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Mediocre : the dangerous legacy of white male America / by Oluo, Ijeoma,author.;
Includes bibliographical references (pages 283-306) and index."In her new book, rather than tear down the statues of certain white men, Ijeoma Oluo casts her eye on the long view of a nation that, as a whole, has built a dominant identity for white men. Her book challenges what we value most in America, during a tumultuous time of upheaval as we painfully strive toward a more perfect union. With her signature sharp wit, Oluo exposes how white male identity not only blatantly marks our divided culture today, from presidential politics to popular culture, but it is insidiously embedded even in the history of apparent progress, from women entering the workforce, to rising access to higher education, to the work of white civil rights advocates and male feminists. Oluo relates the glorification of White male aggression behind Western Expansion, the disdain of women workers strengthening the Great Depression, the fear of racial integration driving the Great Migration, and more examples of how White male America was forged and reinforced-at a devastating cost. Far from arguing that all white men are mediocre, Oluo instead challenges a national narrative that for generations has defined success exclusively around white men. Status for white men is granted only in relation to others, and is separated from actual achievement. This is not a benign mediocrity; it is brutal for everyone who is erased. Deeply researched, passionate, and revelatory, Oluo's Mediocre argues that if we wish to move beyond the rancorous politics where only white men are created equal, if we wish to write better stories for the next generation of Americans, we first need upend everything we thought we knew about our founding stories"--
Subjects: Male domination (Social structure); Men, White;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Yours cruelly, Elvira : memoirs of the mistress of the dark / by Peterson, Cassandra,1951-author.;
"The woman behind the icon known as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, the undisputed Queen of Halloween, reveals her full story, filled with intimate bombshells, told by the bombshell herself. On Good Friday in 1953, at only 18 months old, 25 miles from the nearest hospital in Manhattan, Kansas, Cassandra Peterson reached for a pot on the stove and doused herself in boiling water. Third-degree burns covered 35% of her body, and the prognosis wasn't good. But she survived. Burned and scarred, the impact stayed with her and became an obstacle she was determined to overcome. Feeling like a misfit led to her love of horror. Due to a complicated relationship with her mother, Cassandra left home at 14, and by age 17 she was performing at the famed Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas. Run-ins with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Tom Jones helped her grow up fast. Then a chance encounter with her idol Elvis Presley, changed the course of her life forever, and led her to Europe where she worked in film and traveled Italy as lead singer of an Italian pop band. She eventually made her way to Los Angeles, where she joined the famed comedy improv troupe, The Groundlings, and worked alongside Phil Hartman and Paul "Pee-wee" Reubens, honing her comedic skills. Nearing age 30, a struggling actress considered past her prime, she auditioned at local LA channel KHJ as hostess for the late night vintage horror movies. Cassandra improvised, made the role her own, and got the job on the spot. Yours Cruelly, Elvira is an unforgettably wild memoir. Always original and sometimes outrageous, her story is loaded with twists, travails, revelry, and downright shocking experiences. It is the candid, often funny, and sometimes heart-breaking tale of a Midwest farm girl's long strange trip to become the world's sexiest, sassiest Halloween icon"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Elvira, 1951-; Actors; Television personalities;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Morning after the revolution : dispatches from the wrong side of history / by Bowles, Nellie,author.;
"As a card-carrying lesbian, Hillary voter, and New York Times reporter, Nellie Bowles fit right in with her San Francisco neighbors and friends -- until she started questioning whether the progressive movement she knew and loved actually helped people. Gently informed that asking these questions meant she was "on the wrong side of history," Bowles did what any reporter worth her salt would do: she started investigating for herself. The answers she found were stranger -- and funnier -- than she'd expected. In Morning After the Revolution, Bowles gives readers a front-row seat to the absurd drama of a political movement gone mad. With irreverent accounts of attending Robin DiAngelo's multi-day course on "The Toxic Trends of Whiteness," meeting the social justice activists who run "Abolitionist Entertainment, LLC," and coming to figurative blows with the New York Times' "disinformation czar," she deftly exposes the more comic excesses of wealthy progressives. Deliciously funny and painfully insightful, Morning After the Revolution is Slouching Towards Bethlehem for the 21st century -- a moment of collective psychosis preserved in amber. This is an unmissable debut by one of America's sharpest journalists"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Liberalism; Political culture; Progressivism (United States politics);
