- Table View
- List View
Super Soldiers: The Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (Emerging Technologies, Ethics and International Affairs)
by Jai Galliott Mianna LotzThe Spartan City State produced what is probably one of the most iconic and ruthless military forces in recorded history. They believed that military training and education began at birth. Post-World War II saw a shift to army tanks, fighter jets and missiles that would go on to fight the next huge battle in Northern Europe. Today, with the advent of unmanned systems, our hopes are attached to the idea that we can fight our battles with soldiers pressing buttons in distant command centres. However, soldiers must now be highly trained, super strong and have the intelligence and mental capacity to handle the highly complex and dynamic military operating environment. It is only now as we progress into the twenty-first century that we are getting closer to realising the Spartan ideal and creating a soldier that can endure more than ever before. This book provides the first comprehensive and unifying analysis of the moral, legal and social questions concerning military human enhancement, with a view toward developing guidance and policy that may influence real-world decision making.
Super Sweet Dreams (Puppy Princess #2)
by Patty FurlingtonTwo perennial favorites -- dogs and princesses -- combine in this new chapter-book series perfect for fans of Puppy Pirates and Magic Puppy, but with a dash of princess-y fun!Who says princesses have to be perfect?Princess Rosie couldn't be happier with her new best friend, Cleo! And with Cleo's birthday in two days, Rosie wants to find a special birthday gift for her. Only, none of the ideas her friends and family have are good enough. But when Cleo mentions she wants to spend a night at the palace, Rosie decides to throw a sleepover. Can she plan the perfect sleepover in time for Cleo's birthday?
Superagency: What Could Possibly Go Right with Our AI Future
by Reid Hoffman Greg BeatoInstant New York Times and USA Today Bestseller. Tech visionary and co-founder of Manas AI Reid Hoffman shares his unique insider’s perspective on an AI-powered future, making the case for its potential to unlock a world of possibilities. <p> "An essential companion." — Fei-Fei Li <p> "An important read." —Bill Gates <p> "Brilliant mind. Compassionate heart. Bold ideas…Read this book!” —Van Jones <p> "Refreshingly optimistic and welcome perspective." — Ariana Huffington <p> "A fascinating and insightful book." —Yuval Noah Harari <p> As taught at UPenn's Wharton and Stanford. Superagency offers a roadmap for using AI inclusively and adaptively to improve our lives and create positive change. While acknowledging challenges like disinformation and potential job changes, the book focuses on AI’s immense potential to increase individual agency and create better outcomes for society as a whole. Imagine AI tutors personalizing education for each child, researchers rapidly discovering cures for diseases like Alzheimer's and cancer, and AI advisors empowering people to navigate complex systems and achieve their goals. Hoffman and co-author, tech and culture writer Greg Beato envision a world where these possibilities, and many more, become a reality. <p> Superagency challenges conventional fears, inviting us to view the future through a lens of opportunity, rather than fear. It’s a call to action – to embrace AI with excitement and actively shape a world where human ingenuity and the power of AI combine to create something extraordinary. Entrepreneur Reid Hoffman is a co-founder of LinkedIn, Inflection AI, and Manas AI. He is also host of the podcasts Possible and Masters of Scale. <b>New York Times Bestseller</b>
Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Tear Us Apart
by Nicholas CarrOne of Literary Hub's Most Anticipated Books of 2025 From the author of The Shallows, a bracing exploration of how social media has warped our sense of self and society. From the telegraph and telephone in the 1800s to the internet and social media in our own day, the public has welcomed new communication systems. Whenever people gain more power to share information, the assumption goes, society prospers. Superbloom tells a startlingly different story. As communication becomes more mechanized and efficient, it breeds confusion more than understanding, strife more than harmony. Media technologies all too often bring out the worst in us. A celebrated commentator on the human consequences of technology, Nicholas Carr reorients the conversation around modern communication, challenging some of our most cherished beliefs about self-expression, free speech, and media democratization. He reveals how messaging apps strip nuance from conversation, how “digital crowding” erodes empathy and triggers aggression, how online political debates narrow our minds and distort our perceptions, and how advances in AI are further blurring the already hazy line between fantasy and reality. Even as Carr shows how tech companies and their tools of connection have failed us, he forces us to confront inconvenient truths about our own nature. The human psyche, it turns out, is profoundly ill-suited to the “superbloom” of information that technology has unleashed. With rich psychological insights and vivid examples drawn from history and science, Superbloom provides both a panoramic view of how media shapes society and an intimate examination of the fate of the self in a time of radical dislocation. It may be too late to change the system, Carr counsels, but it’s not too late to change ourselves.
