Politics & Current Events - Books

Passer par le Nord - La nouvelle route maritime

Un état des lieux géopolitique, économique et écologique sur cette région en plein bouleversement.Après leur voyage dans le Grand Sud, en 2006, Isabelle Autissier et Erik Orsenna ont exploré le Grand Nord, cette région du monde où, dans un contexte de réchauffement climatique, les richesses naturelles, les routes commerciales et les gigantesques ports en construction aiguisent les appétits, tandis que la faune en est la première victime.À trois reprises, ils sont partis dans ces froides contrées. Ils ont suivi la route maritime du Nord, qui permet de relier l'Atlantique au Pacifique en longeant les côtes de la Sibérie, et qui est aujourd'hui le plus court chemin navigable entre l'Europe et l'Asie. Un passage forcément très convoité...Ils retracent ici les aventures de ceux qui ont ouvert ce passage au cours des siècles, ils expliquent les enjeux géopolitiques, économiques et écologiques de cette partie du monde et nous rappellent que notre avenir se joue aussi au pôle Nord.

La Plus Belle Histoire de la philosophie

Politics & Current Events

De l'Antiquité à nos jours, la grande aventure des explorateurs de la pensée racontée par l'un de nos meilleurs philosophes. C'est une longue épopée, engagée depuis l'Antiquité, qui se poursuit encore aujourd'hui, une aventure pleine de passions, de révoltes, de revirements et de coups de génie. Telle est l'histoire de la philosophie, vue et racontée par Luc Ferry : une conquête obstinée, menée au fil des siècles par une poignée d'explorateurs qui, soudain, trouvent une nouvelle clef pour donner un sens à la condition humaine et bouleversent fondamentalement notre manière de penser. Pourquoi et quand s'est-on mis à philosopher ? Comment les grands concepts se sont-ils succédé au fil des siècles ? Comment et pourquoi Platon, Descartes, Montesquieu, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Marx, Nietzsche, Freud, Heidegger, et quelques autres – les grands défricheurs de la pensée ne sont pas si nombreux – ont-ils eu soudain l'intuition qui a tout changé ? Dans un dialogue limpide et sans jargon avec Claude Capelier, Luc Ferry déroule le fil chronologique depuis les origines antiques jusqu'à nos jours et décrit les six grandes étapes décisives qui nous ont ouvert un nouvel univers. On le verra, l'histoire de la philosophie, comme celle de l'art, n'aime pas la ligne droite, elle connaît des zigzags, des revirements, parfois des errances, et les grandes idées d'autrefois n'ont pas forcément perdu leur pertinence. Pourtant, Luc Ferry le raconte ici, elle semble quand même avancer dans un certain sens – oserait-on même parler d'un certain progrès ? Plus on explore, plus on défriche et plus on s'approche de l'intime, de l'essence de l'homme. Et c'est la grande originalité de ce livre que de nous faire apparaître la philosophie comme une quête essentielle, à la fois millénaire et furieusement actuelle. Où en est-on à l'heure de la globalisation, des espaces virtuels et des intégrismes recyclés d'un autre âge ? Comment répondre à notre désarroi face à un monde qui, une fois encore, nous glisse entre les doigts ? Par l'amour, suggère le philosophe, ce concept à la fois si banal et si complexe, susceptible de nous offrir une meilleure compréhension de notre temps, et peut-être de nous-mêmes.

Climate Capitalism

Politics & Current Events

Confronting climate change is now understood as a problem of 'decarbonising' the global economy: ending our dependence on carbon-based fossil fuels. This book explores whether such a transformation is underway, how it might be accelerated, and the complex politics of this process. Given the dominance of global capitalism and free-market ideologies, decarbonisation is dependent on creating carbon markets and engaging powerful actors in the world of business and finance. Climate Capitalism assesses the huge political dilemmas this poses, and the need to challenge the entrenched power of many corporations, the culture of energy use, and global inequalities in energy consumption. Climate Capitalism is essential reading for anyone wanting to better understand the challenge we face. It will also inform a range of student courses in environmental studies, development studies, international relations, and business programmes.

The NSA Report

Politics & Current Events

"We cannot discount the risk, in light of the lessons of our own history, that at some point in the future, high-level government officials will decide that this massive database of extraordinarily sensitive private information is there for the plucking. Americans must never make the mistake of wholly 'trusting' our public officials."--The NSA ReportThis is the official report that is helping shape the international debate about the unprecedented surveillance activities of the National Security Agency. Commissioned by President Obama following disclosures by former NSA contractor Edward J. Snowden, and written by a preeminent group of intelligence and legal experts, the report examines the extent of NSA programs and calls for dozens of urgent and practical reforms. The result is a blueprint showing how the government can reaffirm its commitment to privacy and civil liberties--without compromising national security.

