Book Description
When Gore Vidal's recent New York Times bestseller Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace was published, the Los Angeles Times described Vidal as the last defender of the American republic. In Dreaming War, Vidal continues this defense by confronting the Cheney-Bush junta head on in a series of devastating essays that demolish the lies American Empire lives by, unveiling a counter-history that traces the origins of America's current imperial ambitions to the experience of World War Two and the post-war Truman doctrine. And now, with the Cheney-Bush leading us into permanent war, Vidal asks whose interests are served by this doctrine of pre-emptive war? Was Afghanistan turned to rubble to avenge the 3,000 slaughtered on September 11? Or was "the unlovely Osama chosen on aesthetic grounds to be the frightening logo for our long contemplated invasion and conquest of Afghanistan?" After all he was abruptly replaced with Saddam Hussein once the Taliban were overthrown. And while "evidence" is now being invented to connect Saddam with 9/11, the current administration are not helped by "stories in the U.S. press about the vast oil wealth of Iraq which must- for the sake of the free world- be reassigned to U.S. consortiums."
Customer Reviews:
The Hobo Philosopher.......2007-09-12
I wouldn't have said everything exactly the same way but on the whole Mr. Vidal has it pretty much as I see it also. He hit the Military Industrial Complex right on the head and even mentions the fact that we do live in a socialist state - it is just that it is only for corporate America and the super rich and needlessly wealthy. This is good "liberal" political science. Conservatives won't be reading this book no matter what it has to say, I'm sure. this is an easy book to read. Mr. Vidal doesn't mince any words. He says it as he see it. Sometimes he see it a little exaggerated for me but yet his conclusions are right in line, I would say.
eh..........2006-11-21
Boilerplate rhetoric about how the US is the global policeman and no longer a republic but an empire. We've heard it all before...yawn...
And I even agree!
Thought provoking.............2006-10-20
I thought this latest collection of Mr. Vidal's work was timely and well worth the read. I applaud his bluntness and 'tell it like it is' attitude concerning the U.S. and it's push for world domination. This book will be interesting to anyone who is searching for an alternative view as to what is going on in our crazy, sordid post 9/11 world. Highly recommended.
The United Oil Oligarchy of Amnesia and Entropy .......2006-10-17
...with free enterprise for the poor and socialism for the rich.
The label "conspiracy theorist" holds a powerful stigma. For the most part, the conspiracy theorists themselves are to blame for that. For the most part the people I've run across who propagate and perpetuate these wild schemes are not the most critical thinkers out there. The evidence of this is the way conspiracies run in packs. Once they're talking about secret societies, secret connections and plots, more and more unfold, running off in tangents. It might start with the Kennedy assassination but soon area 51 and Roswell are evoked, the moon landing is a hoax, the Loch Ness monster and the inner Earth people. Not to mention the Catholics, the Masons, and the Jewish-communists.
But that shouldn't dissuade us from investigating anything. The fact that conspiracy theorists are nuts doesn't mean conspiracies never happen. People who believe everything that's slightly exciting to believe are no less critical thinkers than those who dismiss outright anything that threatens the veneer of civility and order.
In reality, a conspiracy doesn't have to be an intricate web of deception, some brilliant design everyone but you is in on. A conspiracy can be lots of powerful people acting in a similar way, through sneaky means and propaganda, for the sake of strengthening and securing their own power. Hillary Clinton was lambasted for speaking of a vast right-wing conspiracy, but as the story unfolds, we see a small handful of very powerful, rich people using their influence to try and drag down a President and his administration by any means necessary. She was right.
This book is a collection of essays unified by the assertion Gore Vidal is making that American is an empire, and that American military action and behavior, since before world war 2, has been an imperial attempt to control as much of the world as possible. If one looks at the whole of human history, none of this should come as a surprise. But in the modern debate, where Neo-con imperialism is compared to Nazism, Mr. Vidal is telling us that a better analogy would be the ancient Roman Empire, and that this has been going on a whole lot longer than since the neo-cons have been in power. The primary difference today is near-transparency of the current administrations goals, and the deplorable depths of depravity to which they'll sink to accomplish it. The unprovoked, unilateral invasion of Iraq was just one of hundreds of unprovoked, unilateral military actions the American empire has engaged in post-WW2. But in the past, America had the self-awareness, pride and patience to do things in a deceptive manner, exercising domination economically (the Marshall plan), or through low-key military presences (like NATO in Western Europe) and by meddling around the world with an alphabet soup of secret police (CIA, FBI, DEA, DIA...). So, there's nothing new going on in the Bush-Cheney Junta. It is a matter of degrees, but previous presidents and previous administrations don't get off the hook unscathed.