Superbugs: An Arms Race against Bacteria
by William HallAntibiotics are powerful drugs that can prevent and treat infections, but they are becoming less effective as a result of drug resistance. Resistance develops because the bacteria that antibiotics target can evolve ways to defend themselves against these drugs. When antibiotics fail, there is very little else to prevent an infection from spreading. Unnecessary use of antibiotics in both humans and animals accelerates the evolution of drug-resistant bacteria, with potentially catastrophic personal and global consequences. Our best defenses against infectious disease could cease to work, surgical procedures would become deadly, and we might return to a world where even small cuts are life-threatening. The problem of drug resistance already kills over one million people across the world every year and has huge economic costs. Without action, this problem will become significantly worse. Following from their work on the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, William Hall, Anthony McDonnell, and Jim O’Neill outline the major systematic failures that have led to this growing crisis. They also provide a set of solutions to tackle these global issues that governments, industry, and public health specialists can adopt. In addition to personal behavioral modifications, such as better handwashing regimens, Superbugs argues for mounting an offense against this threat through agricultural policy changes, an industrial research stimulus, and other broad-scale economic and social incentives.
Supercapitalism
by Robert B. ReichFrom one of America's foremost economic and political thinkers comes a vital analysis of our new hypercompetitive and turbo-charged global economy and the effect it is having on American democracy. With his customary wit and insight, Reich shows how widening inequality of income and wealth, heightened job insecurity, and corporate corruption are merely the logical results of a system in which politicians are more beholden to the influence of business lobbyists than to the voters who elected them. Powerful and thought-provoking, Supercapitalism argues that a clear separation of politics and capitalism will foster an enviroment in which both business and government thrive, by putting capitalism in the service of democracy, and not the other way around.From the Trade Paperback edition. even more deeply involved in politics; and how average citizens, seeking great deals and invested in the stock market to an unprecedented degree, are increasingly loath to stand by their values if it means biting the hands that feed them. He makes clear how the tools traditionally used to temper America's societal problems--fair taxation, well-funded public education, trade unions--have withered as supercapitalism has burgeoned. Reich sets out a clear course to a vibrant capitalism and a concurrent, equally vibrant democracy. He argues forcefully that the spheres of business and politics must be kept distinct. He calls for an end to the legal fiction that corporations are citizens, as well as the illusion that corporations can be "socially responsible" until laws define social needs. Reich explains why we must stop treating companies as if they were people--and must therefore abolish the corporate income tax and levy it on shareholders instead, hold individuals rather than corporations guilty of criminal conduct, and not expect companies to be "patriotic." For, as Reich says, only people can be citizens, and only citizens should be allowed to participate in democratic decision making.From the Hardcover edition.
Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life
by Robert B. ReichFrom the greatly admired author of The Work of Nations and The Future of Success, one of America's greatest economic and political thinkers as well as a distinguished public servant in three national administrations, a breakthrough book on the clash between capitalism and democracy. Mid-twentieth-century capitalism has turned into global capitalism, and global capitalism--turbocharged, Web-based, and able to find and make almost anything just about anywhere--has turned into supercapitalism. But as Robert B. Reich makes clear in this eye-opening book, while supercapitalism is working wonderfully well to enlarge the economic pie, democracy--charged with caring for all citizens--is becoming less and less effective under its influence. Reich explains how widening inequalities of income and wealth, heightened job insecurity, and the spreading effects of global warming are the logical outcomes of supercapitalism. He shows us why companies, fighting harder than ever to maintain their competitive positions, have become even more deeply involved in politics; and how average citizens, seeking great deals and invested in the stock market to an unprecedented degree, are increasingly loath to stand by their values if it means biting the hands that feed them. He makes clear how the tools traditionally used to temper America's societal problems--fair taxation, well-funded public education, trade unions--have withered as supercapitalism has burgeoned. Reich sets out a clear course to a vibrant capitalism and a concurrent, equally vibrant democracy. He argues forcefully that the spheres of business and politics must be kept distinct. He calls for an end to the legal fiction that corporations are citizens, as well as the illusion that corporations can be "socially responsible" until laws define social needs. Reich explains why we must stop treating companies as if they were people--and must therefore abolish the corporate income tax and levy it on shareholders instead, hold individuals rather than corporations guilty of criminal conduct, and not expect companies to be "patriotic." For, as Reich says, only people can be citizens, and only citizens should be allowed to participate in democratic decision making.