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The hardest job in the world : the American presidency / by Dickerson, John,1968-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Imagine you have just been elected president. You are now commander-in-chief, chief executive, chief diplomat, chief legislator, chief of party, chief voice of the people, first responder, chief priest, and world leader. You're expected to fulfill your campaign promises, but you're also expected to solve the urgent crises of the day. What's on your to-do list? Where would you even start? The American presidency is in trouble. It has become overburdened, misunderstood, almost impossible to do. "The problems in the job unfolded before Donald Trump was elected, and the challenges of governing today will confront his successors," writes John Dickerson. After all, the founders never intended for our system of checks and balances to have one superior Chief Magistrate, with Congress demoted to "the little brother who can't keep up." In this eye-opening book, John Dickerson draws on history and contemporary times to show why we need to reevaluate how we view the presidency, how we choose our presidents, and what we expect from them once they are in office. Think of the presidential campaign as a job interview. Are we asking the right questions? Are we looking for good campaigners, or good presidents? Once a candidate gets the job, what can they do to thrive? Drawing on research and interviews with current and former White House staffers, Dickerson defines what the job of president actually entails, identifies the things that only the President can do, and analyzes how presidents in history have managed the burden. What qualities make for a good president? Who did it well? Why did Bill Clinton call the White House "the crown jewel in the American penal system"? And what lessons can we draw from past successes and failures? Ultimately, in order to evaluate candidates properly for the job, we need to adjust our expectations, and be more realistic about the goals, the requirements, and the limitations of the office."--
Subjects: Trump, Donald, 1946-; Presidents; Executive power;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Bad reputation [videorecording] / by Armstrong, Billie Joe,1972-on-screen participant.; Bingenheimer, Rodney,on-screen participant.; Brinkman, Carianne,on-screen participant.; Jett, Joan,on-screen participant.; Kerslake, Kevin,film director.; Magnolia Home Entertainment (Firm),publisher.;
Joan Jett, Billie Joe Armstrong, Rodney Bingenheimer, Carianne Brinkman.It's true, Joan Jett became mega-famous from the number-one hit "I Love Rock n Roll," but that's only part of the story. This documentary gives a wild ride as Jett and her close friends tell you how it really was in the burgeoning's 70s punk scene and the rocky road to rock stardom decades on. Their interviews are laced with amazing archival footage.Canadian Home Video Rating: 14A.MPAA Rating: R; for language, sexual references, some drug use and brief nudity.DVD ; widescreen presentation ; Dolby Digital 5.1.
Subjects: Documentary films.; Nonfiction films.; Biographical films.; Jett, Joan.; Rock musicians; Women rock musicians; Guitarists;
For private home use only.
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Battling the big lie : how Fox, Facebook, and the MAGA media are destroying America / by Pfeiffer, Dan,author.;
"In BATTLING THE BIG LIE, bestselling author Dan Pfeiffer returns to lay out how the Right Wing built such a robust and successful disinformation machine, how they have used it to amass power despite representing a dwindling share of the country, and how readers can fight back against disinformation with step-by-step guides on spotting fake news, becoming their own fact checker, and talking to their conspiracy theory-obsessed relatives. Over the last twenty years, the Right Wing has built a massive media apparatus that is weaponizing misinformation for political purposes. The Right Wing media ecosystem personified by Fox and fueled by Facebook is waging war on the very idea of objective truth -- and it's winning. This misinformation campaign is at the root of much that is rotten in America and around the world. Trump is a product of this eco-system as is the immense polarization and division and our inability to deal rationally with immense threats like COVID and Climate Change. Here, Pfeiffer lays bare the tactics used by the Right Wing propaganda machine and how to combat them, including: QAnon and its proponents, from Facebook groups to members of congress ; The optimization of Facebook as the ultimate carrier of Right Wing clickbait ; Educating the Left to "fight fire with fire" and nurture progressive media ; How to have hard conversations with the Fox News-watching, conspiracy theory-believing relative in your life. A functioning democracy depends on a shared understanding of reality. America is teetering on the edge because one of the two parties in our two-party system views truth, facts, and science as their opponent. As BATTLING THE BIG LIE proves, time is running out to fix this problem. There are no easy answers or quick fixes, but something must be done.
