The Business of Lobbying in China or Rogues

The Business of Lobbying in China

Author: Scott Kennedy

In this timely work, Scott Kennedy documents the rising influence of business, both Chinese and foreign, on national public policy in China.

China's shift to a market economy has made businesses more sensitive to their bottom line and has seen the passage of thousands of laws and regulations that directly affect firms' success. Companies have become involved in a tug of war with the government and with each other to gain national policy advantages, often setting the agenda, providing alternative options, and pressing for a favored outcome.

Kennedy's comparison of lobbying in the steel, consumer electronics, and software industries shows that although companies operate in a common political system, economic circumstances shape the nature and outcome of lobbying. Factors such as private or state ownership, size, industry concentration, and technological sophistication all affect industry activism.

Based on over 300 in-depth interviews with company executives, business association representatives, and government officials, this study identifies a wide range of national economic policies influenced by lobbying, including taxes, technical standards, and intellectual property rights. These findings have significant implications for how we think about Chinese politics and economics, as well as government-business relations in general.

What People Are Saying

Harry Harding
Can Chinese firms promote their interests within what remains an authoritarian political system? Scott Kennedy argues that they can, in some cases through business associations. Based on extensive field research, this is one of the first books to examine the ways in which non-state actors in China pursue their interests through lobbying. It is an invaluable addition to the literature on state-society relations in contemporary China. --(Harry Harding, Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University)

Ian Johnson
Scott Kennedy has dissected a complex subject in a lucid work with broad implications. His research, well-illustrated with fascinating examples of behind-the-scenes business lobbying, shows that the old corporatist model for explaining business-government relations is increasingly inadequate as interest groups and organizations compete for the government's ear. He shows us a richly complex country with increasing demands percolating up from below--a country that no longer fits the authoritarian model of popular imagination. Strongly recommended for anyone doing business in China or
interested in questions of civil society and, ultimately, political reform. --(Ian Johnson, author of Wild Grass: Three Stories of Change in China)

Margaret M. Pearson
Scott Kennedy, one of today's best young scholars of China's political economy, has written a fascinating book that changes the way we see the world of Chinese business. Contrary to the image of Chinese firms as unable or unwilling to influence policy at the national level, business lobbying of government is alive and well. Clearly written and full of vivid data on multiple industries and issues, this book is a must for anyone interested in business-government relations in China. --(Margaret M. Pearson, author of China's New Business Elite)

Jerome A. Cohen
Business-related lobbying, both domestic and foreign, is an important part of the political, legislative, and administrative process in China, and Scott Kennedy's fresh analysis is the best guide I have seen on the subject. --(Jerome A. Cohen, New York University School of Law)

Table of Contents:

1	Introduction : the puzzle of lobbying in China	1
2	Organizing business in China	25
3	The steel industry : walking on one leg	57
4	The consumer electronics industry : sending mixed signals	96
5	The software industry : approaching pluralism	128
6	Conclusion : China's political economies	160
App	Case selection and interviews	189

Interesting textbook: Economia finanziaria

Rogues: Two Essays on Reason

Author: Jacques Derrida

Rogues, published in France under the title Voyous, comprises two major lectures that Derrida delivered in 2002 investigating the foundations of the sovereignty of the nation-state. The term “État voyou” is the French equivalent of “rogue state,” and it is this outlaw designation of certain countries by the leading global powers that Derrida rigorously and exhaustively examines.

Derrida examines the history of the concept of sovereignty, engaging with the work of Bodin, Hobbes, Rousseau, Schmitt, and others. Against this background, he delineates his understanding of “democracy to come,” which he distinguishes clearly from any kind of regulating ideal or teleological horizon. The idea that democracy will always remain in the future is not a temporal notion. Rather, the phrase would name the coming of the unforeseeable other, the structure of an event beyond calculation and program. Derrida thus aligns this understanding of democracy with the logic he has worked out elsewhere. But it is not just political philosophy that is brought under deconstructive scrutiny here: Derrida provides unflinching and hard-hitting assessments of current political realities, and these essays are highly engaged with events of the post-9/11 world.

Library Journal

Although some critics contended that Derrida (1930-2004) turned more to the political later in his life, his last book demonstrates that his deconstruction always contained the kernels of political discourse. That politics occupied a central place in Derrida's mind and work should have always been clear from his early essays on Rousseau, Hegel, and Plato in Writing and Difference and Dissemination. Here, he deconstructs the notions of sovereignty, democracy, reason, terrorism, and rogue states. In his typically rigorous fashion, Derrida examines in detail the ways that language constructs and deconstructs our political ideas. Thus, "Pure sovereignty does not exist; it is always in the process of positing itself by refuting itself of betraying itself by betraying the democracy that nonetheless can never do without it." While democratic sovereign states, those capable of ruling within the bounds of international laws, ostensibly act with reason and justice, they often act outside of those boundaries, thus becoming rogue states. He points to the United States's flouting of the UN Security Council's lack of support for a war in Iraq as a perfect example of a sovereign turning into a rogue. With his deft prose, amazing philosophical erudition, and exacting method, he deconstructs the phrase "rogue state" (Etat voyou) while tracing the legacy of sovereignty from Bacon and Hobbes to the oft-neglected 20th-century political philosopher Carl Schmitt. Recommended especially for large libraries that serve college or university communities, academic libraries, and libraries wanting a complete collection of Derrida's works.-Henry L. Carrigan Jr., Lancaster, PA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

The Question of Palestine or On Tyranny

The Question of Palestine

Author: Edward W Said

Still a basic and indespensible account of the Palestinian question, updated to include the most recent developments in the Middle East- from the intifada to the Gulf war to the historic peace conference in Madrid.

Publishers Weekly

Said's controversial but instructive Palestinian interpretation of the Mideast conflict now includes a new introduction and epilogue commenting on the intifada , Gulf war and Madrid peace talks. (Apr.)

Go to: Personal Fitness or Comfort of Home Parkinson Disease

On Tyranny

Author: Leo Strauss

On Tyranny is Leo Strauss's classic reading of Xenophon's dialogue, Hiero or Tyrannicus, in which the tyrant Hiero and the poet Simonides discuss the advantages and disadvantages of exercising tyranny. This edition includes a translation of the dialogue, a critique of the commentary by the French philosopher Alexandre Kojève, Strauss's restatement of his position in light of Kojève's comments, and finally, the complete Strauss-Kojève correspondence.

"Through [Strauss's] interpretation Xenophon appears to us as no longer the somewhat dull and flat author we know, but as a brilliant and subtle writer, an original and profound thinker. What is more, in interpreting this forgotten dialogue, Strauss lays bare great moral and political problems that are still ours." —Alexandre Kojève, Critique

"On Tyranny is a complex and stimulating book with its 'parallel dialogue' made all the more striking since both participants take such unusual, highly provocative positions, and so force readers to face substantial problems in what are often wholly unfamiliar, even shocking ways." —Robert Pippin, History and Theory

"Every political scientist who tries to disentangle himself from the contemporary confusion over the problems of tyranny will be much indebted to this study and inevitably use it as a starting point."—Eric Voegelin, The Review of Politics

Leo Strauss (1899-1973) was the Robert Maynard Hutchins Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago.

The Review of Politics - Eric Voegelin

Every political scientish who tries to disentangle himself from the contemporary confusion over the problems of tyranny will be much indebted to this study and inevitably use it as a starting point.

Salvador or Twenty Years at Hull House

Salvador

Author: Joan Didion

"Terror is the given of the place." The place is El Salvador in 1982, at the ghastly height of its civil war. The writer is Joan Didion, who delivers an anatomy of that country's particular brand of terror–its mechanisms, rationales, and intimate relation to United States foreign policy.

As ash travels from battlefields to body dumps, interviews a puppet president, and considers the distinctly Salvadoran grammar of the verb "to disappear," Didion gives us a book that is germane to any country in which bloodshed has become a standard tool of politics.

Library Journal

Didion's 1983 volume captured "the terror and unpredictability permeating the El Salvadorean scene," said LJ's reviewer (LJ 3/1/83). Though political events in El Salvador are no longer in the public eye, this serves as a chronicle of a dark chapter in that country's tumultuous history.

