Crisis Pursued By Disaster Followed Closely By Catastrophe

Author : Mike O'Connor
Publisher : Random House
Page : 304 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2009-03-04
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780307555434

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Crisis, Pursued by Disaster, Followed Closely by Catastrophe by Mike O'Connor Pdf

Throughout his childhood, Mike O’Connor’s family pretended to be normal. But Mike and his two younger sisters knew that their parents were hiding something–a secret they didn’t dare talk about. The family appeared to be no different from any of their small-town Texas neighbors–that is, until suddenly, the O’Connor’s would flee, leaving with only a few hours’ notice, abandoning houses and pets and possessions and running across the border to Mexico. For all of Mike’s adolescence, O’Connor family life alternated between relative comfort and abject poverty–sometimes within a matter of days. From living in a Texas ranch house to living in two rented rooms in an impoverished Mexican village, the O’Connors never knew what lay ahead–only that they must not draw attention to themselves. Though their parents steadfastly denied it, the children knew that something was chasing them–a past that hovered like an invisible enemy, always waiting to strike, always in pursuit. But it was not until much later, after his parents’ deaths, that Mike O’Connor, now an investigative reporter, was able to uncover the truth about his family’s past. As the secrets were unlocked one by one and the long trail of deception unfurled, Mike faced the heart-wrenching ramifications of his parents’ actions–and made a discovery that shook his family loyalty to its core. Full of incredible details of a life lived on both sides of the border, in near-poverty and near-wealth, Mike O’Connor’s account is a real-life suspense story of childhood mysteries and strange circumstances that will enthrall readers to its very end.

Author : Roger J. Porter
Publisher : Cornell University Press
Page : 215 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 2011-05-06
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9780801460968

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Bureau of Missing Persons by Roger J. Porter Pdf

A devoted reader of autobiographies and memoirs, Roger J. Porter has observed in recent years a surprising number of memoirs by adult children whose fathers have led secret lives. Some of the fathers had second families; some had secret religious lives; others have been criminals, liars, or con men. Struck by the intensely human drama of secrecy and deception played out for all to see, Porter explores the phenomenon in great depth. In Bureau of Missing Persons he examines a large number of these works—eighteen in all—placing them in a wide literary and cultural context and considering the ethical quandaries writers face when they reveal secrets so long and closely held. Among the books Porter treats are Paul Auster’s The Invention of Solitude, Alison Bechdel’s graphic memoir Fun Home, Essie Mae Washington-Williams’s Dear Senator (on her father, Strom Thurmond), Bliss Broyard’s One Drop, Mary Gordon’s The Shadow Man, and Geoffrey Wolff’s The Duke of Deception. He also discusses Nathaniel Kahn’s documentary film, My Architect. These narratives inevitably look inward to the writer as well as outward to the parent. The autobiographical children are compelled, if not consumed, by a desire to know. They become detectives, piecing together clues to fill memory voids, assembling material and archival evidence, public and private documents, letters, photographs, and iconic physical objects to track down the parent.

Author : John Mueller,Mark G. Stewart
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 54,9 Mb
Release : 2011-11-01
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780199878222

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Terror, Security, and Money by John Mueller,Mark G. Stewart Pdf

In seeking to evaluate the efficacy of post-9/11 homeland security expenses--which have risen by more than a trillion dollars, not including war costs--the common query has been, "Are we safer?" This, however, is the wrong question. Of course we are "safer"--the posting of a single security guard at one building's entrance enhances safety. The correct question is, "Are any gains in security worth the funds expended?" In this engaging, readable book, John Mueller and Mark Stewart apply risk and cost-benefit evaluation techniques to answer this very question. This analytical approach has been used throughout the world for decades by regulators, academics, and businesses--but, as a recent National Academy of Science study suggests, it has never been capably applied by the people administering homeland security funds. Given the limited risk terrorism presents, expenses meant to lower it have for the most part simply not been worth it. For example, to be considered cost-effective, increased American homeland security expenditures would have had each year to have foiled up to 1,667 attacks roughly like the one intended on Times Square in 2010--more than four a day. Cataloging the mistakes that the US has made--and continues to make--in managing homeland security programs, Terror, Security, and Money has the potential to redirect our efforts toward a more productive and far more cost-effective course.