Reducing Poverty, Protecting Livelihoods, and Building Assets in a Changing Climate

Politics & Current Events

Climate change is the defining development challenge of our time. More than a global environmental issue, climate change and variability threaten to reverse recent progress in poverty reduction and economic growth. Both now and over the long run, climate change and variability threatens human and social development by restricting the fulfillment of human potential and by disempowering people and communities in reducing their livelihoods options. Communities across Latin America and the Caribbean are already experiencing adverse consequences from climate change and variability. Precipitation has increased in the southeastern part of South America, and now often comes in the form of sudden deluges, leading to flooding and soil erosion that endanger people’s lives and livelihoods. Southwestern parts of South America and western Central America are seeing a decrease in precipitation and an increase in droughts. Increasing heat and drought in Northeast Brazil threaten the livelihoods of already-marginal smallholders, and may turn parts of the eastern Amazon rainforest into savannah. The Andean inter-tropical glaciers are shrinking and expected to disappear altogether within the next 20-40 years, with significant consequences for water availability. These environmental changes will impact local livelihoods in unprecedented ways. Poverty, inequality, water access, health, and migration are and will be measurably affected by climate change. Using an innovative research methodology, this study finds quantitative evidence of large variations in impacts across regions. Many already poor regions are becoming poorer; traditional livelihoods are being challenged in unprecedented ways; water scarcity is increasing, particularly in poor arid areas; human health is deteriorating; and climate-induced migration is already taking place and may increase. Successfully reducing social vulnerability to climate change and variability requires action and commitment at multiple levels. This volume offers key operational recommendations at the government, community, and household levels with particular emphasis placed on enhancing good governance and technical capacity in the public sector, building social capital in local communities, and protecting the asset base of poor households.

Common Sense

Politics & Current Events

Common Sense was a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine. It was first published anonymously on January 10, 1776, during the American Revolution. Common Sense presented the American colonists with an argument for independence from British rule at a time when the question of independence was still undecided. Paine wrote and reasoned in a style that common people understood; forgoing the philosophy and Latin references used by Enlightenment era writers, Paine structured Common Sense like a sermon and relied on Biblical references to make his case to the people. Historian Gordon S. Wood described Common Sense as, “the most incendiary and popular pamphlet of the entire revolutionary era.”— Excerpted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Urban Regeneration in the UK

Politics & Current Events

A thorough update of what was already an excellently written, accessible and well-used book. Coverage of the key issues to impact on regeneration in the UK since the 2008 financial crisis is comprehensive, and ensures that this latest edition will remain a key reference work for students and practitioners alike.- Dr David Jarvis, Coventry University and Deputy Director, Applied Research Centre in Sustainable Regeneration (SURGE)An accessible text for students that provides an excellent summary of the challenges facing the UK regeneration sector up to and including the present age of austerity.- Dr Lee Pugalis School of Built Environment, Northumbria UniversityAn engaging, systematic guide to the most dramatic transformation of our urban landscape since post-war reconstruction. This new edition has been fully revised to include: Improved pedagogical features, including an expanded glossary and increased visuals, as well as key learning points, useful websites and suggestions for further reading More content on local sustainability and issues linked to climate change A new chapter, Scaling Up, which examines how regeneration operates when considering very large schemes, such as the London 2012 Olympics.Jones and Evans draw together a mass of information around key themes in governance, sustainability, competition and design - from policy reports to academic studies - into a single coherent text, making this essential reading for anyone studying or working in the field of urban regeneration and planning.

