Current Events Books - Page 3

Rules for Radicals

Saul Alinsky

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 47 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Are you kidding me? 1 out of 5 stars.
5 of 10 people found this review helpful.

This is a man who dedicated his book to satan?
a man who was so off base with society.

this book allows for the decline in western civilization, he is or i should say was, the fecies of our species.

If you have a brain in your head you will leave this one alone!

A real eye-opener 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

This book is a must read for all to understand radicalism and how their goals are achieved. This book was essentially the blueprint for the Obama campaign. Saul Alinsky and his views are admired by both Obama and Hillary Clinton.

History of a significant approach to political matters 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 4 people found this review helpful.

The book is clearly written and summarized by the title. Alinsky, the doyen of Chicago style community organizers, argues that whether the ends justify the means is to be decided by the immediate circumstances. He provides several examples where he answers "Yes" to the question of whether the ends justify the means, showing how means some might consider "bad" served "good" ends. An interesting read whether or not you believe the tactics of recent and current Chicago style community organizers are consistent with Alinsky's guidance.

Editorial Review:

This primers tells the "have-nots" how they can organize to achieve real political power for the practice of true democracy.

Guilty: Liberal "Victims" and Their Assault on America

Ann Coulter

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Editorial Review:

“Liberals seem to have hit upon a reverse Christ story as their belief system. He suffered and died for our sins; liberals make the rest of us suffer for sins we didn’t commit.”

Who are the victims here? To hear liberals tell it, you’d think they do nothing but suffer at the hands of ruthless entities like the “Republican Attack Machine” and Fox News.

Really?

It’s just another instance of the Big Lie, of course, told so often that some people have actually started to believe it. In Guilty, Ann Coulter explodes this myth to reveal that when it comes to bullying, no one outdoes the Left.

Citing case after case, ranging from the hilariously absurd to the shockingly vicious, Coulter dissects these so-called victims who are invariably the oppressors. For instance:

• Single mothers: Getting pregnant isn’t like catching the flu. There are volitional acts involved–someone else explain it to Dennis Kucinich. By this purposeful act, single mothers cause irreparable harm to other human beings–their own children–as countless studies on the subject make clear.
• The myth of the Republican Attack Machine: The most amazing thing liberals have done is create the myth of a compliant right-wing media with Republicans badgering baffled reporters into attacking Democrats. It’s so mad, it’s brilliant. It’s one kind of lie to say the Holocaust occurred when the Swedes killed the Jews. But it’s another kind of lie entirely to say the Holocaust occurred when the Jews killed the Nazis.
• “Brave” liberals: In addition to being beautiful, compassionate tribunes of the downtrodden, liberals are brave. I know that because they’re always telling me how brave they are. Why, five nights a week, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann courageously books guests who completely agree with him. It doesn’t get much braver than that.
• Obambi’s luck: While B. Hussein Obama piously condemned attacks on candidates’ families, his media and campaign surrogates ripped open the court-sealed divorce records of his two principal opponents in his Senate race in Illinois.
• The offenders are offended!: Republican senator George Allen’s career was destroyed when he made a joking remark to a privileged Indian American harassing him at campaign stops. When did rich kids become a new protected category that must be shielded from words that are insulting in other languages? How did Sidarth become a specially anointed victim? What did we ever do to India? And why didn’t we ever hear about the far more offensive anti-Semitic flyers of Allen’s opponent Jim Webb?

One essential and recurring truth about self-righteous liberals, says Coulter, is that “they viciously attack all while wailing that they are the true victims.” With Guilty–a mordantly witty and shockingly specific catalog of offenses that liberals would rather we ignore and forget–Ann Coulter presents exhibits A through Z.

Legacy of Secrecy: The Long Shadow of the JFK Assassination

Lamar Waldron, Thom Hartmann

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Excellent companion volume to "Ultimate Sacrifice" ! 5 out of 5 stars.
20 of 32 people found this review helpful.

Simply put, if you liked "Ultimate Sacrifice" (and many people did), you will love this well written book by Lamar Waldron and Thom Hartmann. This volume acts as an important addendum to their previous tome, with much new material, as well as a perspective post 11/22/63 (JFK, MLK, RFK). Taking over 20 years to write and research, and clocking in at over 800 pages, the effort shows in a big way. Get this one asap!

