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License Plate Readers for Law Enforcement: Opportunities and Obstacles
by Keith Gierlack Shara Williams Tom Latourrette James M. Anderson Lauren A. Mayer Johanna ZmudBecause license plate reader (LPR) technology is relatively new in the United States, opportunities and obstacles in its use in law enforcement are still under exploration. To examine issues about this technology, RAND conducted interviews with law enforcement personnel, police officers, and others responsible for procuring, maintaining, and operating the systems.
License to Travel: A Cultural History of the Passport
by Patrick BixbyThis surprising global history of an indispensable document reveals how the passport has shaped art, thought, and human experience while helping to define the modern world. Narrow escapes and new starts, tearful departures and hopeful arrivals, unwanted scrutiny in the backrooms of officialdom: some of our most memorable experiences involve a passport. In License to Travel, Patrick Bixby examines the passports of artists and intellectuals, ancient messengers and modern migrants to reveal how these seemingly humble documents implicate us in larger narratives about identity, mobility, citizenship, and state authority. This concise cultural history takes the reader on a captivating journey from pharaonic Egypt and Han-dynasty China to the passport controls and crowded refugee camps of today. Along the way, the book connects intimate stories of vulnerability and desire with vivid examples drawn from world cinema, literature, art, philosophy, and politics, highlighting the control that travel documents have over our bodies as we move around the globe. With unexpected discoveries at every turn, License to Travel exposes the passport as both an instrument of personal freedom and a tool of government surveillance powerful enough to define our very humanity.
Licensed to Kill: Privatizing the War on Terror
by Robert Young PeltonRobert Young Pelton first became aware of the phenomenon of hired guns in the War on Terror when he met a covert team of contractors on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border in the fall of 2003. Pelton soon embarked on a globe-spanning odyssey to penetrate and understand this shadowy world, ultimately delivering stunning insights into the way private soldiers are used.Enter a blood-soaked world of South African mercenaries and tribal fighters backed by ruthless financiers. Drop into Baghdad’s Green Zone, strap on body armor, and take a daily high-speed ride with a doomed crew of security contractors who dodge car bombs and snipers just to get their charges to the airport. Share a drink in a chic hotel bar with wealthy owners of private armies who debate the best way to stay alive in war zones.Licensed to Kill spans four continents and three years, taking us inside the CIA’s dirty wars; the brutal contractor murders in Fallujah and the Alamo-like sieges in Najaf and Al Kut; the Deep South contractor training camps where ex–Special Operations soldiers and even small town cops learn the ropes; the contractor conventions where macho attendees swap bullet-punctuated tales and discuss upcoming gigs; and the grim Central African prison where contractors turned failed mercenaries pay a steep price.The United States has encouraged the use of the private sector in all facets of the War on Terror, placing contractors outside the bounds of functional legal constraints. With the shocking clarity that can come only from firsthand observation, Licensed to Kill painstakingly deconstructs the most controversial events and introduces the pivotal players. Most disturbingly, it shows that there are indeed thousands of contractors—with hundreds more being produced every month—who’ve been given a license to kill, their services available to the highest bidder.From the Hardcover edition.
Lichens: Toward a Minimal Resistance
by Vincent ZoncaCovering almost 8 percent of the earth's terrain, lichens are living beings which are familiar to everyone, known to no one. They are one of those organisms that seem to offer nothing to hold our gaze. But the more time we spend with lichens, the more they reveal their beauty, their mysteries and their strange power of attraction. Part-algae and part-fungus, lichens call into question our customary ways of classifying forms of life, and allow us to conceive of an ecology that is no longer based on distinctions between nature and culture, urban and rural, competition and cooperation. The result of several years of investigation carried out on several different continents, this remarkable book offers an original, radical, and, like its subject matter, symbiotic reflection on this common but mostly invisible form of life, blending cultures and disciplines, drawing on biology, ecology, philosophy, literature, poetry, even graphic art. What if lichens were at the heart of some of the most pressing and topical questions of our day? Does the fact that they can live everywhere, even in very harsh environments, that they persist when almost all other traces of life have disappeared, mean that, despite their fragility, lichens are a force of resistance? After reading this book you will never see lichens, or the world, in the same way again.