Supercommunity: Diabolical Togetherness Beyond Contemporary Art
by E-Flux Julieta Aranda Brian Kuan Wood Anton VidokleLeading artists, theorists, and writers exhume the dystopian and utopian futures contained within the present“I am the supercommunity, and you are only starting to recognize me. I grew out of something that used to be humanity. Some have compared me to angry crowds in public squares; others compare me to wind and atmosphere, or to software.”Invited to exhibit at the 56th Venice Biennale, e-flux journal produced a single issue over a four-month span, publishing an article a day both online and on site from Venice.In essays, poems, short stories, and plays, artists and theorists trace the negative collective that is the subject of contemporary life, in which art, the internet, and globalization have shed their utopian guises but persist as naked power, in the face of apocalyptic ecological disaster and against the claims of the social commons.“I convert care to cruelty, and cruelty back to care. I convert political desires to economic flows and data, and then I convert them back again. I convert revolutions to revelations. I don’t want, I want to leave, and then disperse myself everywhere and all the time.”
Superdiversity, Policy and Governance in Europe: Multi-scalar Perspectives (New Perspectives in Policy and Politics)
by Jenny Phillimore & Nando Sigona & Katherine TonkissImmigration has transformed the social, economic, political and cultural landscapes of global cities such as London, Melbourne, Milan and Amsterdam. The term ‘superdiversity’ captures a new era of migration-driven demographic diversifications and associated complexities. Superdiversity is the future or, in many cases, the current reality of neighbourhoods, cities, countries and regions, yet the implications of superdiversification for governance and policy have, until now, received very little attention. First published as a special issue of Policy & Politics, this insightful volume brings together contributions from experts across Europe to explore the ways in which superdiversity has shaped the development of policy and to consider challenges for the future.
Superdólares
by Luigi Carletti Agent Kasper"Por estos billetes se puede morir, despreciando cualquier ley, burlándose de cualquier norma o acuerdo. Por estos billetes se puede acabar en el Infierno."¿Qué billetes son estos? Dólares "falsos pero verdaderos" que circulan en grandes cantidades en algunos países remotos. "Sigue el dinero" dicen siempre los investigadores, y para seguir el dinero los estadounidenses le piden un favor a su aliado italiano. Se trata de un agente, Kasper, miembro del cuerpo de elite de los carabinieros, y ex piloto de combate que luego pasó a los servicios secretos y se infiltró en Camboya para investigar los negocios orientales de las mafias italianas. Kasper ya había protagonizado varias acciones espectaculares contra los narcos, como cuando logró desmontar una trama entera de tráfico de drogas entre Italia y Colombia. Kasper tiene la experiencia y los conocimientos adecuados: si sabes quién trafica, no importa lo que se trafique."Same same but different" le dice Victor Chao, un miembro de las Triadas chinas mientras le muestra dos billetes de cien dólares. Son iguales, pero uno viene de la Reserva Federal y el otro no. Al investigar quién está detrás de este flujo de dinero, Kasper acabará en el infierno, el campo de concentración de Prey Sar en Camboya. Allí los guardias son ex jemeres rojos, pero ¿quién ha dado la orden de encerrarle? ¿Y por qué las autoridades internacionales, incluidas las italianas, ocultan el caso?En este libro Luigi Carlettti recoge el testimonio del agente Kasper y revela uno de los secretos mejor guardados de los servicios de inteligencia occidentales. El resultado es un thriller de espionaje internacional en la línea de la mejor narrativa americana. Con un solo defecto: es todo verdad."Este libro huye de cualquier calificativo, provocando en el lector (y en el crítico) una feliz confusión, la misma que lo deja pegado a la pagina, entre emociones vivas, cruentas, nunca previsibles, persiguiendo una historia imposible. Y sin embargo real." F de Amato, Il Centro"Narración apremiante y sorprendentes revelaciones, una mezcla de rara, siempre cautivadora, potencia expresiva y descriptiva." Francesca Moratto, Alto Adige