Subjects: Disinformation; Polarization (Social sciences);
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Boys & sex : young men on hookups, love, porn, consent, and navigating the new masculinity / by Orenstein, Peggy,author.;
Includes bibliographical references (pages 263-279) and index."Peggy Orenstein's Girls & Sex broke ground, shattered taboos, and galvanized conversations about young women's right to pleasure and agency in sexual encounters. It also had an unintended effect on its author: Orenstein realized that talking about girls is only half the conversation. To understand girls and sex, we also need to talk about boys and sex. Today's young men are subject to the same cultural forces as their female peers. They are steeped in the distorted media images and binary stereotypes of female sexiness and toxic masculinity which shape how they, too, navigate sexual and emotional relationships. In Boys & Sex, Orenstein uses the same fascinating mix of anecdote and research to reveal how young men understand and negotiate the new rules of physical and emotional intimacy. Drawing on comprehensive interviews with young men, psychologists, academics, and experts in the field, Orenstein takes an unprecedented look at the myriad factors that are shaping boys' ideas of sex, girls, and masculinity including: locker room talk ; how the word "hilarious" robs boys of empathy ; pornography as the new sex education ; hookup culture and consent ; Bro culture and #metoo ; excessive drinking and frat parties ; boys' experience as victims and perpetrators of sexual violence. By exploring the complexity of young men's attitudes, beliefs, and experiences, Orenstein unravels the hidden truths, hard lessons, and important realities of boys' sex lives today. The result is a provocative and paradigm-shifting work that offers a much-needed vision of how boys can truly move forward as better men"--
Subjects: Teenage boys; Teenage boys; Young men;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Bees : an identification and native plant forage guide / by Holm, Heather,1972-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.This well-illustrated guide captures the beauty, diversity, and engaging world of bees and the native plants that support them. Superbly designed and organized, this is an indispensable source of information with extensive profiles for twenty-seven bee genera, plus twelve mini profiles for uncommon genera, and approximately one hundred native trees, shrubs, and perennials for the Midwest, Great Lakes, and Northeast regions. With over 1500 stunning photographs, detailed descriptions, and accessible science, environmental educator and research assistant Heather Holm brings to light captivating information about bees' life cycles, habitats, diet, foraging behaviors, crops pollinated, nesting lifestyles, seasonality, and preferred native forage plants. Bees are a singularly fascinating group of insects and this book makes it possible to observe, attract, and support them in their natural setting or in one's own garden. Not only does this guide assist the reader with bee identification in the field or by photo, it also notes microscopic features for the advanced user. The factors impacting bee populations, and the management of farms and public and residential landscapes for bees are also covered. Included in the bee forage (plant) chapters are plant profiles with range maps, habitat information, floral features and attractants, common bees attracted to the particular plant, and details about the ecological connections between the native plant and other flower-visiting insects. Noted also are birds dependent upon the product of the pollinated flowers (fruits and seeds). This is an excellent reference for amateur and professional naturalists, educators, gardeners, farmers, students, nature photographers, insect enthusiasts, biologists, and anyone interested in learning more about the diversity and biology of bees and their connection to native plants and the natural world.
Subjects: Bees; Forage plants;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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What they'll never tell you about the music business : the complete guide for musicians, songwriters, producers, managers, industry executives, attorneys, investors, and accountants / by Thall, Peter M.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.LSC
Subjects: Music trade; Sound recording industry; Popular music;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Defund : black lives, policing, and safety for all / by Hudson, Sandy,1985-author.;
Includes bibliographical references."Time and again we see police respond to minor calls with escalation, wrongful arrests, even murder. Reform programs are often poorly implemented and their impacts short-lived. Calls to "defund" the police have rung out across the nation, yet the actual meaning of the phrase remains unclear. In Defund, longtime activist and the founder of Black Lives Matter Canada, Sandy Hudson, elucidates what defunding the police actually means and why it matters, by exploring today's criminal landscape and the patterns and structures that result in safer, well-resourced communities. Hudson explores the origins of commonly held ideas about police and safety to show how police-related social policies are based more on a sensationalized idea of safety than on outcomes and data. Through interviews and sociological research, she demonstrates that law enforcement solves only a small number of the crimes that police are tasked to investigate, and even the process of assigning cases depends more on optics than on large-scale crime reduction. Conversely, safe neighbourhoods, rather than featuring an increased police presence, are rich in resources and social programs. After laying out the history and data behind our broken policing system, Hudson explores how communities can save lives as well as money by investing in themselves rather than in policing. She shows how simple changes to educational resources, community centres and civic engagement can not only make communities safer, but also better able to provide for their citizens in countless ways. Clear-eyed and hopeful yet pragmatic, Defund is the key to understanding why a future without police is not only entirely possible, but necessary"--
Subjects: Discrimination in law enforcement; Police abolition movement; Police;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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