The 2000 presidential left the world standing still, but it was no fluke. America is divided right down the middle - the product of a half-century, unique in our country's history, of inconclusive, increasingly heated partisan battle. Tantalizingly close to victory, each party inflames and mobilizes its most loyal supporters and battles to gain even a small edge with some contested groups. Politics has become culture war - a fight about values, faith, the family, how people should live their lives. The result: partisans are more partisan, politics more polarized, America more divided. The Two Americas: Our Current Political Deadlock and How to Break It tells the history of each party's failed efforts to dominate the era's politics and ideas, radically changing the political landscape. The book provides an in-depth guide to the new groups at the center of our politics. Internationally renowned political strategist and pollster Stanley Greenberg puts the reader in the room with the strategists and politicians and shows how each party can win, even shatter the impasse. The Two Americas is a political primer and strategic playbook for this unique era - essential reading for any armchair political strategist or engaged citizen eager to understand our future politics.

During the 1960s, traditional thinking about crime and its punishment, deviance and its control, came under radical attack. The discipline of criminology split into feuding factions, and various schools of thought emerged, each with quite different ideas about the nature of the crime problem and its solutions. These differences often took political form, with conservative, liberal, and radical supporters, and the resulting controversies continue to reverberate throughout the fields of criminology and sociology, as well as related areas such as social work, social policy, psychiatry, and law. Stanley Cohen has been at the center of these debates in Britain and the United States. This volume is a selection of his essays, written over the past fifteen years, which contribute to and comment upon the major theoretical conflicts in criminology during this period. Though associated with the "new" or radical criminology, Cohen has always been the first to point out its limitations particularly in translating its theoretical claims into real world applications. His essays cove a wide range of topics-political crime, the nature of individual responsibility, the implications of new theories for social work practice, models of crime used in the Third World, banditry and rebellion, and the decentralization of social control. Also included is a previously unpublished paper on how radical social movements such as feminism deal with criminal law. Many criminology textbooks present particular theories or research findings. This book uniquely reviews the main debates of the last two decades about just what the role and scope of the subject should be.

Mrs. Ted's life has always been defined by her family... her husband, her kids, her "gang" of friends in Chicago. Now a widow, living on her own in a Miami condominium complex, she begins to step out of her strictly defined lifestyle. Three men in particular are paying her a great deal of attention, and her children begin to worry about her adventures with her new "friends". But it's only when Mrs. Ted runs into her husband's former business partner, Milton "Junior" Yellin, that the blush comes back into her cheeks.

"Stephanie Burt's poems in We Are Mermaids are never just one thing. Instead, they revel in their multiplicity, their interconnectedness, their secret powers to become much more than they at first seem. In these poems, punctuation marks make arguments for their utility and their rights to exist. Frozen isn't simply another Disney animated musical but "the Most Trans Movie Ever." Mermaids, werewolves, and superheroes don't just fret over divided natures and secret identities, but celebrate their wholeness, their unique abilities, and their erotic potential. Flowers in this collection bloom into exactly what they are meant to be--revealing themselves, like bleeding hearts, beyond their given names. With humor and insight, Burt's poems have always cherished and examined the things of this world, both real and imagined objects of fascination and desire. In this resplendent new collection, her observation and care flourish into her most fulfilled book yet. These poems shake off indecisiveness and doubt to reach joys through romance and family, through nature (urban and otherwise), and through imaginative community. We Are Mermaids is a trans book, a fangirl book, a book about coming together." --

Greek myths held that Oceanus to be a massive river surrounding the land. A Titan, son of sky and earth, he was depicted as a handsome, muscular man whose torso ended in a scaled tail. As the Olympians emerged, Oceanus retreated, his domain restricted to strange and dangerous shores, the realm of sailors' fortunes and worries. So, too, are the eleven tales within the pages of The Touch of the Sea: fantastical, at times eerie, with sightings of mermen, water spirits, and sea beasts (even the fabled ''living island,'' the aspidochelone) as well as a smattering of pirates. What makes these stories memorable is that they affirm the masculinity of the sea, the taste of brine on another man's lips. Become mates with such award-winning authors as Joel Lane and Jeff Mann--seasoned storytellers 'Nathan Bourgeoine, Chaz Brenchley, and Alex Jeffers--and a wide array of coxswains: Brandon Cracraft, Jonathan Harper, John Howard, Vincent Kovar, Matthew A. Merendo, Damon Shaw--under the helm of editor Steve Berman.

The pioneering autobiographical story of a British Zionist in her fifties who moves to Israel and -- amazed by her Jewish compatriots' ignorance of their Arab neighbours -- chooses to live among 25,000 Muslims in the all-Arab Israeli town of Tamra, a few miles from Nazareth.