Liderazgo: En tiempos turbulentos
by Doris Kearns Goodwin¿Los líderes nacen o se hacen? ¿De dónde viene la ambición? ¿Cómo afecta la adversidad al crecimiento del liderazgo? ¿El líder hace a los tiempos o los tiempos hacen al líder? En Liderazgo: en tiempos turbulentos, Goodwin recurre a los cuatro presidentes que ha estudiado más de cerca –Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt y Lyndon B. Johnson (en derechos civiles)–, para mostrar cómo reconocieron las cualidades de liderazgo dentro de sí mismos y fueron reconocidos como líderes por parte de otros. Al recordar sus primeros pasos en la vida pública, los encontramos en un momento en que sus caminos estaban llenos de confusión, temor y esperanza a la vez.Liderazgo: en tiempos turbulentos, cuenta la historia de cómo todos ellos chocaron con drásticos cambios que interrumpieron sus vidas y amenazaron con destruir sus ambiciones para siempre. Sin embargo, todos emergieron preparados para enfrentar las situaciones y dilemas de sus tiempos.Ningún patrón común describe la trayectoria del liderazgo. Aunque se distinguieron por sus orígenes, habilidades y temperamento, estos hombres compartían una ambición feroz y una resiliencia profunda que les permitía superar dificultades inusuales. En su mejor momento, los cuatro fueron guiados por un sentido de propósito moral. En momentos de gran desafío, pudieron utilizar sus talentos para engrandecer las oportunidades y las vidas de los demás.
Liderazgo: Seis estudios sobre estrategia mundial
by Henry KissingerHenry Kissinger analiza cómo seis líderes extraordinarios, a los que conoció de cerca, dieron forma a sus países y al mundo que hoy conocemos. «Pretende ser un manual para los líderes de hoy y de mañana».The New Statesman Henry Kissinger, uno de los principales estrategas políticos del siglo xx, analiza en este nuevo libro los perfiles de seis de los líderes mundiales más fascinantes e influyentesdel pasado reciente: Konrad Adenauer, Charles de Gaulle, Richard Nixon, Anwar Sadat, Lee Kuan Yew y Margaret Thatcher. Todos ellos se formaron en un periodo en el que las instituciones establecidas se derrumbaban en Europa, las estructuras coloniales daban paso a estados independientes en Asia y África y hubo que crear un nuevo orden internacional a partir de los vestigios del anterior.Kissinger repasa el camino de De Gaulle para reconstruir la Francia postimperial, la rehabilitación llevada a cabo por Adenauer de una Alemania devastada por la guerra o el éxito del experimento de la pequeña ciudad Estado de Lee Kuan Yew en Singapur. El análisis de estos procesos sirve para mostrar las estrategias de gobierno de unos líderes que, impulsados por un alto sentido de Estado, se propusieron posicionar a sus respectivos países en el centro del tablero político mundial.La perspectiva del autor no tiene parangón: es la de un historiador de primer orden que conoció y estuvo implicado en los acontecimientos que se relatan. La experiencia como alto representante público, el conocimiento personal de los protagonistas y la carrera política de Kissinger enriquecen un libro que atestigua cómo la combinación del carácter de los personajes y las circunstancias de cada situación es lo que acaba dando forma a la historia. La crítica ha dicho:«Siempre vale la pena escuchar a este sorprendente testigo de la historia».Simon Heffer, The Telegraph Book of the Year «Un estudio vital del poder en acción».Publishers Weekly «Según Kissinger, sus seis protagonistas demuestran que el liderazgo transformador de las grandes personas es más importante que las fuerzas impersonales a la hora de forjar la historia».The Times De Orden mundial se dijo:«El mejor Kissinger, con su inimitable combinación de erudición».Hillary Clinton «Un fascinante e instructivo recorrido global por la búsqueda de la armonía. La clave del realismo en las relaciones internacionales de Kissinger, y el tema de este libro magistral, es que la humildad es importante no solo para las personas, sino también para los países, incluido Estados Unidos».Walter Isaacson «Un magnífico ensayo sobre el desorden político internacional».Lluis Bassets, Babelia
The Lie: A Novel
