This first complete history of the American thrift industry traces its development from its origins in the mid-nineteenth century through the resolution of the savings and loan crisis in the 1990s. Because S&Ls offer affordable forms of consumer finance, these institutions have helped millions of people achieve the "American Dream" of home ownership. Although the thrift crisis of the 1980s and early 1990s dealt a severe blow to the financial health and reputation of the industry, this book reveals the ways government resolved it, and how the industry was reinvented in its aftermath.

zachomikowany

35 KB
6 mar 13 5:36

John Davenport - Juan Ponce De Leon And His Lands Of Discovery (2005).jpg

Believing that the Fountain of Youth could be found in the New World, Ponce de Leon explored the coast of a land that he would call Florida. He also had explored and settled the island of Puerto Rico, long before setting foot in Florida.

zachomikowany

4,7 MB
6 mar 13 5:36

John Davenport - Juan Ponce De Leon And His Lands Of Discovery (2005).pdf

zachomikowany

96 KB
6 mar 13 5:36

John Taylor Gatto - Weapons of Mass Instruction, A Schoolteacher's Journey through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling (2008).jpg

USA Books - John Taylor Gatto - Weapons of Mass Instruction, A Sch...ey through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling 2008.jpg

John Taylor Gatto's Weapons of Mass Instruction focuses on mechanisms of familiar schooling that cripple imagination, discourage critical thinking, and create a false view of learning as a by-product of rote-memorization drills. Gatto's earlier book, Dumbing Us Down, put that now-famous expression of the title into common use worldwide. Weapons of Mass Instruction promises to add another chilling metaphor to the brief against schooling.

Here is a demonstration that the harm school inflicts is quite rational and deliberate, following high-level political theories constructed by Plato, Calvin, Spinoza, Fichte, Darwin, Wundt, and others, which contend the term "education" is meaningless because humanity is strictly limited by necessities of biology, psychology, and theology. The real function of pedagogy is to render the common population manageable.

Realizing that goal demands that the young be conditioned to rely upon experts, remain divided from natural alliances, and accept disconnections from the experiences that create self-reliance and independence.

Escaping this trap requires a different way of growing up, one Gatto calls "open source learning." In chapters such as "A Letter to Kristina, my Granddaughter"; "Fat Stanley"; and "Walkabout:London," this different reality is illustrated.

John Taylor Gatto taught for thirty years in public schools before resigning from school-teaching in the op-ed pages of The Wall Street Journal during the year he was named New York State's official Teacher of the Year. Since then, he has traveled three million miles lecturing on school reform.

zachomikowany

3,2 MB
6 mar 13 5:36

John Taylor Gatto - Weapons of Mass Instruction, A Schoolteacher's Journey through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling (2008).pdf

zachomikowany

79 KB
6 mar 13 5:36

Bob Burton - Inside Spin, The Dark Underbelly of t he PR Industry (2008).jpg

Lifting the lid on a billion-dollar industry, this is a critical exposé of the tactics used by public-relations companies to court journalists, attack corporate competitors, and influence positions. Going beyond a single incident, it looks at the overall role of the giants in the PR industry and includes case studies to illuminate how the public receives their information, and who exactly is in control of it.

zachomikowany

51 KB
6 mar 13 5:36

Eric Scheiberer - Merchants of Deception (2006).jpg

This book will change your life. Well, maybe not change it, but it might make you think before throwing it away. Eric Scheibeler was a big pin in Amway and this book documents the way he and his wife were drawn into the cult by false promises, lies and psychological tricks - the same tactics used by all cults to gain control over members. He saw the deceit, the hypocrisy and the obsession with money as an end in itself from within the small circle of people allowed to be exposed to the truth. When he saw the truth it revolted him and he realised that anyone with a conscience and with a sense of morality could not remain inside this corrupt environment. My own direct experience with executives of Amway showed me that the company would lie to protect criminals in its ranks.

