This digital document is an article from Latino Leaders, published by Thomson Gale on April 1, 2007. The length of the article is 906 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details Title: Lilian Sepulveda: attorney, Center of Reproductive Rights.(AMBITION: THE CONSCIENTIOUS ADVOCATES) Author: Mariana Gutierrez Publication:Latino Leaders (Magazine/Journal) Date: April 1, 2007 Publisher: Thomson Gale Volume: 8 Issue: 2 Page: 48(2)
This digital document is an article from Latino Leaders, published by Thomson Gale on April 1, 2007. The length of the article is 885 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details Title: Luisa Cabal: attorney, Center for Reproductive Rights.(AMBITION: THE CONSCIENTIOUS ADVOCATES) Author: Mariana Gutierrez Publication:Latino Leaders (Magazine/Journal) Date: April 1, 2007 Publisher: Thomson Gale Volume: 8 Issue: 2 Page: 50(2)
"Lying has always been part of politics. Traditionally, however, the lie was seen as a necessary evil that those inpower should keep from their subjects. . . . Following the proclamations of victory in the Iraqi War, however, that sense of purpose became imperiled along with the trust necessary for maintaining a democratic discourse. The Bush administration has boldly proclaimed the legitimacy of the lie, the irrelevance of trust, while the mainstream media has essentially looked the other way."-from the book
Blood in the Sand is Stephen Eric Bronner’s powerful critique of the current state of American foreign and domestic policy, ranging from the government’s initial response to 9/11 andthe assault on Afghanistan through the Iraqi War and the ramifications of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Bronner, who just months before the war began spent time in Iraq as part of a peace delegation, examines the state of twenty-first century America, a nation in which security against future terrorist attacks has become an obsession, "moral values" have turned into a slogan, and belief in the right to engage in a preemptive strike has come to define foreign policy.
In Blood in the Sand, Bronner develops a bold new framework for a modern democratic foreign policy. In doing so, he passionately warns of the consequences of failure to alter the current course of events in America: extreme economic inequalities of power, political authoritarianism, imperialist ambitions, and an increasingly constrained cultural climate.
REVIEW
Fast Read, Brutal & Riveting, A Call for Progressive Engagement
This is an absolute gem of a book, one I was able to polish off in a couple of hours before Crossfire comes on. It is brutal and riveting, nothing less than a thoughtful manifesto calling for progressive engagement and a restoration of engaged dialog.
Here are a few of my summative notes that serve as a review of the author's key points, all of which I find to be admirable and well-documented:
1) US Democracy is in crisis, in part because the "Halliburton Administration" is comprised of several liars and thieves, among whom I would suggest Dick Cheney and Karl Rove are the worst. Their resignations, and the appointment of Senator John McCain as an ethical vice president, strike me as necessary.
2) The Democratic Party failed to understand that ideological passion and the Republican mobilization of their own base would more than crush the Democratic pragmatism, focus on the economic case, and a heroic but insufficient increase in registered voters. In essence, the Democratic Party relied on mobilization and failed to find its voice or its spine in 2000 and 2004. Even when the Democrats knew--as Greg Pabst documented--that the Florida election was stolen twice (one with the disenfranchisement of over 35,000people of color, the second time with the rejection of over-count votes in pro-Gore countries--while revalidating them in pro-Bush counties), they failed to rise to the challenge.
3) The author is brutal in a very polite and professional way as he describes the origins of the neo-conservatives and their commitment to looting the commonwealth of the poor and middle class in order to fund wealth transfers to the already rich, and a larger garrison state with which to pursue imperial adventures.
4) The author provides a very helpful review of what Ghandi was trying to accomplish (see also my review of the DVD by that name) and what I took away from this chapter was that non-violence is not only moral, it is educational and pragmatic. It unites the oppressed and enlightens the oppressor.
5) In the chapter on reflections from a personal visit to Baghdad, the author makes it clear that on-the-ground eye witnesses could plainly see--as the UN inspectors saw and US Marine Scott Ritter said--that Iraq was no threat to the US. The educators also heard from taxi drivers and intellectuals who said plainly that the demise of Saddam would be welcome, but occupying forces would inspire a massive nationalist insurgency. How is it that neither CIA nor the White House heard these voices? We conclude that CIA has become stupid in its reliance of classified sources and fabrications from defectors seeking resettlement, while the White House is merely unethical.
6) In an overview of the geopolitics of the region, while the author does not fully examine the nefarious misbehavior and selfish refusal to help from the other Arab nations, all of which continue to refuse land or status to Palestinians, he provides a very interesting discussion of the possibility of Iraq being divided into three parts--one aligned with Turkey, another with Iran, and suggests that colonial borders should not be considered permanent--much better to accommodate, better late than never--to tribal and religious realities. He also maps the planned Israeli walls, and I can only say that I consider this a very effective exposure of the lunacy of the Israelis. Palestine should be divided in half, each half augmented by additional land from contributing adjacent states, and Jerusalem made an international city-state under a joint religion and United Nations council
7) The book concludes with a very thoughtful discussion of 9/11 and of democracy. I agree with the author when he says that 9/11 had a *basis* in the US support of the corrupt Saudis, of the Israeli persecution of the Palestinians; and of the continuing imperialist ambitions including what Al Qaeda, not the author, have called virtual colonialism. The author tells us that democratic dynamics require accountability, morality, and reciprocity, and pointedly suggests that the neo-conservatives that have hijacked the Bush Administration have replaced all three with know-nothing fundamentalism and a grotesque imperial ambition that is quite ignorant and quite craven in thinking that we can "take over" the oil and water of the Middle East, and continue to occupy any portion of it.
