158
When Community Mental Health Meets Public Managed Care   Diane Vinokur-Kaplan   Patricia Miller     170
References     174
Recognizing the Realities: Managing Biculturally   Dwight Jackson   Stephen P. Wernet     186
References     189
Changing Macro Systems     199
The Coffee Break; Supervisor-Employee Relationships at Risk   David P. Fauri     201
References      205
KingsHaven and You: Managing Volunteers   Nancy Macduff   F. Ellen Netting     214
References     216
Carol's Value Dilemmas: Implementing Public Services for Disabled Elders   Sharon M. Keigher     229
References     233
Organizing in Jacinto: Getting In and Getting Started   Mary Katherine O'Connor     252
References     255
Index     268

Jefferson or The Second Civil War

Jefferson: A Monticello Sampler

Author: Richard H Britton

Rick Britton has been writing about Thomas Jefferson and Monticello for over a dozen years. His well-received Jefferson pieces have appeared in newspapers and magazines all across the Old Dominion. Based largely on that work, this book presents an eclectic and captivating collection of Jefferson essays. Within its pages you'll discover: Jefferson's influence on Albemarle, his native county; the British raid that came within a hairsbreadth of capturing Jefferson; slavery along Monticello's Mulberry Row; Jefferson's friendship with Italian vintner Filippo Mazzei; his wide-ranging scientific pursuits; William Clark's 1807 trek to Big Bone Lick, Ky., in search of Mastodon bones; Jefferson's efforts toward exploring the West; the all-but-forgotten Freeman and Custis expedition; Jefferson's slavery correspondence with Edward Coles; Lafayette's 1824 visit to Monticello; Jefferson's founding of the University of Virginia; his amazing architectural legacy; and the early years of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, the organization that owns and operates Monticello.

Interesting textbook: The Kennedy Men or A New History of Social Welfare

The Second Civil War: How Extreme Partisanship has Paralyzed Washington and Polarized America

Author: Ronald Brownstein

From one of America's most respected political commentators, an epic, shrewd, and important big-picture analysis of the forces that have made this era in American politics as divisive and bitterly partisan as any since the Civil War.

Few don't appreciate that in recent years American politics has seemingly become much more partisan, more zero-sum, more vicious, more willing to make mountains out of molehills, and less able to confront the mountains of real problems we face. And yet in poll after poll, the percentage of Americans who identify themselves as either "very conservative" or "very liberal" hasn't budged in more than a generation. What has happened? In The Second Civil War, Ronald Brownstein brilliantly diagnoses the electoral, demographic, and institutional forces that have brought such change over the American political landscape, pulling politics to the margins and leaving precious little common ground for compromise.

Displaying the deep historical perspective for which he is noted, Brownstein begins with a history of the evolving climate for partisanship since the dawn of the modern political era in 1896, presenting a fresh and bold reinterpretation of American politics and the personalities who have shaped it from Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson to Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

Offering both sweeping analysis and intimate detail drawn from exclusive interviews with top officials and strategists in both parties, The Second Civil War captures the currents that have carried America to today's dangerous impasse, from little-understood changes in congressional rules that made it easier for parties to enforce discipline and discourage compromise tothe rise of special-interest pressure groups to a vastly changed media environment that has become much more vicious and much less serious.

While there was no Golden Age, and in many respects the increasing plurality of voices that get to have a say in our politics is all to the good, the net-net is a system in which compromise and conciliation are thwarted at almost every turn and big problems that require broad consensus continue to fester ominously, unaddressed and growing more and more painful to face as we approach crisis situations. But Ronald Brownstein ends with a menu of clear and compelling ways out of our collective dilemma, largely centering on the opportunity for unifying leadership. The Second Civil War is not a book for Democrats or Republicans per se but for all Americans who are disturbed by our current political dysfunction and hungry for ways to understand it-and move beyond it.

The New York Times - Michiko Kakutani

In describing the history of partisanship in this country Mr. Brownstein writes with both an authoritative understanding of the political dynamics in Washington and a plain-spoken common sense. He points out the practical dangers of hyperpartisanship—how it has prevented America's leaders from agreeing on everything from a comprehensive immigration plan to a strategy for reducing the country's dependence on foreign oil to a long-term plan for securing Social Security. And he reminds us that while the country itself is not more divided than it has been in the past (especially when compared, say, with the 1960s or the 1860s), the nation's current political system accentuates differences instead of bridging them.

Publishers Weekly

With this intelligent and expansive book, Los Angeles Timespolitical correspondent and columnist Brownstein dissects the hyperpartisanship that he believes "has unnecessarily inflamed our differences and impeded progress against our most pressing challenges." The first half of the book examines the roots of this hyperpartisanship, beginning with the 1896 election of William McKinley, which the author argues ushered in four decades of fierce partisan division. The 1938 resurgence of the Republican Party marked the start of the "age of bargaining," with presidents and legislators crossing party lines to govern through consensus. The author believes both parties became more ideologically consistent during the 1960s, resulting in a "sorting out" of the electorate that eventually led to today's partisan divisiveness. This thorough history lays the groundwork for Brownstein's incisive analysis of the contemporary Republican and Democratic parties. He resists blaming any one party or president for the state of contemporary American politics, instead attributing partisan divisions to interest groups, changes in congressional rules and practices and the realignment of the parties and electorate. This sophisticated though lengthy book lays out a complex history with lucid precision, painting a damning portrait of contemporary politics that's sure to provoke and captivate readers interested in American politics and history. (Nov. 1)

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