zachomikowany

2,9 MB
6 mar 13 5:36

Eric Scheiberer - Merchants of Deception (2006).pdf

zachomikowany

38 KB
6 mar 13 5:36

Jeffrey M. Smith - Seeds of Deception (2003).jpg

Without knowing it, Americans eat genetically modified (GM) food everyday. While the food and chemical industries claim that GMO food is safe, a considerable amount of evidence shows otherwise. In Seeds of Deception, Jeffrey Smith, a former executive with the leading independent laboratory testing for GM presence in foods, documents these serious health dangers and explains how corporate influence and government collusion have been used to cover them up. The stories Smith presents read like a mystery novel. Scientists are offered bribes or threatened; evidence is stolen; data withheld or distorted. Government scientists who complain are stripped of responsibilities or fired. The FDA even withheld information from congress after a GM food supplement killed nearly a hundred people and permanently disabled thousands. While Smith was employed by the laboratory he was not allowed to speak on the health dangers or the cover-up. No longer bound by this agreement, Smith now reveals what he knows in this ground breaking expose. Today, food companies sell GM foods that have not undergone safety studies. FDA scientists opposed this, but White House and industry pressure prevailed and the agency's final policy--co-authored by a former Monsanto attorney--denied the risks. The scientists' concerns were made public only after a lawsuit forced the agency to turn over internal documents. Dan Glickman, former Secretary of Agriculture, describes the government's pro-biotech mindset: "You felt like you were almost an alien, disloyal, by trying to present an open-minded view. . . . So I pretty much spouted the rhetoric. . . . It was written into my speeches." In Seeds of Deception Smith offers easy-to-understand descriptions of genetic engineering and explains why it can result in serious health problems. This well-documented, pivotal work will show you how to protect yourself and your family.

zachomikowany

10,6 MB
6 mar 13 5:36

Jeffrey M. Smith - Seeds of Deception (2003).pdf

zachomikowany

95 KB
6 mar 13 5:36

Saul Landau - The Pre-Emptive Empire, A Guide to B ush's Kingdom (2003).jpg

Saul Landau is an internationally known scholar, author, journalist, poet and activist. An Emmy-award-winning film maker, he does frequent radio and TV shows, and his work on human rights and Latin America have won him acclaim the world over.

This, his latest book, is a scathing account of George W. Bush's world before and after the 9/11 terrorist attacks that will appeal to anyone who is disenchanted with the cynicism of Bush's government, and the blatant imperialism U.S. international policy -- or those who just want to learn about what's happening in US politics.

Landau covers the topical and controversial issues -- from terrorism and US foreign policy to Bush's wondrous election victory; from Enron, Chile and Pinochet to Cuba, the Middle East, the IMF, the environment and sexual and cultural politics.

He delves into the erosion of civil liberties and the proliferation of empire under the guise of pre-empting the scourge of terrorism. Landau reveals how Bush protects "his" terrorists -- those who perpetrate violence against Castro’s Cuba, and to whom he owes his presidency. He also examines how Bush has appointed former officials to high level posts in his cabinet despite their membership in a conspiracy to sell weapons of mass destruction to Iran in the 1980s.

In "declassifying" Bush’s Empire, Landau dissects a post-9/11 world where deference to patriotism obliterates debate in Congress and the media. How can the notion of empire happily co-exist with the notion of a republic? In times like these, as dissenting voices are stifled and the public are denied access to the facts about their own security, Landau shows how democracy itself is under threat. He asks whether the already fragile world economy can survive in the new "security" culture of the post-9/11 world.

