Who's Afraid of Frances Fox Piven?: The Essential Writings of the Professor Glenn Beck Loves to Hate

By Frances Fox Piven
"Piven, the noted political scientist who along with her late husband, Richard Cloward, has long studied and advocated for political empowerment strategies for the American poor, offers a sampling of her academic articles prompted by the conservative radio host Glenn Becks virulent attacks on her. Reaching as far back as the early 1960s and concluding with a recent biographically detailed interview between the author and activist-philosopher Cornel West, Piven (Challenging Authority) eloquently dissects the structures of political influence. She concludes that disruptive actions by the poor (i.e., actions short of violence, such as rent strikes, that break the rules of the game) remain virtually the sole political means of addressing inequalities in a system from which they are largely excluded. Piven asks essential questions about and proposes solutions for the increasingly unequal distribution of political power (tied of course to the increasingly narrow concentration of economic power). After debt-ceiling deals and austerity cuts in the U.S., and riots in poor communities across England, these insightful, well-argued essays prove historically informative and remarkably timely, a true find for the general reader looking to make sense of political power in an imperfect democracy."  (Publisher's Weekly)  Check Our Catalog

Darkmarket: Cyberthieves, Cybercops and You

By Misha Glenny
"Investigative reporter Glenny (McMafia) takes readers into the seedy underworld of cybercrime, where nothing is as it seems and whose inhabitants are best known to peers and law enforcement agencies by their aliases: Matrix001, Iceman, Dron, Cha0, JiLsi, and Lord Cyric. With global roots that can be traced to Turkey, Sri Lanka, England, and the Ukraine, among other countries, digital lawlessnessperpetrated by an ever-evolving, often-invisible new breed of criminalcosts governments and businesses billions every year. But don't go looking for advice on how to protect yourself here. Rather, taking its name from the online forum for cyber criminals that was shut down in 2008 after an FBI agent infiltrated it using an alias, the book explores the rise of three fundamental threats facing computer users in the digital era: cybercrime, cyber industrial espionage, and cyber warfare. Glenny accomplishes the herculean task of converting cryptic and tangled information into short, gripping chapters that often read like a high-tech thriller (complete with a surprise ending). But the alternate universe he uncovers via 200 hours of interviews with the world's military and intelligence communities, police, politicians, lawyers, and the hackers themselves reveals a frightening, all-too-real network of geeky thieves possessing both superiority complexes and inferior consciences." (Publishers Weekly)  Check Our Catalog

Almost President: The Men Who Lost the Race But Changed the Nation

By Scott Farris
z"When former UPI bureau chief and political columnist Farris lost a 1998 race for Wyomings at-large congressional district, he was prompted to examine the role losers play in democracy. Farris notes that some unsuccessful White House aspirants have had a far greater impact on American history than many who became president: They created, transformed, and realigned our political parties. They broke barriers and taboos around religion and gender, ushered in new political movements]. Moving chronologically through 184 years, he finds past/present linkages as he profiles Henry Clay, Stephen Douglas, William Jennings Bryan, Al Smith, Thomas E. Dewey, Barry Goldwater, George McGovern, Ross Perot, Al Gore, John Kerry, and John McCain. In an in-depth essay on egghead Adlai Stevenson, the candidates soaring rhetoric is contrasted with presidents who believed in cultivating an everyman image. An appendix provides brief coverage of 22 more, including Hubert H. Humphrey, Walter Mondale, and Bob Dole. Documenting changes in the face of America and the impact of such issues as race, religion, and workplace reform on elections, Farris writes with a lively flair, skillfully illustrating his solid historical research with revelatory anecdotes and facts."  (Publishers Weekly)  Check our Catalog