Interesting book: Virginia in the Vanguard or Imperial Life in the Emerald City

Twenty Years at Hull-House

Author: Jane Addams

Jane Addams's narrative of life in an immigrant urban neighborhood provides students with an introduction to the issues of the Progressive era and the tenets of social activism. This new teaching edition reduces Addams's original text by about 35 percent, trimming illustrative detail to focus on the ideological underpinnings of the original work. The author sketches a brief biographical portrait of Addams, outlines the decisions and convictions that led her to found Hull-House, and includes a vivid picture of turn-of-the-century Chicago. Related documents include a description of life at Hull-House from the perspective of an immigrant who frequented it, an early review of Hull-House, and perspectives from other reformers.

Library Journal

The Turgenev standby gets a facelift for the 1990s, thanks to translator Katz, professor of Russian and director of the Center for Post-Soviet and East European Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. The growing popularity of new translations of Russian classics, such as the recent Notes from Underground (Classic Returns, LJ 7/93), should induce interest in Turgenev's work. For public and academic libraries.

Booknews

Jane Addams' narrative of life in an immigrant urban neighborhood provides students with an introduction to issues of the Progressive era and the tenets of social activism. This teaching edition reduces Addams' text by about 35 percent, to focus on ideological underpinnings of the original work. Includes a brief biographical portrait of Addams, and outlines her convictions that led her to found Hull House. Includes related documents, with discussion questions, plus a chronology and b&w photos. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknew.com)

What People Are Saying

Frances Perkins
"Should be framed and revealed as the beauty of the cultural life and spiritual value of the immigrant at the time when nothing would so despised and unconsidered an American life as the foreigner."

Marian Parks
"For the helpless, young and old, for the poor, the unlearned, the strangers, the despised, we have urged understanding and injustice."

The Changing American Mind or What Happened

The Changing American Mind: How and Why American Public Opinion Changed Between 1960 and 1988

Author: William G Mayer

This book is important reading for all who are interested in American politics and public opinion. It appendixes, which include the results of more than 250 survey questions that have been asked regularly of national samples over the last three decades, make it an indispensable reference source for everyone who studies or participates in American politics.

Publishers Weekly

Suggesting that pundits often misinterpret evidence about public opinion, Mayer, a political scientist at Northeastern University, offers a thorough academic dissection of changes in several components of public opinion and reasons for such changes. He suggests that in nearly 30 years public opinion has shifted radically in some areas--moving to the left regarding race, women's roles, sexual mores and nuclear power, while moving to the right on crime and punishment. On other issues, such as religious belief and the causes of poverty, collective opinion has remained more or less constant. Social and demographic changes such as the growth of the Sun Belt, he argues, have had little effect on public opinion, though external events like the Tet Offensive have changed many minds. While intergenerational change leads to new attitudes on social and cultural issues such as race relations, it has had little effect on opinions about foreign policy and the economy. Mayer concludes that liberalism has lost touch with its populist roots, but his own evidence regarding generational change provides a caveat to his conclusion that to win, Democratic presidential candidates must moderate their views on social issues. (Dec.)

See also: Superfeast or 75 Easy To Make Muffin Recipes

What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception

Author: Scott McClellan

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

The Sociology of Health Illness and Health Care or Georgias and Timaeus

The Sociology of Health, Illness, and Health Care: A Critical Approach

Author: Rose Weitz

Why do people get ill, and how should we care for them? These are some of the questions driving THE SOCIOLOGY OF HEALTH, ILLNESS, AND HEALTH CARE: A CRITICAL APPROACH. Inside, you'll learn about the nature of illness and how the health care industry works. Easy to understand and packed with study tools, this sociology textbook will not only get you ready to navigate the health care system, it will help you out in class as well.

See also: Con El Mantel Sobre El Terreno or Food Choice and the Consumer

Georgias and Timaeus

Author: Plato

Two major works by one of history's best known and most widely read and studied philosophers. Gorgias addresses the temptations of success and the rewards of a moral life; Timaeus is an explanation of the world in terms not only of physical laws but also of metaphysical and religious principles. B. Jowett translation.

Putins Russia or States and Markets

Putin's Russia: Life in a Failing Democracy

Author: Anna Politkovskaya

A searing portrait of a country in disarray and of the man at its helm, from “the bravest of Russian journalists” (The New York Times)

Hailed as “a lone voice crying out in a moral wilderness” (New Statesman), Anna Politkovskaya made her name with her fearless reporting on the war in Chechnya. Now she turns her steely gaze on the multiple threats to Russian stability, among them Vladimir Putin himself.

Rich with characters and poignant accounts, Putin’s Russia depicts a far-reaching state of decay. Politkovskaya describes an army in which soldiers die from malnutrition, parents must pay bribes to recover their dead sons’ bodies, and conscripts are even hired out as slaves. She exposes rampant corruption in business, government, and the judiciary, where everything from store permits to bus routes to court appointments is for sale. And she offers a scathing condemnation of the ongoing war in Chechnya, where kidnappings, extra-judicial killings, rape, and torture are begetting terrorism rather than fighting it. Finally, Politkovskaya denounces both Putin, for stifling civil liberties as he pushes the country back to a Soviet-style dictatorship, and the West, for its unqualified embrace of the Russian leader.

Sounding an urgent alarm, Putin’s Russia is a gripping portrayal of a country in crisis and the testament of a great and intrepid reporter.

Publishers Weekly

At a time when many Westerners are ambivalent about Russian President Vladimir Putin, famed war correspondent Politkovskaya (A Small Corner of Hell: Dispatches from Chechnya) argues that there is little to admire about the man or the country he has remade in his image. By recounting stories of the winners and losers in today's Russia, Politkovskaya portrays the country as a place where decency is punished, corruption rules and murder is simply a means of getting to and staying at the top. "Putin may be God and Czar in Chechnya, punishing and pardoning, but he is afraid of touching... Mafiosi," Politkovskaya writes. She's an attentive and compassionate storyteller, and the stories she tells are worth reading. The same cannot be said of her simplistic analysis. Politkovskaya's claims that Russia is more corrupt than ever before and that it's reverting to Stalinism, for example, may strike readers as provocative exaggerations. As someone frustrated with the Putin regime and furious about the war in Chechnya, which she argues is an omen of the state's future inhumane treatment of all its citizens, Politkovskaya is passionate and sometimes convincing. But she never adequately explains why, if life under Putin is so awful, 70% of Russian voters chose him for their president in 2004. (Jan.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Foreign Affairs

The savagery of Russia's actions in Chechnya is not news, nor is the highhandedness of its intelligence services, nor the cynical way Russian politicians and businesspeople mix money and politics. But Politkovskaya, one of Russia's most stridently indignant journalistic voices, has a way of driving the point home with passion drawn from concrete, personal stories. She takes the reader from a distant observation point into the barracks or the courtroom or the street where the deed goes down and then through the tortuous labyrinth where it is consummated, blessed, or concealed. Most of the book is about, as she says, life in Putin's Russia, not Putin's role. Still, she asks, "Why do I so dislike Putin?" and answers, because of his Chekist mentality, his "matter-of-factness worse than a felony, his cynicism," his small-minded pursuit of power — and, most of all, because, by guile or indifference, he presides over a Russia slinking back toward its Soviet past.