The pioneering autobiographical story of a British Zionist in her fifties who moves to Israel and -- amazed by her Jewish compatriots' ignorance of their Arab neighbours -- chooses to live among 25,000 Muslims in the all-Arab Israeli town of Tamra, a few miles from Nazareth. Susan Nathan's revelatory book about her new life across the ethnic divide in Israel is already creating international interest. At a time when Middle Eastern politics (in many ways, central to the current world disorder) have become mired in endless tit-for-tat killings, Susan Nathan is showing -- by her own daily example -- that it is perfectly possible for Jews and Arabs to live peacefully together in a single community, recognising their common humanity. The author's familiarity with the former injustices of apartheid South Africa enables her to draw telling comparisons with the state of Israel. The increasing segregation of, and discrimination against, the million-strong Arabic population of Israel is something she witnesses at first hand, but in describing her experiences in Tamra she is as observant of Arab frailties as of Jewish oppression. Written with warmth, compassion and humour, The Other Side of Israel is one courageous woman's positive life-enhancing response to a situation where entrenched attitudes lead only to more violence and bloodshed.

Okinawa is the only contemporary society in which women lead the official, mainstream, publicly funded religion. Priestesses are the acknowledged religious leaders within the home, clan, and village--and, until annexation by Japan approximately one hundred years ago, within the Ryukyuan Kingdom. This fieldwork-based study provides a gender-sensitive look at a remarkable religious tradition. Susan Sered spent a year living in Henza, an Okinawan fishing village, joining priestesses as they conducted rituals in the sacred groves located deep in the jungle-covered mountains surrounding the village. Her observations focus upon the meaning of being a priestess and the interplay between women's religious preeminence and other aspects of the society. Sered shows that the villages social ethos is characterized by easy-going interpersonal relations, an absence of firm rules and hierarchies, and a belief that the village and its inhabitants are naturally healthy. Particularly interesting is her discovery that gender is a minimal category here: villagers do not adapt any sort of ideology that proclaims that men and women are inherently different from one another. Villagers do explain that because farmland is scarce in Okinawa, men have been compelled to go to the dangerous ocean and to foreign countries to seek their livelihoods. Women, in contrast, have remained present in their healthy and pleasant village, working on their farms and engaging in constant rounds of intra- and interfamilial socializing. Priestesses, who do not exert power in the sense that religious leaders in many other societies do, can be seen as the epitome of presence. By praying and eating at myriad rituals, priestesses make immediate and tangible the benevolent presence of kami-sama (divinity). Through in-depth examination of this unique and little-studied society, Sered offers a glimpse of a religious paradigm radically different from the male-dominated religious ideologies found in many other cultures.

'Going to law courts is a good education for a novelist. It provides you with the most extravagant material, and it teaches the near impossibility of reaching the truth.' Sybille Bedford, Paris Review (1993) For The Faces of Justice (1961) Sybille Bedford journeyed through Europe to sit in the press box of the courts of law - high courts, low courts, police courts. In England, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, she watched the prisoners at the bar, the accusing community arrayed against them, the advocates, the jurors, the judges on the bench. She saw justice being attempted under the law - the best we can do, the worst we can do - varying in subtle yet astonishing ways from country to country. The result is a story about justice, humanity and the individual - moving, dramatic, superbly observed, splendidly told.

GOD, CREATION, AND TOOLS FOR LIFE Does God exist? Was the world created, or did it evolve? Where am I in the big picture of the universe? Most people have asked these questions but have no clear answers. However, renowned psychic Sylvia Browne does, and in this fascinating book, she shares her 40 years of investigation into these issues. Drawing from thousands of research sessions with Francine, Sylvia's spirit guide, along with Sylvia's own understanding of a number of riveting topics that are pertinent to humanity as a whole, you will have access to information that is mentally profound, spiritually moving, and eminently logical. Sylvia's spirit guide, Francine, who resides on the Other Side, lives within the presence of God and has access to a wealth of knowledge about the nature of creation. Sylvia, then, becomes the human voice for Francine and is able to share the fruits of her wisdom. We are assured that God will respond to all questions - our job is to ask the right questions and be receptive to the answers we receive. In so doing, we gain valuable tools for life!

Sylvia Browne once again brings you new and fascinating information that can help you in life. This time she explores the many temples and halls that exist on the Other Side and how their functions can truly change your life. Using meditative techniques, Sylvia shows you how you can access these beautiful edifices, each of which has a particular purpose. From the Hall of Healing to the Temple of Azna (the Mother God), Sylvia explains the role of each of these wonderful places and gives you the opportunity to experience the beauty and wonder of your real home. With the help of her spirit guide Francine, Sylvia uses her ability of trance mediumship to give you a vast amount of new information on all of the temples, halls and other important sites on the Other Side that can be used to aid and embellish your life on Earth. She includes wonderful meditations to not only reach these special places but to also give you insight on how to use their attributes to enrich your life. This is another fascinating and inspirational journey that only Sylvia Browne can take you on!

