Tinder Box or Disaster Medicine

Tinder Box: The Iroquois Theatre Disaster 1903

Author: Anthony P Hatch

This is the one-hundredth anniversary year of the worst single building fire and the most horrible theater disaster in US history.At a Christmas week matinee December 30, 1903, more than 600 people, mostly women and children, perished in less than 30 minutes in a five-week-old theater that was advertised as being "Absolutely Fireproof" and one of the most luxurious playhouses ever built in America—the epitome of Twentieth Century luxury, comfort and safety. Rushed to completion because of corporate greed, the Iroquois opened in Chicago's Loop without exit signs, firefighting equipment, sprinkler system, fire alarm, telephone, a completed ventillation system and exterior fire escapes because city buiding inspectors had been paid off in free tickets and fire department and other officials looked the other way. Published warnings went unheeded. When fire broke out from a short circuit in a backstage spotlight, the panicked audience found itself locked in by untrained ushers and though leading comedian Eddy Foy begged for calm, people trampled one another in a mad dash to escape and piled up at exit doors that, even when broken open, swung in rather than out. Hundreds jumped or were pushed from the incomplete fire escapes into what became known as "Death Alley." The disaster, which for 1903 had the impact that the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, stunned the world, closed theaters and ultimately resulted in fundamental changes in building and safety codes now taken for granted, such as illuminated exits signs, panic bars, doors that swing out, not in and fire retardant materials. However, questions remain as to whether today's theaters and movie houses are any safer in a panic situation, and some fire experts interviewed by the author say that another Iroquois disaster could again occur.

Author Biography: Anthony P. Hatch, a native New Yorker raised in Chicago, is a former print, wire service and broadcast newsman. He began investigating the Iroquois disaster in 1961 while he was with CBS News. He was interested in the similarities between the Iroquois and the Titanic disaster which occured nine years later. He was able to get eyewitness details from five elderly men directly involved in the Iroquois horror: a cub reporter for a Chicago newspaper who covered the theater's opening night and returned five weeks later to report on the disaster; a fireman who fought the blaze and later became Chicago fire commissioner; a wire service reporter called in from his beat at the stock yards; a Northwestern student who helped carry out the living and dead and a child who escaped from the theater by being passed, hand over hand, above the heads of fleeing adults. Hatch currently is general manager of public radio station KSFR in Santa Fe and teaches broadcast news at the University of New Mexico's School of Communications and Journalism. His written articles have appeared in The Nation, TV Guide, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Herald Examiner, and the Santa Fe New Mexican. This is his first book.

Interesting textbook: Burst of Flavor or Romance of Wine

Disaster Medicine

Author: David Hogan

Written by more than 30 emergency physicians with first-hand experience handling medical care during disasters, this volume is the only single comprehensive reference on disaster medicine. It provides the information that every emergency department needs to prepare for and handle the challenges of natural and manmade disasters. The contributors present guidelines for assessing the affected population's health care needs, establishing priorities, allocating resources, and treating individuals. Coverage encompasses a wide range of natural, industrial, technologic, transportation-related, and conflict-related disasters, with examples from around the world. This edition has more illustrations and more information on weapons of mass destruction and explosions.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Lisa N Rapoport, MD, MS(University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine)
Description:The authors begin this book with the very simple (but difficult) question, "what is a disaster?" and continue with basic explanations of types of disasters and their management, and finish with specific problems and situations that may be encountered in a disaster. This updates the 2002 edition, and includes data and experience from both the tsunami disaster and Hurricane Katrina.
Purpose:The purpose is to educate and prepare medical practitioners for a disaster by explaining concepts pertaining to disasters and the groundwork needed to comprehend and prepare. It is a huge and lofty goal but very necessary, and the book succeeds in meeting it. It is also very readable, providing many real-life examples that illustrate points and concepts, which in turn animates the book more than one would anticipate.
Audience:The book is directed at any public health or potential disaster relief practitioner and is accessible to any audience. The authors clearly have extensive knowledge of the field, and the list of contributors is impressive.
Features:The six sections cover basic concepts such as defining what a disaster is; how to plan for one; different types of disasters; and how to educate about disasters. It is clear that the authors have gathered world experts in the field because they consistently use examples of real disasters to explain concepts and theories. One of the strongest points of the book is the way it describes and makes real complex theories that may otherwise be difficult to grasp.
Assessment:This is a good quality book -- well written, well substantiated, and clearly organized. Furthermore, as an emergency medicine resident physician, I feel the subject matter is vital to my training and future practice.

Battleground Chicago or Poor Peoples Movements

Battleground Chicago: The Police and the 1968 Democratic National Convention

Author: Frank Kusch

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

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

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

Table of Contents:

Preface to the Paerback Edition

Preface

Timeline

1 "An American City": The Roots of a Creed 1

2 "Freaks, Cowards, and Bastards": The War at Home 17

3 "What's America Coming To?": January-June 1968 31

4 "On to Chicago": Countdown to August 43

5 "A Perfect Mess": Convention Week 69

6 "Terrorists from Out of Town": Fallout in the Second City 115

7 "Half the Power of God": Chicago in '68 Revisited 135

Conclusion 159

Notes 163

Bibliography 193

Index 201

Books about: La Dolce Vita or Celebrities and Their Culinary Creations

Poor People's Movements: Why They Succeed, How They Fail

Author: Richard A Cloward

Have the poor fared best by participating in conventional electoral politics or by engaging in mass defiance and disruption? The authors of the classic Regulating The Poor assess the successes and failures of these two strategies as they examine, in this provocative study, four protest movements of lower-class groups in 20th century America:
— The mobilization of the unemployed during the Great Depression that gave rise to the Workers' Alliance of America
— The industrial strikes that resulted in the formation of the CIO
— The Southern Civil Rights Movement
— The movement of welfare recipients led by the National Welfare Rights Organization.

Amped or Pocket Idiots Guide to Your Carbon Footprint

Amped: A Soldier's Race for Gold in the Shadow of War

Author: Bill Briggs

"When above-the-knee amputeeswalk, we generate seven to nine times the force of our body weight right into the point where the prosthesis meets our residual leg. For me, that's almost 1,500 pounds slamming into that socket."

For any amputee, learning to walk with a prosthetic leg is a painful, grueling ordeal. Soon after army medic Kortney Clemons, who lost his right leg to a roadside bomb in Baghdad, began the process, he had more than walking in mind. He wanted to run, and run fast. Barely three years after the awful attack that changed his life forever, he aimed to join the elite corps of international athletes vying for gold in the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing. His account of his recovery from this catastrophic wound and his drive to become the first Iraq veteran to win Paralympic gold is one of the most remarkable, inspiring, and compelling stories in the history of sports.

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgments.

Author’s Note.

PART I: BLOOD AND TEARS.

Chapter One: Medic Down.

Chapter Two: Southern Roots.

Chapter Three: Missing Pieces.

Chapter Four: Into the Void.

Chapter Five: Baby Steps.

PART II: WEARING THE COLORS.

Chapter Six: Vision of Hope.

Chapter Seven: Off and Running.

Chapter Eight: Big Lift.

Chapter Nine: Precious Time.

Chapter Ten: History and Headlights.

Chapter Eleven: Heavy Lessons.

Chapter Twelve: Full Circle.

Book review: Le Rapport d'ASHE-ERIC Higher Education, la Compréhension et le fait de Faciliter le Changement D'organisation au 21e siècle :la Recherche Récente et la Conceptualisation, Vol.4

Pocket Idiot's Guide to Your Carbon Footprint

Author: Nancy Grant

Take the first step toward a better environment.

Awareness of global climate change has reached critical mass around the world, and people are looking to see how the choices they make affect the environment. This highly practical and easy-to-use reference helps readers understand how to do their part to combat global warming in simple but effective ways.

• Clear explanations of the relationship between energy use and carbon emissions, and an individual's carbon "footprint"
• The topic is gaining momentum on a worldwide basis
• Easy-to-use, with accessible information

Federalism or Arrogant Capital

Federalism: Political Identity and Tragic Compromise

Author: Malcolm Feeley

"This is a brilliant book that all who consider are interested in the Constitution---judges, lawyers, and professors---must read."
---Erwin Chemerinsky, Alston and Bird Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science, Duke University School of Law

"Professors Feeley and Rubin clearly define what is and is not federal system. This book should be required for serious students of comparative government and American government."
---G. Ross Stephens, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Missouri, Kansas City

"At last, an insightful examination of federalism stripped of its romance. An absolutely splendid book, rigorous but still accessible."
---Larry Yackle, Professor of Law, Boston University

"A thought-provoking book on the nature of national-state relations in the United States federal system."
---Joseph F. Zimmerman, Professor of Political Science, Rockefeller College, University at Albany

Federalism refers to a system in which a centralized national government shares power with member states. Beyond this most basic definition, however, scholars debate the applications and implications of the term. Joining the concept of identity from political science with legal principle, Malcolm M. Feeley and Edward Rubin propose a theory of federalism and test the relevance of federalism for the United States today.