Superfund And Mining Megasites: Lessons From The Coeur D'alene River Basin
by Committee on Superfund Site Assessment Remediation in the Coeur d'Alene River BasinFor more than 100 years, the Coeur d’ Alene River Basin has been known as "The Silver Valley" for being one of the most productive silver, lead, and zinc mining areas in the United States. Over time, high levels of metals (including lead, arsenic, cadmium, and zinc) were discovered in the local environment and elevated blood lead levels were found in children in communities near the metal-refining and smelter complex. In 1983, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) listed a 21-square mile mining area in northern Idaho as a Superfund site. EPA extended those boundaries in 1998 to include areas throughout the 1500-square mile area Coeur d'Alene River Basin project area. Under Superfund, EPA has developed a plan to clean up the contaminated area that will cost an estimated $359 million over 3 decades--and this effort is only the first step in the cleanup process. Superfund and Mining Megasites: Lessons from Coeur d'Alene River Basin evaluates the issues and concerns that have been raised regarding EPA’s decisions about cleaning up the area. The scientific and technical practices used by EPA to make decisions about human health risks at the Coeur d'Alene River Basin Superfund site are generally sound; however, there are substantial concerns regarding environmental protection decisions, particularly dealing with the effectiveness of long-term plans.
Superfusion
by Zachary KarabellHow China and America Became One Economy and Why the World’s Prosperity Depends on It
Supergrid and Superblock: Lessons in Urban Structure from China and Japan (Planning, History and Environment Series)
by Xiaofei ChenIn this superbly illustrated book Xiaofei Chen presents the first analysis in English of a ubiquitous East Asian urban phenomenon: the supergrid and superblock urban structure. The book opens with an introductory essay by Barrie Shelton in which he sets the scene for what is to follow, emphasizing how alien this structure was to Western urban design culture where radial patterns of development were the norm. Then, in her first chapter, Chen explains the make-up of the supergrid and superblock urban structure and its contrasting Chinese and Japanese forms. In the following three chapters she digs deep into the history, cultural origins, and underlying design philosophy of the supergrid and superblock to show how, under different cultural influences, the model has developed into two distinct forms. Two further chapters (5 and 6) provide detailed analysis of two sample superblocks in China (in Xi’an and Nanjing) and two in Japan (in Kyoto and Osaka) to reveal the relative advantages and disadvantages of how the structure is manifest in the two countries. In her conclusion she discusses her findings to show how and why the supergrid and superblock structure is a valuable urban design model which, with regional adjustments, can be used effectively in cities other than those of East Asia.
Superhero for President (Ellie Ultra)
by Gina BellisarioEllie Ultra is a leader. As a superhero, she kind of has to be. So when the opportunity to become class president comes up, it's a no-brainer that Ellie will run. The only downside is that devious Dex Diggs, her arch nemesis in the school, is going to run too. After an Ultra Genie wish machine gets into Dex's hands, Ellie gets a glimpse of what the world will be like if Dex takes over. She has to do everything she can to make the world a better place and undo evil wishes, even if she isn't president.