“ Waiting for the Macaws is a haunting reminder of the scale and breadth of what can only be described as a catastrophe of the human spirit and imagination.”—Wade Davis, author of Light at the Edge of the World and Explorer-in-Residence, National Geographic Society Waiting for the Macaws is a haunting and beautifully written account of the age in which we live. Journeying around the world, Terry Glavin argues that all extinctions are related and that the language of environmentalism is inadequate to describing this great unravelling. But Glavin discovers that there is hope, finding it in the most unlikely places—a macaw roost in Costa Rica, a Small village in Ireland, a community of Norse whalers on the Lofoten Islands in the North Atlantic, the vault beneath the Royal botanical Garden at Kew, and the throne room of the Angh of Longwa in the Patkai Range of the eastern Himalayas.

Almost everything you know about heroin addiction is wrong. Not only is it wrong, but it is obviously wrong. Heroin is not highly addictive; withdrawal from it is not medically serious; addicts do not become criminals to feed their habit; addicts do not need any medical assistance to stop taking heroin; and contrary to received wisdom, heroin addiction most certainly IS a moral or spiritual problem. Based on his experience as a prison doctor and as a psychiatrist in a large general hospital in Birmingham, Dr. Dalrymple argues that addiction to heroin is not an illness at all, and that doctors only make it worse. They deceive both the addicts and themselves by pretending that they have something to offer. In this brilliant, entertaining and provocative book, Theodore Dalrymple explains how and why a literary tradition dating back to De Quincey and Coleridge, and continuing up to the deeply sociopathic William Burroughs and beyond, has misled all Western societies for generations about the nature of heroin addiction. These writers' self-dramatizing and dishonest accounts of their own addiction have been accepted uncritically, and have been more influential by far in forming public attitudes than the whole of pharmacological science. As a result, a self-serving, self-perpetuating and completely useless medical bureaucracy has been set up to deal with the problem. With scathing wit, implacable logic and savage denunciation, Dr. Dalrymple exposes the mythology surrounding heroin addiction. Moving seamlessly between literature, pharmacology, history and philosophy, he demonstrates what happens when the nature of a social problem is so thoroughly misunderstood, and when human beings are regarded as inanimate objects rather than as agents of their own destiny. His scintillating, iconoclastic little book has an importance far beyond its immediate subject matter.

In this perceptive and witty book, Theodore Dalrymple unmasks the sentimentality that is suffocating modern life. Under the multiple guises of raising children well, caring for the under-privileged, fighting poverty, assisting the less able, and doing good generally, we are achieving quite the opposite. Drawing on his long experience as a doctor, as well as work with thousands of criminals and the mentally disturbed as a prison psychiatrist, Dalrymple shows what happens if we feel our way rather than think well.

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Praise for Nazi Gold "A compelling book on one of the greatest robberies of all time." --Rabbi Marvin Heir, dean, Simon Wesenthal Center "Nazi Gold [is] a compelling, outraged, carefully researched book. . . Tom Bower, one of the finest investigative journalists in the English-speaking world over the past generation. . .is the ideal chronicler for this story. Over the past 20 years he has built up a track record second to none in documenting crimes and conspiracies that the Nazis and their collaborators were able to cover up or escape from in the decades after 1945. . .Riveting, outstanding." --Martin Sieff, Washington Times "Nazi Gold is an important book that uncovers much new material." --Saul Friendlunder, author of Nazi Germany and the Jews "Compelling reading." --Chicago Jewish Star "[A] sensational expose. . .Impressively revealing." --Dade Jewish Star Some Revelations form Nazi Gold In 1942 thousands of Jewish refugees fleeing a Nazi roundup of Jews in occupied France crossed the border into Switzerland seeking asylum but where forcibly pushed back to the waiting Gestapo by the Swiss police. Virtually all of them were immediately shipped to concentration camps. During the war thousands of Swiss willingly worked undercover for the German secret service and the Nazis. The Swiss accepted for deposit without question gold bullion looted by German from the treasuries of Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Denmark, and Holland'countries they had conquered. The Swedes and the Portuguese, also neutrals, refused to accept the looted gold.

Based on the author's Ph.D. dissertation at Boston University. They were soldiers and killers, trapped in the mystiques of military service & evil--commanders of the Nazi concentration camps. This book tells their story: who these men were, what led them to join the Nazi movement, & how they could function in the everyday routine of torture & death. 8 pages of photos.

It begins as the elderly painter Donner lies dead at the bottom of the staircase in the studio he shares with fellow artists Martello and Beauchamp, who are accusing each of murder. From this moment on, through an inventive dramatic framework of 11 scenes that flash back and forward between the years 1914 and 1972, Stoppard examines the artists' relationships to each other, to their work and to a beautiful blind woman named Sophie, who was loved by Donner, courted by Beauchamp, sculpted by Martello, and died tragically....Cover.

Tony Robinson takes you on a headlong gallop through time, pointing out all the most important, funny, strange, amazing, entertaining and gory bits about the Romans! It's history, but not as we know it! Find out everything you ever needed to know in this brilliant, action-packed, fact-filled book including: - How to keep the gods happy - Why you should never ignore an omen - How to defeat an army who are riding elephants, and - How to spot a barbarian