Essentially, federalism represents a compromise among groups who refuse to yield autonomy yet acknowledge the benefits of forming a nation. As in the African and Asian nations forged from former colonies, federalism allows the member states---often dominated by ethnic minorities---to remain largely self-governing. In this way, a youngnation can avoid secession and civil war while the people within its borders gradually abandon their local identities and come to view themselves as citizens of the nation.

The United States, Feeley and Rubin remind us, faced a similar situation in the eighteenth century as thirteen regionally distinct, ethnically diverse, and highly independent British colonies came together to found a nation. Despite the Civil War and the upheaval of the Civil Rights Movement, the federalist strategy ultimately succeeded. For the United States in the early twenty-first century, thanks to the rise of a strong national identity and a ubiquitous bureaucracy, federalism has become obsolete. This bold argument is certain to provoke controversy.

Malcolm M. Feeley is Claire Sanders Clements Dean's Chair Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley.

Edward Rubin is Dean of the Vanderbilt University Law School and the school's first John Wade-Kent Syverud Professor of Law.

Interesting book: The Hacker Crackdown or Network Maturity Model

Arrogant Capital: The Acclaimed Indictment of Entrenched Washington

Author: Kevin Phillips

Washington -- mired in bureaucracy, captured by the money power of Wall Street, and dominated by 90,000 lobbyists, 60,000 lawyers, and the largest concentration of special interests the world has ever seen -- has become the albatross that our Founding Fathers feared: a swollen capital city feeding off the country it should be governing. Using history as a chilling warning, Kevin Phillips compares the paralysis in today's Washington to that of formerly mighty and arrogant capitals like Rome and Madrid. Unchecked, Washington will -- like other great powers before it -- lead the country to its inevitable decline and fall.

Kevin Phillips's unique blueprint for a revolution in politics and government puts Washington on notice and sounds a cry for immediate action, offering a wide variety of remedies -- some quasi-revolutionary, others more moderate, but all controversial.

Table of Contents:

	Preface to the Paperback Edition	xi
	Acknowledgments	xxix
I	The End of Self-Renewal in Washington and in American Politics
1	Washington and the Late-Twentieth-Century Failure of American Politics	3
2	Imperial Washington: The Power and the Glory--And the Betrayal of the Grass Roots	27
II	The Critical Shortcomings of U.S. Politics, Parties, and Government
3	The Crisis No One Can Discuss: U.S. Economic and Cultural Decline--And What It Means	69
4	The Financialization of America: Electronic Speculation and Washington's Loss of Control over the "Real Economy"	95
5	The Principal Weaknesses of American Politics and Government	139
6	The Fading of Anglo-American Institutions and World Supremacy	173
III	The Revolutionary 1990s and the Restoration of Popular Rule in America
7	The 1990s: Converging Revolutionary Traditions and Post-Cold War Jitters	205
8	Renewing America for the Twenty-first Century: The Blueprint for a Political Revolution	227
	Notes and Sources	271
	Index	279

Human Services in Contemporary America or Nationalism Reader

Human Services in Contemporary America

Author: William R Burger

HUMAN SERVICES IN CONTEMPORARY AMERICA presents a complete overview of the helping field, its available programs, and the practical skills you can use in your career. The author presents the history and practice of human services through the lens of a social problems and policy perspective. From one chapter to the next, you'll begin to understand how social, economic and political issues may affect you as a human service worker as well as the people you service. Real-life examples in every chapter highlight material on social policy. Useful information on selected careers within the field are discussed, along with the necessary training and licensor information you'll need if you decide to pursue that career direction. You'll find the book's website to be a great study aid to help you master the concepts of the course.

Booknews

Gives a realistic and multidisciplinary understanding of the helping professions, looking at the many roles of human services, people who seek help, and programs available to those in need. There is a strong focus on social policy issues and their impact on workers and clients. This fifth edition contains new material on career paths, managed care, welfare reform, and the disparity between rich and poor. Burger chairs the department of behavioral sciences and human services at Kingsborough Community College, where Youkeles is professor emeritus. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Table of Contents:

	Preface	ix
Chapter 1	Human Services in the United States Today	1
	Introduction	2
	Human Needs: Focus on Human Services	2
	The Role of Primary Social Supports in Meeting Needs	6
	An Overview of Human Services	8
	Sources of Need Satisfaction	19
	Falling Through the Safety Net	19
	Political Controversy and Human Services	21
	The Impact of Contemporary Problems on Needs	31
	Summary	62
	Additional Reading	63
	References	64
Chapter 2	Groups in Need	69
	Introduction	70
	America's Poor	70
	The Unemployed	77
	Children in Need	79
	The Elderly	87
	People with Disabilities	95
	Persons with Mental Illness	99
	Substance Abusers	106
	Criminals	114
	The Homeless	125
	Persons Living with HIV/AIDS	129
	Summary	133
	Additional Reading	134
	References	135
Chapter 3	Human Services in Historical Perspective	141
	Introduction	142
	Prehistoric Civilization	142
	Early Civilizations	143
	The Middle Ages	145
	The Renaissance	147
	Human Welfare Services since the Renaissance	148
	Mental Health Services since the Renaissance	155
	2000 and Beyond	163
	Additional Reading	166
	References	167
Chapter 4	Theoretical Perspectives	169
	Introduction	170
	Scientific Theory	170
	Theories about Human Disorders	171
	Models of Dysfunction	173
	The Medical Model	173
	The Human Services Model	180
	Issues Underlying Conflict between Models	182
	The Holistic Trend in Medical Theory	183
	Schools of Therapy	186
	The Psychoanalytic Viewpoint	186
	The Humanistic Perspective	194
	The Behaviorist Model	198
	Which Theory Is Best?	208
	Alternative Paths to Personal Fulfillment	208
	Systems Theory	210
	Does Psychotherapy Work?	211
	Additional Reading	212
	References	213
Chapter 5	The Human Services Worker	216
	Introduction	217
	Different Styles of Helping Relationships	217
	Characteristics of Effective Helpers	219
	Basic Helping Skills	224
	Factors That Influence the Use of Skills	232
	Values	233
	Human Rights, the Law, and Human Services	239
	The Worker in Group Settings	242
	The Worker in the Community	245
	Additional Reading	250
	References	251
Chapter 6	Careers in Human Services	253
	Introduction	254
	Generalist Human Services Work	254
	Therapeutic Recreation	259
	Creative Arts Therapy	260
	Psychiatric Nursing	262
	Occupational Therapy	264
	Clinical Psychology	267
	Counseling	271
	Social Work	278
	Psychiatry	282
	Professional Organizations	284
	Additional Reading	286
	References	287
Chapter 7	Social Policy	288
	Introduction	289
	What Is Social Policy?	289
	Social Policy in the Past	290
	Social Policy in Modern Times	291
	Purpose and Types of Social Policy	293
	The Scope of Social Policy	293
	The Making of Social Policy	295
	Factors in Establishing Social Policy	300
	The Implementation of Social Policy	307
	Critical Thinking Activities	310
	Additional Reading	316
	References	317
Chapter 8	Prevention in Human Services	319
	Introduction	320
	Defining Prevention and Its Targets	320
	Prevention in the Past	321
	Levels of Prevention	325
	Why an Emphasis on Primary Prevention Is Crucial	329
	Primary Prevention Strategies	334
	Obstacles to the Development of Primary Prevention Programs	337
	Conclusion	340
	Additional Reading	340
	References	341
Chapter 9	Current Controversies and Issues	343
	Introduction	344
	The Clash of Values in Social Policies	344
	Government: How Much Support for the Needy?	348
	Target Populations: The Struggle for Support	349
	Professionalism in the Human Services	354
	Deinstitutionalization: Does It Work?	358
	The Role of Human Services Workers	360
	Whom Do Human Services Workers Serve?	361
	A Basic Reading and Thinking Skill	363
	References	364
	Glossary	367
	Author Index	377
	Subject Index	381

See also: Liderança Compartilhada:Recomposição o Hows e Whys de Liderança

Nationalism Reader

Author: Omar Dahbour

The proclamation of a "New World Order," hailed at the end of the cold war, coincided with an eruption of nationalism. The withering of the bipolar balance of power has created a vacuum that has been filled by a new tide of ethnic conflict in the former Soviet Union, Bosnia, Somalia, and elsewhere. Despite general recognition of this resurgent phenomenon, there is neither widespread awareness nor expert consensus on the meaning and origins of nationalism. The Nationalism Reader depicts the historical evolution of nationalist thought in the words of leading political actors and thinkers. But this anthology is more than merely a useful reference book. By classifying the question of nationalism according to conflicting political perspectives, its introductory essay and organization show that liberalism, conservatism, and socialism each oscillates between a universalist (or a semi-universalist) conception of human rights and nationalism. In this respect, the selection of texts presented here sheds new theoretical light on the study of nationalism, as well as presenting major European, American, and Third World contributions to nationalist thought.