This book is elegant, solid common sense, capably presented.
"An Ambition for Equality" identifies and explores the different means by which we promote equality and combat discrimination. These means include equality legislation, equality institutions, equality mainstreaming and positive action measures. These elements make up what is referred to as a strategic framework for action on equality. The concept of equality is examined. Different levels of ambition for equality are identified in terms of liberal approaches to achieving equality and in terms of the pursuit of an equality of condition. A range of equality objectives are discussed as a necessary focus for a strategic framework for action on equality. Irish equality legislation includes the Employment Equality Acts and the Equal Status Acts. This book explores the casework under the legislation and casts a critical eye on the provisions in that legislation. The role and mandate of the Equality Authority under this equality legislation is also examined. As Chief Executive Officer of the Equality Authority, the author's work and experience provides the focus around which the implementation of Irish equality legislation and approaches to mainstreaming and targeting are examined. "An Ambition for Equality" mixes practical experience in the promotion of equality with an academic perspective on the core concepts in the field, developing a critical analysis of the progress seen in Ireland in the effective promotion of equality.
Highlighting a violent, contradictory era, from 1896 to 1909, a study considers the Supreme Court ruling in the case of Plessy vs. Ferguson that established "separate but equal" facilities and the segregation, injustice, cruelty, and hope that followed.
After her first attempt at breaking and entering, business attorney Hannah Dain heads for the cliffs of Pinnacle Peak, Arizona to rock climb--and winds up in the middle of an anti-Indian protest turned violent. She escapes, but makes an enemy. This is the least of her worries, as a recent shocking family revelation sends her on a hunt for someone who has been gone for almost thirty years--someone who may not want to be found.
Then Hannah meets Tony Soto. From the moment he saves her from a climbing mishap, Hannah is beguiled by the Native American/Latino who is passionately committed to the betterment of his tribe. What becomes a near--fatal attraction jeopardizes Hannah's relationship with her boyfriend, Cooper Smith, and enmeshes her in a kidnapping tied to a complex securities fraud.
Is Tony an innocent victim, or is he part of an elaborate financial hoax where more than money is at stake? When murder ratchets up the ante, only by taking a gutsy chance can Hannah unravel the scheme and find the key to the mystery of her past.
After her first attempt at breaking and entering, business attorney Hannah Dain heads for the cliffs of Pinnacle Peak, Arizona to rock climb--and winds up in the middle of an anti-Indian protest turned violent. She escapes, but makes an enemy. This is the least of her worries, as a recent shocking family revelation sends her on a hunt for someone who has been gone for almost thirty years--someone who may not want to be found.
Then Hannah meets Tony Soto. From the moment he saves her from a climbing mishap, Hannah is beguiled by the Native American/Latino who is passionately committed to the betterment of his tribe. What becomes a near-fatal attraction jeopardizes Hannah's relationship with her boyfriend, Cooper Smith, and enmeshes her in a kidnapping tied to a complex securities fraud.
Is Tony an innocent victim, or is he part of an elaborate financial hoax where more than money is at stake? When murder ratchets up the ante, only by taking a gutsy chance can Hannah unravel the scheme and find the key to the mystery of her past.
REVIEW
Exciting Mystery with a Terrific Heroine Business attorney Hannah Dain finds herself in the middle of an anti-Indian protest, a kidnapping and complex securities fraud. All the while trying to deal with a shocking family revelation and her relationship with her boyfriend
If you are looking for a little adventure this mystery has it in spades. Twist Phelan has written a complex mystery filled with lots of twists and turns. Her heroine, Hannah Dain, is a likeable, adventurous woman who has her fill of problems both family and business related. From the very beginning when Hannah finds herself in the middle of an anti-Indian protest until the end you will find yourself unable to put down the book until you finally make it to the dramatic ending.
In January of 1982 a nationwide television audience viewed the controversial CBS documentary "The Uncounted Enemy: A Vietnam Deception". In the program, General William C. Westmoreland, former commander of U.S. Forces in Vietnam, was accused of engineering a conspiracy, in the year leading up to the Tet Offensive, to suppress the numerical size of the enemy. The resulting furor generated front page news across the country and, along with a cover story in TV Guide, co-authored by Don Kowet, induced CBS to initiate an unprecedented six-week statement by CBS that, while it admitted many of the charges, basically defended the integrity of the documentary. General Westmoreland then filed a $120 million libel suit - the largest in the history of American media. A Matter of Honor is the full inside story of the CBS documentary and its repercussions, is the result of some 100 interviews and 75,000 pages of pre-trial affidavits and depositions. We see the motives and techniques that went into the show's production, and how the CBS investigation was conducted. This book deals with many dramatic issues: the ethics and ambitions of journalists, the honor of a beleaguered general, the value judgments of CBS correspondent Mike Wallace and News Chief Van Gordon Sauter, the pride of a great news-gathering organization, and the rights and responsibilities of a free press in a free society.
