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Dismantling America: and other controversial essays
by Thomas SowellThese wide-ranging essays—on many individual political, economic, cultural and legal issues—have as a recurring, underlying theme the decline of the values and institutions that have sustained and advanced American society for more than two centuries. This decline has been more than an erosion. It has, in many cases, been a deliberate dismantling of American values and institutions by people convinced that their superior wisdom and virtue must over-ride both the traditions of the country and the will of the people.Whether these essays (originally published as syndicated newspaper columns) are individually about financial bailouts, illegal immigrants, gay marriage, national security, or the Duke University rape case, the underlying concern is about what these very different kinds of things say about the general direction of American society.This larger and longer-lasting question is whether the particular issues discussed reflect a degeneration or dismantling of the America that we once knew and expected to pass on to our children and grandchildren. There are people determined that this country's values, history, laws, traditions and role in the world are fundamentally wrong and must be changed. Such people will not stop dismantling America unless they get stopped—and the next election may be the last time to stop them, before they take the country beyond the point of no return.
Disconnected
by Sherry AshworthDisconnected, is a gripping study of teenage pressure and identity. Catherine isn’t sure who she is. The hardworking student? The dutiful daughter? Or someone else entirely? Catherine, Cat, Cath – which is the real person?
Digital Politics in Western Democracies: A Comparative Study
by Cristian VaccariDigital politics is shorthand for how internet technologies have fueled the complex interactions between political actors and their constituents. Cristian Vaccari analyzes the presentation and consumption of online politics in seven advanced Western democracies—Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States—from 2006 to 2010. His study not only refutes claims that the web creates homogenized American-style politics and political interaction but also empirically reveals how a nation’s unique constraints and opportunities create digital responses. Digital Politics in Western Democracies is the first large-scale comparative treatment of both the supply and the demand sides of digital politics among different countries and national political actors. It is divided into four parts: theoretical challenges and research methodology; how parties and candidates structure their websites (supply); how citizens use the websites to access campaign information (demand); and how the research results tie back to inequalities, engagement, and competition in digital politics. Because a key aspect of any political system is how its actors and citizens communicate, this book will be invaluable for scholars, students, and practitioners interested in political communication, party competition, party organization, and the study of the contemporary media landscape writ large.
Digital Politics in Western Democracies: A Comparative Study
by Cristian VaccariDigital politics is shorthand for how internet technologies have fueled the complex interactions between political actors and their constituents. Cristian Vaccari analyzes the presentation and consumption of online politics in seven advanced Western democracies—Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States—from 2006 to 2010. His study not only refutes claims that the web creates homogenized American-style politics and political interaction but also empirically reveals how a nation’s unique constraints and opportunities create digital responses. Digital Politics in Western Democracies is the first large-scale comparative treatment of both the supply and the demand sides of digital politics among different countries and national political actors. It is divided into four parts: theoretical challenges and research methodology; how parties and candidates structure their websites (supply); how citizens use the websites to access campaign information (demand); and how the research results tie back to inequalities, engagement, and competition in digital politics. Because a key aspect of any political system is how its actors and citizens communicate, this book will be invaluable for scholars, students, and practitioners interested in political communication, party competition, party organization, and the study of the contemporary media landscape writ large.
Devils & Thieves (Devils & Thieves #1)
by Jennifer RushDevil, take me. A bewitchingly sexy urban fantasy filled with magic and motorcycles from Jennifer Rush, author of the Altered saga. In the world of the "kindled," Crowe is as close as it gets to being king. Unforgivably gorgeous and in possession of dangerous magic, Crowe is the leader of the Devils' League, a kindled motorcycle gang once headed by his father. Now desperate for answers about his father's mysterious death, Crowe is too preoccupied to resist the pull of Jemmie Carmichael, the only girl who's ever been able to see through his tough-guy persona. But Jemmie has her own problems. The only kindled who can't cast a simple spell without falling apart, she has to prove her own worth every day, and she doesn't have time to worry about Crowe's troubles--especially when she's just moved on from the last time he broke her heart...right into the arms of rival gang prospect Darek. Then the annual kindled festival comes to town, and the powder keg of tension surrounding Jemmie and Crowe explodes. Someone at the festival is practicing forbidden magic, and soon the people closest to Jemmie and Crowe begin to disappear, one by one. With no one else to trust, they'll have to lean on each other to save the people they love most, even if that means confronting everything unspoken between them.Come on a ride that will leave you breathless.