And the media, owned by powerful, rich, well-connected corporations, don't get off unscathed. Vidal discusses the role of the media, paid off to keep two major characteristics of the America off the radar off the people, the first being the existence- not to mention the pervasiveness- of a class system, and the second being the nature of the U.S. Empire. Outside of the United States, these are not secrets. When the twin towers fell, Americans turned to each other and asked in genuine bewilderment how anyone could hate us. When the answer was supplied for us, "they hate us because they hate freedom," enough people could actually get themselves to believe this to accomplish the re-election of the worst, most venal bunch of ganefs in American history. American people could accept the premise that people around the world want to attack us with suicidal acts simply because they envy our goodness. That's not just us being stupid, that's us being uneducated and misinformed. (And distracted! Was that really a partial breast seen during a football half-time show? Heaven forfend! Let's have congressional hearings about it.)
Drawbacks? Because this is a collection of essays written for different sources at different times, you get a lot of redundancy if you read this book cover to cover. Also, while I'm not a knee-jerk pro-Israel kind of guy (I have plenty of criticism for the way Israel has acted and I see a lot more complexity in the situation than people on either side ever acknowledge), I do cringe a little bit when Mr. Vidal gets on the subject of Israel's role in today's geopolitical scene. He hints at Israel's mistakes, but then, in his wonderfully droll, mischievous style, declares that one can't criticize Israel without being accused of anti-Semitism, complete with a sarcastic tone that says `gosh, what could be worse than being an anti-Semite?' I know he's making an important point but, as someone who grew up being taught that they will eventually get around to blaming everything on the Jews again, I can't help but feel a touch queasy.
All that being said, this is an important book, it offers an alternate take on the modern situation that needs to be heard. And Gore Vidal, as opposed to someone like Noam Chomsky, reports in his inimitable sassy style, which turns a painful topic into pleasurable reading. That takes some talent. Thumbs up.
Gore Vidal Has Done His Homework and Relates Unpleasant Truths.......2006-07-30
Gore Vidal wrote DREAMING WAR:BLOOD FOR OIL and the CHENEY-BUSH JUNTA shortly after he wrote PERPETUAL WAR FOR PERPETUAL PEACE. The second book is just as good and as well written as the first. Vidal states obvious truths which anger some because they are so obvious and true.
Vidal's collection of essays deal with the American Empire which is a term that the Establishment does not like because the word empire is an accurate term in describing U.S. Government meddling. Such a term might give Americans an uncomfortable view of the reality of U.S. diplomacy.
Some of these essays confront the unconfortable truths regarding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Vidal gives a brief but clear account of the FDR lads goading the Japanese to attack this naval base in response to U.S. pressure that would have reduced the Japanese to famine had they adhered to U.S. policy. One should note that U.S. foreign policy against Japanese presence in China was due to some vague nonsense about the Open Door Policy in China. One should note when the Chinese Communists came to power in 1949, the Open Door was slammed shut in everyone's face. By eliminating the Japanese as a power in China, the road was wide open for Mao tse-Tung and the Chinese Communists to take power after a prolonged civil war that lasted from 1927 to 1949.
Vidal is also very clear that the use of nuclear weapons against the Japanese in 1945 was unnecessary. Vidal cites a letter dated July 18, 1945 written by the Japanese Emperor begging to surrender and ending the war. This is a matter of public record now, and few if any "mainstream" historians have mentioned this. Vidal makes effective use of Alperovitz's book THE DECISION TO USE THE ATOMIC BOMB: THE ARCHITECTURE OF A MYTH. Vidal notes that many well known military men including Admiral Nimetz, the General Eisenhower, etc., were very much opposed to the use atomic bomb. Or course, none of this is very well publisized as it undermines the political myths upon which the American Empire is built.
Vidal also deals with more recent events such as the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, U.S. destructiveness in Latin America,etc. These interventions fit the classcial definition of empire which is largely unknown to Americans. Vidal destroys the myths that have been presented as truth regarding these events, and he undermines the official truths of these events.
Vidal has some interesting remarks re "Official Truth." He well knows that Lord Acton's dictum that, "Official truth is never actual truth" is an accurate statement. When Vidal made a production for The History Channel, some Establishment hacks formed a panal to smear Vidal. Vidal notes that he was not invited to defend himself, and Vidal further conclusively refutes the hacks on this panal. One should note his remarks re this attempt to smear him.