Library Journal

Up front Politkovskaya (special correspondent, Novaya Gazeta) confesses to having limited qualifications to write this book (she is not a political analyst), but she explains she has written it because she's damned fed up with Putin's regime. "We cannot just sit back and watch a political winter close in on Russia for several more decades," she proclaims. "We want to go on living in freedom." In a series of personal and heart-wrenching stories, she uses her experiences (she has been honored by Amnesty International and the Index on Censorship and is the winner of the Golden Pen Award for her coverage of the war in Chechnya) to highlight examples of treacherous treatment under Putin's command. His government, she maintains, has made a mockery of the courts. Judges and prosecutors are subject to "telephone justice," i.e., a telephone call from a government official dictates the outcome of most trials. She asserts that the military is a tool of the government and that the massacres at the Moscow theater hostage crisis and at Beslan were Putin's tactics to show that Russia's Chechen debacle is in fact a war on international terror. Her main point, ultimately, is that in Russia, all outrages stem from Putin's retreat from democracy. Because of the rather limited scope and lack of corroborative sourcing, this is a good purchase for public libraries only. [The book has not been published in Russia.-Ed.]-Harry Willems, Southeast Kansas Lib. Syst., Iola Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A resounding indictment of the Russian leader into whose soul George Bush recently peered and pronounced himself satisfied. That was the wrong conclusion to draw, to trust Novaya gazeta correspondent Politkovskaya's furious attack on the person and government of Vladimir Putin. The leaders of the West, she writes, have found it useful to pretend that Putin merits their respect, and with their crowning him an equal "Putin's reign reached its high point, and almost nobody noticed." The former KGB general made it clear that enemies of his regime needed to take notice, however; by Politkovskaya's account, his years of rule have been marked by a return of Stalinist measures ranging from the imprisonment of political enemies in psychiatric hospitals to the show-trial persecution of men and women above suspicion-all very familiar to older Russians who grew up under Sovietism. "Nobody has any hard facts," she writes, "but everybody is frightened, just as people used to be." But there's a big difference: whereas the pride of the USSR was its military, today's Russian armed forces are staffed by brutal officers who rob their subordinates and sometimes kill them for pleasure, or, at the opposite extreme, by dedicated, brilliant officers who go unpaid and near-starving, maintaining their men and equipment through the charity of their neighbors. Who profits by undermining Russia's security? The same mafiosi and oligarchs and developers to whom Putin has handed over control of the economy, Politkovskaya thunders, thereby satisfying one of the three preconditions for getting ahead in today's Russia: "First, you have to initially get a slice of the state pie-that is, a state asset as your privateproperty."Looting the public coffers? Influence-peddling? Corruption? Putin's government sounds positively Western, though the author suggests that it's the same old oriental despotism-and urges that her readers, Russian and otherwise, not allow "political winter" to descend again.

Table of Contents:

Foreword     ix
Author's Note     xiii
My Country's Army and lts Mothers     1
Our New Middle Ages, or War Criminals of All the Russias     25
Tanya, Misha, Lena, and Rinat: Where Are They Now?     81
How to Misappropriate Property with the Connivance of the Government     114
More Stories from the Provinces     159
Nord-Ost: The Latest Tale of Destruction     186
Akaky Akakievich Putin II     230
Postscript     245
Notes     257
Index     261

Read also You Say You Want a Revolution or A Guide to the Euro

States and Markets: A Primer in Political Economy

Author: Adam Przeworski

The purpose of this text is to introduce concepts for studying relationships between states and markets. The economy and the state are thus analyzed as networks of relationships between principals and agents, each occupying a particular position in the institutional structure. The book then analyzes systematically the effect of the organization of the state on the functioning of the economy. It isolates the conditions that trigger government's positive or negative responses to the economy.

Liberalism Is a Mental Disorder or Rousseau

Liberalism Is a Mental Disorder: Savage Solutions

Author: Michael Savag

Liberalism Is a Mental Disorder-

Michael Savage has the cure.

With grit, guts, and gusto, talk radio sensation Michael Savage leaves no political turn unstoned as he savages today's most rabid liberalism. In this paperback edition of his third New York Times bestseller, Savage strikes at the root of today's most pressing issues, including:

Homeland security: "We need more Patton and less patent leather . . . Real homeland security begins when we arrest, interrogate, jail, or deport known operatives within our own borders . . . One dirty bomb can ruin your whole day."

Illegal immigration: "I envision an Oil for Illegals program . . . The president should demand one barrel of oil from Mexico for every illegal that sneaks into our country."

Lawsuit abuse: "Lawyers are like red wine. Everything in moderation. Today we have far too many lawyers, and we're suffering from cirrhosis of the economy."

"Pure Savage. Very effective, very timely, very hot."

-American Compass Book Club

Read also Introductory Mathematical Economics or Sales Management

Rousseau: 'The Discourses' and Other Early Political Writings

Author: Jean Jacques Rousseau

The work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau is presented in two volumes, which together form the most comprehensive anthology of Rousseau's political writings in English. Volume I contains the earlier writings such as the First and Second Discourses. The American and French Revolutions were profoundly affected by Rousseau's writing, thus illustrating the scope of his influence. Volume II contains the later writings such as the Social Contract. The Social Contract was publicly condemned on publication causing Rousseau to flee. In exile he wrote both autobiographical and political works. These volumes contain comprehensive introductions, chronologies, and guides to further reading, and will enable students to fully understand the writings of one of the world's greatest thinkers.

Table of Contents:

	Preface
	Introduction
	Chronology of Jean-Jacques Rousseau
	A brief guide to further reading
	A note on the texts
	A note on the translations
	A note on the editorial notes and index
	Discourse on the Sciences and Arts or First Discourse	1
	Replies to Critics
	Letter to M. l'Abbe Raynal	29
	Observations [to Stanislas, King of Poland]	32
	Letter to Grimm	52
	Last Reply	63
	Letter about a New Refutation	86
	Preface to Narcissus	92
	Preface of a Second Letter to Bordes	107
	Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality Among Men or Second Discourse	111
	Replies to Critics
	Letter to Philopolis	223
	Reply to Charles-Georges Le Roy	229
	Letter to Voltaire	232
	Essay on the Origin of Languages	247
	Idea of the Method in the Composition of a Book	300
	Discourse on the Virtue a Hero Most Needs or On Heroic Virtue	305
	List of abbreviations and textual conventions	317
	Editorial notes	320
	Index of editors, translators, and annotators	417
	General index	419

Career Opportunities in Forensic Science or The Bin Ladens

Career Opportunities in Forensic Science

Author: Susan Echaore McDavid

Forensic science is the application of scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge to legal issues. Hence, the field of forensic science is remarkably broad in scope, encompassing everything from art and engineering to medicine and law. Career Opportunities in Forensic Science offers a comprehensive view of careers in the field, with complete information for the 21st century on more than 80 jobs, including Accident Reconstruction Specialist, Computer Forensics Specialist, Crime Scene Investigator, Criminologist, DNA Analyst, Fire Investigator, Forensic Engineer, Forensic Pathologist, Forensic Science Researcher, Forensic Sculptor, Medical Examiner, Prosecuting Attorney.

Throughout the book, the reader will find a quick-reference Career Profile for each job summarizing its notable features, a Career Ladder illustrating frequent routes to and from the position described, and a comprehensive text pointing out special skills, education, training, and various associations relevant to each post. Appendixes list education and training resources, certification programs, professional unions and associations, and Web resources.

Table of Contents:

Industry Outlook     ix
Acknowledgments     xv
How to Use This Book     xvii
Crime Scene and Criminal Investigation Personnel
Crime Scene Investigator (CSI)     2
Crime Scene Supervisor     5
Patrol Officer     8
Criminal Investigator     11
Fire Investigator     14
Fingerprint Technician     17
Evidence Custodian     20
Polygraph Examiner     23
Crime Lab Personnel
Criminalist     28
Crime Lab Technician     32
Crime Lab Supervisor     35
Quality Manager     38
Crime Lab Director     41
Criminalists
Bloodstain Pattern Analyst     46
DNA Analyst     49
Firearms Examiner     52
Forensic Biologist     55
Forensic Chemist     58
Forensic Drug Chemist     61
Forensic Serologist     64
Latent Print Examiner     67
Questioned Document Examiner     70
Trace Evidence Examiner     73
Medicolegal Death Investigation Personnel
Coroner     78
Medical Examiner     81
Medicolegal Death Investigator     84
Forensic Pathologist     87
Forensic Toxicologist     90
Forensic Anthropologist     93
Forensic Pathology Technician     96
Histologist     99
Morgue Assistant     102
Forensic Experts in Art and Multimedia
Forensic Photographer     106
Forensic Video Analyst     110
Forensic Audio Examiner     113
Forensic Artist     116
Forensic Sculptor     119
Forensic Graphics Specialist     122
Forensic Musicologist     125
Forensic Experts in Health and Medicine
Forensic Medical Consultant     130
Child Abuse Pediatrician     133
Forensic Chiropractic Examiner     136
Forensic Epidemiologist     139
Forensic Nurse     142
Forensic Odontologist     145
Forensic Pharmacist     148
Forensic Radiologist     151
Forensic Experts in the Natural Sciences
Environmental Forensics Expert     156
Forensic Archaeologist     159
Forensic Botanist     162
Forensic Entomologist     165
Forensic Geologist     168
Forensic Meteorologist     171
Forensic Microbiologist     174
Forensic Palynologist     177
Wildlife Forensic Scientist     180
Forensic Experts in Mathematics and Computer Science
Forensic Statistician     184
Computer Forensics Specialist     187
Forensic Experts in Engineering and Construction
Forensic Engineer     192
Accident Reconstruction Specialist     195
Construction Forensics Expert     198
Forensic Architect     201
Forensic Surveyor     204
Forensic Experts in the Behavioral Sciences
Criminologist     208
Forensic Hypnotist     211
Forensic Psychiatrist     214
Forensic Psychologist     217
Forensic Rehabilitation Consultant     220
Forensic Social Worker     223
Forensic Experts in Business
Forensic Accountant     228
Forensic Economist     231
Fraud Examiner     234
Forensic Experts in Language and Speech
Forensic Linguist     238
Forensic Phonetician     241
Jurisprudence Experts
Trial Lawyer     246
Prosecuting Attorney     250
Forensic Consultant     254
Judge     257
Forensic Science Educators, Researchers, and Reporters
Forensic Training Specialist     262
Forensic Science Instructor     265
Forensic Science Researcher     268
Crime Reporter     271
Appendixes
Education and Training Resources on the Internet     276
Professional Certification Programs     279
Professional Unions and Associations     284
Resources on the World Wide Web     294
Glossary     302
Bibliography     306
Index     311

New interesting textbook: Business the Amazoncom Way or First Course in Database Systems

The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century

Author: Steve Coll

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and author of the national bestseller Ghost Wars, Steve Coll presents the story of the Bin Laden family's rise to power and privilege, revealing new information to show how American influences changed the family and how one member's rebellion changed America

The Bin Ladens rose from poverty to privilege; they loyally served the Saudi royal family for generations-and then one of their number changed history on September 11, 2001. Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Steve Coll tells the epic story of the rise of the Bin Laden family and of the wildly diverse lifestyles of the generation to which Osama bin Laden belongs, and against whom he rebelled. Starting with the family's escape from famine at the beginning of the twentieth century through its jet-set era in America after the 1970s oil boom, and finally to the family's attempts to recover from September 11, The Bin Ladens unearths extensive new material about the family and its relationship with the United States, and provides a richly revealing and emblematic narrative of our globally interconnected times.

To a much greater extent than has been previously understood, the Bin Laden family owned an impressive share of the America upon which Osama ultimately declared war-shopping centers, apartment complexes, luxury estates, privatized prisons in Massachusetts, corporate stocks, an airport, and much more. They financed Hollywood movies and negotiated over real estate with Donald Trump. They came to regard George H. W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, and Prince Charles as friends of their family. And yet, as was true of the larger relationship between the Saudi and American governments, when tested by Osama's violence, the family's involvement in the United States proved to be narrow and brittle.

Among the many memorable figures that cross these pages is Osama's older brother, Salem-a free-living, chainsmoking, guitar-strumming pilot, adventurer, and businessman who cavorted across America and Europe and once proposed marriage to four American and European girlfriends simultaneously, attempting to win a bet with the king of Saudi Arabia. Osama and Salem's father, Mohamed bin Laden, is another force in the narrative-an illiterate bricklayer who created the family fortune through perspicacity and wit, until his sudden death in an airplane crash in 1967, an accident caused by an error by his American pilot.

At the story's heart lies an immigrant family's attempt to adapt simultaneously to Saudi Arabia's puritanism and America's myriad temptations. The family generation to which Osama belonged-twenty-five brothers and twenty-nine sisters-had to cope with intense change. Most of them were born into a poor society where religion dominated public life. Yet by the time they became young adults, these Bin Ladens found themselves bombarded by Western-influenced ideas about individual choice, by gleaming new shopping malls and international fashion brands, by Hollywood movies and changing sexual mores-a dizzying world that was theirs for the taking, because they each received annual dividends that started in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. How they navigated these demands is an authentic, humanizing story of Saudi Arabia, America, and the sources of attraction and repulsion still present in the countries' awkward embrace.

The New York Times - Michiko Kakutani

Steve Coll's riveting new book not only gives us the most psychologically detailed portrait of the brutal 9/11 mastermind yet, but in telling the epic story of Osama bin Laden's extended family, it also reveals the crucial role that his relatives and their relationship with the royal house of Saud played in shaping his thinking, his ambitions, his technological expertise and his tactics…It is a book that possesses the novelistic energy of a rags-to-riches family epic, following its sprawling cast of characters as they travel from Mecca and Medina to Las Vegas and Disney World, and yet, at the same time, it is a book that, in tracing the connections between the public and the private, the political and the personal, stands as a substantive bookend to Mr. Coll's Pulitzer-Prize-winning 2004 book, Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the C.I.A., Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to Sept. 10, 2001.

Publishers Weekly

The bin Ladens are famous for spawning the world's foremost terrorist and building one of the Middle East's foremost corporate dynasties. Pulitzer Prize-winner Coll (Ghost Wars) delivers a sprawling history of the multifaceted clan, paying special attention to its two most emblematic members. Patriarch Mohamed's eldest son, Salem, was a caricature of the self-indulgent plutocrat: a flamboyant jet-setter dependent on the Saudi monarchy, obsessed with all things motorized (he died crashing his plane after a day's joy-riding atop motorcycle and dune-buggy) and forever tormenting his entourage with off-key karaoke. Coll presents quite a contrast with an unusually nuanced profile of Salem's half-brother Osama, a shy, austere, devout man who nonetheless shares Salem's egomania. Other bin Ladens crowd Coll's narrative with the eye-glazing details of their murky business deals, messy divorces and ill-advised perfume lines and pop CDs. Beneath the clutter one discerns an engrossing portrait of a family torn between tradition and modernity, conformism and self-actualization, and desperately in search of its soul. (April 1)

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

Nader Entessar - Library Journal

This is one of the most comprehensive and up-to-date books in English to tell the rags-to-riches story of the Arabian Peninsula's house of Bin Laden. In a fascinating read, Coll (former managing editor, the Washington Post), who won the Pulitzer Prize for Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001, provides a detailed account of the Bin Ladens and their myriad business enterprises. Coll traces the history of Mohammed Bin Laden, a young illiterate Yemeni bricklayer who went to the newly established country of Saudi Arabia and became a key figure in building the country's infrastructural projects, including roads and mosques. In the process, the scion of the Bin Laden family became a multimillionaire and transformed his entrepreneurial skills into establishing numerous business ventures that tied him to the world's rich and famous. The Bin Laden family's symbiotic relationship with the Saudi royal family served as a critical factor in bolstering the Bin Laden fortunes and shielding the family from its adversaries. The author's portrayal of the Bin Ladens is greatly readable while also sophisticated in its complexities. Highly recommended for academic and public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ1/08.]