Superheroes Are Everywhere
by Kamala HarrisFrom Vice President Kamala Harris comes a picture book with an empowering message: Superheroes are all around us--and if we try, we can all be heroes too. Now a #1 New York Times bestseller!Before Kamala Harris was elected to the vice presidency, she was a little girl who loved superheroes. And when she looked around, she was amazed to find them everywhere! In her family, among her friends, even down the street--there were superheroes wherever she looked. And those superheroes showed her that all you need to do to be a superhero is to be the best that you can be.In this empowering and joyful picture book that speaks directly to kids, Kamala Harris takes readers through her life and shows them that the power to make the world a better place is inside all of us. And with fun and engaging art by Mechal Renee Roe, as well as a guide to being a superhero at the end, this book is sure to have kids taking up the superhero mantle (cape and mask optional).Praise for Superheroes Are Everywhere:"This [book] offers a solid message: a superhero could be anyone, including you." --Booklist
Superheroes of the Constitution: Action and Adventure Stories About Real-Life Heroes
by Bill Greenhead Jane BedellSuperheroes of the Constitution tells the stories of the protectors of liberty and the avengers of justice of the United States. From George Washington and Abraham Lincoln to Susan B. Anthony and Sojourner Truth, each of these heroes used their very own super powers of truth, justice, and tenacity in the fight for liberty. This fun, illustrated look at the fearless superheroes of U.S. history shows how true stories are often the most exciting.
Superheroes of the United States Constitution: A Kid's Guide to American History Heroes
by Bill Greenhead J.M. BedellAmerica's own real-life Justice League! Perfect for teaching kids about the Constitution and American history in a fun and engaging way!Through action-packed, comic-like graphic illustrations, children can learn the stories of George Washington, Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, and more! Each of these heroes used their very own super powers of truth, justice, and tenacity in the fight for liberty.This fun, illustrated look at the fearless superheroes of U.S. history shows how true stories are often the most exciting.
Superhuman Japan: Knowledge, Nation and Culture in US-Japan Relations (Routledge Contemporary Japan Series)
by Marie ThorstenThis book examines the imaginative narratives that shaped the attitudes of Americans (and others) toward Japan. Focusing on cultural aspects of economic nationalism and US-Japan relations during the trade war Marie Thorsten uses examples from public discourse, film, documentaries, novels, acts of racism and comparison of international education assessments to examine the way in which Japan has been constituted in a global political gaze as an economic hegemon. In times of heightened rivalry, we often try to find superior "others" so that we can motivate ourselves against an imagined future of decline. During the Cold War, Americans and other nations in the West took advantage of being the underdog against the perceived superiority of the Soviet Union, especially by turning the Sputnik launch of 1957 into a lodestone for an educational renaissance. As postwar Japanese power became increasingly threatening, American policymakers again tried to fashion Japan into another "Sputnik" to motivate American people. This book explores 1980s "Bubble" Japan as a "Superhuman Other" in the consciousness of Americans, especially as reflected in popular culture and policy discourses. Making Japan into a Superhuman often resorted into the same stereotyping that invented Japan as a Subhuman. It was difficult for many to see that America, Japan and other nations were actually sharing the same global economic circumstances affecting attitudes toward knowledge and nation. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of Japanese politics, International Relations and Japanese culture and society.
Superior, Nebraska
by Denis BoylesSince the days of “Bleeding Kansas,” people from someplace else have been telling midwesterners how to live, how to vote, and what to believe. InSuperior Nebraska,Denis Boyles explodes the myth that hapless Midwesterners have been duped into voting against their own economic interests in order to support right-wing crusades mounted by wily conservatives. Every election cycle, the angry people who live on America’s blue coasts smugly ridicule those who live in the mystifying heartland of their own country, an exotic, faraway place many of them have seen only from the window of an aircraft. From up there, those who live in so-called red states appear to be prisoners of desolation and failure, with their twisters and blizzards, their vanishing small towns, and their odd obsession with social values. Easterners look down upon “Jesusland” and pronounce it not only empty but ignorant. In this leisurely exploration of civic life along the meandering course of the Republican River, Boyles argues that, in fact, the people living in those big, blue cities have a lot to learn from the Midwest's core values of industriousness, vigor, neighborliness, optimism, moderation, and, above all, self-reliance. Those strengths, Boyles points out, are what made it possible to settle the Great Plains in the first place and have sustained life there since. Deftly demolishing the elitist portrait of rural Republican voters as religious zealots and misguided simpletons, Boyles shows how the interests of red and blue staters actually coincide. Like their coastal, mostly Democratic, cousins, they too want better schools, less intrusive bureaucracies, lower taxes, some moral common sense, a little respect for tradition and faith, some civility in public debate, and support for their belief that personal responsibility always trumps government programs. For more than a century, writers and critics have been asking, “What’s the matter with Kansas?” In this affecting love letter to Kansas, Nebraska, and the entire American Midwest, Denis Boyles responds by holding up the common-sense values of America’s heartland as a model for us all.
