If That Ever Happens To Me: Making Life and Death Decisions After Terry Schiavo

By Lois Shepherd

"..Admitting that decisions relating to permanent vegetative states are different from those surrounding terminally ill or minimally conscious patients, Shepherd (law & public health sciences, Univ. of Virginia) considers some of the tough ethical and emotional considerations involved and how existing laws may be strengthened. Pointing out weaknesses related to living wills and offering suggestions on alternative ways to ensure that a patient's rights and wishes are respected, she also expresses concern for the need to respect patients' privacy and gives careful consideration to whether nutrition and hydration should be considered "basic care."
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The Blue Sweater: Bridging The Gap Between Rich And Poor In An Interconnected World

By Jacqueline Novogratz
"Novogratz (founder, CEO, Acumen Fund) presents an insider's view of charitable foundations and microfinance institutions, including her own venture capital firm for the poor. Her greatest critique of philanthropic efforts is that despite their best intentions, they often focus more on making donors feel good than on actually doing good for those in need. . ....Philanthropies, she says, should focus on bringing the poor into the global economic system in a sustainable way. Novogratz is most effective when examining the organizations and people with whom she works,... ...the book valuably highlights the importance of accountability in charity and of social responsibility in business. "
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The Age Of The Unthinkable: Why The New Global Disorder Constantly Surprises Us And What To Do About It

By Joshua Cooper Ramo

" Former foreign editor of Time, Ramo pushes the reader into uncomfortable yet exhilarating places with controversial ways of thinking about global challenges (e.g., studying why Hezbollah is the most efficiently run Islamic militant group). His book, which lays bare the flaws in current thinking on everything from American political influence to the economy, is designed to change the physics of the way we think. Analyzing the failure of the Bush administration's Democratic Peace Theory and the fruitless efforts at a Mideast peace process, Ramo suggests that people must change the role they imagine for themselves from architects of a system they can control to gardeners in a living ecosystem. Ramo's message—that the most dynamic forces emerge from outside elite circles: geeks, iconoclasts and maligned populations—is persuasively argued. "

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No Right To Remain Silent; The Tragedy At Virginia Tech

By Lucinda Roy

"Chronicles one teacher's efforts to reach out and help the extremely troubled Seung Hui Cho, which were hampered by the school's rules regarding student confidentiality, leading to the April 2007 massacre of thirty-two students at Virginia Tech."

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$3 Meals; Feed Your Family Delicious, Healthy Meals For Less Than The Cost Of A Gallon Of Milk

By Ellen Brown

"Food prices may be skyrocketing, but is that any reason to leave your taste buds in the lurch? $3 Meals is a new kind of low-cost-cooking book, comprising more than 250 simple recipes—none requiring more than twenty minutes of “hands-on” time—that cost less than a gallon of milk—and yet look and taste darn good . . . and are good for you, too. "

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Liberty and Tyranny; A Conservative Manifesto

By Mark R. Levin

"A nationally syndicated talk radio host presents a volume of essays for conservative leaders that recommends specific approaches to such issues as immigration, health care, and foreign policy."

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Meltdown; A Free Market Look At Why The Stock Market Collapsed, The Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse

By Thomas E. Woods, Jr.

"With a foreword from Ron Paul, Meltdown is the free-market answer to the Fed-created economic crisis. As the new Obama administration inevitably calls for more regulations, Woods argues that the only way to rebuild our economy is by returning to the fundamentals of capitalism and letting the free market work."

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Dead Aid; Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is A Better Way For Africa

By Dambisa Moyo

"The $1 trillion in U.S. aid granted to African nations since the 1940s has hurt rather than helped nations struggling with corruption, poverty, and disease, according to Moyo, an economist born in Zambia. She laments the fact that too many African nations, despite enormous natural resources, have become dependent on aid as the generally low-rate, long-term capital has become a cultural commodity, with worldwide appeals now made by top celebrities.....Moyo advocates the gradual reduction in aid over five to 10 years, and suggests that Africa follow the examples of Asia, accessing the international bond market and making large-scale investments in infrastructure, as well as pressing for free-trade policies on agricultural products. This is a passionate and controversial look at past and future aid to Africa."

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Blank Spots On The Map; The Dark Geography of the Pentagon's Secret World

By Trevor Plagen

"Cerebral, unconventional tour of sites deemed top secret by the U.S. government. Paglen ...., the son of an Air Force physician,....set out to visit those sites, sometimes openly, sometimes through subterfuge. His tour included Air Force bases in California and Georgia; a weapons laboratory in New Mexico; staging areas in Honduras and Afghanistan; a remote section of the Mojave Desert; government agency buildings in the D.C. area; even downtown Las Vegas, where from an 18th-floor hotel room he used a telescope and other instruments to chart comings and goings between the airport and classified installations elsewhere in Nevada......demonstrating that even the most determined government cannot keep sites completely secret, given their physical manifestations on the ground."
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My Hope For Peace

By Jehan Sadat

"Sadat, widow of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, who was assassinated in 1981, offers a passionate appeal for peace. A scholar, feminist, and activist, Sadat approaches peace from the perspective of a woman wanting to reexamine the legacy of her husband, who won a joint Nobel Peace Prize with Menachem Begin for their work on the Egypt-Israeli peace treaty; a closer examination of Islamic faith and misconceptions that link the faith to violence; and, finally, a personal reflection on inner peace after 9/11. She debunks the notion that Islam is antithetical to feminism and peace, offering personal observations of life as a Muslim woman...."
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Power Rules; How Common Sense Can Rescue Amercian Foreign Policy

By Leslie Gelb

"Gelb, Pulitzer Prize–winning columnist for the New York Times, sets out guidelines for stewarding American power through the 21st century in this thoughtful, comprehensive and engaging examination. Drawing on Machiavelli's The Prince, the author addresses current leaders and their real-world choices, aiming his critiques at “the soft and hard powerites, America's premature gravediggers, the world-is-flat globalization crowd, and the usually triumphant schemers” who make up the typical U.S. foreign policy roundtable. Gelb writes that America remains the world's most powerful single nation, but this does not mean that the U.S. has absolute or even dominant global hegemony. Along with other major nations, it must accept “the principle of mutual indispensability,” and work toward global objectives with the full cooperation of Russia, China and other emerging powers."
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