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Days of fire : Bush and Cheney in the White House / by Baker, Peter,1967-;
Includes bibliographical references and index."From the senior White House correspondent for The New York Times comes the definitive history of the Bush and Cheney White House. Taking readers into the offices of the West Wing and the cabins of Air Force One, Peter Baker tells the gripping inside story of the Bush and Cheney era. Theirs was the most fascinating American partnership since Nixon and Kissinger, an untested president and his seasoned vice president confronted by one crisis after another as they struggled to protect the country, remake the world, and define their own relationship along the way. Packed with revealing anecdotes and told with in-the-room immediacy, Days of Fire narrates two profoundly significant and conflicted terms marked by 9/11, Iraq, Katrina, jihad, nuclear proliferation, genocide, and economic collapse. George W. Bush was one of the most polarizing presidents of our time, jettisoning decades of foreign policy pragmatism to redefine America's mission as a crusade to bring freedom to the world. Yet his early dream of transforming Republicans into the party of "compassionate conservatism" and building an "ownership society" were dashed by two consuming wars and a devastating financial crash. At his side was Dick Cheney, the trusted adviser who became the most influential vice president in history only to watch as Bush drifted away, leaving the two at odds over a wide array of fundamental issues. Baker's interviews with more than two hundred players--White House aides, cabinet secretaries, generals, senators and congressmen, relatives and friends of both men--help reveal the truth of their complicated and shifting relationship. Days of Fire is the first book to capture in a truly defining way all eight years of the most consequential presidency in a generation"--Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Bush, George W. (George Walker), 1946-; Cheney, Richard B.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Heist by Causey, Frances,filmmaker; Goldmacher, Donald,filmmaker; Donald Goldmacher (Firm),dst; Kanopy (Firm),dst;
Bernie Sanders, Van Jones, David Cay Johnson, Nomi Prins, Robert Crandall, Robert KuttnerOriginally produced by Donald Goldmacher in 2011.This investigative documentary reveals how American corporations orchestrated the dismantling of middle-class prosperity through rampant deregulation, the outsourcing of jobs, and tax policies favoring businesses and the wealthy. HEIST exposes the roots of the American economic crisis and the destruction of the American dream.. The collapse of the U.S. economy is the result of conscious choices made over thirty five years by a small group: leaders of corporations and their elected allies, and the biggest lobbying interest in Washington, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. To these individuals, the collapse is not a catastrophe, but rather the planned outcome of their long, patient work. For the rest of the country, it is merely the biggest heist in American history.. "(HEIST) has the virtue of taking the long view of a crisis that recent films like INSIDE JOB and TOO BIG TO FAIL have only sketchily explored. It makes a strong case that government regulation of business is essential for democracy to flourish." — Stephen Holden, The New York Times. "Wherever one's politics fall on the spectrum, there is much in here — such as a maddening video Filmclip in which an American law firm offers counsel on how to avoid hiring American workers — likely to give one pause." — Mindy Farabee, L.A. TimesMode of access: World Wide Web.
Subjects: North American Studies; Documentary films. ; Globalization; Politics;
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A history of the world in six plagues : how contagion, class, and captivity shaped us, from Cholera to COVID-19 / by Bonhomme, Edna,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Epidemic diseases enter the world by chance, but they become catastrophic by human design. With clear-eyed research and lush prose, A History of the World in Six Plagues shows that throughout history, outbreaks of disease have been exacerbated by and gone on to further expand the racial, economic, and sociopolitical divides we allow to fester in times of good health. Princeton-trained historian Edna Bonhomme's examination of humanity's disastrous treatment of pandemic disease takes us across place and time from Port-au-Prince to Tanzania, and from plantation-era America to our modern COVID-19-scarred world to unravel shocking truths about the patterns of discrimination in the face of disease. Based on in-depth research and cultural analysis, Bonhomme explores Cholera, HIV/AIDS, the Spanish Flu, Sleeping Sickness, Ebola, and COVID-19 amidst the backdrop of unequal public policy. But much more than a remarkable history, A History of the World in Six Plagues is also a rising call for change"--