Booknews

Adopting the position that nationalism is a "modern emotional effusion" aroused by the nation-state, this anthology traces the development of nationalism from the Enlightenment to the contemporary period. Topics include liberalism, conservatism, socialism, and internationalism; anti-colonialism and national liberation movements; American perspectives; and contemporary debate on the subject. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

No Child Left Behind and the Transformation of Federal Education Policy 1965 2005 or The Al Qaeda Connection

No Child Left Behind and the Transformation of Federal Education Policy, 1965-2005

Author: Patrick J McGuinn

Education is intimately connected to many of the most important and contentious questions confronting American society, from race to jobs to taxes, and the competitive pressures of the global economy have only enhanced its significance. Elementary and secondary schooling has long been the province of state and local governments; but when George W. Bush signed into law the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002, it signaled an unprecedented expansion of the federal role in public education.

This book provides the first balanced, in-depth analysis of how No Child Left Behind (NCLB) became law. Patrick McGuinn, a political scientist with hands-on experience in secondary education, explains how this happened despite the country's long history of decentralized school governance and the longstanding opposition of both liberals and conservatives to an active, reform-oriented federal role in schools. His book provides the essential political context for understanding NCLB, the controversies surrounding its implementation, and forthcoming debates over its reauthorization.

Using education as a case study of national policymaking, McGuinn also shows how the struggle to define the federal role in school reform took center stage in debates over the appropriate role of the government in promoting opportunity and social welfare. He places the evolution of the federal role in schools within the context of broader institutional, ideological, and political changes that have swept the nation since the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act, chronicles the concerns raised by the 1983 report A Nation at Risk, and shows how education became a major campaign issue for both parties in the 1990s. McGuinn argues that the emergence of swing issues such as education can facilitate major policy change even as they influence the direction of wider political debates and partisan conflict.

McGuinn traces the Republican shift from seeking to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education to embracing federal leadership in school reform, then details the negotiations over NCLB, the forces that shaped its final provisions, and the ways in which the law constitutes a new federal education policy regime-against which states have now begun to rebel. He argues that the expanded federal role in schools is probably here to stay and that only by understanding the unique dynamics of national education politics will reformers be able to craft a more effective national role in school reform.

This book is part of the Studies in Government and Public Policy series.

Book review: Breads or Joanne Weirs More Cooking in the Wine Country

The Al Qaeda Connection: International Terrorism, Organized Crime, and the Coming Apocalpse

Author: Paul L Williams

In his acclaimed exposé, Osama's Revenge: The Next 9/11, terrorism expert Paul L. Williams revealed the likelihood of nuclear terrorism on American soil. Now in this chilling sequel Williams further explores the shocking dimensions of the international terrorist threat to Americans.

Williams reveals persuasive evidence that al Qaeda has now established connections with the Sicilian Mafia, which is helping to finance terrorism through the sale of Number Four heroin, the present drug of choice in Europe and the United States. In addition, through its ties to the Chechen Mafia, the group responsible for the heinous attack on a Russian school, al Qaeda has managed to obtain nuclear weapons from poorly secured and carelessly guarded storehouses in Russia.

Perhaps the most disturbing evidence uncovered by Williams is the relation of al Qaeda to an obscure Salvadoran street gang, which calls itself Mara Salvatrucha and has expanded exponentially. In exchange for big money, this violent group of anarchic thugs has smuggled weapons of mass destruction and sleeper agents across the Mexican border onto American soil, or what they refer to as the land of the "Great Satan."

No other book deals with the connection between international, extremist Islamic terrorism and organized crime-a connection that has made possible the establishment of a well-financed branch of al Qaeda in Latin America and the creation of terrorist cells in major metropolitan areas throughout the United States. Williams convincingly demonstrates that by means of this network Bin Laden is now in a position to execute his dream of an American Hiroshima, an apocalyptic act of mass murder within the borders of the United States. Though vigorously working to prevent such an attack, many military experts and security officials concede the probability of nuclear terrorism in America, perhaps in the immediate future.

What People Are Saying

Michael Levine
"While congress sticks its collective heads in holes and mainstream media does its usual penguin walk, the mushroom clouds of nuclear terror grow more defined on our horizon. Dr. Paul L. Williams is one of a precious few investigative journalists with the real facts and the courage to sound the alarm. . . before it is too late. This is a MUST read for every American."
—retired DEA agent, author of NY Times bestseller Deep Cover, and the host of New York City's, The Expert Witness Radio Show

Neil J. Kressel
"Nothing is more dangerous for America -- or the world -- than the alliance between international terrorism and organized crime. By calling attention to this linkage, Paul L. Williams has, once again, shown himself to be a national resource in the battle against Osama and his henchmen."
—Ph.D., author of Mass Hate: The Global Rise of Genocide and Terror

Paul R. Schiffer
"I have interviewed dozens of Defense and Terror experts on my radio broadcasts over the years. None of them comes close to the depth, insight, and frightening details of Mr. Williams in exposing the tentacles of terror gripping our planet."
—Radio talk show host, "The Schiffer Report" on Righttalk.com

James E. Beasley Jr.
"Dr. Williams' most recent work thoroughly and thoughtfully expounds on his prior work and places in context how the end of the Cold War, Wahabism, and the decision making based on political considerations rather than true needs have placed the West in a precarious position; this book, as troubling as its contents may be, is an important read which not only the public, but more importantly, our politicians should read and understand so they may act accordingly."
—M.D., Esq. whose practice involves international terrorism litigation on behalf of 9/11 victims.

Table of Contents:

	Preface : an interview with Osama bin Laden	9
	Introduction : why we fight America	15
Pt. 1	The Islamic mafia
Ch. 1	The young lion and the dream of the American Hiroshima	25
Ch. 2	The good life among the Taliban	45
Ch. 3	From Albania to the atom bomb	57
Ch. 4	The three wars	67
Pt. 2	The crown jewels
Ch. 5	The loose nukes	81
Ch. 6	The five-year intermission	97
Ch. 7	Enter Dr. Evil	105
Pt. 3	From hell to South America
Ch. 8	Welcome, Osama, to South America	119
Ch. 9	Too little, too late	139
Ch. 10	The terrorists and the gangbangers	153
Ch. 11	The sleeper cells	171
Ch. 12	Amen, America	191
	Epilogue : the doomsday clock	201
App	Al Qaeda's search for weapons of mass destruction	207

Rationalism in Politics and Other Essays or Unmaking the Public University

Rationalism in Politics and Other Essays

Author: Oakeshott

Rationalism in Politics, first published in 1962, has established the late Michael Oakeshott as the leading conservative political theorist in modern Britain. This expanded collection of essays astutely points out the limits of "reason" in rationalist politics.

Oakeshott criticizes ideological schemes to reform society according to supposedly "scientific" or rationalistic principles that ignore the wealth and variety of human experience. "Rationalism in politics, " says Oakeshott, "involves a misconception with regard to the nature of human knowledge." History has shown that it produces unexpected, often disastrous, results. "Having cut himself off from the traditional knowledge of his society, and denied the value of any education more extensive than a training in a technique of analysis, " the Rationalist succeeds only in undermining the institutions that hold civilized society together. In this regard, rationalism in politics is "a corruption of the mind."