Sanguisughe

Politics & Current Events

C'è il pensionato Inps più ricco d'Italia: 90.000 euro al mese. C'è l'onorevole che è stato in Parlamento un solo giorno e potrà contare per tutta la vita su una pensione da deputato. C'è l'ex presidente del Consiglio che ha tagliato le pensioni altrui e ne ha ottenuta per sé una da 31.000 euro al mese. C'è l'ex presidente della Repubblica che, oltre al vitalizio, incassa 4766 euro netti al mese come ex magistrato, pur avendo svolto questa attività per soli 3 anni. E poi ci sono le baby pensioni, le pensioni ai mafiosi, le doppie, triple e quadruple pensioni: mentre al cittadino qualunque vengono chiesti continui sacrifici sul fronte previdenziale, mentre l'Europa insiste per allungare la vita lavorativa e i giovani non sanno se potranno mai avere una vecchiaia serena, la casta dei pensionati d'oro mantiene i suoi privilegi, anzi se ne riserva sempre di nuovi. Tutto perfettamente legale, s'intende, ma con la differenza non trascurabile che, in questo caso, la legge viene applicata con sorprendente rapidità, mentre ci sono centinaia di comuni cittadini che devono attendere anni per veder riconosciuti i loro diritti previdenziali. Dal dirigente della Banca d'Italia che va a riposo a 44 anni con 18.000 euro al mese al burocrate che, ancora nel 2009, va in pensione a 47 anni con 6000 euro netti (e l'incarico da assessore), dal commesso del Senato che prende 8000 euro al mese alla bidella pensionata a 29 anni, dal falso cieco che va a ritirare la pensione al volante della sua automobile alle presunte pensionate dell'agricoltura che giurano di aver passato anni a raccogliere «olive quadrate», Mario Giordano ci guida nel labirinto degli scandali, degli inganni e degli abusi della previdenza italiana: un buco nero che grava sulle spalle dei contribuenti e mette a rischio il loro futuro. Da questo desolante panorama emerge un'indicazione chiara: visto che continuano a chiedere tagli alle pensioni, non si potrebbe cominciare da qualcuno di questi privilegi?

Pnin

Politics & Current Events

Pnin está considerada como «la más deliciosa de las novelas de Nabokov» (G. M. Hyde), «la más inmediatamente atractiva» (Laurie Clancy) y, posiblemente, la más divertida de toda su obra, tan rebosante de humor. Su protagonista es el profesor Pnin, un ruso de la emigración que se gana la vida dando clases a media docena escasa de alumnos desganados que acuden a su aula como quien va a ver una película de Buster Keaton. Pero los verdaderos enemigos del inefable e infeliz Pnin son los extraños artilugios de la modernidad: coches, electrodomésticos y demás máquinas que, al menos a él, no le facilitan precisamente la vida. Y también los mezquinos intereses y la mediocridad de sus colegas, una pandilla de ambiciosos profesorzuelos que ponen a prueba su infinita paciencia. O los psiquiatras entre los que se mueve la que fue su esposa, una mujer que nunca le amó pero de la que él sigue imperturbable y conmovedoramente enamorado. De modo que, al final, el ridiculizado Pnin acaba emergiendo como una figura casi heroica, un ser civilizado en medio de la incivilización industrial, el único que todavía conserva un resto de dignidad humana.Nabokov satiriza aquí un mundo que a él, como emigrado, le tocó sufrir, y pocas veces se le nota tan desenvuelto, tan feliz en el acto mismo de escribir, tan capaz de transmitir el placer que, a pesar de los pesares, le daba el simple hecho de estar vivo.

Indian Home Rule

Politics & Current Events

Activist Mahatma Gandhi is best remembered as the freedom fighter who brought the concepts of passive resistance and civil disobedience to the world's attention in his quest for Indian independence from British rule. In the volume Indian Home Rule, Gandhi sets forth a compelling series of arguments against British colonialism in India, giving voice to the viewpoints that fueled his decades-long campaign.

Spudorati

Politics & Current Events

I tagli agli stipendi dei parlamentari? Non si fanno. L'abolizione dei vitalizi? A Montecitorio scatta la ribellione. Nessuno lascia, semmai qualcuno raddoppia, come i 200 superprivilegiati che prendono una pensione da ex parlamentare e una da ex consigliere regionale. Le auto blu? In Italia restano 72.000, mentre in tutta la Gran Bretagna sono 195. A uno degli ex giudici della Corte costituzionale hanno provato a toglierla. Risposta: «No, mi serve: viaggiare in treno è un problema». Si capisce. È un problema. Dare meno soldi ai partiti? Non scherziamo. In dieci anni ne hanno ricevuti il 1000 per cento in più. Li chiamano «rimborsi elettorali », in realtà sono una truffa al contribuente. E se la Lega si è potuta permettere investimenti speculativi a Cipro e in Tanzania, la Margherita, anche se morta da almeno tre anni, ha preferito farsi rubare la metà del suo gruzzolo dall'ex tesoriere. Già, ma come faceva ad avere ancora 25 milioni di euro sul conto? Diminuire le spese del Palazzo? Figuriamoci. Mentre gli italiani arrancano per colpa della crisi, gli stipendi dei dipendenti di Palazzo Chigi sono cresciuti del 15,2 per cento in un anno. Eliminare le Province o almeno ridurne gli sprechi? Ma quando mai. La Provincia di Palermo paga 43 ore di straordinario agli spalatori di neve nel mese di luglio e quella di Treviso si è rifatta il look spendendo 500.000 euro solo per le poltrone. Il fatto è che sono spudorati, ma proprio tanto. Li avete sentiti parlare? «Andare in pensione a 50 anni è un mio diritto acquisito.» «15.000 euro al mese? Non mi bastano per sopravvivere. » Con i tagli ai costi della politica si riempiono solo la bocca o, al massimo, il portafoglio. Spudorati. E il risultato è sotto gli occhi di tutti: loro hanno le tasche piene; gli italiani, invece, ne hanno piene le tasche. A questo punto, caro lettore, ti chiederai: perché, dopo Sanguisughe, devo leggere un altro libro che mi farà venire il mal di fegato? La risposta è semplice. Mal di fegato dopo mal di fegato, qualche piccolo risultato è stato ottenuto. E qui si racconta quale. Ma è ancora troppo poco. Ancora troppe persone sguazzano nei privilegi, ancora troppe persone usano i soldi nostri per farsi i comodi loro, ancora troppe persone fingono di fare riforme e, alla fine, ci fregano sempre. Dobbiamo smascherarli, questi spudorati. Perché, se noi smettiamo di crederci, vincono loro. E non possiamo permettercelo.