Developing New Products and Services
by G. Lawrence SandersThe focus of the book is on the up-front activities and ideas for new product and service development. A central theme of this book is that there is, or should be, a constant struggle going on in every organization, business, and system between delivering feature-rich versions of products and services using extravagant engineering and delivering low-cost versions of products and services using frugal engineering. Delivering innovative products is accomplished by an endless cycle of business planning, creative and innovative insight, and learning-about and learning-by-doing activities. A number of powerful concepts and tools are presented in the book to facilitate new product development. For example, three templates are presented that facilitate new product and service development. The FAD (features, attributes, and design) template is used to identify the features and attributes that can be used for product and service differentiation. The Ten-Ten planning process contains two templates: an Organizational and Industry Analysis template and the Business Plan Overview template. These two templates coupled with the FAD template can be used to develop a full-blown business plan. Entrepreneurship, technology and product life cycles, product and service versioning, product line optimization, creativity, lock-in real options, business valuation, and project management topics are also covered.
Destruction Was My Beatrice: Dada and the Unmaking of the Twentieth Century
by Jed RasulaIn 1916, as World War I raged around them, a group of bohemians gathered at a small nightclub in Zurich, Switzerland for a series of bizarre performances. Three readers simultaneously recited a poem in three languages; a monocle-wearing teenager performed a spell from New Zealand; another young man flung bits of papier-mâché into the air and glued them into place where they landed. One of these artists called the sessions "both buffoonery and a requiem mass.” Soon they would be known by a more evocative name: Dada.In Destruction Was My Beatrice, modernist scholar Jed Rasula presents the first narrative history of the emergence, decline, and legacy of Dada, showing how this strange artistic phenomenon spread across Europe and then the world in the wake of the Great War, fundamentally reshaping modern culture in ways we’re still struggling to understand today.
Destruction Was My Beatrice: Dada and the Unmaking of the Twentieth Century
by Jed RasulaIn 1916, as World War I raged around them, a group of bohemians gathered at a small nightclub in Zurich, Switzerland for a series of bizarre performances. Three readers simultaneously recited a poem in three languages; a monocle-wearing teenager performed a spell from New Zealand; another young man flung bits of papier-mâché into the air and glued them into place where they landed. One of these artists called the sessions "both buffoonery and a requiem mass.” Soon they would be known by a more evocative name: Dada.In Destruction Was My Beatrice, modernist scholar Jed Rasula presents the first narrative history of the emergence, decline, and legacy of Dada, showing how this strange artistic phenomenon spread across Europe and then the world in the wake of the Great War, fundamentally reshaping modern culture in ways we’re still struggling to understand today.
Destroy the Day (Defy the Night #3)
by Brigid KemmererIn the thrilling conclusion to the Defy the Night series, New York Times bestselling author Brigid Kemmerer crafts heartrending twists and devastating turns that will keep readers breathless to the very end.Left for dead, but desperate to survive . . . they have one last chance to save their kingdom. Prince Corrick is out of options. Held captive by the vicious Oren Crane, he's desperate to reunite with Tessa, but will need to ally with the rebel leader Lochlan, who until now wished him dead. An unlikely but deadly pair, Corrick and Lochlan must plot their next moves carefully. . . An island away, Tessa Cade is heartbroken and angry. Grieving Corrick, and unsure how to find a way back to Kandala, she doesn't know who to trust. Until Rian--the man she trusts least--makes an offer: aid in a plot to finally oust Oren Crane and see what the future holds. . . Meanwhile in Kandala, Harristan is dethroned and on the run. He's struggling to unite the rebels in his fractured kingdom, but he finds support--and maybe more--in unexpected places.Can Harristan be the king his people need? Can Corrick and Tessa find their way back to each other? As outside threats loom and the fires of revolution burn from within, time is running out to save their kingdom.