Kirkus Reviews

A sprawling, fascinating account of America's declared No. 1 enemy, his far-flung family and the astonishing number of influential Americans who live within that family's orbit. Salem Bin Laden loved American pop music and films. For many years he kept a kind of "rolling intercontinental party" that would be interrupted only when he called up one of his fleet of jets and ran off to do business, whether meeting with Brooke Shields in Hollywood or the king of Saudi Arabia at home or in some foreign venue. So writes New Yorker staff writer and two-time Pulitzer winner Coll (Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001, 2004, etc.), who finds Salem involved in countless other ventures around the world, from telecommunications to construction to arms-dealing (at least enough of the last to get tangled up in the Iran-Contra Affair). In addition, Salem's siblings owned real estate across America, from apartment complexes to an airport; funded presidential races, favoring the GOP; and enjoyed friendships with British royalty and the American elite. "In both a literal and a cultural sense," Coll observes, "the Bin Laden family owned an impressive share of the America upon which Osama declared war." Even so, the relationship was shaded and complex. The uber-patriarch of the family was a Yemeni who worked doggedly to build a fortune in Saudi Arabia. He then branched into Palestine, only to be displaced by the victorious Israeli government at the time of the 1967 war, which surely contributed to then-ten-year-old Osama's later views. Mohamed Bin Laden returned from East Jerusalem to find himself in a strained relationship withthe Saudi royal family, perhaps because he was glacially slow to deliver on huge public-works contracts. This, too, may have led to his offspring's views, and it cannot have helped that Salem died in a plane crash in America, just as Mohamed died in a plane crash caused by an American pilot. "Bush's ill-considered use of the word 'Crusade' to describe America's response to September 11" couldn't have helped either. The makings of a villain, shaped in many ways by the culture he came to revile. Urgent and important reading. Agent: Melanie Jackson/Melanie Jackson Agency

Encyclopedia of Underwater Investigations or First World Dreams

Encyclopedia of Underwater Investigations

Author: Robert Gordon Teather

This functional manual takes the mystique from underwater investigative procedures through the use of clear, descriptive, step-by-step procedures and forms. Valuable information for police, public safety dive teams, attorneys, fire departments, and coroner's office personnel. Data was compiled from more than 500 underwater recovery investigations. Using the detailed instructions, techniques and principles will ensure an accurate investigation and report.

Book about: Handbook of Community Practice or Prague in Black

First World Dreams: Mexico Since 1989

Author: Alexander Dawson

This accessible book looks at the last twenty years of Mexico's history. Under globalization, Mexico has opened its borders, reformed its political system, and transformed its economy. But Mexico's increasingly vibrant civil society is marred by Human Rights abuses and violent rebellion. 'First World Dreams' shows how market reforms have produced a stable economy, regular economic growth, and some vast fortunes, but have devastated much of the country-side and crippled domestic producers. Today Mexico remains a nation in a perpetual state of becoming; becoming a democracy, becoming a nation that respects human rights, becoming a modern industrial power, and yet also becoming more violent, more fragmented, and becoming a place where the chasms between wealth and poverty grow ever larger.

Table of Contents:

Why 1989? * Salinastroika * 1994 * The Last Days of the PRI? * Border Crossings in the Age of Terror * A Decade of NAFTA * Democracy in Mexico

Why 1989? * Salinastroika * 1994 * The Last Days of the PRI? * Border Crossings in the Age of Terror * A Decade of NAFTA * Democracy in Mexico

Strategic Presidency or The American Disease

Strategic Presidency: Hitting the Ground Running

Author: James P Pfiffner

"The best book on the importance of presidential transitions to the long-term successes of administrations. Contemporary scholars and practitioners will be especially interested in Pfiffner's timely treatment of the problems that surrounded the Clinton administration's troubled start."—Mark J. Rozell, author of The Press and the Carter Presidency and Executive Privilege

"Should be required reading for Presidential candidates, their staffs, and anyone who hopes to understand how it works inside the White House. It's a guide to how to do it and how not to do it."—John Ehrlichman

"A modest classic in the literature on the presidency that is both scholarly and practical-a unique combination."—Joseph A. Pika, author of The Presidential Contest and The Politics of the Presidency

Author Biography: James P. Pfiffner, professor of government and public policy at George Mason University, is the author of The Modern Presidency and The President, the Budget, and Congress and the editor of The Managerial Presidency

Presidential Studies Quarterly

A masterful handbook on the nature of presidential transitions and among the most important publications on the presidency.

Table of Contents:

	Preface to the Second Edition
	Preface to the First Edition
	Introduction: Taking over the Government	1
1	Organizing the White House	17
2	The Holy Grail of "True" Cabinet Government	34
3	Personnel Control: Staffing the Administration	56
4	Presidential Control of the Bureaucracy	73
5	Taking over the Budget	94
6	Moving the President's Legislative Agenda	111
7	The Bush Transition: A Friendly Takeover	128
8	The Clinton Transition: Hitting the Ground Walking	148
	Notes	209
	About the Author	243
	Index	245

Interesting book: Photoshop Elements 2 for Dummies or Wi Fi Toys

The American Disease: Origins of Narcotic Control

Author: David F Musto

The American Disease is a classic study of the development of drug laws in the United States. Supporting the theory that Americans' attitudes toward drugs have followed a cyclic pattern of tolerance and restraint, author David F. Musto examines the relationz between public outcry and the creation of prohibitive drug laws from the end of the Civil War up to the present.
Originally published in 1973, and then in an expanded edition in 1987, this third edition contains a new chapter and preface that both address the renewed debate on policy and drug legislation from the end of the Reagan administration to the current Clinton administration. Here, Musto thoroughly investigates how our nation has dealt with such issues as the controversies over prevention programs and mandatory minimum sentencing, the catastrophe of the crack epidemic, the fear of a heroin revival, and the continued debate over the legalization of marijuana.

Firefighting in Washington DC or On the Medieval Origins of the Modern State

Firefighting in Washington, D.C (Images of America Series)

Author: Staff of The Capitol Fire Museum

From the burning of Washington by the British in 1814 to the September 11, 2001 attack on the Pentagon, firefighters in Washington, D.C., have always known they are the defenders of one of the most important cities in the world. Explore the complex, heroic, and sometimes tragic history of firefighting in Washington, D.C., as written by a worthy group of authors from The Capitol Fire Museum of Washington. Using images and oral histories gathered over the past century, this book covers the creation of the paid fire department during the Civil War, construction of new firehouses for the fledgling city in varying international designs, the heyday of firefighting before World War II, the turbulent times of the 1960s, and the modern department today.

New interesting book: L'impresa resiliente: Superamento della vulnerabilit� per vantaggio competitivo

On the Medieval Origins of the Modern State

Author: Joseph R Strayer

The modern state, however we conceive of it today, is based on a pattern that emerged in Europe in the period from 1100 to 1600. Written from the experience of a lifetime of teaching and research in the field, this short, clear book is the classic work on what is known about the early history of the European state. Charles Tilly's foreword shows how Strayer's book set the agenda for a whole generation of historical analysts, not just in medieval history but also in the comparative study of state formation. William Chester Jordan's foreword addresses the scholarly and pedagogical setting within which Strayer produced his book, and how this both enhanced its accessibility and informed its focus on peculiarly English and French accomplishments in early state-building.

Blair Unbound or Clad in Iron

Blair Unbound

Author: Anthony Seldon

In June 2007, with his approval rating at an all-time low, Tony Blair stood down as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after more than a decade in office. In this riveting account, Anthony Seldon—a recognized expert of British politics—follows the career of Tony Blair starting from its pinnacle at September 11 right up to his handing of the reins over to his arch rival, Gordon Brown. The politics of the post-9/11 Blair government, its policies in Iraq and Afghanistan, its domestic actions, and the true nature of Blair-Brown power struggle are all addressed. Based on hundreds of interviews with key government insiders and individuals close to the Blair camp—many of whom have previously kept their views private—this is the most complete, authoritative, and compelling account yet of the Blair premiership. Blair Unbound serves both as a fascinating “volume two” of this master class in political biography and as a highly revealing and compelling book in its own right.

Publishers Weekly

From its harrowing account of the events of September 11, 2001, to its elegant rendering of Tony Blair's final day at 10 Downing Street, this vibrant, richly detailed look at Blair's second and third terms as British prime minister makes for a riveting, if lengthy, read. Seldon has done a staggering amount of research in reconstructing Blair's tumultuous final years in office and surveying the significant domestic and foreign issues that dominated Blair's later years in office: the Iraq War, the London terrorist attacks, education reform, the Northern Ireland peace process and Blair's effort to push for the adoption of the euro, an issue about which he felt so strongly he may have been willing to sacrifice his political future to achieve his desired ends. The intricate, expansive text returns frequently to the increasingly fraught relationship between Blair and his successor, Gordon Brown, which was loaded with growing political and personal animosity. Aside from Brown, however, personal relationships and scandals play a secondary role in this page-turning political biography, an essential text for anyone interested in contemporary British politics. (June)

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

Booklist

An outstanding work that strives successfully to explain the man and his administration.

The Wall Street Journal

A vivid portrait.