Interesting textbook: The Mighty Wurlitzer or Black Identities

Unmaking the Public University: The Forty-Year Assault on the Middle Class

Author: Christopher Newfield

An essential American dream—equal access to higher education—was becoming a reality with the GI Bill and civil rights movements after World War II. But this vital American promise has been broken. Christopher Newfield argues that the financial and political crises of public universities are not the result of economic downturns or of ultimately valuable restructuring, but of a conservative campaign to end public education’s democratizing influence on American society. Unmaking the Public University is the story of how conservatives have maligned and restructured public universities, deceiving the public to serve their own ends. It is a deep and revealing analysis that is long overdue.

Newfield carefully describes how this campaign operated, using extensive research into public university archives. He launches the story with the expansive vision of an equitable and creative America that emerged from the post-war boom in college access, and traces the gradual emergence of the anti-egalitarian “corporate university,” practices that ranged from racial policies to research budgeting. Newfield shows that the culture wars have actually been an economic war that a conservative coalition in business, government, and academia have waged on that economically necessary but often independent group, the college-educated middle class. Newfield’s research exposes the crucial fact that the culture wars have functioned as a kind of neutron bomb, one that pulverizes the social and culture claims of college grads while leaving their technical expertise untouched. Unmaking the Public University incisively sets the record straight, describing aforty-year economic war waged on the college-educated public, and awakening us to a vision of social development shared by scientists and humanists alike.

What People Are Saying

Anthony Grafton
In a crowd of recent works dedicated to the changing university and its place in society, Newfield's rich, cogently argued and readable book stands out. This is that rare thing, truly critical history: a solidly researched book that is at once a fine example of the sort of scholarship that the American university still makes possible and a serious argument about the university. --(Anthony Grafton, author of The Footnote: A Curious History)

David L. Kirp
Newfield's argument is original, his evidence varied and rich, and his historical narrative coherent. He situates the university in its broadest social context, and shows that the 'culture wars,' far from being a sideshow, have in fact cleverly been fomented by conservatives to reshape the values of the university, the world-view of its graduates, and the economy which it significantly shapes and which shapes it. --(David L. Kirp, author of Shakespeare, Einstein, and the Bottom Line: The Marketing of Higher Education)

American Armageddon or McCain

American Armageddon: How the Delusions of the Neoconservatives and the Christian Right Triggered the Descent of America - and Still Imperil Our Future

Author: Craig Unger

The presidency of George W. Bush has led to the worst foreign policy decision in the history of the United States -- the bloody, unwinnable war in Iraq. How did this happen? Bush's fateful decision was rooted in events that began decades ago, and until now this story has never been fully told.
From Craig Unger, the author of the bestseller House of Bush, House of Saud, comes a comprehensive, deeply sourced, and chilling account of the secret relationship between neoconservative policy makers and the Christian Right, and how they assaulted the most vital safeguards of America's constitutional democracy while pushing the country into the catastrophic quagmire in the Middle East that is getting worse day by day.
Among the powerful revelations in this book:

• Why George W. Bush ignored the sage advice of his father, George H.W. Bush, and took America into war.
• How Bush was convinced he was doing God's will.
• How Vice President Dick Cheney manipulated George W. Bush, disabled his enemies within the administration, and relentlessly pressed for an attack on Iraq.
• Which veteran government official, with the assent of the president's father, protested passionately that the Bush administration was making a catastrophic mistake -- and was ignored.
• How information from forged documents that had already been discredited fourteen times by various intelligence agencies found its way into President Bush's State of the Union address in which he made the case for war with Iraq.
• How Cheney and the neocons assembled a shadow national security apparatus and created a disinformation pipeline to mislead Americaand start the war.

A seasoned, award-winning investigative reporter connected to many back-channel political and intelligence sources, Craig Unger knows how to get the big story -- and this one is his most explosive yet. Through scores of interviews with figures in the Christian Right, the neoconservative movement, the Bush administration, and sources close to the Bush family, as well as intelligence agents in the CIA, the Pentagon, and Israel, Unger shows how the Bush administration's certainty that it could bend history to its will has carried America into the disastrous war in Iraq, dooming Bush's presidency to failure and costing America thousands of lives and trillions of dollars. Far from ensuring our security, the Iraq War will be seen as a great strategic pivot point in history that could ignite wider war in the Middle East, particularly in Iran.
Provocative, timely, and disturbing, The Fall of the House of Bush stands as the most comprehensive and dramatic account of how and why George W. Bush took America to war in Iraq.

Go to: Apprendimento informale: Riscoprendo le vie naturali che ispirano l'innovazione e la prestazione

McCain: The Myth of a Maverick

Author: Matt Welch

John McCain is one of the most familiar, sympathetic, and overexposed figures in American politics, yet his concrete governing philosophy and actual track record have been left curiously unexamined, mostly because of the massive distractions in his official biography, but also because of his ingenious strategy of talking ad infinitum to each and every access-craving media person who happens by. The more he has spouted, the less journalists have bothered trying to see through the fog.

        McCain gives the voting public what it wants but can’t find -- a flesh-and-bones political portrait of a man onto whom people are forever projecting their own ideological fantasies. It is a psychological key for decoding his allegedly ‘maverick’ actions, and the first realistic assessment of what a John McCain presidency may look like. McCain will quickly lay out in overlapping detail the root cause of the senator’s worldview: his personal transformation from underachieving punk to war hawk uber-patriot, in which he used the "higher power" of American nationalism to save his life and soul.

        As McCain wrenches himself inside-out in pursuit of the prize that eluded him in 2000, McCain will look behind the war hero, behind the maverick reformer. Journalist and pundit Matt Welch brings to this project an investigative eye and a coolly analytical mindset to provide Republicans, Democrats and Independents a picture of the man in full before they enter the voting booth in 2008.
 

For the Soul of Mankind or Rethinking American History in a Global Age

For the Soul of Mankind: The United States, the Soviet Union, and the Cold War

Author: Melvyn P Leffler

“A highly relevant and much-needed historical study . . . One of the best books on the period to have been written.” —The Economist

To the amazement of the public, pundits, and even the policymakers themselves, the ideological and political conflict that endangered the world for half a century came to an end in 1990. How did that happen? What had caused the cold war in the first place, and why did it last as long as it did? To answer these questions, Melvyn P. Leffler homes in on four crucial episodes when American and Soviet leaders considered modulating, avoiding, or ending hostilities and asks why they failed. He then illuminates how Reagan, Bush, and, above all, Gorbachev finally extricated themselves from the policies and mind-sets that had imprisoned their predecessors, and were able to reconfigure Soviet-American relations after decades of confrontation.

The Washington Post - Richard Rhodes

He tells a good story. Leffler explains in his introduction that For the Soul of Mankind is a narrative of five momentous Cold War episodes rather than a full history. The first episode, about Stalin, Truman and the origins of the Cold War, feels perfunctory—Leffler published an excellent book on the subject, The Preponderance of Power, in 1992. But the University of Virginia historian finds his voice in energetic examinations of the promising turmoil in the Politburo following Stalin's death in 1953, the near-Armageddon of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the erosion of detente in the Carter years and the end of the Cold War at the hands of Gorbachev, Reagan and George H. W. Bush.

Publishers Weekly

Drawing on extensive research in American and Soviet archives, Bancroft Prize-winner Leffler (A Preponderance of Power) offers a scintillating account of the forces that constrained Soviet and American leaders in the second half of the 20th century. Leffler begins by admitting that he was shocked by the rapid demise of communism. If Reagan and Gorbachev could end the Cold War, why hadn't earlier leaders been able to do so? To answer that question, Leffler examines five crucial moments when Washington and Moscow "thought about avoiding or modulating the extreme tension" between them. At the end of WWII, Leffler says, Stalin thought that cooperation with the West might be preferable to entrenched hostility. Yet he and Truman were pressed by an "international order that engendered... fear" to make decisions that led to Cold War and shaped policy for decades. Leffler examines why Eisenhower and Malenkov couldn't wipe the slate clean after Stalin's death; how Khrushchev, Kennedy and Johnson reacted to the pressures of international allies and domestic political enemies; why détente foundered under Carter and Brezhnev, and what circumstances allowed leaders of the 1980s to focus on common interests rather than differences. Leffler has produced possibly the most readable and insightful study of the Cold War yet. 47 b&w illus., 6 maps. (Sept.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Kirkus Reviews