Desert Reckoning: A Town Sheriff, a Mojave Hermit, and the Biggest Manhunt in Modern California History
by Deanne StillmanNorth of Los Angeles - the studios, the beaches, Rodeo Drive - lies a sparsely populated region that comprises fully one half of Los Angeles County. Sprawling across 2200 miles, this shadow side of Los Angeles is in the high Mojave Desert. Known as the Antelope Valley, it's a terrain of savage dignity, a vast amphitheatre of startling wonders that put on a show as the megalopolis burrows northward into the region's last frontier. Ranchers, cowboys, dreamers, dropouts, bikers, hikers, and felons have settled here - those who have chosen solitude over the trappings of contemporary life or simply have nowhere else to go. But in recent years their lives have been encroached upon by the creeping spread of subdivisions, funded by the once easy money of subprime America. McMansions - many empty now - gradually replaced Joshua trees; the desert - America's escape hatch - began to vanish as it became home to a latter-day exodus of pilgrims.It is against the backdrop of these two competing visions of land and space that Donald Kueck - a desert hermit who loved animals and hated civilization - took his last stand, gunning down beloved deputy sheriff Steven Sorensen when he approached his trailer at high noon on a scorching summer day. As the sound of rifle fire echoed across the Mojave, Kueck took off into the desert he knew so well, kicking off the biggest manhunt in modern California history until he was finally killed in a Wagnerian firestorm under a full moon as nuns at a nearby convent watched and prayed.This manhunt was the subject of a widely praised article by Deanne Stillman, first published in Rolling Stone, a finalist for a PEN Center USA journalism award, and included in the anthology Best American Crime Writing 2006. In Desert Reckoning she continues her desert beat and uses Kueck's story as a point of departure to further explore our relationship to place and the wars that are playing out on our homeland. In addition, Stillman also delves into the hidden history of Los Angeles County, and traces the paths of two men on a collision course that could only end in the modern Wild West. Why did a brilliant, self-taught rocket scientist who just wanted to be left alone go off the rails when a cop showed up? What role did the California prison system play in this drama? What happens to people when the American dream is stripped away? And what is it like for the men who are sworn to protect and serve?
The Demon King (Seven Realms #1)
by Cinda Williams ChimaNew York Times' best-selling author Cinda Williams Chima (The Dragon Heir), presents the first installment in a thrilling new fantasy series. Chima's phenomenal sales success is bound to continue with The Demon King!
Democratization in America: A Comparative-Historical Analysis
by Robert C. Lieberman Desmond King Laurence Whitehead Gretchen RitterThe essays in this volume examine democracy’s development in the United States, demonstrating how that process has shapedâ€�and continues to shapeâ€�the American political system.Scholars of American politics commonly describe the political development of the United States as exceptional and distinct from that of other advanced industrial democracies. They point to the United States as the longest-lived and most stable liberal democracy in history. What they often fail to mention, though, is that it took considerable time to extend democracy throughout the country.The contributors to this volume suggest that it is intellectually fruitful to consider the U.S. case in comparison to other countries. They argue that the development of democracy is ongoing in America; that even with a written constitution grounded in liberal democracy, the meaning and significance of U.S. democracy are still evolving. This volume shows that democratization and the pursuit of democracy are processes affected by multiple and continuing challengesâ€�including such issues as citizenship, race, institution building, and political movementsâ€�as patterns and practices of politics and governance continue to change.This innovative approach contributes significantly to comparative democratization studies, a field normally confined to Latin America and former communist countries. The U.S. case is a unique reference point for students of American political development and comparative democratization.