Black Market Billions: How Organized Retail Crime Funds Global Terrorists

By Hitha Prabhakar
"A labyrinthine study of how retail theft ripples down to fund international terrorism. An idea born from instant messages exchanged with a friend pushing knock-off handbags, Bloomberg Television reporter Prabhakar decided to "follow the money trail" through the complicated billion-dollar business of counterfeit and stolen retail merchandise. Her consistently distressing research illuminates how organized retail crime (ORC) thrives amid a recessive economy as penny-pinching consumers turn to cheaper ways of purchasing everything from luxury items to prescription and over-the-counter drugs. These seemingly minor shopping decisions, she writes, fuel intricately systematic rings of thieves who funnel millions of American-earned dollars into international terrorist cells, many functioning on American soil. Prabhakar's indignation is well supported by chapters on the many interlocking facets of black-market thievery, including the calculated machinations of insider and outsider thefts, the creation of money-laundering shell corporations, online "e-fencing," gift-card fraud and cigarette smuggling. The author chronicles her hours of interviews with authors, industry insiders, loss-prevention experts and key businessmen, many of whom remain anonymous. Law-enforcement case studies demonstrate gradual, hopeful inroads toward thwarting ORC movements with collaborative efforts between government agencies. Countering this is a series of thief profiles revealing a cunning, professional workforce. On a smaller scale, Prabhakar offers everyday advice on how to recognize (and avoid) the work of an ORC operative both online and on the streets, yet ultimately she believes that without the cooperation of state and federal law enforcement and retailers to aggressively regulate this black market, "the cycle will continue." Sharp-pencil analysis on the seemingly futile battle against retail fraud."  (Kirkus Reviews)  Check Our Catalog

Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025?

By Patrick J. Buchanan
"Is the U.S. headed for the same fate as the Soviet Union? Conservative commentator Buchanan draws parallels between the two nations' engagement in endless wars and apparent difficulty in making a cohesive culture out of a polyglot of races, tribes, cultures, creeds and languages, amounting to imperial overstretch. He points to the George W. Bush years as the beginning of massive government debt and financial crisis but targets Barack Obama for compounding financial and geopolitical problems. The nation has abandoned economic nationalism and fiscal prudence and fostered the decline in morals and strict religious values, all at a time of declining birthrates among white Americans and an influx of racially, ethnically, and religiously diverse populations. As the nation becomes less white and less Christian, we are headed for disaster, he warns. Buchanan sees in the popularity of Sarah Palin and the rise of the Tea Party hope for a return to conservative fiscal and moral values. Whether or not readers agree with his politics, they will appreciate his passion and concern."  (Booklist)  Check Our Catalog

Currency Wars: The Making of the Next Global Crisis

By James Rickards
"Rickards, experienced financial adviser, investment banker, and risk manager, tells us we are in a new currency war that could destroy faith in the U.S. dollar; he examines that war through the lens of economic policy, national security, and historical precedent. As a national security issue, he tells a fascinating story of his involvement with the Pentagon and other agencies in designing and participating in a war game using currencies and capital markets, instead of ships and planes, to gain early warning of attacks on the U.S. dollar. The author concludes that mainstream economists and central bankers alike are well aware of dollar weakness and the risks to international monetary stability from the new currency wars. He sees four prospects for the dollarmultiple reserve currencies, special drawing rights, gold, and chaos. Rickards' ideas are controversial and will attract support and criticism across many disciplines. Nevertheless, he presents a compelling case for his views and offers thought-provoking information for library patrons."  (Booklist)  Check Our Catalog

Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress--And a Plan to Stop It

By Lawrence Lessig
"Harvard Law School cyber-law expert Lessig (Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy, 2008, etc.) turns his attention to what he believes to be rampant institutional corruption destroying American democracy.
While the U.S. Congress has lost credibility because of widespread conviction that senators and representatives are bought and paid for by special interests, the author argues that this is the fault of a system that has gone out of control rather than the personal venality of politicians. Lessig, a one-time conservative who supported President Obama, attributes this to systematic economic deregulation over the past 20 years, which has allowed for the concentration of wealth into the hands of a small number of individuals who now wield disproportionate power."  (Kirkus Reviews)  Check Our Catalog