by Hesh KestinA provocative thriller about a dynamic Israeli lawyer—famous for defending accused Palestinians—whose views are tested when her own son is taken captive by Hezbollah: “The Lie is what great fiction is all about” (Stephen King).Dahlia Barr is a devoted mother, soon-to-be divorced wife, lover of an American television correspondent. She is also a brash and successful Israeli attorney who is passionate about defending Palestinians accused of terrorism. One day, to her astonishment, the Israeli national police approach Dahlia with a tantalizing proposition: Join us, and become the government’s arbiter on when to use the harshest of interrogation methods—what some would call torture. Dahlia is intrigued. She has no intention of permitting torture, but can she change the system from within? She takes the job.As Dahlia settles into her new role, her son Ari, a twenty-year-old lieutenant in the Israel Defense Forces, is kidnapped by Hezbollah and whisked over the border to Lebanon. The one man who may hold the key to Ari’s rescue is locked in a cell in police headquarters. He is an Arab who has a long and complicated history with Dahlia. And he’s not talking. Yet.A nail-biting thriller that “will stay with you” (The New York Times Book Review), The Lie is an unforgettable story of human beings on both sides of the terror equation whose lives turn out to share more in common than they ever could have imagined. “An utterly riveting thriller that is likely to rank as one of the year’s best…The Lie has everything: memorable characters, a compelling plot, white-knuckle military action, and an economy and clarity of prose that is direct, powerful, and at times beautiful” (Booklist, starred review).
Lie Catcher: Become a Human Lie Detector in Under 60 Minutes
by Dr. David CraigInternational undercover expert and criminologist Dr David Craig gives us an easy-to-read, light-hearted guide that demonstrates through practical examples how to apply lie detecting skills in our day-to-day lives. From bargaining, making a purchase, negotiating a business contract, dealing with children to identifying infidelity, he delivers simple but effective tips and techniques we can all use to see behind the facade and get to the truth.
Lie Machines: How to Save Democracy from Troll Armies, Deceitful Robots, Junk News Operations, and Political Operatives
by Philip N. HowardTechnology is breaking politics—what can be done about it? Artificially intelligent &“bot&” accounts attack politicians and public figures on social media. Conspiracy theorists publish junk news sites to promote their outlandish beliefs. Campaigners create fake dating profiles to attract young voters. We live in a world of technologies that misdirect our attention, poison our political conversations, and jeopardize our democracies. With massive amounts of social media and public polling data, and in-depth interviews with political consultants, bot writers, and journalists, Philip N. Howard offers ways to take these &“lie machines&” apart. Lie Machines is full of riveting behind-the-scenes stories from the world&’s biggest and most damagingly successful misinformation initiatives—including those used in Brexit and U.S. elections. Howard not only shows how these campaigns evolved from older propaganda operations but also exposes their new powers, gives us insight into their effectiveness, and explains how to shut them down.
LIES: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right
by Al FrankenListen to Al Franken as interviewed by Dan Susskind of Another Perspective on VoiceAmerica. com! Get the free Real Player Al Franken, one of our “savviest satirists” (People), has been studying the rhetoric of the Right. He has listened to their cries of “slander,” “bias,” and even “treason. ” He has examined the Bush administration’s policies of squandering our surplus, ravaging the environment, and alienating the rest of the world. He’s even watched Fox News. A lot. And, in this fair and balanced report, Al bravely and candidly exposes them all for what they are: liars. Lying, lying liars. Al destroys the liberal media bias myth by doing what his targets seem incapable of: getting his facts straight. Using the Right’s own words against them, he takes on the pundits, the politicians, and the issues, in the most talked about book of the year. Timely, provocative, unfailingly honest, and always funny, Lies sticks it to the most right-wing administration in memory, and to the right-wing media hacks who do its bidding. .
Lies (And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them) A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right
by Al FrankenA comedian debunks right-wing rhetoric and shows the right's hypocrisy.