Editorial Review:

John F. Kennedy's assassination launched a frantic search to find his killers. It also launched a flurry of covert actions by Lyndon Johnson, Robert F. Kennedy, and other top officials to hide the fact that in November 1963 the United States was on the brink of invading Cuba, as part of a JFK-authorized coup. The coup plan's exposure could have led to a nuclear confrontation with Russia, but the cover-up prevented a full investigation into Kennedy's assassination, a legacy of secrecy that would impact American politics and foreign policy for the next 45 years. It also allowed two men who confessed their roles in JFK's murder to be involved in the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, in 1968. Exclusive interviews and newly declassified files from the National Archives document in chilling detail how three mob bosses were able to prevent the truth from coming to light – until now.

The Gift of Fear : Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence

Gavin De Becker

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Total reviews: 307 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

A stranger in a deserted parking lot offers to help carry a woman's groceries. Is he a good Samaritan or is he after something else? A fired employee says "You'll be sorry." Will he return with a gun? After their first date, a man tells a woman it is their "destiny" to be married. What will he do when she won't see him again? A mother has an uneasy feeling about the nice babysitter she's just hired. Should she not go to work today?

These days, no one in America feels immune to violence. But now, in this extraordinary groundbreaking book, the nation's leading expert on predicting violent behavior unlocks the puzzle of human violence and shows that, like every creature on earth, we have within us the ability to predict the harm others might do us and get out of its way. Contrary to popular myth, human violence almost always has a discernible motive and is preceded by clear warning signs. Through dozens of compelling examples from his own career, Gavin de Becker teaches us how to read the signs, using our most basic but often most discounted survival skill - our intuition. The Gift of Fear is a remarkable, unique combination of practical guidance on leading a safer life and profound insight into human behavior.

The Devil We Know: Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower

Robert Baer

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Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Over the past thirty years, while the United States has turned either a blind or dismissive eye, Iran has emerged as a nation every bit as capable of altering America’s destiny as traditional superpowers Russia and China. Indeed, one of this book’s central arguments is that, in some ways, Iran’s grip on America’s future is even tighter.

As ex–CIA operative Robert Baer masterfully shows, Iran has maneuvered itself into the elite superpower ranks by exploiting Americans’ false perceptions of what Iran is—by letting us believe it is a country run by scowling religious fanatics, too preoccupied with theocratic jostling and terrorist agendas to strengthen its political and economic foundations.

The reality is much more frightening—and yet contained in the potential catastrophe is an implicit political response that, if we’re bold enough to adopt it, could avert disaster.

Baer’s on-the-ground sleuthing and interviews with key Middle East players—everyone from an Iranian ayatollah to the king of Bahrain to the head of Israel’s internal security—paint a picture of the centuries-old Shia nation that is starkly the opposite of the one normally drawn. For example, Iran’s hate-spouting President Ahmadinejad is by no means the true spokesman for Iranian foreign policy, nor is Iran making it the highest priority to become a nuclear player.

Even so, Baer has discovered that Iran is currently engaged in a soft takeover of the Middle East, that the proxy method of war-making and co-option it perfected with Hezbollah in Lebanon is being exported throughout the region, that Iran now controls a significant portion of Iraq, that it is extending its influence over Jordan and Egypt, that the Arab Emirates and other Gulf States are being pulled into its sphere, and that it will shortly have a firm hold on the world’s oil spigot.

By mixing anecdotes with information gleaned from clandestine sources, Baer superbly demonstrates that Iran, far from being a wild-eyed rogue state, is a rational actor—one skilled in the game of nations and so effective at thwarting perceived Western colonialism that even rival Sunnis relish fighting under its banner.

For U.S. policy makers, the choices have narrowed: either cede the world’s most important energy corridors to a nation that can match us militarily with its asymmetric capabilities (which include the use of suicide bombers)—or deal with the devil we know. We might just find that in allying with Iran, we’ll have increased not just our own security but that of all Middle East nations.The alternative—to continue goading Iran into establishing hegemony over the Muslim world—is too chilling to contemplate.