Supermac: The Life of Harold Macmillan
by D R ThorpeGreat-grandson of a crofter and son-in-law of a Duke, Harold Macmillan (1894-1986) was both complex as a person and influential as a politican. Marked by terrible experiences in the trenches in the First World War and by his work as an MP during the Depression, he was a Tory rebel - an outspoken backbencher, opposing the economic policies of the 1930s and the appeasement policies of his own government.Churchill gave him responsibility during the Second World War with executive command as 'Viceroy of the Mediterranean'. After the War, in opposition, Macmillan was one of the principal reformers of the Conservatives, and after 1951, back in government, served in several important posts before becoming Prime Minister after the Suez Crisis.Supermac examines key events including the controversy over the Cossacks repatriation, the Suez Crisis, You've Never Had It So Good, the Winds of Change, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Profumo Scandal. The culmination of thirty-five years of research into this period by one of our most respected historians, this book gives an unforgettable portrait of a turbulent age.Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize.
Supermajorities in Constitutional Courts
by Mauro Arturo Rivera LeónConstitutional adjudication is a subject of fascination for scholars. Judges may annul the will of a democratically elected Parliament in counter-majoritarian fashion. Although conceived as a remedy against majoritarianism, judges also decide cases by voting. Whether they do so through simple majorities or supermajorities is not trivial.The debate around supermajorities has awakened anew amidst theories of judicial limitation and new conceptions of judicial review. This book advances our knowledge of systems employing supermajorities in constitutional adjudication by performing a comparative analysis of ten jurisdictions and twelve supermajority models. It introduces a typology of the main models of institutional design, the reasons leading policymakers to establish them, and the impact supermajorities have on courts. It explores the question of whether supermajorities grant deference and foster consensus, or if they disable constitutional courts from exercising judicial review. By analyzing the history, practice, and effects of supermajority rules in courts, this book contributes to an ongoing conversation on the democratic implications of voting protocols in constitutional courts. It will be a valuable resource for policy-makers, scholars, and researchers working in the areas of comparative constitutional law and constitutional politics.The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.
Supermajority Voting in Constitutional Courts: The Problem of Majority Rule for Democracy and Legislation (ISSN)
by Cristóbal CaviedesThis book challenges the wide use of majority rule in many constitutional courts for declaring statutes unconstitutional and argues that these courts should rather perform constitutional review by using supermajority rules. Considering that constitutional courts often tackle hard moral issues, it is questionable whether a bare majority of judges should suffice for settling them, especially considering these courts’ counter-majoritarian nature. Further, the wide use of majority rule for checking the constitutionality of legislation may increasingly risk their reputation. Such a concern is developing in the United States following a series of Supreme Court decisions. This book argues that majority rule is unjustified in constitutional review. This means that, in constitutional review, considering majority rule’s traits, there are no decisive reasons for using this voting rule over other voting rules. Additionally, the book argues that, when checking the constitutionality of legislation, constitutional courts should replace majority rule with supermajority rules. Thus, for declaring statutes unconstitutional, it is argued that more than 50% of the judges present plus one judge present should be needed. This book will be of interest to academics, researchers, and policy-makers working in the areas of Constitutional Law and Politics.