Lies, Damned Lies, and Drug War Statistics, Second Edition: A Critical Analysis of Claims Made by the Office of National Drug Control Policy
by Matthew B. Robinson Renee G. ScherlenFirst published in 2007, Lies, Damned Lies, and Drug War Statistics critically analyzed claims made by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the White House agency of accountability in the nation's drug war since 1989, as found in the six editions of the annual National Drug Control Strategy between 2000 and 2005. In this revised and updated second edition of their critically acclaimed work, Matthew B. Robinson and Renee G. Scherlen examine seven more recent editions (2006–2012) to once again determine if ONDCP accurately and honestly presents information or intentionally distorts evidence to justify continuing the drug war. They uncover the many ways in which ONDCP manipulates statistics and visually presents that information to the public. Their analysis demonstrates a drug war that consistently fails to reduce drug use, drug fatalities, or illnesses associated with drug use; fails to provide treatment for drug-dependent users; and drives up the prices of drugs. They conclude with policy recommendations for reforming ONDCP's use of statistics, as well as how the nation fights the war on drugs.
Lies, Incorporated: The World of Post-Truth Politics
by Ari Rabin-Havt Media Matters for AmericaIn today's post-truth political landscape, there is a carefully concealed but ever-growing industry of organized misinformation that exists to create and disseminate lies in the service of political agendas. Ari Rabin-Havt and Media Matters for America present a revelatory history of this industry--which they've dubbed Lies, Incorporated--and show how it has crippled legislative progress on issues including tobacco regulation, public health care, climate change, gun control, immigration, abortion, and same-sex marriage. Eye-opening and indispensable, Lies, Incorporated takes an unflinching look at the powerful network of politicians and special interest groups that have launched coordinated assaults on the truth to shape American politics.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Lies My Gov't Told Me: And the Better Future Coming (Children’s Health Defense)
by Robert W. Malone**AS SEEN ON TUCKER CARLSON TODAY AND THE JOE ROGAN EXPERIENCE**A guide for the times—breaking down the lies about COVID-19 and shedding light on why we came to believe them. When he invented the original mRNA vaccine technology as a medical and graduate student in the late 1980s, Robert Malone could not have imagined that he would become a leader in a movement to expose the dangers of mRNA vaccines that billions of people have received—too often without being informed of the risks. For voicing opposition to the &“mainstream&” narrative, Dr. Robert Malone was censored by Big Tech and vilified by the media. But he continues to speak out and alert the world to the web of lies that we have all experienced. From vaccine safety and effectiveness to early treatments like ivermectin, to lockdowns, masks, and more, Dr. Malone is the signature dissident voice telling the other side of the story about COVID, the role of corporate media, censorship, propaganda, and the brave new world of transhumanism promoted by the World Economic Forum and its acolytes. What effect did the COVID policies have on lives, livelihoods, and democracies? How is it possible that the lies spread by governments would persist, and that our institutions would fail to correct them? Lies My Gov&’t Told Me takes a hard look at these questions and illustrates how data, information, and psychology have been distorted during the pandemic. Governments intentionally weaponized fear to mold behavior. The media smeared anyone who objected to the narrative. And Big Pharma—aligned with larger globalist interests exemplified by the likes of Bill Gates and the World Economic Forum—had captured the agencies that are supposed to regulate it long before the pandemic began. Dr. Malone explores these perverse connections between Pharma, government, and media, and tells us what can be done about it. With contributed chapters from other leading thinkers, such as Dr. Paul Marik and Professor Mattias Desmet, and drawing upon history, psychology, and economics, Lies My Gov&’t Told Me looks at COVID from numerous angles. Never satisfied with a simple answer or easy solution, Dr. Malone proposes multiple action plans for a better future. Dr. Malone calls on each of us to find our own solutions, our own ways to resist the control of fascist, corporatist, and totalitarian overlords. If we are to step out of the darkness—toward a world that defends the principles of the Constitution, upholds individual rights, and honors free speech—we all must play a part in the transition.
Lies My Liberal Teacher Told Me: Debunking the False Narratives Defining America's School Curricula
by Wilfred ReillyA college professor debunks the myths that have infiltrated America's school curricula.In 1995, James W. Loewen penned the classic work of criticism Lies My Teacher Told Me, a left-leaning corrective that addressed much of what was sanitized and omitted from American history books.But in the decades that followed, false leftist narratives—as wrong as those they supplanted—have come to dominate American academia and education. Now, in the same spirit but updated for 2024, Wilfred Reilly demolishes the scholastic myths propagated by the left, uncovers fresh angles on “established” events, and turns what we think we know about history upside down. Among the popular lies he debunks:“The ‘Red Scare’ was a moral panic that caught no commies”“Native Americans were peaceful people who spent all day dancing”“European colonialism was—empirically—a no-good, terrible, very bad thing” “The racist ‘Southern Strategy’ turned the South Republican”“The Vietnam War was unpopular and pointless”Lies My Liberal Teacher Told Me sets the record straight on many of these myths, explaining that there actually were communists in Hollywood; that many Native American tribes were cannibals, owned slaves and made them march the Trail of Tears with them; and that history, while almost always bad for Black Americans, was much worse for all of us than we tend to think it was. Smart, irreverent, and deeply researched, Lies My Liberal Teacher Told Me will revolutionize your understanding of history and reveal a new and refreshing way to teach and think about the past.