The Cold War began under murky and not entirely planned circumstances governed by individual personalities. So, writes Leffler (History/Univ. of Virginia; The Specter of Communism: The United States and the Origins of the Cold War, 1917-1953, 1994, etc.), did it end, thanks to two personalities in particular. The U.S. and the Soviet Union made sometimes uncomfortable allies in the war against Hitler, but they were allies all the same. When that war ended, Leffler observes, there was a world to divide up; Stalin had his agenda, but so did Harry Truman, who demanded that America enjoy 85 percent of any given pie rather than a nice 50-50 split. Stalin took a dim view of that math; and in all events, when the U.S. announced that it would never again be caught napping or give up its military superiority, and that it would "hold the atomic bomb as a 'sacred trust' for all mankind," Stalin felt hemmed in, even blackmailed. Leffler does a creditable job of depicting the ensuing Cold War from the point of view of the Soviet leadership as well as from the already well-documented American one, and he turns up surprises: one, for instance, that the Soviet leadership, urged along by Lavrentiy Beria, was exploring the possibility of allowing German to reunify as a neutral power, a far better alternative in his mind than "a permanently unstable socialist Germany whose survival relied on the support of the Soviet Union." That plan went nowhere: Stalin died; Beria was executed; and another generation of East-West confrontation would ensue. Leffler's interest lies in the personalities of the leaders who enabled detente, and finally an end to the Cold War-foremost among them, in his assessment, MikhailGorbachev, who "made the most fundamental alterations in his own thinking" in order to accept a fundamental shift in the world's political order. (Reagan had something to do with it, too, writes Leffler. But Jimmy Carter and Leonid Brezhnev? Useless.)A well-balanced and illuminating history of the Cold War.

Table of Contents:

List of Illustrations     ix
List of Maps     xiii
Acknowledgments     xv
Introduction     3
The Origins of the Cold War, 1945-48: Stalin and Truman     11
Stalin the Revolutionary     11
Stalin in World War II     20
Truman     37
Stalin and Truman     48
International Anarchy     57
Politics at Home     70
Allies and Clients     75
Ideology, Personality, and the International System     79
The Chance for Peace, 1953-54: Malenkov and Eisenhower     84
Stalin's Death     84
Eisenhower's Response     95
Turmoil in the Kremlin     114
A Chance for Peace?     122
Arms Control, Germany, and Indochina     138
Fear and Power     147
Retreat from Armageddon, 1962-65: Khrushchev, Kennedy, and Johnson     151
At the Brink     151
Khrushchev's Retreat     158
Kennedy Bides His Time     174
Give Peace a Chance     182
Starting Anew and Ending Abruptly     192
Johnson's Agonies and Choices     201
From Armageddon Back to Cold War     224
The Erosion of Detente, 1975-80: Brezhnev and Carter     234
Brezhnev and Detente     234
A New Face in Washington, an Old One in Moscow     259
Clients, Hegemons, and Allies     273
The China Card     288
Iran and Afghanistan     299
The Vienna Summit     311
Nicaragua and Afghanistan     319
The End of Detente     334
The End of the Cold War, 1985-90: Gorbachev, Reagan, and Bush     338
Morning in America     339
Twilight in Moscow     365
Arms Reductions     374
The Troops Come Out     403
New Thinking, Old Thinking     414
The Wall Comes Down     427
Two Countries Become One     439
Gorbachev, Reagan, and Bush     448
Conclusion     451
Notes     469
Bibliography     545
Index     571

Books about: Introduction à l'Économétrie

Rethinking American History in a Global Age

Author: Thomas Bender

In rethinking and reframing the American national narrative in a wider context, the contributors to this volume ask questions about both nationalism and the discipline of history itself. The essays offer fresh ways of thinking about the traditional themes and periods of American history. By locating the study of American history in a transnational context, they examine the history of nation-making and the relation of the United States to other nations and to transnational developments. What is now called globalization is here placed in a historical context.
A cast of distinguished historians from the United States and abroad examines the historiographical implications of such a reframing and offers alternative interpretations of large questions of American history ranging from the era of European contact to democracy and reform, from environmental and economic development and migration experiences to issues of nationalism and identity. But the largest issue explored is basic to all histories: How does one understand, teach, and write a national history even as one recognizes that the territorial boundaries do not fully contain that history and that within that bounded territory the society is highly differentiated, marked by multiple solidarities and identities?
Rethinking American History in a Global Age advances an emerging but important conversation marked by divergent voices, many of which are represented here. The various essays explore big concepts and offer historical narratives that enrich the content and context of American history. The aim is to provide a history that more accurately reflects the dimensions of American experience and better connects the past withcontemporary concerns for American identity, structures of power, and world presence.

The Killing of Reinhard Heydrich or Disobedience and Democracy

The Killing of Reinhard Heydrich: The Ss Butcher of Prague

Author: Callum A MacDonald

If anyone warranted assassination during World War II, the man to know was Reinhard Heydrich (1904–1942)—chief of the security police, rabid anti-Semite, architect of the Final Solution, ruthless overlord of Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, and Hitler's most likely successor. In 1941, at the height of the Nazi's seeming invincibility, the Czech government-in-exile launched a desperate operation to kill Heydrich. From the assassins' training in England to their Thermopylae-like last stand in the flooded crypt of a Prague church, and the Nazi's savage reprisals (including the obliteration of two villages), The Killing of Reinhard Heydrich brilliantly recounts one of World War II's most daring and tragic missions.

Christopher Lehmann-Haupt

The most complete account to date. . . gripping in its narrative drive. -- New York Times

Library Journal

Here's one who didn't get away. Quite the contrary, Heydrich, the perfect Nazi--if there could be such a thing--was assassinated in 1942 by Czech patriots who planted a bomb in his car. MacDonald's 1989 volume, which reads like a good thriller, follows this plot to kill the head of the Nazi security police.

Booknews

In 1941, at the height of the Third Reich's seeming invincibility, the Czech government launched an operation to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich, chief of security police and ruthless overlord of Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. This volume recounts the operation from the assassins' training in England to their successful attempt and their last stand in a flooded crypt in a Prague church. Includes b&w photos. This is an unabridged republication of a work first published in 1989 under the title The Killing of SS Obergruppenfuhrer Reinhard Heydrich. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Interesting book: Study Guide to Accompany Fund of Corp Fin or Scenario Driven Planning

Disobedience and Democracy: Nine Fallacies of Law and Order, Vol. 1

Author: Howard Zinn

Howard Zinn's cogent defense of civil disobedience, with a new introduction by the author. In this slim volume, Zinn lays out a clear and dynamic case for civil disobedience and protest, and challenges the dominant arguments against forms of protest that challenge the status quo. Zinn explores the politics of direct action, nonviolent civil disobedience, and strikes, and draws lessons for today.

Killing Hope or Drawing the Line at the Big Ditch

Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II-Updated Through 2003

Author: William Blum

Is the United States a force for democracy? In this classic and unique volume that answers this question, William Blum serves up a forensic overview of U.S. foreign policy spanning sixty years. Remarks from the previous edition: "Far and away the best book on the topic."-Noam Chomsky "A valuable reference for anyone interested in the conduct of U.S. foreign policy."- Choice "I enjoyed it immensely."-Gore Vidal "The single most useful summary of CIA history."-John Stockwell "Each chapter I read makes me more and more angry."-Helen Caldicott "A very useful piece of work, daunting in scope, important."-Thomas Powers, author and Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist "A very valuable book. The research and organization are extremely impressive."-A.J. Langguth, author and former New York Times bureau chief For those who want the details on our most famous -actions (Chile, Cuba, Vietnam, to name a few), and for those who want to learn about our lesser-known efforts (France, China, Bolivia, Brazil, for example), this book provides a window on what our foreign policy goals really are. William Blum is the author of Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower .

Book about: The Murder of Nikolai Vavilov or The Anatomy of Fascism

Drawing the Line at the Big Ditch: The Panama Canal Treaties and the Rise of the Right

Author: Adam Clymer

Considered one of America's engineering marvels, the Panama Canal sparked intense debates in the 1970s over the decision to turn it back over to Panama. In this remarkable and revealing tale, noted journalist Adam Clymer shows how the decision to give up this revered monument of the "American century" stirred emotions already rubbed raw by the loss of the Vietnam War and shaped American politics for years.

Jimmy Carter made the Canal his first foreign policy priority and won the battle to ratify the Panama Canal treaties. But, Clymer reveals, the larger war was lost. The issue gave Ronald Reagan a slogan that kept his 1976 candidacy alive and positioned him to win in 1980, helped elect conservative senators who made a Republican majority, and fueled the overall growth of conservatism.