The Rise of the Fourth Reich LP: The Secret Societies That Threaten to Take Over America

Jim Marrs

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 43 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Absolutely true or a giant lie? 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

You cannot say if this is absolute true, or a giant lie.

In any case, the world would be a better place should everyone read it. Still, if you decide to do so, it will change your life.

Things we wish we didn't believe 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Follow the money. Jim Marrs uses this tried and true method of journalism to disect the relationship between corporate America and our federal government. While focusing on the NAZI(National Socialism) ties that are wrapped into our everyday lives, the most disturbing point this book makes to me is the ultimate control of everthing we consider personal freedoms by very small groups and individuals, NAZI or not.

We have all seen the degridation of our education, healthcare, labor, and moral systems in a post WWII America. This book does a phenominal job of answering the root question in most American minds; Why? The answer very simply is power and the ultimate measurable by-product, wealth. Mr. Marrs goes into great depth describing and explaining the personal, political and financial ties among the worlds elite through the course of modern history in a way that should disturb any reader.

The book does an excellent job, in my opinion, of providing strong arguments that ultimately lead the reader to the question, "If this isn't true, what else could it be?".

Very disturbing and informative. The wonderful outcome of this work is, whether you believe all the scenarios put forth or not, the reader will definately come away with some form of; "I knew it!"

Editorial Review:

In this explosive new book, the legendary Jim Marrs, author of the underground bestseller Rule by Secrecy, reveals the frighteningly real possibility that today the United States is becoming the Fourth Reich, the continuation of an ideology thought to have been vanquished more than a half century ago. This concept may seem absurd to those who cannot see past the rose-colored spin, hype, and disinformation poured out daily by the corporate mass media—most of which is owned by the very same families and corporations who supported the Nazis before World War II. But as Marrs precisely explains, National Socialism never died, but rather its insidious philosophy is alive and active in modern America.

Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression

Studs Terkel

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Not great, but still very good. 4 out of 5 stars.
7 of 8 people found this review helpful.

This is the second book by Terkel I've read, the other being his superlative "The Good War". Like that book, it is a joy to read, and it was often hard to put down. He usually opens his interviews with just enough exposition to set up a scene, and then lets his subjects talk. And, do they! The personalities of each come through such that you feel as if you're sharing the room with them, an experience that is the more poignant for the realization that most of the people in this book are long-dead, taking their stories with them.

Nonetheless, the book has its weaknesses. Though the Great Depression is by definition an extremely broad subject, I never felt quite like I was getting a good "slice of life" of the times. For instance, there seem to be a disproportionate number of interviews with former Communists and socalists; though their movement was powerful during the Thirties, one may get the idea that they were more common than they actually were--especially since, as one reviewer noted, much of the book is set in and around Chicago. On the whole, it's a less gripping text than "The Good War"; reading that book felt like an awakening, while this one will reveal little to those with a working knowledge of the Depression-era U.S.

All that said, I'm glad I read it, and still recommend it for anyone interested in this complex and unsettling period of American history.

Editorial Review:

A reissue of Terkel's classic work, with a new introduction by the author. "HARD TIMES doesn't render the time of the Depression or historicize about it - it is that time, its lingo, mood, its tragic and hilarious stories..." - Arthur Miller.

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster (The Illustrated Edition)

Jon Krakauer

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Total reviews: 1493 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996, he hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours and was reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion. As he turned to begin his long, dangerous descent from 29,028 feet, twenty other climbers were still pushing doggedly toward the top. No one had noticed that the sky had begun to fill with clouds. Six hours later and 3,000 feet lower, in 70-knot winds and blinding snow, Krakauer collapsed in his tent, freezing, hallucinating from exhaustion and hypoxia, but safe. The following morning he learned that six of his fellow climbers hadn't made it back to their camp and were in a desperate struggle for their lives. When the storm finally passed, five of them would be dead, and the sixth so horribly frostbitten that his right hand would have to be amputated.
        
Into Thin Air is the definitive account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest. A New York Times Editors' Choice as a best book of the year, a nominee for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, it has spent well over a year on The New York Times bestseller list and has been published to enormous acclaim around the world.
        