The Lies of George W. Bush: Mastering the Politics of Deception
by David Corn"Get ready to get mad. Corn has cut through the spin and crafted an important and powerful challenge to Bush and his crew." --Molly Ivins. "David Corn's The Lies of George W. Bush is as hard-hitting an attack as has been leveled against the current president." --Los Angeles Times. "George W. Bush is a liar. He has lied large and small, directly and by omission. He has mugged the truth-not merely in honest error, but deliberately, consistently, and repeatedly." In this scathing indictment of the president and his inner circle, David Corn reveals the deceptions at the heart of the Bush presidency. With wit and style, Corn details how the Bush administration has consistently lied to the American public to advance its own interests, from mischaracterizing intelligence to whip up support for war with Iraq to misrepresenting the possible consequences of his supersized tax cut and offering false claims to push a radical agenda on crucial issues across the board. In this unflinching work of hard-hitting journalism, Corn explains how Bush has managed to get away with it and explores the danger of presidential deceit in a perilous age. This paperback edition also includes an up-to-date analysis of the aftermath of the war with Iraq.
Lies of Omission: Algorithms versus Democracy
by Catherine DeSotoA lie of omission—withholding needed information to correct a false belief. There is a sharp and more hostile divide emerging in the United States. The shift is documented by various polls, and the speed of the change is alarming. There are certainly contributing factors, but one factor is unique to the contemporary era: receiving the majority of our information via social media experiences. Media algorithms, and to some extent overt censorship, serve users curated content that is unlike what their neighbors receive.Lies of Omission brings together various perspectives on the causes and effects of the divided information streams. Psychology and neuroscience, combined with some historical jurisprudence, are woven together to spell out the dangers of the modern social media experience. Importantly, the human response can be understood as rooted in our psychology and neurochemistry. In part two of the book, eight hot button issues that have provoked deep divisions among American citizens are presented as well-researched, opposing-view chapters with a goal to lay bare the extent of the disinformation gap that we are living in. With the rise of ephemeral smart media, and the associated displacement of the permanently printed word, it is rare to have a clear idea of what persons who do not share our opinions actually believe, or why.The decimation of communal information sources is nearly complete. What can one do? One concrete step is to turn some of your attention away from curated, impermanent news and read a book. Read this book. Dr. Catherine DeSoto spells out why it is worth our time to be informed regarding the issues we care about: something your phone&’s curated media will never do for you. Open your mind to the quaint idea that one is not informed unless one understands the opposing view. Surprising all-new research regarding the political divide and the pandemic is included. Together with over 150 references, this book will be the definitive source documenting the effects of the media algorithm revolution.
The Lies of the Land: An Honest History of Political Deceit
by Adam MacqueenTrust in our politicians is at an all-time low. We're in a "post-truth" era, where feelings trump facts, and where brazen rhetoric beats honesty. But do politicians lie more than they used to? And do we even want them to tell the truth?In a history full of wit and political acumen, Private Eye journalist Adam Macqueen dissects the gripping stories of the biggest political lies of the last half century, from the Profumo affair to Blair's WMDs to Boris Johnson's £350 million for the NHS. Covering lesser known whoppers, infamous lies from foreign shores ("I did not have sexual relations with that woman"), and some of the resolute untruths from Donald Trump's explosive presidential campaign, this is the quintessential guide to dishonesty from our leaders - and the often pernicious relationship between parliament and the media.But this book is also so much more. It explains how in the space of a lifetime we have gone from the implicit assumption that our rulers have our best interests at heart, to assuming the worst even when - in the majority of cases - politicians are actually doing their best.
