More or Less Afraid of Nearly Everything

More or Less Afraid of Nearly Everything

Author: Ben Rohrbaugh

Publisher: University of Michigan Press

Published: 2020-08-06

Total Pages: 183

ISBN-13: 0472054627

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Migration, borders, cybersecurity, natural disasters, and terrorism: Homeland security is constantly in the news. Despite ongoing attention, these problems seem to be getting bigger even as the political discussion grows more overheated and misleading. Ben Rohrbaugh, a former border security director at the White House’s National Security Council, cuts through the noise to provide an accessible and novel framework to understand both homeland security and the thinking around how to keep civilians safe. Throughout the twentieth century, the United States did not experience national security domestically; it defended its borders by conducting military, foreign policy, and intelligence operations internationally, and then separated these activities from domestic law enforcement with bright legal lines. In the twenty-first century, U.S. national security no longer occurs exclusively outside of the nation. The U.S. government is beginning to respond to this change, and the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security is merely the first step in an organizational and strategic realignment that will be a long, difficult, and mistake-filled process. More or Less Afraid of Nearly Everything is an accessible and engaging guide to homeland security, particularly migration and border security, that makes innovative arguments about the American government and keeping citizens safe, and provides practical solutions to real-world problems.


Beyond 9/11

Beyond 9/11

Author: Chappell Lawson

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2020-08-11

Total Pages: 401

ISBN-13: 0262361337

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Drawing on two decades of government efforts to "secure the homeland," experts offer crucial strategic lessons and detailed recommendations for homeland security. For Americans, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, crystallized the notion of homeland security. But what does it mean to "secure the homeland" in the twenty-first century? What lessons can be drawn from the first two decades of U.S. government efforts to do so? In Beyond 9/11, leading academic experts and former senior government officials address the most salient challenges of homeland security today.


The Mother Tongue

The Mother Tongue

Author: Bill Bryson

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2015-06-02

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 0062417444

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“Vastly informative and vastly entertaining…A scholarly and fascinating book.” —Los Angeles Times With dazzling wit and astonishing insight, Bill Bryson explores the remarkable history, eccentricities, resilience and sheer fun of the English language. From the first descent of the larynx into the throat (why you can talk but your dog can’t), to the fine lost art of swearing, Bryson tells the fascinating, often uproarious story of an inadequate, second-rate tongue of peasants that developed into one of the world’s largest growth industries.


The Hoarder in You

The Hoarder in You

Author: Robin Zasio

Publisher: Rodale Books

Published: 2012-11-13

Total Pages: 243

ISBN-13: 1609611322

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We all have treasured possessions—a favorite pair of shoes, a much-beloved chair, an ever-expanding record collection. But sometimes, this emotional attachment to our belongings can spiral out of control and culminate into a condition called compulsive hoarding. From hobbyists and collectors to pack rats and compulsive shoppers—it is close to impossible for hoarders to relinquish their precious objects, even if it means that stuff takes over their lives and their homes. According to psychologist Dr. Robin Zasio, our fascination with hoarding stems from the fact that most of us fall somewhere on the hoarding continuum. Even though it may not regularly interfere with our everyday lives, to some degree or another, many of us hoard. The Hoarder In You provides practical advice for decluttering and organizing, including how to tame the emotional pull of acquiring additional things, make order out of chaos by getting a handle on clutter, and create an organizational system that reduces stress and anxiety. Dr. Zasio also shares some of the most serious cases of hoarding that she's encountered, and explains how we can learn from these extreme examples—no matter where we are on the hoarding continuum.


The Lost Continent

The Lost Continent

Author: Bill Bryson

Publisher: Anchor Canada

Published: 2012-09-25

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 0385674562

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"I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to." And, as soon as Bill Bryson was old enough, he left. Des Moines couldn't hold him, but it did lure him back. After ten years in England he returned to the land of his youth, and drove almost 14,000 miles in search of a mythical small town called Amalgam, the kind of smiling village where the movies from his youth were set. Instead he drove through a series of horrific burgs, which he renamed Smellville, Fartville, Coleslaw, Coma, and Doldrum. At best his search led him to Anywhere, USA, a lookalike strip of gas stations, motels and hamburger outlets populated by obese and slow-witted hicks with a partiality for synthetic fibres. He discovered a continent that was doubly lost: lost to itself because he found it blighted by greed, pollution, mobile homes and television; lost to him because he had become a foreigner in his own country.