Vidal has some interesting remarks about U.S. domestic policies. He mentions that government authorities have made a war on alleged domestic policies to divert attention from foreign interventions. Americans have had a war on illteracy, a war on poverty, and a war on drugs. If anyone is interested, illiteracy, poverty, and drugs have won.
Vidal has some interesting suggestions for solving or reducing problems. He suggests, to use the expression, "Smaller is better." Vidal cites Thomas Jefferson's remarks re making Washington, D.C. about the centralization of power in that city and the destructive consequences of such a concentration of power. Vidal suggests that Americans should live in confederated sections which, while not eliminating corrpution and economic ruin, would significantly reduce such problems and give Americans more direct control.
Vidal has some interesting comments on American "education." Vidal comments on the ignorance of Americans re their own history or any history. Vidal also condemns the ignorance of geography whereby Americans do not even know where interventions take place. One should note that the "experts" in Congress do not where these areas are either. They have shown their ignorance when some un-American has asked them to locate any of these places on globe, and these "experts" did not know the difference between South American and Antarctic or anywhere else for that matter.
Vidal has been accused of hating America. Vidal does not hate America. Alleged proof is that Vidal lives part of the year in Italy. So do many other Americans. Vidal does not hate America. He hates what the corporate CEOs and government authorities have done to America and Americans. He is very clear about this. Vidal has been accused of being a Bush Basher and opposed to Republicans. These remarks betray these critics who obviously have been watching too much TV and have not read Vidal's books. Vidal is an ardent supporter of limited government, the Bill of Rights, etc. If supporting lawful restraints on federal power and support of the United States Constitution is un-American, we are in bad shape.
Vidal uses public sources and comments to support his views. He does not refer to arcane nonsense, and readers can read Vidal's books and decide for themselves. Again, readers should note that Vidal displays knowledge, reason, and an exceptional ability to write.
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Vague Shadows of a Former Self - Vol 2
M.F Dail
Manufacturer: Trafford Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Contemporary
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| Literature & Fiction
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ASIN: 1412045525
Release Date: 2006-07-06 |
Product Description
The world is awash with Think-Tanks great and small. they even hover round the seat of government desperate for the status of guru-ship.
Book Description
"No other history of the area has approached the broad interpretation of this book as it weaves this intensive study of La Junta so closely into the international trends and events taking place in Texas, Mexico, and the United States. . . . The writing is witty, bold and enticing."
—Andres Tijerina, author of
Tejano Empire: Life on the South Texas Ranchos
Not quite the United States and not quite Mexico, La Junta de los Rios straddles the border between Texas and Chihuahua, occupying the basin formed by the conjunction of the Rio Grande and the Rio Conchos. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the Chihuahuan Desert, ranking in age and dignity with the Anasazi pueblos of New Mexico.
In the first comprehensive history of the region, Jefferson Morgenthaler traces the history of La Junta de los Rios from the formation of the Mexico-Texas border in the mid-19th century to the 1997 ambush shooting of teenage goatherd Esquiel Hernandez by U.S. Marines performing drug interdiction in El Polvo, Texas. "Though it is scores of miles from a major highway, I found natives, soldiers, rebels, bandidos, heroes, scoundrels, drug lords, scalp hunters, medal winners, and mystics," writes Morgenthaler. "I found love, tragedy, struggle, and stories that have never been told." In telling the turbulent history of this remote valley oasis, he examines the consequences of a national border running through a community older than the invisible line that divides it.
Customer Reviews:
excellent effort.......2005-08-15
Excellent coverage of the Texas/Mexico border at "La Junta," an area that is today Presidio, Texas, and Ojinaga, Mexico. Strength of the book is the historical La Junta. Modern corruption and drug dealing com e in at the end, but deserved more ... or less of the narrative. Excellent scholarship and a writing style that captivates the reader.
Book Description
When I sat down to write this book, it was not an attempt to create a renowned literary work, nor was it about money or profit. I had become deeply saddened and angered, to the verge of outrage, due to the venal actions of my (elected?) government. This book speaks to the lies, hypocrisy and nefarious activities of this Bush bastard and his "colleagues-in-crime". I have no political affiliation per se. This is not about "Right" or "Left"--in this book I speak to right and wrong! This man (now there's an oxymoron) and his cronies have come to us with God on their lips and blood on their hands. I only have hopes in awakening the sleeping apathetic and complacent.
Customer Reviews:
EXTRAORDINARY!.......2006-10-12
Malice in Wonderland is an amazing and timely book that exposes all the lies and deceptions of the Bush administration. Writing gonzo-style, D.L. Joy investigates and comments on all the failures of the Bush Junta -- in details! Joy does not chew his words, which is great, because they reflect our sentiments in our drive to oust this junta from office.