Lies, Passions, and Illusions: The Democratic Imagination in the Twentieth Century
by François Furet Deborah Furet Christophe ProchassonFrançois Furet needs little introduction. Widely considered one of the leading historians of the French Revolution, he was a maverick for his time, shining a critical light on the entrenched Marxist interpretations that prevailed during the mid-twentieth century. Shortly after his death in 1997, the New York Review of Books called him "one of the most influential men in contemporary France." Lies, Passions, and Illusions is a fitting capstone to this celebrated author's oeuvre: a late-career conversation with philosopher Paul Ricoeur on the twentieth century writ large, a century of violence and turmoil, of unprecedented wealth and progress, in which history advanced, for better or worse, in quantum leaps. This conversation would be, sadly, Furet's last--he died while Ricoeur was completing his edits. Ricoeur did not want to publish his half without Furet's approval, so what remains is Furet's alone, an astonishingly cohesive meditation on the political passions of the twentieth century. With strokes at once broad and incisive, he examines the many different trajectories that nations of the West have followed over the past hundred years. It is a dialogue with history as it happened but also as a form of thought. It is a dialogue with his critics, with himself, and with those major thinkers--from Tocqueville to Hannah Arendt--whose ideas have shaped our understanding of the tragic dramas and upheavals of the modern era. It is a testament to the crucial role of the historian, a reflection on how history is made and lived, and how the imagination is a catalyst for political change. Whether new to Furet or deeply familiar with his work, readers will find thought-provoking assessments on every page, a deeply moving look back at one of the most tumultuous periods of history and how we might learn and look forward from it.
Lies That Matter: A federal prosecutor and child of Holocaust survivors, tasked with stripping US citizenship from aged Nazi collaborators, finds himself caught in the middle
by Allan GersonThe true story of a DOJ prosecutor’s complicated quest to deport Nazis: “The lessons that Mr. Gerson learns, and shares, could not be more timely.” —Seth Waxman, former US Solicitor GeneralAs the son of Holocaust survivors, federal prosecutor Allan Gerson thought his professional assignment to investigate and deport those who persecuted his family and others like them would make his parents proud. But their reaction was not what he expected. This is his memoir of the experience—and the complex emotions and questions it provoked.“It takes a young attorney whose Holocaust survivor parents and uncle had to lie in order to gain admittance into the U.S. to recognize the double-edged dangers of pursuing aging Nazi functionaries with the blunt instruments of American immigration law. Can the same laws be turned against his parents and other Jews like them? Allan Gerson tells the gripping story of his two years at the Department of Justice office charged with investigating and deporting aging Nazis living quietly in our midst. His interrogation of suspected perpetrators forces him to uncover secrets of his family and other anguished victims that he never wanted to know . . . This narrative reads like a bildungsroman, a coming of age story of a lawyer who went on to seek American legal remedies for historic crimes and injustices committed elsewhere.” —Samuel Norich, President, The Forward
Lies the Government Told You: Myth, Power, and Deception in American History
by Andrew P. NapolitanoCenturies of government deception have suspended our freedom and replaced it with a mythology rich in the ideals we are promised but do not actually experience. The government's lies have become our country's heritage, passed down generationally and accepted over time as status quo. We allow our leaders to regulate, under false pretenses, every area of our supposedly free lives: What we eat, how our money is spent, how we protect ourselves. The basic tenets of living in a free society--the primacy of the individual and limited government-- are violated routinely and with little objection from those most affected. Judge Napolitano traces the deterioration of American freedom year by year, event by event, from the birth of the U.S. government to the economic and military crises of today. He illustrates how this distorted interpretation of government translates to loss for Americans--loss of life, loss of property, loss of freedom. The cost is staggering. Amid the bleak revelation is a call to action. Judge Napolitano offers a blueprint to salvage our freedom and restore the government to its intended role as an instrument to protect the freedoms of the people.