Democratization and Authoritarianism in the Arab World (A Journal of Democracy Book)
by Larry Diamond Marc F. PlattnerBeginning in December 2010, a series of uprisings swept the Arab world, toppling four longtime leaders and creating an apparent political opening in a region long impervious to the "third wave" of democratization. Despite the initial euphoria, the legacies of authoritarianismâ€�polarized societies, politicized militaries, state-centric economies, and pervasive clientelismâ€�have proven stubborn obstacles to the fashioning of new political and social contracts. Meanwhile, the strong electoral performance of political Islamists and the ensuing backlash in Egypt have rekindled arguments about the compatibility of democracy and political Islam. Even though progress toward democracy has been halting at best, the region’s political environment today bears little resemblance to what it was before the uprisings. In Democratization and Authoritarianism in the Arab World, leading scholars address the questions posed by this period of historic change in the Middle East and North Africa. This volume includes chapters examining several broad themes: the region’s shifting political culture, the relationship between democracy and political Islam, the legacy of authoritarian ruling arrangements, the strengths and vulnerabilities of remaining autocracies, and the lessons learned from transitions to democracy in other parts of the world. It also features chapters analyzing the political development of individual countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen, and the monarchies of the Gulf. ContributorsHicham Ben Abdallah El AlaouiApril Longley AlleyZoltan BaranyAhmed BenchemsiMieczyslaw P. BoduszynskiNathan J. BrownJason BrownleeDaniel BrumbergJohn M. CareyMichele DunneAbdou Filali-AnsaryHillel FradkinF. Gregory Gause IIIHusain HaqqaniSteven HeydemannPhilip N. HowardMuzammil M. HussainAmaney JamalStéphane LacroixJuan J. LinzTarek MasoudMarc F. PlattnerTarek RadwanHamadi RedissiAndrew ReynoldsMichael RobbinsOlivier RoyPeter J. SchraederAlfred StepanMark TesslerFrédéric VolpiLucan WayFrederic WehreySean L. Yom
Democratic Transitions: Conversations with World Leaders
by Abraham F. Lowenthal Sergio BitarNational leaders who played key roles in transitions to democratic governance reveal how these were accomplished in Brazil, Chile, Ghana, Indonesia, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland, South Africa, and Spain. Commissioned by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), these interviews shed fascinating light on how repressive regimes were ended and democracy took hold. In probing conversations with Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Patricio Aylwin, Ricardo Lagos, John Kufuor, Jerry Rawlings, B. J. Habibie, Ernesto Zedillo, Fidel V. Ramos, Aleksander Kwasniewski, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, F. W. de Klerk, Thabo Mbeki, and Felipe González, editors Sergio Bitar and Abraham F. Lowenthal focused on each leader’s principal challenges and goals as well as their strategies to end authoritarian rule and construct democratic governance. Context-setting introductions by country experts highlight each nation’s unique experience as well as recurrent challenges all transitions faced. A chapter by Georgina Waylen analyzes the role of women leaders, often underestimated. A foreword by Tunisia’s former president, Mohamed Moncef Marzouki, underlines the book’s relevance in North Africa, West Asia, and beyond. The editors’ conclusion distills lessons about how democratic transitions have been and can be carried out in a changing world, emphasizing the importance of political leadership. This unique book should be valuable for political leaders, civil society activists, journalists, scholars, and all who want to support democratic transitions.
Democracy's Schools: The Rise of Public Education in America (How Things Worked)
by Johann N. NeemAt a time when Americans are debating the future of public education, Johann N. Neem tells the inspiring story of how and why Americans built a robust public school system in the decades between the Revolution and the Civil War. It;€™s a story in which ordinary people in towns across the country worked together to form districts and build schoolhouses and reformers sought to expand tax support and give every child a liberal education. By the time of the Civil War, most northern states had made common schools free, and many southern states were heading in the same direction. Americans made schooling a public good.Yet back then, like today, Americans disagreed over the kind of education needed, who should pay for it, and how schools should be governed. Neem explores the history and meaning of these disagreements. As Americans debated, teachers and students went about the daily work of teaching and learning. Neem takes us into the classrooms of yore so that we may experience public schools from the perspective of the people whose daily lives were most affected by them.Ultimately, Neem concludes, public schools encouraged a diverse people to see themselves as one nation. By studying the origins of America;€™s public schools, Neem urges us to focus on the defining features of democratic education: promoting equality, nurturing human beings, preparing citizens, and fostering civic solidarity.