Superman's Not Coming: Our National Water Crisis and What We the People Can Do About It
by Erin BrockovichFrom the environmental activist, consumer advocate, renowned crusader, and champion fighter whose courageous case against Pacific Gas and Electric was dramatized in the Oscar-winning film—a book to inspire change that looks at our present situation with water and reveals the imminent threats to our most precious, essential element as it shows us how, in large and practical ways, we can each take action to make changes in our cities, our towns, and our villages before it is too late. In Erin Brockovich&’s long-awaited book—her first to reckon with conditions on our planet—she makes clear why we are in the trouble we&’re in and warns us that if we&’re waiting for someone to save us, Superman isn&’t coming. Nor is the government or the environmental agencies. No one is going to solve this for us. It is up to us, we the people, and Brockovich shows us how. She shows us what&’s at stake (the average American uses nearly one hundred gallons of water each day, for everything from drinking to cooking to bathing), writing of the unreported cancer clusters, of plastic pollutants in our tap water (we produce more than three hundred million tons annually of plastic in the world, and half of all plastics created for disposable items such as water bottles), of the fraudulent science that disguises these issues. She identifies and describes the most toxic chemicals in everyday products, from shampoos and baby lotions to cell phones and Tupperware, with only a few hundred under regulation, among them asbestos, lead, mercury, radon, and formaldehyde. She describes the saga of PG&E that continues to this day, and how her work in Hinckley, California, far from being a oneoff situation, opened up a rabbit hole bigger than anyone could have imagined, leading Brockovich to all of our backyards. We see the communities and people with whom she has worked and who have helped to make an impact: the water operator in Poughkeepsie, New York, who changed his system to create some of the safest water in the country; the moms in Hannibal, Missouri, who became the first citizens in the nation to file an ordinance prohibiting the use of ammonia in their public drinking water; the woman in Tonganoxie (Tongie), Kansas, who fought to keep a massive, $320 million Tyson chicken processing complex out of her town (population: 5,300). Throughout, Brockovich, ever inspiring, empowers us, urging us to act on what we know is right: to ask questions, to scrutinize our water professionals; showing us ways to protect our health, our families, and our lives; to storm our city halls, to use local media, town hall meetings, etc., until our water is safe for everyone to drink. Whether we have PhDs, or degrees in science or in law; whether we&’re politicians, or government or agency officials, Brockovich shows us how we can each take baby steps to make a difference that can, and will, and must change the world.
Supermarket USA: Food and Power in the Cold War Farms Race
by Shane HamiltonThis cultural history examines the global rise of American-style supermarkets during the Cold War era and how they shaped the way we eat today.Supermarkets were invented in the United States, and from the 1940s on they made their way around the world, often explicitly to carry American-style economic culture with them. This innovative history tells us how supermarkets were used as anticommunist weapons during the Cold War, and how their proliferation has shaped our current food system.The widespread appeal of supermarkets contributed to a “farms race” between the United States and the Soviet Union, as the superpowers vied to show that their contrasting approaches to food production and distribution were best suited to an abundant future. In the aftermath of the Cold War, US food power was transformed into a global system of market power, laying the groundwork for the emergence of our contemporary world, in which transnational supermarkets operate as powerful institutions in a global food economy.
Supernotes
by John Cullen Luigi Carletti Agent KasperIn the Cambodian hinterlands, a lone Western prisoner suffers through a hot, muddy, interminable sentence. Wasted by repeated torture, lack of sleep, malnutrition, and psychotropic drugs, he has been abandoned. His years of exemplary service to his government mean nothing. No one is coming for him.This is Agent Kasper, a man with a staggering résumé: commercial airline pilot, firearms expert, highly accomplished practitioner of several of the martial arts, a secret agent par excellence. It is this incredible competence that will be his undoing. While investigating Mafia money laundering in Phnom Penh, Kasper is approached by the CIA to track down the source of the so-called supernotes--illegal U.S. banknotes counterfeited so perfectly that they are undetectable, even by sophisticated machines--that are flooding Southeast Asia. With patience, skill, and courage, Kasper uncovers the explosive secret behind them and is badly burned by the truth.Meanwhile, back in Rome, a sharp, scrappy lawyer named Barbara Belli has been hired by Kasper's family to work for his release. She has contacts in the foreign ministry, and while officials make sweeping claims about moving heaven and earth, nothing happens. It's more than just creaking bureaucracy. Kasper has really pissed off the wrong people.Based on true events in the life of a former spy, Kasper's journey makes for a shocking and spellbinding page-turner of petty corruption, high-level betrayal, and state secrets so powerful that governments will protect them by any means.From the Hardcover edition.