Author : John Mueller,Mark Stewart
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 240 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2015-11-04
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780190237325

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Chasing Ghosts by John Mueller,Mark Stewart Pdf

Since 2001, the United States has created or reorganized more than two counterterrorism organizations for every apprehension it has made of Islamists apparently planning to commit terrorism within the country. Central to this massive enterprise is what the FBI frequently calls "ghost-chasing"-the efforts by police and intelligence agencies to follow up on over ten million tips. Less than one alarm in 10,000 fails to be false-the rest all point to ghosts. And the vast majority of the leads deemed to be productive have led to terrorist enterprises that are either trivial or at most aspirational. As John Mueller and Mark G. Stewart suggest in Chasing Ghosts, it is often an exercise in dueling delusions: an extremist has delusions about changing the world by blowing something up, and the authorities have delusions that he might actually be able to overcome his patent inadequacies to do so. Chasing Ghosts systematically examines this expensive, exhausting, bewildering, chaotic, and paranoia-inducing process. It evaluates the counterterrorism efforts of the FBI, the National Security Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, and local policing agencies. In addition, it draws from a rich set of case studies to appraise the capacities of the terrorist "adversary" and to scrutinize "the myth of the mastermind." Mueller and Stewart also look closely at public opinion, a key driving force in counterterrorism efforts. The chance that an American will be killed by a terrorist within the country is about one in four million per year under present conditions. However, poll data suggest that, although over a trillion dollars has been spent on domestic counterterrorism since 2001, Americans say they do not feel safer. No defense of civil liberties is likely to be effective as long as people and officials continue to believe that the threat from terrorism is massive, even existential. The book does not argue that there is nothing for the ghost-chasers to find-the terrorist "adversary" is real and does exist. The question that is central to the exercise-but one the ghost-chasers never really probe-is an important and rather straight-forward one: is the chase worth the effort? Or is it excessive given the danger that terrorism actually presents? As Chasing Ghosts shows in vivid detail, standard evaluative procedures suggest that the costs often far outweigh the benefits.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 790 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2007-09
Category : Celebrities
ISBN : STANFORD:36105133485495

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People by Anonim Pdf

Author : Jill Elaine Hasday
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 305 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 2019
Category : Law
ISBN : 9780190905941

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Intimate Lies and the Law by Jill Elaine Hasday Pdf

This is the first book that systematically examines deception in sexual, marital, and familial relationships and uncovers the hidden body of law that shields intimate deceivers from legal consequences. It argues that entering an intimate relationship-or being duped into one-should not mean losing the law's protection from deceit.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 792 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2008
Category : American literature
ISBN : UCSD:31822037548989

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The Publishers Weekly by Anonim Pdf

Author : Melvil Dewey,Richard Rogers Bowker,L. Pylodet,Charles Ammi Cutter,Bertine Emma Weston,Karl Brown,Helen E. Wessells
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 846 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2007
Category : Electronic journals
ISBN : UOM:39015081490479

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Library Journal by Melvil Dewey,Richard Rogers Bowker,L. Pylodet,Charles Ammi Cutter,Bertine Emma Weston,Karl Brown,Helen E. Wessells Pdf

Includes, beginning Sept. 15, 1954 (and on the 15th of each month, Sept.-May) a special section: School library journal, ISSN 0000-0035, (called Junior libraries, 1954-May 1961). Also issued separately.

Author : Robert Weisbrot,G. Calvin Mackenzie
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 444 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2008-07-10
Category : History
ISBN : 9781440637513

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The Liberal Hour by Robert Weisbrot,G. Calvin Mackenzie Pdf

An engaging be hind-the-scenes look at the lesser-known forces that fueled the profound social reforms of the 1960s Provocative and incisive , The Liberal Hour reveals how Washington, so often portrayed as a target of reform in the 1960s, was in fact the era's most effective engine of change. The movements of the 1960s have always drawn the most attention from the decade's chroniclers, but it was in the halls of government-so often the target of protesters' wrath-that the enduring reforms of the era were produced. With nuance and panache, Calvin Mackenzie and Robert Weisbrot present the real-life characters-from giants like JFK and Johnson to lesser-known senators and congressmen-who drove these reforms and were critical to the passage of key legislation. The Liberal Hour offers an engrossing portrait of this extraordinary moment when more progressive legislation was passed than in almost any other era in American history.

Author : Colin Mason
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 2013-06-17
Category : Law
ISBN : 9781136555114

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The 2030 Spike by Colin Mason Pdf

The clock is relentlessly ticking! Our world teeters on a knife-edge between a peaceful and prosperous future for all, and a dark winter of death and destruction that threatens to smother the light of civilization. Within 30 years, in the 2030 decade, six powerful 'drivers' will converge with unprecedented force in a statistical spike that could tear humanity apart and plunge the world into a new Dark Age. Depleted fuel supplies, massive population growth, poverty, global climate change, famine, growing water shortages and international lawlessness are on a crash course with potentially catastrophic consequences. In the face of both doomsaying and denial over the state of our world, Colin Mason cuts through the rhetoric and reams of conflicting data to muster the evidence to illustrate a broad picture of the world as it is, and our possible futures. Ultimately his message is clear; we must act decisively, collectively and immediately to alter the trajectory of humanity away from catastrophe. Offering over 100 priorities for immediate action, The 2030 Spike serves as a guidebook for humanity through the treacherous minefields and wastelands ahead to a bright, peaceful and prosperous future in which all humans have the opportunity to thrive and build a better civilization. This book is powerful and essential reading for all people concerned with the future of humanity and planet earth.