Table of Contents:

Introduction     ix
9/11     1
Finding His Theme     19
Riding Two Horses     47
The Road to Baghdad     80
'Make or Break' at Home     107
Confronting Saddam     135
Iraq: From Agonising to Vindication     172
Losing My Agenda     201
The Descent     232
The Recovery     263
Back in Charge     278
Crafting a Bold Future     302
General Election, 2005     331
Second Honeymoon     351
Promise Fades     382
Losing His Authority     415
Stirrings of Dissent     444
The September Coup     479
On a Knife Edge     500
To the Wire     529
Conclusion: The Long Farewell     554
Acknowledgements     585
Dramatis Personae     589
Note on Sources and Methodology     600
Notes     602
Bibliography     639
Index     644

Book review: The Art and Science of CSS or Building the Perfect PC

Clad in Iron: The American Civil War and the Challenge of British Naval Power

Author: Howard J Fuller

This work addresses many persistent misconceptions of what the monitors were for, and why they failed in other roles associated with naval operations of the Civil War (such as the repulse at Charleston, April 7, 1863). Monitors were 'ironclads'- not fort-killers. Their ultimate success is to be measured not in terms of spearheading attacks on fortified Southern ports but in the quieter, much more profound, strategic deterrence of Lord Palmerston's ministry in London, and the British Royal Navy's potential intervention.

The relatively unknown 'Cold War' of the American Civil War was a nevertheless crucial aspect of the survival, or not, of the United States in the mid 19th-century. Foreign intervention--explicitly in the form of British naval power--represented a far more serious threat to the success of the Union blockade, the safety of Yankee merchant shipping worldwide, and Union combined operations against the South than the Confederate States Navy. Whether or not the North or South would be 'clad in iron' thus depended on the ability of superior Union ironclads to deter the majority of mid-Victorian British leaders, otherwise tempted by their desire to see the American 'experiment' in democratic class-structures and popular government finally fail. Discussions of open European involvement in the Civil War were pointless as long as the coastline of the United States was virtually impregnable. Combining extensive archival research on both sides of the Atlantic, this work offers an in-depth look at how the Union Navy achieved its greatest grand-strategic victory in the American Civil War. Through a combination of high-tech 'machines' armed with 'monster' guns, intensive coastal fortifications and a new fleet of high-speed Union commerce raiders, the North was able to turn the humiliation of the Trent Affair of late 1861 into a sobering challenge to British naval power and imperial defense worldwide.

Executive Secrets or Laboring to Learn

Executive Secrets: Covert Action and the Presidency

Author: William J Daugherty

Since its inception in 1947, the Central Intelligence Agency has been vital to maintaining national security. Yet the covert action programs managed by the intelligence agency at the behest of American presidents have often been misunderstood and the agency itself deemed suspect in its operations and priorities. In Executive Secrets: Covert Action and the Presidency, William J. Daugherty, a seventeen-year veteran operations officer with the C.I.A., explains the nature of the intelligence discipline of covert action and presidential decision making processes since World War II. By examining the agency's history in this way, he establishes and clarifies the role of covert action as a necessary tool of presidential statecraft. Daugherty refutes the widespread notion that the C.I.A. often behaves, in the words of the late Idaho senator Frank Church, like a "rogue elephant" rampaging out of control, initiating risky covert action programs without the knowledge, much less the sanction, of either Congress or the White House. Daugherty illustrates how these and other misperceptions about covert action have seeped into the public consciousness. He argues that covert action is a legitimate foreign policy option and examines the congressional and legal oversight of these actions.

Citing congressional investigations, recently declassified documents, and his own experiences in covert action policy and oversight, Daugherty demonstrates that the C.I.A.'s covert programs were initiated by the president. In addition to explaining how covert programs transform presidential foreign policy into reality, he details how each president conducted the approval, oversight, and review processes for covert action and examines specific instances in which U.S. presidents have expressly directed C.I.A. covert action programs to suit their broader policy objectives. A former Marine Corps aviator with a combat tour in Vietnam, Daugherty's first tour with the C.I.A. was in Iran, where he was one of fifty-two Americans held hostage for 444 days during the Carter administration. Combining unique inside perspectives with sober objectivity in judging the true nature and scope of C.I.A. covert actions during the last half century, Daugherty reveals an agency whose essential functions are necessary in a complex and often dangerous modern world.

Table of Contents:

	Foreword
1	The role of covert action in intelligence and foreign policy	9
2	The "romances" of covert action	23
3	Covert action policy and pitfalls	47
4	The military and peacetime covert action	59
5	The discipline of covert action	71
6	Approval and review of covert action programs in the modern era	91
7	Harry S. Truman	113
8	Dwight D. Eisenhower	131
9	John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson	151
10	Richard M. Nixon and Gerald R. Ford	167
11	Jimmy Carter	183
12	Ronald W. Reagan	193
13	George H. W. Bush and William J. Clinton	213

Look this: The Move to Community Policing or The Business Case for Enterprise Class Wireless LANs

Laboring to Learn: Women's Literacy and Poverty in the Post-Welfare Era

Author: Lorna Rivera

The American adult education system has become an alternative for school dropouts, with some state welfare policies requiring teen mothers and women without high school diplomas to participate in adult education programs to receive aid. Very little has been published about women’s experiences in these mandatory programs and whether the programs reproduce the conditions that forced women to drop out in the first place. Lorna Rivera bridges the gap with this important study, the product of ten years’ active ethnographic research with formerly homeless women who participated in adult literacy education classes before and after welfare reform. Analyzing the web of ideological contradictions regarding “work first” welfare reform policies, Rivera argues that poverty is produced and reproduced when women with low literacy skills are pushed into welfare-to-work programs and denied education.

One Hour Activist or Come to Think of It

One-Hour Activist: The 15 Most Powerful Actions You Can Take to Fight for the Issues and Candidates You Care About

Author: Christopher Kush

No matter what your political persuasion, The One-Hour Activist is your guide to influencing lawmakers, candidates, and reporters.  The One-Hour Activist reveals fifteen powerful, proven grassroots actions that persuade lawmakers and candidates to see things your way.  Each action is designed to grab the attention of your representatives and build relationships that serve your issues over the long run.  And each action takes less than an hour to complete, so you can make a difference without giving up your life! The One-Hour Activist is packed with insider advice from elected officials, professional organizers, lobbyists, and journalists who share state-of-the-art tips for getting your message across. Real-life examples of effective letters, e-mail, phone calls, public testimony, and news story pitches from concerned citizens just like you illustrate the actions.

Table of Contents:

	Preface	ix
	Acknowledgments	xv
	The Author	xvii
	Introduction: Democracy in Action	xix
Part 1	Gather Information and Strategize	1
Action 1	Learn How Grassroots Advocacy Works	3
Action 2	Pick Your Issues and Your Angle	17
Action 3	Identify Your Representatives	31
Action 4	Join an Interest Group	45
Action 5	Create a Legislative Agenda	53
Action 6	Analyze a Bill	61
Action 7	Conduct Opposition Research	73
Part 2	Contact Your Elected Officials	83
Action 8	Write an Effective Letter	85
Action 9	Send a Powerful E-Mail	97
Action 10	Make a Compelling Phone Call	105
Action 11	Persuade Others to Act	113
Part 3	Get Involved with Elections	119
Action 12	Get Out the Vote	121
Action 13	Contribute Money to Candidates Who Support Your Cause	131
Part 4	Work the News Media	143
Action 14	Start a Press Clippings File	145
Action 15	Write a Letter to the Editor	151
Part 5	Super-Powerful Actions That Take a Little More Time	159
Action 16	Have a Face-to-Face Meeting with Your Representative	161
Action 17	Testify at a Public Hearing	175
Action 18	Participate in a Protest	185
Action 19	Volunteer for a Political Campaign	193
Action 20	Pitch a News Story or Interview	199
	It's Time for Action!	211

New interesting book: Théorie Éthique et Affaires

Come to Think of It: Notes on the Turn of the Millennium

Author: Daniel Schorr

A journey through twenty years of politics with one of the most revered news analysts of our time

Daniel Schorr, an institution at CBS for decades and a twenty-year mainstay of NPR, is a legend in journalism. Come to Think of It is the first selection of Schorr's observations on politics and American life from the years 1990 to the present—a peerless commentary on the history of our time. Schorr's essays reveal him as a master of pithy, get-to-the-point analysis, whether he is calling the Supreme Court's 2000 decision to seat George W. Bush as president a "junta" by a "Gang of Five" or eviscerating a conservative counterpart for belittling F.D.R.'s legacy. Schorr's experience—he has covered the administrations of twelve presidents—gives him an authority and range that permeate every page of Come to Think of It.