Subjects: Communicable diseases; Diseases and history.; Epidemics; Plague;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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2020 : one city, seven people, and the year everything changed / by Klinenberg, Eric,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Crisis has a way of laying bare our truest selves: who we trust, which principles and impulses we heed, whose lives we deem expendable. As it ravaged millions of lives, the Covid-19 pandemic revealed and accentuated the dividing lines that had already, for decades, splintered American public life. Against the backdrop of the 2020 presidential election, misinformation regimes, and the transformation of the facemask into a flagrant political symbol, acclaimed sociologist Eric Klinenberg takes careful inventory of how the U.S. and other nations handled the extraordinary challenges of that seminal year. Any autopsy searches for causes, and in this book, Klinenberg uses seven people's piercingly vivid reflections to examine how communities across the globe reckoned with the profound tragedy and loss of 2020-and how they built networks of solidarity in an attempt to survive. We move from the gross negligence in Canadian for-profit nursing homes, to England's gradualist approach to instating robust Covid safety protocols, to early policy innovations in Australia, South Korea, and Taiwan, which dramatically curtailed the virus' spread. According to Klinenberg, our capacity to bear witness to the rampant failures and successful models of resilience of 2020 will help shape our responses to the escalating climate emergency, the ongoing fight for racial justice, and widening global economic disparities. This book is both mirror and roadmap-a reflection of the social divisions that plague our world and a set of principles for how we might approach the next global catastrophe differently"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-; Equality; Presidents; Social history;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The big fix : how companies capture markets and harm Canadians / by Hearn, Denise,1986-author.; Bednar, Vass,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."More and more of the Canadian economy is dominated by a handful of huge companies that control what we buy, how we work, and which other businesses can or can't thrive. Beyond the obvious examples of airlines, telcos, grocery chains, and banks, The Big Fix: How Companies Capture Markets and Harm Canadians shows how corporate concentration is growing across many industries, leading to higher prices for consumers, lower worker's wages, more inequality, fewer startups, less innovation, and lower growth and productivity. In this galvanizing book, Hearn and Bednar show how companies perpetuate the illusion of rivalry to disguise their dominance, and how they've shifted from competing within industries to accumulating assets across industries, further entrenching their power. The authors coach readers on how to think about competition, how markets are made and remade, and how the right set of attitudes and policies reduce corporate power and rebalance it throughout the economy. The future of Canada's economy is up for grabs, and The Big Fix shows how the country can achieve a more innovative, productive, and livable economy for all Canadians."--
Subjects: Competition; Corporate power; Corporations; Corporations;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The Weimar years : rise and fall 1918-1933 / by McDonough, Frank,1957-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.Established in 1918-19, in the wake of Germany's catastrophic defeat in the First World War and the revolution that followed swiftly on its heels, the Weimar Republic ushered in widespread social reform, a radical cultural flowering and the most democratic conditions the German people had ever known. At its beginning, Weimar held out the hope that democracy, stability and prosperity would take root in Germany, but it was beset by frequent changes of government, waves of economic upheaval and spasms of violence of increasing intensity between the forces of left and right. Agitation and assassination by right-wing nationalists -- enraged by the severity of the Treaty of Versailles and the acceptance of its terms by liberal German politicians -- formed a threatening descant to the conciliatory efforts of successive coalition governments. Ultimately, the instabilities of Weimar would lead to the appointment as German Chancellor of the Nazi Fuhrer Adolf Hitler, who created a one-party dictatorship that abandoned the rule of law, democracy and civil rights. In the words of Gustav Stresemann, Germany's Nobel Peace Prize-winning Foreign Minister from 1923 to 1929, Weimar democracy was 'dancing on a volcano'. The Weimar Years is a vivid and compelling narrative of a dramatic period in German history. Year by year, from 1918 to 1933, Frank McDonough covers the major events in both domestic and foreign policy and the personalities who shaped them, together with developments in music, art, theatre and literature. McDonough places particular focus on the parliamentary history of Weimar, arguing that it was the failure of parliamentary democracy to bring stability that eroded public confidence and allowed the power of the elected Reichstag to gradually diminish, culminating in Hitler's accession to power in January 1933. The Weimar Years is the tragic story of a rise and fall, as well as a warning of how, under poor leadership, economic pressure and unrelenting political volatility, a democracy can drift towards a form of authoritarian rule that eventually destroys it.