The Scariest Thing of All

The Scariest Thing of All

Author: Debi Gliori

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2011-10-17

Total Pages: 35

ISBN-13: 0747599696

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A tale about worries and fears familiar to all pre-school readers, by bestselling author and illustrator Debi Gliori


Extremism

Extremism

Author: J. M. Berger

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2018-08-28

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 0262535874

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What extremism is, how extremist ideologies are constructed, and why extremism can escalate into violence. A rising tide of extremist movements threaten to destabilize civil societies around the globe. It has never been more important to understand extremism, yet the dictionary definition—a logical starting point in a search for understanding—tells us only that extremism is “the quality or state of being extreme.” In this volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, J. M. Berger offers a nuanced introduction to extremist movements, explaining what extremism is, how extremist ideologies are constructed, and why extremism can escalate into violence. Berger shows that although the ideological content of extremist movements varies widely, there are common structural elements. Berger, an expert on extremist movements and terrorism, explains that extremism arises from a perception of “us versus them,” intensified by the conviction that the success of “us” is inseparable from hostile acts against “them.” Extremism differs from ordinary unpleasantness—run-of-the-mill hatred and racism—by its sweeping rationalization of an insistence on violence. Berger illustrates his argument with case studies and examples from around the world and throughout history, from the destruction of Carthage by the Romans—often called “the first genocide”—to the apocalyptic jihadism of Al Qaeda, America's new “alt-right,” and the anti-Semitic conspiracy tract The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. He describes the evolution of identity movements, individual and group radicalization, and more. If we understand the causes of extremism, and the common elements of extremist movements, Berger says, we will be more effective in countering it.


The Hunter

The Hunter

Author: Dashiell Hammett

Publisher: Open Road + Grove/Atlantic

Published: 2013-11-04

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 0802192955

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“This fascinating collection of hitherto unpublished or ungathered tales . . . will be a treat for any fan of the father of the hardboiled detective story.” —The Wall Street Journal A unique publication from one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century, The Hunter and Other Stories includes new Dashiell Hammett stories gleaned from his personal archives along with screen treatments long buried in film industry files, screen stories, and intriguing unfinished narratives. Hammett is regarded as both a pioneer and master of hardboiled detective fiction, but these dozen-and-a-half pieces, which explore failed romance, courage in the face of conflict, hypocrisy, and crass opportunism, show him in a different light. The title story concerns a dogged PI unwilling to let go of a seemingly trivial case, and the collection also includes an unfinished Sam Spade story and two full-length screen treatments: “On the Make,” about a corrupt detective, and “The Kiss-Off,” the basis for City Streets (1931), in which Gary Cooper and Sylvia Sydney are caught in a romance complicated by racketeering’s obligations and temptations. Rich in both story and character, this is a volume no Hammett fan should do without. “For aficionados of the genre, the unearthing of new Hammett stories is akin to Christians discovering an epilogue to the New Testament. . . . These stories are among Hammett’s best. . . . [His] prose is always savvy and sturdy, but for the man who invented ‘hard-boiled,’ it can also be surprisingly elegant.” —San Francisco Chronicle


The Speed of Nearly Everything

The Speed of Nearly Everything

Author: Peter Macinnis

Publisher: Pier 9

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 9781741961362

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The Speed of Nearly Everything is a fascinating almanac of facts, statistics and stories about the speed of virtually everything - speed records; comparative speeds; relative speeds; optimal speeds; fastest speeds; slowest speeds; human, animal, mechanical and natural speeds. These are gathered together in an easy-to-follow, original design, and explained in an engaging narrative by leading science writer Peter Macinnis. The statistical element is supported by fascinating discussions, historical anecdotes and speed trivia, both serious and silly.


Everything Is Beautiful, and I'm Not Afraid

Everything Is Beautiful, and I'm Not Afraid

Author: Yao Xiao

Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Published: 2020-03-03

Total Pages: 130

ISBN-13: 1524861898

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Everything Is Beautiful, and I'm Not Afraid perfectly captures the feelings of a young sojourner in America as she explores the nuances in searching for a place to belong. Baopu is a monthly serialized comic on Autostraddle, and this book includes beloved fan favorites plus new, never-before-seen comics. This one-of-a-kind graphic novel explores the poetics of searching for connection, belonging, and identity through the fictional life of a young, queer immigrant. Inspired by the creator's own experiences as a queer, China-born illustrator living in the United States, Everything Is Beautiful, and I'm Not Afraid has an undeniable memoir quality to its recollection and thought-provoking accounts of what it's like to navigate the complexities of seeking belonging—mentally and geographically.