As a Vietnam veteran, Joy has all the legitimacy he needs to assault the current policies and the war in Iraq. He does a marvelous job bringing out all the pofit schemes and conspiracies, and denounces this administration for all the deaths it is responsible for. More deaths are bringing in more profits to this junta, and Joy (who as a veteran knows something about policies designed to gain more power and further profit from war) has pinpointed their chicaneries.
Joy also digs deep into the history of the Bush family. You'd be surprised what's out there. You'll come across information you never knew existed and, put together, this book indeed portrays a very bleek vision of our current government and its evils.
Joy goes over all the miserable failures of this administration one by one since 2000 and adds his personal, seething comments. Like Hunter Thompson, his subject and style make for a great read, and you'll likely come out of it a bit more cynical.
I reccommend this book to anyone who wants to know the truth, to anyone who will go vote in November, to anyone who wants to have a clearer view of what's really going on in our government, and to anyone who cares about the future of our country. This is a must-read!
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Juntas Directivas Que Contribuyen / Boards That Deliver: Del Simple Cumplimiento a la Ventaja Competitiva / Advancing Corporate Governance from Compliance to Competitive Advantage
Ram Charan
Manufacturer: Grupo Editorial Norma
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 9580491283 |
Book Description
It is widely believed that autocratic regimes cannot limit their power through institutions of their own making. This book presents a surprising challenge to this view. It demonstrates that the Chilean armed forces were constrained by institutions of their own design. Based on extensive documentation of military decision-making, much of it long classified and unavailable, this book reconstructs the politics of institutions within the recent Chilean dictatorship (1973-1990).
Download Description
It is widely believed that autocratic regimes cannot limit their power through institutions of their own making. This book presents a surprising challenge to this view. It demonstrates that the Chilean armed forces were constrained by institutions of their own design. Based on extensive documentation of military decision-making, much of it long classified and unavailable, this book reconstructs the politics of institutions within the recent Chilean dictatorship (1973-1990). It examines the structuring of institutions at the apex of the military junta, the relationship of military rule with the prior constitution, the intra-military conflicts that led to the promulgation of the 1980 constitution, the logic of institutions contained in the new constitution, and how the constitution constrained the military junta after it went into force in 1981. This provocative account reveals the standard account of the dictatorship as a personalist regime with power concentrated in Pinochet to be grossly inaccurate.
Book Description
Some of the medium's best practitioners take on the Bush Administration just in time for the election in this outraged work of comics journalism.
The Bush Junta: A Field Guide to Corruption in Government is an historical account of the high crimes and misdemeanors of the presidential administration of George W. Bush, as told by an international assemblage of world-class cartoonists. This fact-based, impeccably researched work of comics journalism chronicles the Bush administration in the context of the Bush family dynasty that spawned it. Topics include:
- The Nazi connections of the president's grandfather, Prescott Bush;
- The Bush family's membership in Yale's Skull and Bones Society;
- Former President George Bush's connections to the CIA, the Mafia, and Big Oil;
- His involvement in the October Surprise and Iran Contra scandals;
- The Bush family's strange relationship with the family of John Hinckley (the would-be assassin of President Ronald Reagan);
- The Panama Deception;
- The Persian Gulf War;
- The suspicious business practices of his Bush sons, particularly with regard to the Savings and Loan scandal of the 1980s;
- Young George W. Bush, his troubles with the law, his AWOL military record;
- George W.'s governorship of Texas;
- The electoral fraud of 2000 that resulted in his presidency;
- Unanswered questions about the terror attacks of September 11;
- The administration's "War on Terror" and its erosion of civil liberties under the Patriot Act and proposed Victory Act;
- The oil-based motives behind the Iraq War and how the public was deceived into supporting the war;
- The administration's shameful record on energy and the environment; and much more.
Also included are profiles of the key players in the current administration, a rogues gallery including Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, John Ashcroft, Condoleezza Rice, and Karl Rove.
Contributors to this historic comics documentary include: Alejandro Alvarez, Jaime Crespo, Kim Deitch, Jeremy Eaton, Bill Griffith, Scott Gilbert, Albo Helm, Ted Jouflas, Mark Landman, Carol Lay, Scott Marshall, Paul Mavrides, David Paleo Nunes, Ethan Persoff, Aleksandar Zograf, Larry Rodman, Spain Rodriguez, Marcel Ruyters, Kenneth Smith, Carol Swain, Seth Tobocman, Penny Van Horn, Mack White, and others.