Author : International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
Publisher : International Monetary Fund
Page : 134 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 2022-12-16
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9798400227516

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Barbados by International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept. Pdf

Despite a series of economic shocks, Barbados has made good progress in implementing its Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) plan since the government led by Prime Minister Mia Mottley took office in May 2018. Macroeconomic stability was restored with a combination of comprehensive sovereign debt restructuring, fiscal consolidation, and structural reforms to reduce fiscal dominance and enhance growth. International reserves have increased to US$1.4 billion by end-September 2022 from a historical low of US$220 million in 2018. While fiscal consolidation was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, public debt was put back on a downward path starting in FY2021/22. Building on the successful completion of a 2018-22 Extended Fund Facility (EFF), the authorities have requested a successor EFF program along with a Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) to strengthen fiscal sustainability, support the structural reform agenda, and increase resilience to climate change.

Author : Rebecca Solnit
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 369 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 2010-08-31
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781101459010

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A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit Pdf

The author of Men Explain Things to Me explores the moments of altruism and generosity that arise in the aftermath of disaster Why is it that in the aftermath of a disaster? whether manmade or natural?people suddenly become altruistic, resourceful, and brave? What makes the newfound communities and purpose many find in the ruins and crises after disaster so joyous? And what does this joy reveal about ordinarily unmet social desires and possibilities? In A Paradise Built in Hell, award-winning author Rebecca Solnit explores these phenomena, looking at major calamities from the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco through the 1917 explosion that tore up Halifax, Nova Scotia, the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, 9/11, and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. She examines how disaster throws people into a temporary utopia of changed states of mind and social possibilities, as well as looking at the cost of the widespread myths and rarer real cases of social deterioration during crisis. This is a timely and important book from an acclaimed author whose work consistently locates unseen patterns and meanings in broad cultural histories.

Author : Rutherford H. Platt
Publisher : Island Press
Page : 343 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2012-07-16
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781610912631

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Disasters and Democracy by Rutherford H. Platt Pdf

In recent years, the number of presidential declarations of “major disasters” has skyrocketed. Such declarations make stricken areas eligible for federal emergency relief funds that greatly reduce their costs. But is federalizing the costs of disasters helping to lighten the overall burden of disasters or is it making matters worse? Does it remove incentives for individuals and local communities to take measures to protect themselves? Are people more likely to invest in property in hazardous locations in the belief that, if worse comes to worst, the federal government will bail them out? Disasters and Democracy addresses the political response to natural disasters, focusing specifically on the changing role of the federal government from distant observer to immediate responder and principal financier of disaster costs.

Author : Stuart P. M. Mackintosh
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 181 pages
File Size : 47,6 Mb
Release : 2020-10-29
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781000200010

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The Redesign of the Global Financial Architecture by Stuart P. M. Mackintosh Pdf

More than ten years on from the most intense phase of the global financial crisis, and the collective international response in the G20 summit in London, a ‘new normal’ has emerged with systems in place to mitigate against further banking crises. This updated new edition analyzes this post-crisis international and national regulatory framework and asks whether the current paradigm is fit for purpose as new dangers gestate and develop. This new edition includes a discussion of the impact of the aggressively deregulatory and anti-globalist policies of the Trump administration and its pursuit of an ‘America First’ policy and explores its implications for the regulatory landscape constructed and tended by previous leaders. The author addresses new and future systemic risks, many outside the regulated banking sector, which have grown in importance since 2015. He develops possible future scenarios for the international regulatory architecture, both negative and positive, asking, ‘Are we better prepared for future banking crises?’ New risks, including the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crash, are testing the global system; and the G20, without US leadership, may be failing in this latest most severe crisis of our lifetimes. This book provides a unique narrative explanation drawn from leading actors of key events and policy changes as they unfolded immediately post-crisis. The author builds upon the first edition to capture key developments that have occurred during the past five years, while raising key questions and vulnerabilities, and looking at future risks and challenges that may emerge. This text will be of great interest to students, teachers and researchers of financial frameworks, globalisation and political economy.

Author : Jeff Kingston
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 364 pages
File Size : 47,6 Mb
Release : 2012-03-12
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781136343476

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Natural Disaster and Nuclear Crisis in Japan by Jeff Kingston Pdf

The March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan plunged the country into a state of crisis. As the nation struggled to recover from a record breaking magnitude 9 earthquake and a tsunami that was as high as thirty-eight meters in some places, news trickled out that Fukushima had experienced meltdowns in three reactors. These tragic catastrophes claimed some 20,000 lives, initially displacing some 500,000 people and overwhelming Japan's formidable disaster preparedness. This book brings together the analysis and insights of a group of distinguished experts on Japan to examine what happened, how various institutions and actors responded and what lessons can be drawn from Japan’s disaster. The contributors, many of whom experienced the disaster first hand, assess the wide-ranging repercussions of this catastrophe and how it is already reshaping Japanese culture, politics, energy policy, and urban planning.