This is an entertaining read from one of America's foremost cultural and political commentators. Above all, Landau makes a convincing case for the necessity of activism -- the book is not only funny but is also a ringing call for citizens to participate in making their own history.

zachomikowany

1,2 MB
6 mar 13 5:36

Saul Landau - The Pre-Emptive Empire, A Guide to B ush's Kingdom (2003).pdf

zachomikowany

53 KB
6 mar 13 5:36

Scott Lucas - The Betrayal of Dissent, Beyond Orwe ll, Hitchens and the New American Century (2004).jpg

Since his death in 1950, George Orwell has been canonised as England's foremost political writer, and the standard-bearer of honesty and decency for the honourable 'Left'. In this controversial polemic, Scott Lucas argues that the exaltation of Orwell, far from upholding dissent against the State, has sought to quash such opposition. Indeed, Orwell has become the icon of those who, in the pose of the contrarian, try to silence public opposition to US and U K foreign policy in the 'War on Terror'.Lucas's lively and readable critique of public intellectuals including Christopher Hitchens, Michael Walzer, David Aaronovitch, and Johann Hari – who have all invoked Orwellian honesty and decency to shut down dissent – will appeal to anyone disillusioned with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Lucas contends that these leading journalists and commentators have used Orwell to justify their own political transition from radicals to upholders of the establishment. All of them play influential roles in supporting the UK and US governments' charge that opponents of war -- and those who question the motives behind American foreign policy and its implementation -- should be condemned as 'appeasers of mass murder'.This controversial book shows how Orwell has been used since 9/11 to justify, in the guise of independent thought, the suppression of dissent. We must rescue ourselves from Orwell and from those who take on his guise so, as Lucas puts it, our ‘silencing is… vital to a "manufacture of consent" for the wars which are supposedly being fought in our name and for our good’.

zachomikowany

2,1 MB
6 mar 13 5:36

Scott Lucas - The Betrayal of Dissent, Beyond Orwe ll, Hitchens and the New American Century (2004).pdf

zachomikowany

158 KB
6 mar 13 5:36

Janice Terry - U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle E ast, The Role of Lobbies and Special Interest Grou ps (2005).jpg

Millions of dollars are spent every year by companies and special interest groups attempting to influence government policy. They work behind the scenes, lobbying politicians to represent their interests. From tobacco companies, to energy companies, from anti-abortion campaigners to civil rights campaigners, the list is vast. And nowhere is their influence more keenly felt than on the issue of the Middle East.

Israel is America's key ally in the Middle East, and helps maintain US dominance in the region. This book shows how pro-Israeli lobbyists and domestic interest groups have been hugely successful in creating government and financial support for Israel. By contrast, Arab-American groups and Arab governments have had less success putting forward their agendas.

Janice J. Terry shows how special interest groups work, and why certain lobbying techniques are more effective than others. She sets this within the wider cultural context, showing how the US media -- and the general public -- view the Middle East.

To explain how lobbies work, Terry draws on case studies including the Sinai accords and Camp David under Presidents Ford and Carter, the Conflict between Greek and Turkish lobbies over Cyprus, and the major campaign against the Arab boycott.

Making use of primary sources, and unpublished material from various presidential libraries, this is a fascinating expose of the role that lobby groups really play in determining US foreign policy in the Middle East. It will be of interest to students of American politics, and Middle East studies.

zachomikowany

1,0 MB
6 mar 13 5:36

Janice Terry - U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle E ast, The Role of Lobbies and Special Interest Grou ps (2005).pdf

zachomikowany

29 KB
6 mar 13 5:36

Robert H. Ferrell - Five Days In October, The Lost Battalion Of World War I(2005).jpg