Democracy's Schools: The Rise of Public Education in America (How Things Worked)
by Johann N. NeemAt a time when Americans are debating the future of public education, Johann N. Neem tells the inspiring story of how and why Americans built a robust public school system in the decades between the Revolution and the Civil War. It;€™s a story in which ordinary people in towns across the country worked together to form districts and build schoolhouses and reformers sought to expand tax support and give every child a liberal education. By the time of the Civil War, most northern states had made common schools free, and many southern states were heading in the same direction. Americans made schooling a public good.Yet back then, like today, Americans disagreed over the kind of education needed, who should pay for it, and how schools should be governed. Neem explores the history and meaning of these disagreements. As Americans debated, teachers and students went about the daily work of teaching and learning. Neem takes us into the classrooms of yore so that we may experience public schools from the perspective of the people whose daily lives were most affected by them.Ultimately, Neem concludes, public schools encouraged a diverse people to see themselves as one nation. By studying the origins of America;€™s public schools, Neem urges us to focus on the defining features of democratic education: promoting equality, nurturing human beings, preparing citizens, and fostering civic solidarity.
Democracy's Double-Edged Sword: How Internet Use Changes Citizens' Views of Their Government
by Catie Snow BailardThe beauty of democracy is not only that citizens can vote a candidate into office but that they can also vote one out. As digital media grows omnipresent, it becomes more important for political scientists and communication scholars to understand its influence on all aspects of the political process, from campaigning to governance. Catie Snow Bailard argues that the Internet—by altering the quantity and range of information available to citizens—directly influences the ability of individuals to evaluate government performance. It also affects public satisfaction with the quality of available democratic practices and helps motivate political activity and organization.Bailard originates two theories for democratization specialists to consider—mirror-holding and window-opening—which she tests using data collected from dozens of countries and two randomized field experiments. Mirror-holding explores how accessing the Internet allows citizens to see a more detailed and nuanced view of their own government’s performance. Window-opening, however, enables those same citizens to glimpse how other governments perform, particularly in comparison to their own.Although the book offers a robust empirical foundation for testing the Internet’s effects on democratic attitudes, Bailard ultimately concludes that access to information does not necessarily ensure that democracy will automatically flourish.
Democracy's Double-Edged Sword: How Internet Use Changes Citizens' Views of Their Government
by Catie Snow BailardThe beauty of democracy is not only that citizens can vote a candidate into office but that they can also vote one out. As digital media grows omnipresent, it becomes more important for political scientists and communication scholars to understand its influence on all aspects of the political process, from campaigning to governance. Catie Snow Bailard argues that the Internetâ€�by altering the quantity and range of information available to citizensâ€�directly influences the ability of individuals to evaluate government performance. It also affects public satisfaction with the quality of available democratic practices and helps motivate political activity and organization.Bailard originates two theories for democratization specialists to considerâ€�mirror-holding and window-openingâ€�which she tests using data collected from dozens of countries and two randomized field experiments. Mirror-holding explores how accessing the Internet allows citizens to see a more detailed and nuanced view of their own government’s performance. Window-opening, however, enables those same citizens to glimpse how other governments perform, particularly in comparison to their own.Although the book offers a robust empirical foundation for testing the Internet’s effects on democratic attitudes, Bailard ultimately concludes that access to information does not necessarily ensure that democracy will automatically flourish.