In telling the story of America's reconsideration of the 1903 treaty that gave it control of the Canal "in perpetuity," Clymer focuses on the perspectives of six key players: Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan, Senate Minority Leader Howard Baker, political candidate Gordon Humphrey, and Terry Dolan of the National Conservative Political Action Committee. His narrative illuminates many aspects of American politics during the Ford and Carter years—especially regarding Senate elections—that have been largely overlooked. And his chronicling of the emergence of political action committees on the right reveals their often-awkward relationship with the GOP and the uneasy alliances that helped the Republicans win control of the Senate in 1980.

Clymer explores how the uproar over the Canal episode foreshadowed perennial partisan attacks over intense, emotional issues fromabortion to gun control to same-sex marriage. He also shows that people who hated the idea of giving up the canal gave birth to the NCPAC approach of beating up on an incumbent long before an election, often assisted by independent spending and outside advertising.

As Clymer argues, "The Panama Canal no longer divides Panama. But the fissures it opened 30 years ago have widened; they divide the United States." His even-handed account offers new insight into the "Reagan Revolution" and highlights an overlooked turning point in American political history.

The Washington Post - H. W. Brands

Clymer…provides fascinating detail, in explaining how several conservative candidates for Congress successfully leveraged the canal against their more liberal opponents.

Publishers Weekly

Former New York TimesWashington correspondent Clymer (Edward M. Kennedy) argues in this straightforward, able account that Jimmy Carter's loss in the 1980 presidential election can largely be attributed to his widely unpopular negotiations to return the Panama Canal to Panama. America was demoralized after Vietnam, and many citizens were opposed to giving up the canal, long a symbol of American progress and power. Conservatives seized on the issue. As early as 1975, Reagan condemned returning the canal as a sign of American weakness, declaring with his characteristic simple directness: "we bought it, we paid for it, we built it and we intend to keep it." Clymer also examines several Senate races in which incumbents who had voted to give up the canal were unseated by right-wingers. Although Clymer acknowledges that many forces contributed to the rise of the Right, his relentless focus on the canal is tendentious at times. Still, Clymer makes an innovative contribution to the growing literature that seeks to explain how conservatism triumphed after Goldwater. 20 photos. (Mar.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

What People Are Saying

Richard Norton Smith
Long acknowledged to be a top-flight journalist, Clymer turns out to be a thoughtful and probing historian as well. Above all, he is a gifted storyteller, whose colorful cast includes dictators and diplomats, politicians in search of an issue, and presidents in search of a legacy. Great history is all about perspective, and that's exactly what this book supplies. (Richard Norton Smith, Presidential historian)

Tom Brokaw
A fascinating political whodunit about the place of the Panama Canal in the conservative campaign to sink the ship of congressional liberals. (Tom Brokaw, author of The Greatest Generation)

David A. Keene
A first-rate effort by a top-notch political reporter. (David A. Keene, Chairman, American Conservative Union)

Tom Brokaw

A fascinating political whodunit about the place of the Panama Canal in the conservative campaign to sink the ship of congressional liberals.

Richard Norton Smith

Long acknowledged to be a top-flight journalist, Clymer turns out to be a thoughtful and probing historian as well. Above all, he is a gifted storyteller, whose colorful cast includes dictators and diplomats, politicians in search of an issue, and presidents in search of a legacy. Great history is all about perspective, and that's exactly what this book supplies. (Richard Norton Smith, Presidential historian)

David A. Keene

A first-rate effort by a top-notch political reporter. (David A. Keene, Chairman, American Conservative Union)

Table of Contents:

Preface: "Pluck and Luck Conquered All": A Canal for the American Century     ix
"In Perpetuity": Years of Dispute and Diplomacy     1
"No Constituency to Help": President Ford Negotiates     10
"What a Shot in the Arm!": Ford Upsets Reagan Despite the Canal     19
"We Bought It. We Built It. It's Ours and We Are Going to Keep It": The Canal Issue Brings Reagan's Recovery     25
"Thank God for Those People in 1976 Who Headed Off That Loss of Freedom": Reagan Loses but Wins Republican Hearts     33
"Delay Invites Violence": Carter Inherits and Seizes the Issue     40
"I Wanted to Treat Panama Fairly": Carter Underestimates American Dismay     45
"Conservatives Can't Lose": The Canal Unifies the Right     53
"Draw the Line at the Big Ditch": The Anti-Treaty Message     61
"What If They're Right?": Reagan Holding Back     70
"Why Now? And Why Me?": Howard Baker and the Treaties     75
"Be Tolerant and Patient in Bringing People Around": Byrd's Advice While in Panama     82
"A Measure of Our Strength, Not Our Weakness": The Senate Advises and Consents     90
"Come On and Watch Me Lose My Seat": Gordon Humphrey and the New Right Sink Tom McIntyre     106
"I Haven't Found Anybody in Iowa That's for the Treaties": Roger Jepsen on the Issue That Made the Difference     117
"We Supported the Tough Conservative, the Business PAC Was Always for the Establishment": The PACmen Come     130
"A Group Like Ours Could Lie through Its Teeth and the Candidate It Helps Stays Clean": NCPAC Takes on Incumbents     140
"ACU Could Go Out of Business by Election Day": The Canal Cuts Both Ways     154
"I Hope That It's Over as an Issue": Reagan on the Canal after Ratification     164
"They Never Wanted to See Another Panama Canal Ad": The North Carolina Senate Campaign     171
"Is Idaho Up for Grabs?": The Canal, NCPAC, and Steve Symms Defeat Frank Church     180
"Cold Water on Some of His Supporters": The Canal Finishes a Weakened Talmadge     190
"A Senate Majority Made All the Difference in the World": Canal-Elected Senators and Baker Give Reagan a Chance to Govern     197
"We've Made a Difference": Reagan Changed the Nation, without the Canal     204
Notes     213
An Essay on Sources     259
Acknowledgments     265
Index     269

We the People or Lawyers of the Right

We the People: An Introduction to American Politics, Texas Edition

Author: Benjamin Ginsberg

Emphasizing the relevance of politics and government in everyday life, We the People provides tools to help students think critically about American government and politics. The Sixth Edition has been carefully updated to reflect most recent developments, including the ongoing conflict in Iraq and the 2006 midterm elections. Complemented by a rich package of multimedia tools for instructors and students, including a new video-clip DVD, We the People is now more pedagogically effective than ever.

New interesting textbook: Dreams Symbols and Homeopathy or The Whats Happening to My Body Book for Girls

Lawyers of the Right: Professionalizing the Conservative Coalition

Author: Ann Southworth

A timely and multifaceted portrait of the lawyers who serve the diverse constituencies of the conservative movement, Lawyers of the Right explains what unites and divides lawyers for the three major groups—social conservatives, libertarians, and business advocates—that have coalesced in recent decades behind the Republican Party.
Drawing on in-depth interviews with more than seventy lawyers who represent conservative and libertarian nonprofit organizations, Ann Southworth explores their values and identities and traces the implications of their shared interest in promoting political strategies that give lawyers leading roles. She goes on to illuminate the function of mediator organizations—such as the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy—that have succeeded in promoting cooperation among different factions of conservative lawyers. Such cooperation, she finds, has aided efforts to drive law and the legal profession politically rightward and to give lawyers greater prominence in the conservative movement. Southworth concludes, though, that tensions between the conservative law movement’s elite and populist elements may ultimately lead to its undoing.

Table of Contents:

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xi

1 Introduction 1

2 The Creation of an Infrastructure for Conservative Legal Advocacy 8

3 Divided Constituencies and Their Lawyers 41

4 Professional Identity 66

5 How Much Common Ground? 89

6 Mediator Organizations: The Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society 124

7 What's Law Got to Do with It? 149

8 Conclusion 168

Appendix Research Methods 189

Notes 193

References 213

Index 241

Gray Ghost or Our Constitution

Gray Ghost: The Life of Colonel John Singleton Mosby

Author: James A Ramag

Confederate John Singleton Mosby forged his reputation on the most exciting of military activities -- the overnight raid. Mosby possessed a genius for guerrilla and psychological warfare, taking control of the dark to make himself the "Gray Ghost" of Union nightmares.

For more than twenty-seven months Mosby led daring raids behind Union pickets and created false alarms up and down the Potomac. Although he never commanded more than four hundred men, his forces were regularly overestimated, once by a factor of forty. Union officials dispatched more than seventy search and destroy missions against him, but he retained the tactical advantage until Lee's surrender at Appomattox ended the war.

