Search:

The information trade : how big tech conquers countries, challenges our rights, and transforms our world / by Wichowski, Alexis,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."In this eye-opening, must-read book, a political insider and tech expert explains what's at stake for our tech-enabled lives-and what we can do about it. Neither an industry apologist nor irrational fearmonger, Alexis Wichowski considers the unchecked rise of tech giants like Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Tesla-what she calls "net states"-and their growing and unavoidable influence in our lives. Combining original reporting, extensive research, and interviews with technology and government insiders, including Microsoft president Brad Smith, Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and the world's first ambassador to Silicon Valley, Alexis Wichowski explores what happens when we cede our power to tech giants, willingly trading our personal freedom and individual autonomy for an easy, plugged-in existence. Written for the tech-savvy and tech-phobic alike, The Information Trade lays out how net states are conquering countries, challenging our rights, and transforming our future. Most importantly, it shows what we can do to control our relationship with net states before they irreversibly alter how we are governed, how we think, how we act, and how we live"--
Subjects: Freedom of information; Information services industry; Internet industry;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Blood money : the story of life, death, and profit inside America's blood industry / by McLaughlin, Kathleen(Journalist),author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Bad Blood meets Dreamland in this kaleidoscopic investigation into the shadowy and vampiric blood business and the dangerous limits of demand for the crucial resource that runs through our very veins. Every year, about twenty million Americans sell blood plasma for cash in a barely regulated market dominated by private industry and off-the-grid trafficking. These commercial efforts prey on an insatiable market for medical and scientific innovation fed from the veins of some of the country's most marginalized communities, such as undocumented immigrants and residents of poverty-stricken Flint, Michigan. We are often told that "blood donations" are used to save lives, but blood plasma, a component of whole blood, has become a precious commercial good. Blood plasma is collected and marketed by private industry, with the United States one of just five nations on the planet that have not yet banned the practice of pay-for-plasma giving. This precious resource is used for everything from expensive and unproven age-reversing treatments to costly and experimental cures for novel diseases like COVID-19. Based on a cross-country investigation into the plasma-giving capitals of the country, in-depth research into the blood industry, and her personal experience as a beneficiary of plasma-derived treatment for a rare condition, Kathleen McLaughlin's Blood Money reveals the underhanded machinations and unbalanced power structures of the blood industry. Taking us from China's blood black market to Silicon Valley's shadowy tech startups, this is an unforgettable inside look at an industry many of us had no idea even existed. Blood Money is an electrifying exposé that demonstrates the shadowy overlap between big medicine and big business and paints a searing portrait of the extent to which American industry feeds on the country's most vulnerable"--
Subjects: Blood banks; Blood products;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