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Sun power : how energy from the sun is changing lives around the world, empowering America, and saving the planet / by Williams, Neville,1943-;
Includes bibliographical references and index."America is on the brink of an energy revolution that can save the planet, and increase peace and prosperity, by harnessing the unlimited power of the sun. After decades of promise, the technology now exists to replace our dangerous addiction to fossil fuels with cheap, clean solar energy. Neville Williams has been on the leading edge of this revolution for decades and knows from firsthand experience how sun power can transform lives and communities for the better. He has traveled the globe bringing solar-generated electricity to struggling communities throughout Asia, Africa, India, and the developing world. From isolated villages high in the mountains of Nepal to remote settlements in South Africa, Williams has worked to bring sun power to even the most off-the-grid reaches of the planet. He has brought that knowledge and experience back to America where he founded one of the country's fastest growing solar companies. If millions of poor families in the Third World can get their power from the sun, why can't Americans concerned with their rising power bills, dependence on foreign oil, and carbon footprints do the same? The answer is that sun power is here, it works, and can light up a new era of economic and environmental security--if we have the will to seize this historic opportunity. This book is not about predictions or promises. It's about what's happening now, all over the world, and what still needs to done"--Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Williams, Neville, 1943-; Photovoltaic power generation; Photovoltaic power generation; Solar energy industries; Solar energy industries; Solar energy industries.; Solar energy;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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On fire : the burning case for a green new deal / by Klein, Naomi,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."For more than twenty years, Naomi Klein has been the foremost chronicler of the economic war waged on both people and planet--and the champion of a sweeping environmental agenda with stability and justice at its center. In lucid dispatches from the frontlines--from the ghostly Great Barrier Reef, to the annual smoke-choked skies of the Pacific Northwest, to post-hurricane Puerto Rico, to a Vatican attempting an unprecedented "ecological conversion"--she has penned surging, indispensable lectures and essays for a wide public, with prescient, clarifying information about the future that awaits us and our children if we stick our heads in the sand. They show Klein at her most thoughtful, tracing the evolution of the climate crisis as the key issue of our time, not only as an immediate political challenge but as a spiritual and imaginative one too. Delving into topics ranging from the clash between ecological time and our culture of "perpetual now," to the soaring history of humans' ability to change rapidly in the face of grave threat, to rising white supremacy and fortressed borders as a form of "climate barbarism," this is a rousing call to action for a planet on the brink. Above all, she underscores how we can still rise to the existential challenge of the crisis if we are willing to transform our systems that are producing it, making clear how the battle for a greener world is indistinguishable from the fight for our lives. On Fire is a critical book: it captures the burning urgency of this moment, the fiery energy of a rising movement demanding change now, and lays out an inspiring vision for a sustainable future."--
Subjects: Human ecology.; Climatic changes.; Social change.; Sustainable living.; Environmental justice.; Environmental policy.; Political culture.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Could it happen here? : Canada in the age of Trump and Brexit / by Adams, Michael,1946 Sept. 29-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."From award-winning author Michael Adams, Could It Happen Here? draws on groundbreaking new social research to show whether Canadian society is at risk of the populist forces afflicting the rest of the world. In vote after shocking vote, Western publics have pushed their anger to the top of their countries' political agendas. The votes have varied in their particulars, but their unifying feature has been rejection of moderation, incrementalism, and the status quo. Britons opted to leave the European Union. Americans elected Donald Trump. Far-right, populist politicians channeling anger at out-of-touch "elites" are gaining ground across Europe. Amid this roiling international scene, Canada appears placid, at least on its surface. As other societies retrench, the international media have taken notice of Canada's welcome of Syrian refugees, its half-female federal cabinet, its acceptance of climate science and mixed efforts to limit its emissions, the absence of a prominent hard-right ethno-nationalist movement. After a year in power, the centrist federal government continues to enjoy majority approval, suggesting an electorate not as bitterly split as the ones to the south or in Europe. As sceptics point out, however, Brexit and a Trump presidency were unthinkable until they happened. Could it be that Canada is not immune to the same forces of populism, social fracture, and backlash that have afflicted other parts? Our largest and most cosmopolitan city elected Rob Ford. Conservative Party leadership hopeful Kellie Leitch proposes a Canadian test for immigrants and has called the Trump victory "exciting." Anti-tax demonstrators in Alberta chanted "lock her up" in reference to Premier Rachel Notley, an elected leader accused of no wrongdoing, only policy positions the protesters disliked. In Could It Happen Here?, pollster and social values researcher Michael Adams takes Canadians into the examining room to see whether we are at risk of coming down with the malaise affecting other Western democracies. Drawing on major social values surveys of Canadians and Americans in 2016--as well as decades of tracking data in both countries--Adams examines our economy, institutions, and demographics to answer the question: could it happen here?"--
Subjects: Demographic surveys; Populism; Social prediction; Social surveys; Social values;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Autocracy, Inc. : the dictators who want to run the world / by Applebaum, Anne,1964-author.;
Includes bibliographical references."From the Pulitzer-prize winning, New York Times bestselling author, an alarming account of how autocracies work together to undermine the democratic world, and how we should organize to defeat them. We think we know what an autocratic state looks like: There is an all-powerful leader at the top. He controls the police. The police threaten the people with violence. There are evil collaborators, and maybe some brave dissidents. But in the 21st century, that bears little resemblance to reality. Nowadays, autocracies are underpinned not by one dictator, but by sophisticated networks composed of kleptocratic financial structures, surveillance technologies, and professional propagandists, all of which operate across multiple regimes, from China to Russia to Iran. Corrupt companies in one country do business with corrupt companies in another. The police in one country can arm and train the police in another, and propagandists share resources and themes, pounding home the same messages about the weakness of democracy and the evil of America. International condemnation and economic sanctions cannot move the autocrats. Even popular opposition movements, from Venezuela to Hong Kong to Moscow, don't stand a chance. The members of Autocracy, Inc, aren't linked by a unifying ideology, like communism, but rather a common desire for power, wealth, and impunity. In this urgent treatise, which evokes George Kennan's essay calling for "containment" of the Soviet Union, Anne Applebaum calls for the democracies to fundamentally reorient their policies to fight a new kind of threat"--
Subjects: Democracy.; Dictatorship.; Political corruption.; Power (Social sciences);
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Results 51 to 60 of 66 | « previous |