Democracy in East Asia: A New Century (A Journal of Democracy Book)
by Larry Diamond Yun-Han Chu Marc F. PlattnerIn their introduction to the 1998 edition of Democracy in East Asia, Larry Diamond and Marc F. Plattner predicted that East Asia, with its remarkable diversity of political regimes, economies, and religions, would likely be the most critical arena in the global struggle for democracy, a prediction that has proven prescient. Although the recent political upheavals in the Middle East have understandably grabbed the world’s attention, there is reason to doubt whether the overthrow of some authoritarian regimes there will lead to the establishment of stable democracies any time soon. On the other hand, East Asia, the world’s most populous and economically dynamic region, already boasts several consolidated democracies and provides a fascinating laboratory for studies of both authoritarian resilience and the prospects for democratization. This updated volume, which features contributions by distinguished scholars in East Asian studies, will be welcomed by instructors and students in the field, particularly as U.S. foreign policy is in the process of undertaking a "pivot" toward Asia.Democracy in East Asia offers a comprehensive treatment of the political landscape in both Northeast and Southeast Asia, including discussions of China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Burma (Myanmar). Contributors: Larry Diamond, Marc F. Plattner, Francis Fukuyama, Minxin Pei, Yun-han Chu, Hyug Baeg Im, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Dan Slater, Martin Gainsborough, Don Emmerson, Edward Aspinall, Mark Thompson, Benjamin Reilly, Joseph Wong, Chong-Min Park, Yu-tzung Chang
Democracy in East Asia: A New Century (A Journal of Democracy Book)
by Larry Diamond Marc F. Plattner Yun-Han ChuIn their introduction to the 1998 edition of Democracy in East Asia, Larry Diamond and Marc F. Plattner predicted that East Asia, with its remarkable diversity of political regimes, economies, and religions, would likely be the most critical arena in the global struggle for democracy, a prediction that has proven prescient. Although the recent political upheavals in the Middle East have understandably grabbed the world’s attention, there is reason to doubt whether the overthrow of some authoritarian regimes there will lead to the establishment of stable democracies any time soon. On the other hand, East Asia, the world’s most populous and economically dynamic region, already boasts several consolidated democracies and provides a fascinating laboratory for studies of both authoritarian resilience and the prospects for democratization. This updated volume, which features contributions by distinguished scholars in East Asian studies, will be welcomed by instructors and students in the field, particularly as U.S. foreign policy is in the process of undertaking a "pivot" toward Asia.Democracy in East Asia offers a comprehensive treatment of the political landscape in both Northeast and Southeast Asia, including discussions of China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Burma (Myanmar). Contributors: Larry Diamond, Marc F. Plattner, Francis Fukuyama, Minxin Pei, Yun-han Chu, Hyug Baeg Im, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Dan Slater, Martin Gainsborough, Don Emmerson, Edward Aspinall, Mark Thompson, Benjamin Reilly, Joseph Wong, Chong-Min Park, Yu-tzung Chang
Delta of Power: The Military-Industrial Complex (Technology in Motion)
by Alex RolandDoes the Military-Industrial Complex as we understand it still exist? If so, how has it changed since the end of the Cold War?First named by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in his farewell address, the Military-Industrial Complex, originally an exclusively American phenomenon of the Cold War, was tailored to develop and produce military technologies equal to the existential threat perceived to be posed by the Soviet Union. An informal yet robust relationship between the military and industry, the MIC pursued and won a qualitative, technological arms race but exacted a high price in waste, fraud, and abuse. Today, although total US spending on national security exceeds $1 trillion a year, it accounts for a smaller percentage of the federal budget, the national GDP, and world military spending than during the Cold War. Given this fact, is the MIC as we commonly understand it still alive? If so, how has it changed in the intervening years?In Delta of Power, Alex Roland tells the comprehensive history of the MIC from 1961, the Cold War, and the War on Terror, to the present day. Roland argues that the MIC is now significantly different than it was when Eisenhower warned of its dangers, still exerting a significant but diminished influence in American life. Focusing intently on the three decades since the end of the Cold War in 1991, Roland explains how a lack of cohesion, rapid change, and historical contingency have transformed America's military-industrial institutions and infrastructure. Roland addresses five critical realms of transformation: civil-military relations, relations between industry and the state, among government agencies, between scientific-technical communities and the state, and between technology and society. He also tracks the way in which America's arsenal has evolved since 1991. The MIC still merits Eisenhower's warning of political and moral hazard, he concludes, but it continues to deliver, by a narrower margin, the world's most potent arsenal. An authoritative account of America's evolving arsenal since World War II, Delta of Power is a dynamic exploration of military preparedness and current events.