A matter of taste : a farmers' market devotee's semi-reluctant argument for inviting scientific innovation to the dinner table / by Tucker, Rebecca,1986-author.;
Includes bibliographical references."How did farmers' markets, nose-to-tail, locavorism, organic eating, CSAs, whole foods, and Whole Foods become synonymous with 'good food'? And are these practices really producing food that is morally, environmentally, or economically sustainable? Rebecca Tucker's compelling, reported argument shows that we must work to undo the moral coding that we use to interpret how we come by what we put on our plates. She investigates not only the danger of the accepted rhetoric, but the innovative work happening on farms and university campuses to create a future where nutritious food is climate-change resilient, hardy enough to grow season after season, and, most importantly, available to all ? not just those willing or able to fork over the small fortune required for a perfect heirloom tomato. Tucker argues that arriving at that future will require a broad cognitive shift away from the idea that farmer's markets, community gardens, and organic food production is the only sustainable way forward; more than that, it will require the commitment of research firms, governments, corporations, and postsecondary institutions to develop and implement agri-science innovations that do more than improve the bottom line. A Matter of Taste asks us to rethink what good food really is."--
Subjects: Food supply.; Food industry and trade; Food industry and trade; Sustainable agriculture; Sustainable agriculture; Agricultural innovations.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Into the weeds [videorecording] / by Baichwal, Jennifer,film director.; Film Movement (Firm),publisher.;
Dewayne "Lee" Johnson.Does the most widely used weed killer in the world cause cancer? Into the Weeds: Dewayne "Lee" Johnson vs. Monsanto Company follows the story of groundskeeper Lee Johnson and his fight for justice against agrichemical giant Monsanto (now Bayer, which bought the company in 2018), the manufacturer of the weed killer, Roundup. In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a branch of the World Health Organization, classified glyphosate - the active ingredient in Roundup as "probably carcinogenic to humans." A year later, Lee Johnson filed a lawsuit claiming that Ranger Pro, a commercial-grade variant of Roundup, was a substantial contributing factor in causing his non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Johnsons was the first 'bellwether' case in a mass tort against Monsanto involving tens of thousands of plaintiffs. Blending interviews, trial footage, news coverage, and verite, the film follows the progression of this groundbreaking trial, while also telescoping out to understand both the ubiquity of use and its global repercussions.E.Closed-captioned for the hearing impaired.DVD ; wide screen presentation ; 5.1 surround sound, 2.0 stereophonic.
Subjects: Biographical films.; Video recordings for the hearing impaired.; Documentary films.; Nonfiction films.; Personal narratives.; Monsanto Chemical Company; Agricultural chemicals industry; Agricultural chemicals industry; Cancer; Glyphosate; Lymphomas; Glyphosate; Herbicides; Herbicides; Trials (Products liability); Tort liability of corporations;
For private home use only.
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Catch a Fire The Blaze and Bust of the Canadian Cannabis Industry [electronic resource] : by Kaplan, Ben.aut; cloudLibrary;
“Sharply observed, fiercely researched, starkly revealing, written with wit, verve, and insight, making room for the tragic ironies without ever taking its eyes off the comic ones, Catch a Fire left me shaking with laughter — when I wasn’t shaking my head in dismay.” — MICHAEL CHABON The untold story of the $131-billion Canadian cannabis blow out. Canopy Growth founder Bruce Linton didn’t invent marijuana, but he figured out how to turn a Canadian start-up selling the stuff into a $22 billion international buzz. Catch a Fire goes behind the scenes of Justin Trudeau’s legalization gambit and the stoned pioneering lawyers who helped make weed gummies more valuable than U.S. Steel. From the dope dealers of the 1960s to the never-before-told bribery accusations during Covid-19, cannabis historian Ben Kaplan speaks with the dealers, stealers, and renegade freaks who made and then lost money with the combined chutzpah of Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Sam Bankman-Fried. This is the definitive history of a massive societal change — and a great boom and bust.General adult.
Subjects: Electronic books.; Corporate & Business History; Business; Agribusiness;
© 2025., Dundurn Press,
unAPI

The power of teamwork : how we can all work better together / by Goldman, Brian,author.;
"New from the bestselling author of The Power of Kindness and host of CBC Radio's White Coat, Black Art. In the high-pressure and complex setting of healthcare, a new approach to teamwork is leading to healthy patients, happier staff and more efficient operations. Healthcare's embracing of a new teamwork model has gotten noticed by people well outside the world of medicine, so doctors are going outside the walls of the hospital to teach manufacturers, business owners, franchisees, customer and social services and even the worlds of sports and entertainment to do better by shifting the culture from "me" to "we." Drawing on groundbreaking research and examples from around the world, The Power of Teamwork shows how the team approach from medicine can improve customer service and help women break the glass ceiling. It can solidify the providing of social services to troubled youth. It can boost the efficiency and safety of the military and critical industrial complexes like nuclear power plants. It can even make professional sports teams perform better."--
Subjects: Health care teams.; Teams in the workplace.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

Data cartels : the companies that control and monopolize our information / by Lamdan, Sarah,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."In our digital world, data is power, and information hoarders reign supreme. The practices of these digital pillagers are analogous to those of cartels--they use intimidation, aggression, and force to maintain control and power. Sarah Lamdan brings us into the unregulated underworld of the "data cartels," demonstrating how the entities mining, hoarding, commodifying, and selling our data and informational resources perpetuate social inequalities and threaten the democratic sharing of knowledge. The companies at the center of this book are not household names like Google. They fly under the radar and self-identify as "data analytics" or "business solutions" operations. These companies supply the digital lifeblood that flow through the circulatory system of the internet. With their control over data, they can prevent the free flow of information to places where it is needed, and simultaneously distribute private information to predatory entities. Just a few companies dominate most of our critical informational resources, from scientific research and financial data to the law. They are also data brokers, selling our personal data to law enforcement and other government agencies that determine whether we should be eligible for social services, and they sell "risk" products that insurance companies, employers, landlords, and healthcare systems use to make decisions. Alarmingly, everything they're doing is perfectly legal. Ranging from small information firms to billion-dollar data giants like Thomson Reuters and RELX Group, these companies masterfully exploit outdated information and privacy laws, curating online information in a way that amplifies digital racism and targets marginalized communities. In this book, Lamdan contends that privatization and tech exceptionalism have prevented us from creating effective legal regulation. Lack of legal intervention has allowed oversized information oligopolies to coalesce. In addition to specific legal and market-based solutions, Lamdan calls for treating information like a public good and creating digital infrastructure that supports our democratic ideals"--
Subjects: Antitrust law; Cartels; Data protection; Freedom of information; Information services industry; Information services industry;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