Mosby's dynamic personality, forged in childhood, was the foundation for his success as a guerrilla chief, but it was also his greatest weakness. Attempting to repeat patterns of heroic conflict after the war, he threw away his status as a leading southern hero and sacrificed a lucrative law practice to support the Republican party and U.S. Grant's campaign for the presidency.

Forced into exile from his native Virginia, Mosby again charged into controversy. During his service as U.S. consul in Hong Kong, he worked to reform the office and single-handedly exposed the corruption of his predecessors. When his bosses in the State Department balked, Mosby sent information directly to President Hayes and, eventually, exposed the wrong-doing to the Washington Post.

In retirement, Mosby continued in his well-worn role of underdog by authoring the first defense of Jeb Stuart's actions at Gettysburg, exposing Lee's role in the debacle.

Library Journal

The extraordinary life of Confederate guerrilla John Singleton Mosby defies belief. Ramage (Northern Kentucky Univ.; Rebel Raider: The Life of General John Hunt Morgan) casts Mosby, whose raiders harassed Union rear columns and supply trains in the Shenandoah Valley, as the stoic icon of the Lost Cause who never hesitated to employ stealth, terror, and pillage against an equally resolute foe. Mosby never had more than 400 irregulars under his command, yet his raids occupied an enemy force many times that number. As an attorney in postwar Virginia, Mosby attempted to unite state conservatives behind Republican presidents Grant and Hayes and was spurned as a turncoat. He then took a number of Republican appointments, including U.S. consul in Hong Kong and assistant attorney in the Justice Department. In his later years, he lectured and wrote about his wartime experiences before passing away in 1916 at 82, fully redeemed on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line. Painstaking research, dramatic illustrations, and a useful bibliographic essay add to this absorbing biography. Highly recommended.--John Carver Edwards, Univ. of Georgia Libs., Athens Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A comprehensive biography of the Confederate guerrilla leader (1833–1916), with an emphasis on his Civil War exploits. Ramage's (History/Northern Kentucky Univ.; Rebel Raider: The Life of General John Hunt Morgan, not reviewed) well-documented volume charts the progress of Mosby from a boyhood victim of playground bullies to an icon of the Confederacy. Proceeding in fairly chronological fashion, Ramage focuses on Mosby's stunning career as a guerrilla leader, a man who was shot several times (once in the groin—the bullet remained in his body), who quoted Lord Byron while he harassed the Union troops relentlessly despite repeated attempts to capture or kill him. Ramage is most at ease in these sections, moving steadily (if unspectacularly) through descriptions of strategies and firefights that generally end with Mosby's men stealing Union horses and supplies (which they divided among themselves), killing enemy soldiers, and disappearing into the woods like, well, gray ghosts. The author credits Mosby with innovations in guerrilla strategy (e.g., in close combat, his cavalry used two handguns each instead of the traditional saber) and more than once characterizes him as "one of the most brilliant minds in the history of guerrilla war." The final 66 pages deal with Mosby's long post–Civil War life. He was, among other things, a private attorney, US consul in Hong Kong, an employee of the US Interior and Justice departments, a popular lecturer and writer. He even portrayed himself in a lost silent film. Ramage sometimes slips into the biographer's trap—admiring his subject so thoroughly that he can utter only a rare discouraging word about Mosby, who owned slaves and once shotan unarmed classmate. Also unconvincing is the cereal-box psychology Ramage applies to Mosby—viz., his boyhood battles with bullies explain his ferocious fighting spirit. A volume that will become the standard reference on Mosby—intelligent and thorough, but at times flattering rather than analytical. (32 b&w illustrations, 7 maps, not seen)

Table of Contents:

1	Mosby's Weapon of Fear	1
2	The Weakling and the Bullies	11
3	"Virginia is my mother."	28
4	Scouting behind Enemy Lines	36
5	Capturing a Yankee General in Bed	58
6	Miskel's Farm	77
7	Featherbed Guerrillas	96
8	Unguarded Sutler Wagons	105
9	Masquerading as the Enemy	120
10	Seddon's Partisans	131
11	Mosby's Clones in the Valley	147
12	Th. Night Belonged to Mosby	165
13	Blue Hen's Chickens and Custer's Wolverines	184
14	The Lottery	201
15	Sheridan's Mosby Hunt	216
16	Sheridan's Burning Raid	228
17	Apache Ambuscades, Stockades, and Prisons	243
18	"All that the proud can feel of pain"	262
19	Grant's Partisan in Virginia	271
20	Hayes's Reformer in Hong Kong	285
21	Stuart and Gettysburg	300
22	Roosevelt's Land Agent in the Sand Hills	318
23	The Gray Ghost of Television and Film	333
	Conclusion	344
	Notes	349
	Bibliographic Essay	401
	Acknowledgments	407
	Index	411

Book about: Reel Food or Man Catchin Meals

Our Constitution: What It Says, What It Means

Author: Donald A Ritchi

An in-depth look at the entire text of the U. S. Constitution, annotated with detailed explanations of its terms and contents. Each Amendment and Article is accompanied by sidebar material on the history of its application, including profiles of important Supreme Court cases, texts of related primary source documents, and contemporary news articles. Double page timelines for several of the Articles and all the Amendments highlight important events and legal cases. Visually stunning, with facsimile reproductions of primary source documents, paintings, phots, and historical artifacts, Our Constitution is perfect for history students.

VOYA

Superbly organized, clearly written, and attractively illustrated, this book is an excellent resource for a general study of the Constitution or a starting point for in-depth research. The introduction and five short chapters outline the necessity for a constitution, the type of government it created, the rights it protected, how it expanded, and the struggle interpreting and implementing it. Following this overview, the examination of the actual document begins using the pattern, What It Says (actual words) and What It Means (the explanation). After the Preamble, the seven articles and the twenty-seven amendments are then divided into manageable sections for closer discussion. Article 1, Section 8, clauses 9-11 gives Congress the ability to create a lower federal court system, the right to enact laws to protect American shipping on the seas, and the right to declare war. The ensuing explanation is straightforward, and two sidebars-Formal Declarations of War and A Police Action in Korea (a military response but not a formal declaration of war)-reinforce understanding. An illustrated War Powers Timeline summarizes military responses from 1801 (piracy) to Terrorism in 2001 and acts as another learning tool. Appendixes contain short biographies of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention and outline twenty-one Supreme Court Decisions that have shaped the Constitution. Further Reading (subdivided into topics such as Amending the Constitution) facilitates specific research. Web sites and a list of Museums and Historic sites related to the constitution also provide opportunities for expanded study. The text supplemented by sidebars, political cartoons, and time lines is informative andinteresting, but the organizational pattern of this reference is its strong suit. This book is an essential purchase for schools, libraries, civic organizations, and private citizens concerned about protecting the rights and liberties guaranteed under the Constitution.

School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up-This appealing, well-organized volume begins with five chapters of background (Why have a constitution? How has it changed?) and then goes on to discuss the preamble, articles, and amendments, using a "What It Says" (word for word) and "What It Means" format. Every spread contains photos, reproductions, and sidebars, all of which invite students to read and understand this living document. The amendments section has time lines of events and court decisions in which the amendment has been cited. For example, the Sixth Amendment (speedy and public trial) includes the "Scottsboro Boys" Trial in 1932, a decision about excluding Mexican Americans from a jury in 1954, questions about jury size from a 1970 decision, and the 2001 presidential order that permits military trials of suspected terrorists. The substantial back matter includes an excellent Constitutional glossary, a lengthy annotated list for further reading, two pages of annotated Web sites, and a listing of museums and historic sites related to the Constitution. Far more thorough and engaging in format than Cathy Travis's Constitution Translated for Kids (Synergy, 2006), this is an excellent, well-documented addition for most libraries.-Linda Beck, Indian Valley Public Library, Telford, PA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Africa since 1940 or The Constitution of the United States of America

Africa Since 1940: The Past of the Present

Author: Frederick Cooper

Frederick Cooper's latest book on the history of decolonization and independence in Africa helps students understand the historical process from which Africa's current position in the world has emerged. Bridging the divide between colonial and post-colonial history, it shows what political independence did and did not signify and how men and women, peasants and workers, religious leaders and local leaders sought to refashion the way they lived, worked, and interacted with each other.