Now, in Into Thin Air: The Illustrated Edition, readers are given a new dimension of insight into this harrowing story with the addition of more than 250 photographs that show the people, the places, and the history, illustrating not only the ill-fated 1996 climb, but the pursuit of Everest itself. The book includes the complete text of Into Thin Air, with a new Postscript by the author, and is lavishly illustrated with stunning black-and-white photographs, the majority of which were taken during the 1996 expedition by the climbers themselves.
        
Into Thin Air has proven itself a modern classic of nonfiction writing; this new edition finally completes the story and puts it into a form that book lovers will want to keep on their shelves for years to come.

All of Jon Krakauer's share of royalties from sales of this edition of Into Thin Air, and fees for the use of photographs taken by Klev Schoening, Thomas Hornbein, and Lou Kasischke that appear in this edition, will be donated to the Everest '96 Memorial Fund at The Community Foundation, located in Boulder, Colorado. Intended to honor Andy Harris, Doug Hansen, Rob Hall, Yasuko Namba, and Scott Fischer, the Everest '96 Memorial Fund will be used to provide humanitarian aid to the indigenous peoples of the Himalaya; to support organizations working to preserve the natural environment; and to assist various other charities in the United States that support these humanitarian and environmental efforts.

The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot

Naomi Wolf

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 194 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Winner of the 2008 NAUTILUS SILVER AWARD in the category of Social Change/Activism

In a stunning indictment of the Bush administration and Congress, best-selling author Naomi Wolf lays out her case for saving American democracy. In authoritative research and documentation Wolf explains how events of the last six years parallel steps taken in the early years of the 20th century‚’s worst dictatorships such as Germany, Russia, China, and Chile.

The book cuts across political parties and ideologies and speaks directly to those among us who are concerned about the ever-tightening noose being placed around our liberties.

In this timely call to arms, Naomi Wolf compels us to face the way our free America is under assault. She warns us‚–with the straight-to-fellow-citizens urgency of one of Thomas Paine‚’s revolutionary pamphlets‚–that we have little time to lose if our children are to live in real freedom.

“Recent history has profound lessons for us in the U.S. today about how fascist, totalitarian, and other repressive leaders seize and maintain power, especially in what were once democracies. The secret is that these leaders all tend to take very similar, parallel steps. The Founders of this nation were so deeply familiar with tyranny and the habits and practices of tyrants that they set up our checks and balances precisely out of fear of what is unfolding today. We are seeing these same kinds of tactics now closing down freedoms in America, turning our nation into something that in the near future could be quite other than the open society in which we grew up and learned to love liberty,‚” states Wolf.

Wolf is taking her message directly to the American people in the most accessible form and as part of a large national campaign to reach out to ordinary Americans about the dangers we face today. This includes a lecture and speaking tour, and being part of the nascent American Freedom Campaign, a grassroots efforts to ensure that presidential candidates pledge to uphold the constitution and protect our liberties from further erosion.

The End of America will shock, enrage, and motivate‚–spurring us to act, as the Founders would have counted on us to do in a time such as this, as rebels and patriots‚–to save our liberty and defend our nation.

Consent to Kill

Flynn Flynn

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Total reviews: 175 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Fearless counterterrorism operative Mitch Rapp finds himself directly in the line of fire in the latest riveting political thriller from New York Times bestselling author Vince Flynn.

For years, Mitch Rapp's bold actions have saved the lives of countless Americans. His battles for peace and freedom have made him a hero to many, and an enemy to countless more. In the tangled, duplicitous world of espionage, there are those, even among America's allies, who want to see Mitch Rapp eliminated. They have decided the time has come.

Now, the powerful father of a dead terrorist demands vengeance in its simplest form -- an eye for an eye, and Rapp instantly becomes the target of an international conspiracy. This time, he must use all of his vigilance and determination to save himself before he can turn his fury on those who have dared to betray him.

Consent to Kill takes listeners behind the headlines and catapults them to the front lines of the global war on terror. It sizzles "with inside information, military muscle, and CIA secrets" (Dan Brown). Vince Flynn mixes military technology with his exclusive knowledge of Washington politics to create a hero that Americans will wish existed outside the realm of fiction.