During American participation in World War I, many events caught the public's attention, but none so much as the plight of the Lost Battalion. Comprising some six hundred men of the Seventy-seventh Division, the so-called battalion was entrapped on the side of a ravine in the Argonne Forest by German forces from October 2 to 7, 1918. The men's courage under siege in the midst of artillery fire (coming both day and night), with nothing to eat after the morning of the first day save grass and roots, and with water dangerous to obtain, has gone down in American history as comparable in heroism to the defense of the Alamo and the stand at the Little Big Horn of the troops of General George A. Custer. Now, in Five Days in October, esteemed historian Robert H. Ferrell presents new material - previously unavailable - about what really happened during those days in the forest. Despite the title, the men were neither lost nor a battalion. The moniker was coined by a newspaper correspondent who, upon learning that a sizable body of troops had been surrounded, through up the notion of a Lost Battalion - it possessed a ring sure to catch the attention of readers. The trapped men actually belonged to companies from two battalions of the Seventy-seventh, and their exact placement was well known, reported by runners at the outset of the action and by five carrier pigeons released by their commander, Major Charles W. Whittlesey, during the five days his men were there. The causes of the entrapment were several, including command failures and tactical errors. The men had been sent ahead of the main division line without attention to flanks, and because of that failure, they were surrounded. Thus began a siege that took the lives of four hundred men, leading to the psychiatric collapse of the infantry colonel and, many believe, to the suicide of Major Whittlesey three years later. This book grew out of Ferrell's discovery of brand-new material from papers in the U.S. Army Military History Institute at the Army War College, from the papers of General Hugh A. Drum, and from the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. The Drum papers contain the court-martial records of the first lieutenant of a machinegun company attached to the battalion, who advised the commander to surrender, while the Seventy-seventh Division files contain full accounts of the taut relations between the Lost Battalion's brigade commander and the Seventy-seventh's division commander. By including this wealth of material, Ferrell is able to give a new accounting of this intriguing affair. Five Days in October will be welcomed by all those interested in a fuller understanding of the story of the Lost Battalion.

zachomikowany

1,6 MB
6 mar 13 5:36

Robert H. Ferrell - Five Days In October, The Lost Battalion Of World War I(2005).pdf

zachomikowany

30 KB
6 mar 13 5:36

Joel P. Rhodes - A Missouri Railroad Pioneer, The Life of Louis Houck (2008).jpg

"With superb care and skill, Joel P. Rhodes has reconstructed the remarkable career of Louis Houck. Best remembered for largely local projects, including railroad building and the writing of state history, this longtime resident of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, represents wonderfully the entrepreneurial and public-spirited citizen of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries." -- H. Roger GrantProduct DescriptionLawyer and journalist, entrepreneur and philanthropist, Louis Houck is often called the "Father of Southeast Missouri" because he brought the railroad to the region and opened this backwater area to industrialization and modernization.

zachomikowany

2,2 MB
6 mar 13 5:36

Joel P. Rhodes - A Missouri Railroad Pioneer, The Life of Louis Houck (2008).pdf

zachomikowany

31 KB
6 mar 13 5:36

Osprey - Campaign 39 - Peter Panzeri - Little Big Horn 1876, Custer's Last Stand (1995).jpg

The death of George Armstrong Custer, and over half of his 7th Cavalry Regiment in the valley of the Little Big Horn on 25 July 1876, has become the most celebrated battle of the Indian wars. It was the greatest, and the last, victory of the Native Americans over the United States military. Disobeying orders, Custer followed a trail to a large encampment of Indians and, without determining the numbers he faced split his command into three groups and attacked. In the resulting chaos Custer and more than half the troops under his command were killed.

zachomikowany

33 KB
6 mar 13 5:36

Rodney P. Carlisle - The Civil War and Reconstruct ion, 1860 to 1876 (2009).jpg

Characterized by the tragedy of the Civil War and its aftermath, the period of 1860 to 1876 presented the greatest challenge to a still young national government. The battle to abolish slavery and reform the country after the secession of 11 southern states was led by Abraham Lincoln. Throughout this turmoil, a burgeoning industrial economy - made possible largely by the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 - began to transform the American economy and society just as profoundly as the effects of the war.

zachomikowany

9,1 MB
6 mar 13 5:36

Rodney P. Carlisle - The Civil War and Reconstruct ion, 1860 to 1876 (2009).pdf

zachomikowany

26 KB
6 mar 13 5:36

David Kessler - The End of Overeating, Taking Cont rol of the Insatiable American Appetite (2009).jpg

Most of us know what it feels like to fall under the spell of food when one slice of pizza turns into half a pie, or a handful of chips leads to an empty bag. But it s harder to understand why we can't seem to stop eating even when we know better. When we want so badly to say "no," why do we continue to reach for food?