Life: My Story Through History
by Pope FrancisFor the first time, Pope Francis tells the story of his life as he looks back on the momentous world events that have changed history—from his earliest years during the outbreak of World War II in 1939 to the turmoil of today. An extraordinary personal and historical journey, Life is the story of a man and a world in dramatic change. Pope Francis recalls his life through memories and observations of the most significant occurrences of the past eight decades, from the Holocaust to the fall of the Berlin Wall, Videla’s coup in Argentina to the moon landing in 1969, and even the 1986 World Cup in which Maradona scored the unforgettable “hand of God” goal.Here are the frank assessments and intimate insights of a pastor reflecting on the Nazi extermination of the Jews, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the 2001 terrorist attack on America and the collapse of the Twin Towers, the great economic recession of 2008, the Covid-19 pandemic, the retirement of Pope Benedict XVI, and the subsequent conclave that elected him Pontiff. The “pope callejero” recounts these world-changing moments with the candor and compassion that distinguishes him, and offers important messages on major crises confronting us now, including social inequalities, climate change, international war, atomic weapons, racial discrimination, and the battles over social and cultural issues.Translated from the Italian by Aubrey Botsford
A Life Adrift: Soeda Azembo, Popular Song and Modern Mass Culture in Japan (Routledge Contemporary Japan Series)
by Soeda Azembo Michael Lewis (Translator)A Life Adrift, the memoir of balladeer-political activist Soeda Azembo (1872-1944), chronicles his life as one of Japan’s first modern mass entertainers and imparts an understanding of how ordinary people experienced and accommodated the tumult of life in prewar Japan. Azembo created enka songs sung by tenant farmers in rural hinterlands and factory hands in Tokyo and Osaka. Although his work is still largely unknown outside Japan, his poems and lyrics were so well known at his career’s peak that a single verse served as shorthand expressing popular attitudes about political corruption, sex scandals, spiralling prices, war, and love of motherland. As these categories attest, he embedded in his songs contemporary views on class conflict, gender relations, and racial attitudes toward international rivals. Ordinary people valued Azembo’s music because it was of them and for them. They also appreciated it for being distinctively modern and home-grown, qualities rare among the cultural innovations that flooded into Japan from the mid-nineteenth century. A Life Adrift stands out as the only memoir of its kind, one written first-hand by a leader in the world of enka singing.
Life after Capitalism: The Meaning of Wealth, the Future of the Economy, and the Time Theory of Money
by George GilderAuthor of national bestseller Life After Google and generation-defining Wealth and Poverty, venture capitalist, futurist, and pioneering thinker extraordinaire George Gilder pinpoints how the clash of creativity with power at the heart of economic systems leads to global cognitive dissonance and argues that the creation of the novel taps capitalism's infinite promise and is humanity's only path of escape from stagnation and tyranny. Gilder once more rocks the archetypes of modern information theory and economics with a paradigm-shifting salvo of sheer brilliance.The capitalist era is over—get ready for life after capitalism.For more than two hundred years, capitalism spread wealth around the globe, bringing unprecedented prosperity and progress, liberating human potential. But something has gone terribly wrong in the world economy. Creativity and faith in the future—capitalism&’s crucial ingredients—seem to have run out. The elites think they can maintain a nation&’s wealth by printing money and investing it in favored industries. Their trust in bureaucratic experts, their cautionary paranoia, and their delusional belief that they can &“control&” everything from the spread of a virus to the weather, are sucking the life out of the economy. Ordinary people, their freedoms restricted, their prospects dim, are losing their faith in their institutions. Such misguided corporatism and pride, confusion and despair, are the result of a deep misunderstanding of capitalism itself. The bestselling futurist and venture capitalist George Gilder explains why economics is not an incentive system to be manipulated but an information system to be freed. Material resources are essentially as plentiful as the atoms of the universe. What drives economic growth in a free market is our limitless human ingenuity and creativity. Prophetic, inspiring, and paradigm-shifting, Life after Capitalism is a once-in- a-generation classic.
Life After Carbon: The Next Global Transformation of Cities
by John Cleveland Peter PlastrikIn Life After Carbon urban sustainability consultants Pete Plastrik and John Cleveland present a global pattern of reinvention from the stories of 25 "innovation lab" cities—from Copenhagento Melbourne. Plastrik and Cleveland show that four transformational ideas are driving urban climate innovation around the world: carbon-free advantage, efficient abundance, nature's benefits, and adaptive futures.Life After Carbon presents the new ideas that are replacing the pillars of the modern-city model, converting climate disaster into urban opportunity, and shaping the next transformation of cities worldwide. It will inspire anyone who cares about the future of our cities, and help them to map a sustainable pathforward.