This book distills all the known facts of the Bush regimes criminality in a journalistically accurate, artistically stylish, and utterly hilarious collection.
Customer Reviews:
An anthology of 25 cartoonists who lampoon the Bush dynasty.......2004-11-08
The Bush Junta is an anthology of 25 cartoonists who lampoon the Bush dynasty. Made all the more biting from its heavy reliance on literal fact, these stinging, wordy black-and-white parodies candidly reveal the records, actions, and foibles of the GOP with razor-keen wit and no-holds-barred cynicism. A series of bumper-sticker flyers that can be reproduced and distributed enhances this timely and critical attack on alleged abuses of govermental power, among other presidential, political, and personal failings.
A sobering, cutting edge look at unadulterated walking evil.......2004-09-29
Kind of along the lines of "The Big Book of Scandal", only focused on one subject, "The Bush Junta" pulls no punches in dissecting a perilously evil cabal of chickenhawks commonly known as Bush's Cabinet.
Hilariously illustrated by such artistic geniuses as Ted Rall, Scott Marshall, Ethan Persoff, the late, great Hack Smith and others, "Junta" chronologically deflowers arguably the most villainous political monarchy of modern times; starting with the infamous Prescott Bush/Nazi connection. It moves on to the Skull & Bones years and then in one of the most chilling chapters, pulls the wool off of GHWB's incredibly corrupt CIA tenure.
More disgusting and very true tales of deceit, corruption and flagrant neo-fascism follow, from the warwhores of the dying-empire stenched PNAC; the collection of shady reptiles known as the Carlyle Group; John Ashcroft's suppressive and incredibly bigoted years as Missouri's attorney general and governor; the megalomaniac warmonger and former Saddam cigar-buddy Donald Rumsfeld; Condoleeza Rice, the supposed genius who ignored a ton of pretty damning intelligence reports that could have thwarted 9-11; and finally, the chief snake and puppetbastard of them all - Dick Cheney.
It's no secret or suprise that the key players of the Idiot-in-Chief's cabinet got their start or influence with the Nixon Administration. Most of the information presented here is probably not new to those that follow underground radio and internet sites. But for those who think the . . . er . . . "liberal media" (meaning, Faux News, which is about as liberal as your average John Birch member, GE-owned NBC, Disney-owned ABC, Viacom-parented CBS and CNN, which has turned into "Faux Jr." (rolls eyes)) is the be-all, end-all of truth and fairness; for those who are open-minded and won't brush this off as "more commie libtard lies" (it's backed by hundreds of footnotes, statements, excerpts, links and direct quotes, BTW), this will be a blow to the stomach like no other.
At the very least, "The Bush Junta" will make you seriously question why this administration isn't telling you everything you need to know, why the biased cookie-cutter cable media will not call them on the issues that they have failed so miserably at and why you ever trusted your government in the first place.
Book Description
In The Unrepentant Vassos Georghiou recounts the sufferings of Greek men and women of all walks of life and political persuasions who were deported in 1964 to a desert island following a coup d'état engineered by the CIA that installed a repressive military junta. The prisoners responded variously to the psychological and physical pressures; some yielded and signed loyalty oaths; most, however, like Georghiou, resisted courageously, armed with a sense of their personal dignity and loyal to the ideals of their years of struggle against repression and foreign invasions and interventions. Until the collapse of socialist regimes in Eastern Europe and despite his disillusionment with the domestic and international leadership of the Communist movement and his expulsion from the Communist Party, Vassos Georghiou retained his faith in the Soviet Union as the model for the world of the future. In this book Arthur D. Kahn repeatedly expresses disagreement with Georghiou's views, and discussions between them add a further level of interest.
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100 anos de la Junta del Puerto y Ria de Bilbao
Junta del Puerto y Ria de Bilbao
Manufacturer: Junta del Puerto
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
Transportation
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| Aviation
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| Ferries
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| Mass Transit
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| RVs
| Railroads
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ASIN: 8450022789 |
Books:
- Dynamics in Document Design: Creating Text for Readers
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- Extreme NXT: Extending the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT to the Next Level (Technology in Action)
- Fingerprint: The Art of Using Handmade Elements in Graphic Design
- Forms, Folds, and Sizes: All the Details Graphic Designers Need to Know but Can Never Find
- Gardner's Art Through the Ages (with ArtStudy Student CD-ROM and InfoTrac )
- Graphic Design Solutions, Third Edition
- Graphic Designer's Guide to Pricing, Estimating & Budgeting Revised Edition
- Handbook of Structural Steel Connection Design and Details
Books Index
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