Delta of Power: The Military-Industrial Complex (Technology in Motion)
by Alex RolandDoes the Military-Industrial Complex as we understand it still exist? If so, how has it changed since the end of the Cold War?First named by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in his farewell address, the Military-Industrial Complex, originally an exclusively American phenomenon of the Cold War, was tailored to develop and produce military technologies equal to the existential threat perceived to be posed by the Soviet Union. An informal yet robust relationship between the military and industry, the MIC pursued and won a qualitative, technological arms race but exacted a high price in waste, fraud, and abuse. Today, although total US spending on national security exceeds $1 trillion a year, it accounts for a smaller percentage of the federal budget, the national GDP, and world military spending than during the Cold War. Given this fact, is the MIC as we commonly understand it still alive? If so, how has it changed in the intervening years?In Delta of Power, Alex Roland tells the comprehensive history of the MIC from 1961, the Cold War, and the War on Terror, to the present day. Roland argues that the MIC is now significantly different than it was when Eisenhower warned of its dangers, still exerting a significant but diminished influence in American life. Focusing intently on the three decades since the end of the Cold War in 1991, Roland explains how a lack of cohesion, rapid change, and historical contingency have transformed America's military-industrial institutions and infrastructure. Roland addresses five critical realms of transformation: civil-military relations, relations between industry and the state, among government agencies, between scientific-technical communities and the state, and between technology and society. He also tracks the way in which America's arsenal has evolved since 1991. The MIC still merits Eisenhower's warning of political and moral hazard, he concludes, but it continues to deliver, by a narrower margin, the world's most potent arsenal. An authoritative account of America's evolving arsenal since World War II, Delta of Power is a dynamic exploration of military preparedness and current events.
Degrees of Inequality: How the Politics of Higher Education Sabotaged the American Dream
by Suzanne MettlerAmerica's higher education system is failing its students. In the space of a generation, we have gone from being the best-educated society in the world to one surpassed by eleven other nations in college graduation rates. Higher education is evolving into a caste system with separate and unequal tiers that take in students from different socio-economic backgrounds and leave them more unequal than when they first enrolled. Until the 1970s, the United States had a proud history of promoting higher education for its citizens. The Morrill Act, the G.I. Bill and Pell Grants enabled Americans from across the income spectrum to attend college and the nation led the world in the percentage of young adults with baccalaureate degrees. Yet since 1980, progress has stalled. Young adults from low to middle income families are not much more likely to graduate from college than four decades ago. When less advantaged students do attend, they are largely sequestered into inferior and often profit-driven institutions, from which many emerge without degrees and shouldering crushing levels of debt. In Degrees of Inequality, acclaimed political scientist Suzanne Mettler explains why the system has gone so horribly wrong and why the American Dream is increasingly out of reach for so many. In her eye-opening account, she illuminates how political partisanship has overshadowed America s commitment to equal access to higher education. As politicians capitulate to corporate interests, owners of for-profit colleges benefit, but for far too many students, higher education leaves them with little besides crippling student loan debt. Meanwhile, the nation s public universities have shifted the burden of rising costs onto students. In an era when a college degree is more linked than ever before to individual and societal well-being, these pressures conspire to make it increasingly difficult for students to stay in school long enough to graduate. By abandoning their commitment to students, politicians are imperiling our highest ideals as a nation. Degrees of Inequality offers an impassioned call to reform a higher education system that has come to exacerbate, rather than mitigate, socioeconomic inequality in America.
Defy the Worlds (Defy the Stars #2)
by Claudia GrayThis is the thrilling and romantic sequel to Defy the Stars from the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Lost Stars and Bloodline.An outcast from her home -- Shunned after a trip through the galaxy with Abel, the most advanced cybernetic man ever created, Noemi Vidal dreams of traveling through the stars one more time. And when a deadly plague arrives on Genesis, Noemi gets her chance. As the only soldier to have ever left the planet, it will be up to her to save its people...if only she wasn't flying straight into a trap. A fugitive from his fate -- On the run to avoid his depraved creator's clutches, Abel believes he's said good-bye to Noemi for the last time. After all, the entire universe stands between them...or so he thinks. When word reaches him of Noemi's capture by the very person he's trying to escape, Abel knows he must go to her, no matter the cost. But capturing Noemi was only part of Burton Mansfield's master plan. In a race against time, Abel and Noemi will come together once more to discover a secret that could save the known worlds, or destroy them all. In this thrilling and romantic sequel to Defy the Stars, bestselling author Claudia Gray asks us all to consider where--and with whom--we truly belong.
Define "Normal"
by Julie Anne PetersNow in its fourth hardcover printing, Define "Normal" has become a word-of-mouth phenomenon. This is a thoughtful, wry story about two girls--a "punk" and a "priss"--who find themselves facing each other in a peer-counseling program, and discover that they have some surprising things in common. A brand-new reading-group guide written by the author is included in the back of this paperback edition.