Schorr's analyses include insight on:
• The Iraq war in current and historical perspective
• The first Gulf War, Bosnia, North Korea, and Iran
• Executive privilege and misdeeds throughout history
• Healthcare, welfare, and the state of the social contract
• The proliferation of nuclear weapons
• The U.N. report on climate change

As a record of our perilous times and as a cogent primer on the politics of the last two decades, Come to Think of It is an unparalleled record of political analysis. This will be a must-read for the legions of devoted NPR listeners who tune in to hear Daniel Schorr every week and for anyone who wants insight and a historical perspective on the 2008 election.

Winning or Chasing Ghosts

Winning: The Answers: Confronting 74 of the Toughest Questions in Business Today

Author: Jack Welch

In Winning, their 2005 international bestseller, Jack and Suzy Welch created a rare document, both a philosophical treatise on fundamental business practices and a gritty how-to manual, all of it delivered with Jack's trademark candor and can-do optimism. It seemed as if "no other management book," in the words of legendary investor Warren E. Buffett, would "ever be needed."

Instead, Winning uncovered an insatiable thirst to talk about work. Since the book's publication, the Welches have received literally thousands of questions from college students and seasoned professionals alike, on subjects ranging from leadership and global competition to tough bosses and building teamwork. Indeed, questions about virtually every business and career challenge have poured in—some familiar, others surprising, many urgent and probing, and all of them powerfully real.

Winning: The Answers takes on the most relevant of these questions, and in doing so, its candid, hard-hitting responses expand and extend the conversation Jack and Suzy Welch began with Winning. It is a dialogue that is sure to be both compelling and immensely useful to anyone and everyone engaged in the vital work of helping an organization grow and thrive.

New interesting textbook: Topics in Microeconomics or Managing Smart 325 High Performance Tips Every Manager Must Know

Chasing Ghosts: Failures and Facades in Iraq: A Soldier's Perspective

Author: Paul Rieckhoff

The riveting, action-packed true story of the first soldier to challenge the war in Iraq.

As a 1st Lieutenant and Infantry Platoon Leader for the U.S. Army, charged with leading 38 young men in Iraq, Paul Rieckhoff was proud to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, who served during Vietnam and WWII respectively. He and his soldiers spent almost a year in one of the most dangerous and volatile areas of Baghdad. And what they encountered there was chaos: not nearly enough troops, no humanitarian aid, no body armor, no radios, and no real plan for what to do after Baghdad fell.

Rieckhoff was shocked to see that sometimes the greatest challenges his platoon faced did not come from enemy combatants. He saw firsthand the disastrous results of disbanding the Iraqi army, sending thousands of armed, angry, and unemployed men out into the streets. And he saw what happened when we tried to conduct a war on the cheap, by bestowing government contracts to the lowest bidder and sending our military into battle inadequately protected and armed. What followed, over the next ten months, set him on a course that would forever change his life.

When he finally came home from his tour of duty, Rieckhoff vowed to tell Americans the truth about what was going on in Iraq. He demanded accountability from elected officials and was the first Iraq veteran to do so publicly. He created Operation Truth, which grew into IAVA, the first and largest veterans' group specifically for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Through this organization, he has become a leading spokesman for troops, veterans, and their families, and a critical voice in the ongoing debate surrounding this conflict.

What is really happening in Iraq? Should we be there? Should we stay? Rieckhoff is in a unique position to answer these crucial questions. Not only was he on the ground in the heat of battle but he is also on the front lines politically at home. He provides a grunt's-eye view of the harrowing, bloody battles on the streets of Baghdad and a patriot's vision of where America has gone wrong and how it can reset its path.

Washington Post

...his straightforward style comes across as honest and underscores the earnestness of his attempt to wrest back from the Bush administration his cherished conception of America.

Publishers Weekly

An Operation Iraqi Freedom vet and founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), Rieckhoff recounts his journey from National Guard lieutenant to disillusioned patriot in this disappointing combat memoir-cum-polemic. Rieckhoff admits that he thought the reasons for invading Iraq were "bullshit," but volunteered to go anyway. His experiences in Iraq-patrolling the chaotic streets of Baghdad in the months after its occupation-only confirmed his initial judgment that the invasion "was one of the greatest foreign policy mistakes in our nation's history." Rieckhoff is anything but humble. An Amherst grad (as he often interjects), he finds his recruiter repellant-a "slick, fat... Sergeant [who] smelled like a dirty ashtray"- but enlists anyway. President Bush is "arrogant" and "a bully," and Coalition Provisional Authority head Paul Bremer is "ignorant and out-of-touch." Rieckhoff is bipartisan in his contempt: when the Kerry campaign ignores his advice, he dismisses the Democratic presidential candidate as "a calculating and coached politician." Finally, he and a "small band of pissed-off visionaries" founded their own organization, Operation Truth, to get out the word. In the end, Rieckhoff has a story to tell, but he undermines his credibility with his arrogance and petty offside remarks. (May) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Rieckhoff, a lieutenant and infantry platoon leader for the National Guard, starts his chronicle on a civilian 747 bound for Iraq two weeks after the U.S. invasion. He writes his somewhat angry but undeniably proud narrative with the intent to show us the circumstances in Iraq from a soldier's perspective. We see Rieckhoff leading his squad through its complex duties and how he worried about the tide of good will turning on his men. Outdated equipment, a lack of supplies, and little advance training in urban combat or Arab customs cause frustration. Wanting to make changes once he was home, Rieckhoff tried to reach out to both political parties. Although he issued the Democratic response to one of President Bush's radio addresses a year ago, he remains politically independent. He was also instrumental in forming a grassroots organization, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, to support and speak for his fellow veterans. His book is recommended for all public libraries.-Nancy Larrabee, Greenburgh P.L., Elmsford, NY Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

What People Are Saying

Richard Clark
Rieckhoff's rage is the anger of a patriot.

Max Cleland
This book hit me in the gut.... It is full of courage, GI talk, humor and pure patriotism.

Arianna Huffington
A book that all Americans who care about their country should read.

Chuck D
Paul Rieckhoff is a human being of true substance and character.

Gideon Yago
An honest, electric memoir.

Hammer and Hoe or The Federal Budget

Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists During the Great Depression

Author: Robin DG Kelley

Hammer and Hoe documents the efforts of the Alabama Communist Party and its allies to secure racial, economic, and political reforms. Sensitive to the complexities of gender, race, culture, and class without compromising the political narrative, Robin Kelley here illuminates one of the most unique and lest understood radical movements in American History.

Interesting textbook: Managed Care Success or Business in Mexico

The Federal Budget: Politics, Policy, Process

Author: Allen Schick

The federal budget impacts American policies both at home and abroad, and recent concern over the exploding budgetary deficit has experts calling our nation's policies "unsustainable" and "system-dooming." As the deficit continues to grow, will America be fully able to fund its priorities, such as an effective military and looking after its aging population?

In this third edition of his classic book The Federal Budget, Allen Schick examines how surpluses projected during the final years of the Clinton presidency turned into oversized deficits under George W. Bush. In his detailed analysis of the politics and practices surrounding the federal budget, Schick addresses issues such as the collapse of the congressional budgetary process and the threat posed by the termination of discretionary spending caps. This edition updates and expands his assessment of the long-term budgetary outlook, and it concludes with a look at how the nation's deficit will affect America now and in the future.