The war against viruses : how the science of optimal nutrition can help you win / by Burford-Mason, Alison,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."In March 2020, the World Health Organization designated the influenza virus COVID-19 a pandemic. Dr. Aileen Burford-Mason's new book, The War Against Viruses, explains how we can help reduce the risk and severity of COVID-19 infection. But it goes beyond this, showing how staying well in general, and avoiding winter colds and flus in particular, is possible with optimal nutrition. When operating efficiently, the immune system represents biological teamwork at its best: a symphony of protective cells and biomolecules acting together to rapidly recognize potentially harmful microbes and eliminate them. The orchestration of this complex system depends on a continuous and ample supply of essential components--vitamins, minerals, beneficial fats and other nutrients--to function properly. But a growing body of research shows that the nutritional content of our food has sharply declined over the course of the last century. As the use of high-yield industrial farming practices has increased, so the nutritional content has decreased. The War Against Viruses shows how without a rounded intake of essential nutrients our immune response may be compromised, especially during emergencies. The book provides evidence-based advice on how to recognize gaps in our nutritional arsenal. Dr. Burford-Mason creates a personal supplement regime that can overcome potential dietary shortfalls by strengthening our immune response to infection, thus helping to reduce the potential for lethal illness."-- Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Dietary supplements.; Immune system.; Immunity; Orthomolecular therapy.; Virus diseases.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

The signature of all things / by Gilbert, Elizabeth,1969-;
"Spanning much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the novel follows the fortunes of the extraordinary Whittaker family as led by the enterprising Henry Whittaker--a poor-born Englishman who makes a great fortune in the South American quinine trade, eventually becoming the richest man in Philadelphia. Born in 1800, Henry's brilliant daughter, Alma (who inherits both her father's money and his mind), ultimately becomes a botanist of considerable gifts herself. As Alma's research takes her deeper into the mysteries of evolution, she falls in love with a man named Ambrose Pike who makes incomparable paintings of orchids and who draws her in the exact opposite direction--into the realm of the spiritual, the divine, and the magical. Alma is a clear-minded scientist; Ambrose a utopian artist--but what unites this unlikely couple is a desperate need to understand the workings of this world and the mechanisms behind all life. he story is peopled with unforgettable characters: missionaries, abolitionists, adventurers, astronomers, sea captains, geniuses, and the quite mad. But most memorable of all, it is the story of Alma Whittaker, who--born in the Age of Enlightenment, but living well into the Industrial Revolution--bears witness to that extraordinary moment in human history when all the old assumptions about science, religion, commerce, and class were exploding into dangerous new ideas"--Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Enlightenment; Industrial revolution; Painters; Women botanists;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI

The old enemy / by Porter, Henry,1953-author.;
"In this soaring third installment in internationally bestselling author Henry Porter's "timely and terrific" (Mick Herron) Firefly series, former MI6 agent Paul Samson must dodge several attempts on his own life in order to expose a shadowy and dangerous enemy of western democracy. Paul Samson is working for a private security company in London, tailing a mysterious and gifted young employee of a powerful environmental NGO when he is almost killed by a thuggish assassin. Simultaneously, legendary spy Robert Harland is murdered in Estonia and billionaire philanthropist Denis Hisami is poisoned with a neurotoxin while testifying before Congress. A second attempt on Samson's life sends him on the run to Estonia to figure out who is trying to kill him, and why. Soon it becomes clear that Hisami and Harland were running an investigation into a spectral former Stasi agent and her sprawling network of assets across industry and government in the US and the UK when they were attacked. Samson and Hisami's wife Anastasia must tap into their research and expose the spymaster before any more people are killed or agencies compromised. An astonishing and timely thriller examining the penetration of Russian assets into all levels of western life, The Old Enemy is a complex, breathtaking race against time from a master of the genre"--
Subjects: Spy fiction.; Thrillers (Fiction); Assassination; Billionaires; Man-woman relationships; Philanthropists; Private investigators; Revenge;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
unAPI