Dr. David Kessler, the dynamic former FDA commissioner who reinvented the food label and tackled the tobacco industry, now reveals how the food industry has hijacked the brains of millions of Americans. The result? America s number-one public health issue. Dr. Kessler cracks the code of overeating by explaining how our bodies and minds are changed when we consume foods that contain sugar, fat, and salt. Food manufacturers create products by manipulating these ingredients to stimulate our appetites, setting in motion a cycle of desire and consumption that ends with a nation of overeaters. The End of Overeating explains for the first time why it is exceptionally difficult to resist certain foods and why it s so easy to overindulge.

Dr. Kessler met with top scientists, physicians, and food industry insiders. The End of Overeating uncovers the shocking facts about how we lost control over our eating habits and how we can get it back. Dr. Kessler presents groundbreaking research, along with what is sure to be a controversial view inside the industry that continues to feed a nation of overeaters from popular brand manufacturers to advertisers, chain restaurants, and fast food franchises.

For the millions of people struggling with weight as well as for those of us who simply don't understand why we can't seem to stop eating our favorite foods, Dr. Kessler s cutting-edge investigation offers new insights and helpful tools to help us find a solution.

There has never been a more thorough, compelling, or in-depth analysis of why we eat the way we do.

zachomikowany

48 KB
6 mar 13 5:36

Lisa H. Weasel - Food Fray, Inside the Controversy over Genetically Modified Food (2008).jpg

More than ten years ago, the first genetically modified foods took their place on the shelves of American supermarkets. But while American consumers remained blissfully unconcerned with the new products that suddenly filled their kitchens, Europeans were much more wary of these “Frankenfoods.” When famine struck Africa in 2002, several nations refused shipments of genetically modified foods, fueling a controversy that put the issue on the world's political agenda for good.

In Food Fray, esteemed molecular biologist Dr. Lisa H. Weasel brings readers into the center of this debate, capturing the real-life experiences of the scientists, farmers, policymakers and grassroots activists on the front lines. Here she combines solid scientific knowledge and a gripping narrative to tell the real story behind the headlines and the hype. Seminal and cutting-edge, Food Fray enlightens and informs and will allow readers to make up their own minds about one of the most important issues facing us today.

zachomikowany

1,2 MB
6 mar 13 5:36

Lisa H. Weasel - Food Fray, Inside the Controversy over Genetically Modified Food (2008).pdf

zachomikowany

89 KB
6 mar 13 5:36

Greg McLaughlin - The War Correspondent (2002).jpg

Based on original research and interviews with a range of journalists, The War Correspondent looks at the changing nature of war reporting. Technology has transformed the very way in which journalists report from wars. We have witnessed a change in the gender profile of war correspondents as more and more women enter the field - notably Christiane Amanpour (CNN), Kate Adie (BBC) and Maggie O'Kane (The Guardian). Increasingly, the profession is being defined by a 'star system' with a hierarchy of status, pay and profile. How do all these shifts affect the way wars are reported?

Gregory McLaughlin analyses the salient issues surrounding war corresponding. He examines the cultural role of the war reporter, the use of propaganda, the relationship between the military and the media, and the notion of 'worthy' and 'unworthy' wars. He compares and contrasts the coverage of the Vietnam War. He looks at how war correspondents are portrayed in actual accounts and in fictional representations. Throughout, McLaughlin considers how the ideals of journalism - objectivity, news values, journalist-source relationship -work in tension with the demands of the job – media competition, military censorship, political propaganda

zachomikowany