Booknews

Explains how budgeting works at each stage of executive and legislative action, and assesses the effects of the procedures on budget politics and policies. Analyzes the early years of Clinton's presidency, discusses budgetary actions affecting social issues, and covers revenue legislation, managing federal expenditures, and the appropriations process. Includes a glossary and numerous tables. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Certain Victory or JK Lassers Your Winning Retirement Plan

Certain Victory: The U. S. Army in the Gulf War

Author: Robert Scales

Written in a colorful, readable style, Certain Victory chronicles the Army's remarkable regeneration in the two decades after Vietnam-the foundation of the Desert Storm victory. Each chapter starts with a compelling personal combat story that puts the conflict into human perspective. A "quick read" without military jargon, Certain Victory brings the civilian reader into battle alongside individual soldiers. With a foreword by former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan.

Booknews

The official US Army account of Army performance in the Gulf War, originally published by the Office of the Chief of Staff, US Army, 1993. A highly readable and abundantly illustrated chronicle by Brig. Gen. Scales, who headed the Army's Desert Storm Study Project. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Book review: Perl for System Administration or Microsoft SQL Server 2005

J.K. Lasser's Your Winning Retirement Plan

Author: Henry K Hebeler

AT LAST, SOUND, INFORMED, REALISTIC ANSWERS FOR RETIREMENT FINANCE

Use the simple, step-by-step guidance in J.K. Lasser’s Your Winning Retirement Plan to double your money for your golden years. Whether you’re forecasting how much you need to be saving for retirement or are deciding how much you should be spending once you’re there, acclaimed planning expert Henry K. Hebeler can get you the results you need. You’ll analyze your investments and start getting the highest possible returns––with the least amount of risk; take a real-world look at your total financial picture, without inappropriate planning assumptions; and make use of a new concept called the Retirement Autopilot, which can help you budget more wisely today and ensure that your investments will last a lifetime.

Key coverage will help you:

• Beat reverse dollar-cost averaging so your money will continue to grow
• Make use of modern feedback theory to secure your finances today––as well as tomorrow
• Find solutions to different retirement scenarios, including early retirement and when only one spouse is retired

Booknews

Retirement consultant Hebeler presents a do-it-yourself guide on planning for retirement. Concepts discussed include financial planning, life expectancy, inflation, types of investments, return on investments, preretirement planning, early retirement, estate planning, and spending in retirement. The text is accompanied by forms and worksheets. The volume does not include bibliographical references. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgments
Author's Note
Introduction
The Realities of Financial Planning
Some Fundamental Planning Facts
Investments
Return on Investments
Preretirement Planning
Spending in Retirement
Postscript
Appendix A: Hard-to-Value Investments
Appendix B: Technical Notes
Appendix C: Forms for Your Own Calculations
Appendix D: Glossary
Index.

Critical Condition or La traves a de Enrique

Critical Condition: How Health Care in America Became Big Business--and Bad Medicine

Author: Donald L Barlett

Exposing the most controversial, little-known practices of America’s most flawed system, Time magazine’s Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative team pulls back the curtain on the health care industry to explain exactly how things grew so out of control.

Dirty examination and operating rooms in doctor’s offices and hospitals . . . Health care executives pulling in millions in bonuses for denying treatment to the sick . . . More than 100 million people with inadequate or no medical coverage . . . This may sound like the predicament of a third-world nation, but this is America’s health care reality today. The U.S. spends more on health care than any other nation, yet our benefits are shrinking and life expectancy is shorter here than in countries that spend significantly less per capita. Meanwhile, HMOs, pharmaceutical companies, and hospital chains reap tremendous profits, while politicians—beholden to insurers and drug companies—enact legislation for the benefit of the few rather than the many, while the entire system is on the verge of collapse.

In Critical Condition, award-winning investigative journalists Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele expose the horror of what health care in America has become. They profile patients and doctors trapped by the system and offer startling personal stories that illuminate what’s gone wrong. Doctors tell of being second-guessed and undermined by health care insurers; nurses recount chilling tales of hospital meltdowns; patients explain how they’ve been victimized by a system that is meant to care for them. Drug companies profit by selling pills in the same mannerthat Madison Avenue sells soap, while Wall Street rakes in billions by building up and then tearing down health care businesses. And politicians pass legislation perpetuating the injustices and out-right fraud the system encourages.

By analyzing the industry and offering an insightful prescription for getting it back on the right track, Critical Condition is an enormously compelling investigative work that addresses the concerns of every American.

The Washington Post - Jerome P. Kassirer

Barlett and Steele diagnose the quality of American health care as second-rate "bad medicine." True, America's life expectancy trails that of many other countries, and on the World Health Organization's "healthy living" scale, the world's wealthiest country ranks 29th (behind Croatia!). But many of the examples in Critical Condition are sensational, high-profile cases of gross errors in small for-profit hospitals. Many doctors who work in academic medical centers would argue that their patients get quite good day-to-day care.

Publishers Weekly

Bestselling investigative journalists Barlett and Steele (America: What Went Wrong?) deliver a devastating indictment, supported by excellent research, of a health-care system that they say is failing to provide first-rate services to its citizens, 44 million of whom are without insurance. According to these Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters, now with Time magazine, the U.S. compares poorly with other Westernized nations in delivering quality care and a healthy life expectancy, and preventing infant mortality. Per capita health-care spending continues to exceed the amount spent by many other countries, the authors say, because one out of every three U.S. dollars pays for administrative costs. The authors also present case histories of patients, some with life-threatening conditions, who were ignored by bureaucratic HMOs that put profit first. Barlett and Steele describe how health care first became driven by profits on Wall Street during the Reagan administration. Competing insurance plans, they say, led not to better choices for consumers, but to physicians who are prevented by insurers from prescribing needed treatments; a severe shortage of nurses; and unsafe hospitals where staff shortages and unsanitary conditions result from cost-cutting. The authors, who strongly advocate a single payer plan, successfully depict a health-care system in crisis. Agent, Andrew Wylie. (On sale Oct. 5) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Doctors overruled by HMOs. Big hospitals lacking basic supplies. Two investigative reporters let us know how sick our healthcare system really is. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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La travesнa de Enrique

Author: Sonia Nazario

En esta asombrosa historia real, la galardonada periodista Sonia Nazario relata la inolvidable odisea de un nino hondureno que enfrenta penurias y peligros para reunirse con su madre en los Estados Unidos.

Cuando Enrique tiene cinco anos, su madre, Lourdes, se marcha de Honduras para trabajar en los Estados Unidos. Esto le permite enviarle dinero a Enrique para que pueda comer mejor y asistir a la escuela mas alla del tercer grado.
Lourdes le promete a su hijo que regresara pronto, pero en los Estados Unidos las cosas no son faciles. Transcurren once anos. A Enrique lo desespera pensar que no volvera a ver a su madre, y se lanza solo en su busca desde Tegucigalpa con poco mas que un pedazo de papel donde ha escrito el numero telefonico de su madre en Carolina del Norte. Sin dinero, hara una travesia peligrosa e ilegal a lo largo de Mexico de la unica forma que puede: encaramado en los costados y en los techos de los trenes de carga.
Con recia determinacion y profundo anhelo, Enrique atraviesa mundos hostiles y desconocidos eludiendo pandilleros que controlan los techos de los trenes, bandidos despiadados y policias corruptos que solo quieren robarle lo que tiene y deportarlo. Enrique avanza a fuerza de ingenio, coraje, y esperanza-y tambien gracias a la bondad de los desconocidos. Es una travesia epica que hacen miles de ninos inmigrantes todos los anos para encontrarse con sus madres en los Estados Unidos.
Basado en la serie publicada por el periodico Los Angeles Times que gano dos premios Pulitzer-uno por el reportaje, el otro por la fotografia-La Travesia de Enrique es una historia para todos los tiempos sobre familias desgarradas por la separacion, sobre el anhelode volver a estar juntos y sobre un nino que arriesgara su vida para reencontrarse con la madre que ama.

Table of Contents:

	Mapa: La Travesia De Enrique: De Tegucigalpa A Nuevo Laredo	iv
	Prologo	vii
1	El Nino Que Quedo Atras	3
2	En Busca De Piedad	49
3	Ante La Bestia	67
4	Dadivas Y Fe	111
5	En La Frontera	151
6	Un Rio Oscuro, Quiza Una Nueva Vida	199
7	La Nina Que Quedo Atras	219
	Epilogo: Mujeres, Ninos Y El Debate Sobre La Inmigracion	267
	Notas	291
	Agradecimientos	321