A Miscellany of Men

Politics & Current Events

This is most versatile and vibrant, defending his Creed in dozens of short essays on people and politics. Building upon his Catholic Faith and natural Reason, he battles his chief modern enemies - as Ahlquist's Introduction lists them: "the magic of money, the formlessness of evolution, the dull determinism of modern ideas, and the oppression of any creature made in the image of God.

Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents

Politics & Current Events

This is an eleven-volume series of tomes comprising proclamations, special messages, and inauguration speeches from several presidents throughout United States history.

European Identity

Politics & Current Events

European economic integration has advanced faster and further than anyone could have predicted, yet hopes are fading for a single European identity. This ambitious study analyses the complex mosaic of competing visions and aspirations, and explores a Europe where concepts of community are multiplying and disintegrating simultaneously.

The Federalist Papers

Politics & Current Events

Praised by Thomas Jefferson as "the best commentary on the principles of government which was ever written", the Federalist Papers are a collection of 85 essays and articles written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison, supporting the ratification of the United States Constitution. They were published serially in "The Independent Journal", and, "The New York Packet", with the express intention of persuading the voting public of New York to accept the newly drafted constitution in 1787. The power of the constitutional arguments still resonate today, such is the clarity and intelligence of the writing.

Predicting Suicide Attacks

Politics & Current Events

As part of an exploration of ways to predict what determines the targets of suicide attacks, RAND conducted a proof-of-principle analysis of whether adding sociocultural, political, economic, and demographic factors would enhance the predictive ability of a methodology that focused on geospatial features. This test case focused on terrorist bombing incidents in Israel, but the findings indicate that the methodology merits further exploration.

The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government - Volume I

Politics & Current Events

The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government - Volume I Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America during the entire Civil War, 1861 to 1865 (1808-1889) This ebook presents «The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government - Volume I», from Jefferson Davis. A dynamic table of contents enables to jump directly to the chapter selected. Table of Contents -01- About this book -02- PREFACE -03- INTRODUCTION -04- VOLUME I. THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CONFEDERATE GOVERNMENT -05- PART I. THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CONFEDERATE GOVERNMENT -06- PART II. THE CONSTITUTION -07- PART III. SECESSION AND CONFEDERATION -08- PART IV. THE WAR -09- APPENDIXES

Underkill

Politics & Current Events

Description of the book

Socialism, Utopian and Scientific

Politics & Current Events

Socialism, Utopian and Scientific needs no preface. It ranks with the Communist Manifesto as one of the indispensable books for any one desiring to understand the modern socialist movement. It has been translated into every language where capitalism prevails, and its circulation is more rapid than ever before.

The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 3

Politics & Current Events

The present volume contains the six metrical tales which were composed within the years 1812 and 1815, the Hebrew Melodies, and the minor poems of 1809-1816. With the exception of the first fifteen poems (1809-1811)—Chansons de Voyage, as they might be called—the volume as a whole was produced on English soil. Beginning with the Giaour; which followed in the wake of Childe Harold and shared its triumph, and ending with the ill-omened Domestic Pieces, or Poems of the Separation, the poems which Byron wrote in his own country synchronize with his popularity as a poet by the acclaim and suffrages of his own countrymen. His greatest work, by which his lasting fame has been established, and by which his relative merits as a great poet will be judged in the future, was yet to come; but the work which made his name, which is stamped with his sign-manual, and which has come to be regarded as distinctively and characteristically Byronic, preceded maturity and achievement.

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