Table of Contents:

	List of plates
	List of figures
	List of maps
	List of tables
	Preface
1	Introduction: from colonies to Third World	1
2	Workers, peasants, and the crisis of colonialism	20
3	Citizenship, self-government, and development: the possibilities of the post-war moment	38
4	Ending empire and imagining the future	66
	Interlude: rhythms of change in the post-war world	85
5	Development and disappointment: social and economic change in an unequal world, 1945-2000	91
6	The late decolonizations: southern Africa 1975, 1979, 1994	133
7	The recurrent crises of the gatekeeper state	156
8	Africa at the century's turn: South Africa, Rwanda, and beyond	191
	Index	205

Books about: Renewed Each Day Leviticus Numbers and Deuteronomy or Listening to Patients

The Constitution of the United States of America

Author: Sam Fink

219 years ago you were given the right to practice the religion of your choice. 219 years ago you were given the right to say what you wanted without persecution. 219 years ago it was written that your house and property were secure from unreasonable search and seizure. 219 years ago you were given the right to a public trial. 219 years ago, fifty-five men you will never know sat in a sweltering hot room as they fought and argued for you. 219 years ago you were given your rights as a citizen of the United States.
This fall, as we return again to the ballot box to decide the course of our country’s congressional and state leadership, every voter must find their way back to that room in Philadelphia. Welcome Books is proud to provide a map.
The Constitution of The United States of America, inscribed and illustrated by the master calligrapher Sam Fink, brings to life the issues underlying the triumphs of this abiding document. Originally published in pen and ink for Random House in 1987, Sam has, at the request of Welcome Books, gone back to the original black-and-white art and painted it entirely, creating a full-color masterpiece. Each amendment, each article, each word so thoughtfully placed in the Constitution has been given Sam’s profound touch. With a powerful intelligence and a wonderful sense of humor, he has provided us with an entry point, allowing us to read this essential document better, more clearly.
Welcome Books is honored to present a full-color limited edition of Sam’s startling work as well as a trade edition, exquisitely designed and produced – matching in its manufacture the stunning quality of Sam’s ambition and thegravitas and significance of the original document.
The Constitution of The United States of America is the document we must read again and again. There is no more important document in our country. It is the document we must have an intimate knowledge of. It is the document that we must never forget.
219 years ago, you were entrusted with a living document. Have you kept it safe?
To begin, we must read it. This, Sam, in his direct and unadorned way, respectful and loving, helps us do.

Dream in Color or My American Journey

Dream in Color: How the Sбnchez Sisters Are Making History in Congress

Author: Linda Sanchez

By sharing moments from their childhood in Southern California, Linda and Loretta will pass on the values and traditions they learned from their parents--Mexican immigrants who, despite not having graduated high school themselves, made sure all seven of their children went to and graduated from college--that enabled them to conquer challenges and make history. They will speak frankly on the professional highs and lows, successes and scandals that constitute their distinguished careers, and show that the key to realizing your dreams is, above all else, always be true to yourself.

Often considered Congress's Odd Couple, these warm witty sisters are not only perfect role models for young Latinas in the US, but for all young women looking to break out and create a brighter future for themselves.

Publishers Weekly

In this joint memoir, congresswomen Linda and Loretta Sanchez present their compelling story-noteworthy not only for their history-making achievements (including first sisters or women of any relation to serve together in Congress, first woman and person of color to represent a district in Orange County, first Latina on the House Judiciary Committee and first Head Start child to be elected to Congress) but also for its "American Dream" aspect-their parents immigrated from Mexico and despite lacking a formal education managed to send their seven children to college. Interweaving childhood vignettes with accounts of serving in Congress, both from California, this refreshing book evades many of the tropes of the typical political memoir-perhaps because these two women are not typical politicians. "Having the courage of your convictions," writes Linda, "that is tested a lot in the Congress.... I'm not paranoid about losing office, so there's no need for me to compromise my values." The Sanchez sisters vividly demonstrate the power of hard work and steady determination in this inspiring portrait of an extraordinary family. (Sept.)

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

Library Journal

The lives of the Sánchez sisters seem almost too good to be true, but the road to Capitol Hill for these successful Latinas (both Democrats) was paved with hard work, determination, and, most important, dedicated Mexican-immigrant parents who confidently believed that this is the land of opportunity. Loretta had been a successful financial manager before she won California's 47th congressional district seat in 1996. Her younger sister, Linda, was a labor-relations attorney before she became the newly created California 39th congressional representative in 2003. Loretta is the ranking female Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, and Linda is the first Latina to serve on the House Judiciary Committee. Written as a first-person dialog with Loretta's words printed in serif type and Linda's in sans serif, the book describes growing up in a family of seven children, who helped each other and their parents make sense of American culture and its educational systems. Each sister describes her struggle to win elective office and fight against sexism and racism in the halls of Congress as well as among some of their campaigns' opponents. Their story is fascinating and uplifting and deserves wide readership. Highly recommended for all public libraries.-Jill Ortner, SUNY at Buffalo Libs.

Table of Contents:

Foreword   Nancy Pelosi     ix
Mi Casa Es Su Casa     1
Let Your Roots Show     20
Never Say Never     50
Be Brave. Be Prepared. And When You're Not, Fake It.     90
Don't Eat the Grapes     118
No Woman Is an Island     146
Staying Power     169
Thick Skins Last Longer     197
Full Circle     226

Book review: Truly Madly Pasta or Sue Lawrences Book of Baking

My American Journey

Author: Colin Powell

"A GREAT AMERICAN SUCCESS STORY . . . AN ENDEARING AND WELL-WRITTEN BOOK."
--The New York Times Book Review
Colin Powell is the embodiment of the American dream. He was born in Harlem to immigrant parents from Jamaica. He knew the rough life of the streets. He overcame a barely average start at school. Then he joined the Army. The rest is history--Vietnam, the Pentagon, Panama, Desert Storm--but a history that until now has been known only on the surface. Here, for the first time, Colin Powell himself tells us how it happened, in a memoir distinguished by a heartfelt love of country and family, warm good humor, and a soldier's directness.
MY AMERICAN JOURNEY is the powerful story of a life well lived and well told. It is also a view from the mountaintop of the political landscape of America. At a time when Americans feel disenchanted with their leaders, General Powell's passionate views on family, personal responsibility, and, in his own words, "the greatness of America and the opportunities it offers" inspire hope and present a blueprint for the future. An utterly absorbing account, it is history with a vision.
"The stirring, only-in-America story of one determined man's journey from the South Bronx to directing the mightiest of military forces . . . Fascinating."--The Washington Post Book World
"Eloquent."
--Los Angeles Times Book Review
"PROFOUND AND MOVING . . . . Must reading for anyone who wants to reaffirm his faith in the promise of America."
--Jack Kemp
The Wall Street Journal
"A book that is much like its subject--articulate, confident, impressive, but unpretentious and witty. . . . Whetheryou are a political junkie, a military buff, or just interested in a good story, MY AMERICAN JOURNEY is a book well worth reading."
--San Diego Union Tribune
"Colin Powell's candid, introspective autobiography is a joy for all with an appetite for well-written political and social commentary."
--The Detroit News


From the Paperback edition.

Library Journal

The story of Powell's rise from humble beginnings in Harlem to the corridors of power in Washington is one worth hearing. This abridgment touches Powell's high points: an average school career, the ROTC program that inspired him to military life, service in a divided Germany, and painful lessons learned in Vietnam. Powell's swift rise through the Pentagon bureaucracy made him a key figure in Desert Storm, the invasion of Panama, the Iran-contra affair, the breakup of the Soviet Union, and the debate over gays in the military. He closes with indefinite comments about a future role in politics, positioning himself as a "fiscal conservative with a social conscience." Recommended for public libraries, where Powell's serviceable reading and the program's concise format will be popular.-Linda Bredengerd, Univ. of Pittsburgh Lib., Bradford, Pa.

School Library Journal

YA-The eminently readable journey of one African American boy from a close-knit neighborhood in the South Bronx through his rise to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to civilian retirement. Powell was neither an athlete nor a scholar; his childhood centered around his home, friends, and church. Later, in college, he found his niche. ROTC offered structure and purpose. A recounting of his army career and the support offered by family and friends are the primary focus of this work. Challenges, lessons learned, and opportunities opened by each posting are shared. Commanding officers, selected business contracts, and four presidents are introduced and evaluated, almost all in a positive light. Powell's involvement with and analysis of national and international affairs, from Vietnam to the Clinton administration, are succinctly and objectively recounted. Scattered throughout the book are personal rules of conduct and occasional incidents of particular kindnesses and of racism. Teens are given an opportunity to spend some time with a thoughtful, positive leader. They can share one participant's view of recent history and gain one perspective on our country's current needs.-Barbara Hawkins, Oakton High School, Fairfax, VA