Customer Reviews:
Ina a Dark Wood: The Fight Over Forests and the Myths of Nature.......2007-01-10
A very well researched and well written account of the "Old Growth Forest" controversy. I strongly encourage students of enviromentalism to read it. It clearly lays out some of the seminal disagreements of forest management that stil plague our forests today.
ignorant and angry but useful.......2005-05-03
Chase's angry critique of "environmentalists" and their myths of nature has its points, but he ignores most of the substantial efforts to manage our ecosystem holistically -- e.g. including land, people, and money. He criticizes "biocentrism" but many of us recognize that human life, for example, is totally dependent on other organisms, E. coli to start. The question is not hierarchy, but interdependence.
Hundreds of pages on what's wrong in my edition, and only two pages that mention possible pathways to the future in the form of the Quincy Library Group and Applegate Partnership.
eye-opening clear analysis that changed my views.......2002-11-28
Until reading "In a Dark Wood" I espoused "politically correct" environmentalist views -- such as "all old growth forests must be saved at any cost from evil logging" -- in a knee-jerk, emotionally charged, self-righteous way, without ever taking the trouble to study or think through what was really at stake, and what premises about reality underlay my views. Alston Chase's thinking on conservation is so clearly presented, so well backed by evidence, so carefully analysed, and so full of good will and integrity, that I find it impossible to read his book without respecting his intentions -- and his conclusions, which challenge everything I had unthinkingly assumed in the past. This is the kind of book that not only addresses concrete problems, such as the political struggle between, say Earth First and Maxxam Corporation, but also inspires the reader to think more deeply, and question his/her assumptions. This is the kind of book I think most self-labeled "environmentalists" -- especially those who come from white, middle class, college-educated backgrounds -- will dismiss prior to investigation, and will never read. If so, it is a sad loss. It's a book that can change your views and help you learn to think better -- and I believe most people would rather not do so, since thinking better might well spoil the dramatic excitement of waging a war of good against evil, nature against humanity. Still, I hope people will read this book. It's one that changed my life.
Book Description
The Farm Bill is perhaps the single most significant land use legislation enacted in the United States, yet many citizens remain unaware of its power and scope. With subsidies ballooning toward $25 billion dollars per year, the Farm Bill largely dictates who grows what crops, on what acreage, and under what conditions--all with major impacts on the country's rural economies, health and nutrition, national security, and biodiversity. As debate and wrangling over the 2007 Farm Bill intensifies, Food Fight offers a highly informative and visually engaging overview of legislation that literally shapes our food system, our bodies, and our future.
Customer Reviews:
Food- a political opportunity.......2007-06-11
No one goes to the grocery store thinking that the government legislates what they buy or eat. But in fact, the government plays an enormously influential role on what products and foods are grown and produced, as well as distributed in your local grocery. The legislation known as the Farm Bill (some call it the Food Bill) has greatly altered the way that farms operate, thereby changing the landscape of food choice, nutrition, biodiversity in our country as well as other poorer countries, quality of life for farmers and eaters, as well as a multitude of other issues. Interestingly, this is legislation that not many citizens know about or realize has such far-reaching implications. This book is simple to read but clearly lays out many of the prominent issues that the Bill deals with and why the allocation of money and priorities in the Bill are so important for us to confront and influence, as eaters and as citizens.
Here is an example of an outcome of the Farm Bill's mismanagement and where we are now: (with some knowledge also gleaned from Michael Pollan's excellent book The Omnivore's Dilemma)
You may think that the US grows a lot of corn and that's a good thing- did you know that most of the corn is not edible by humans and b/c of subsidies by the government to grow it big and cheap, most corn actually gets processed into byproducts: animal feed (forcing cows, who are physically designed to eat grass, to eat corn), processed sugars (corn syrup replaced sugar in many foods simply b/c it is cheaper and it's subsidized) or gets dumped onto poorer countries, driving those country's economics beserk b/c of our subsidization policy?
CHeck this book out if only so that you can be better informed about how the government has their hands in your meal. The Bill is up for re-legislation this year in 2007 so we have to get involved fast!
Farm Policy for Dummies (Like Me).......2007-06-07
Word of the day: "cornification." Cornification, in a nutshell, is the takeover of a diverse landscape by one mighty plant: corn. The "Effects of Cornification" graphic on page 17 of Dan Imhoff's new book shows the results: the Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone, factory livestock farms, obesity, immigration problems, food deserts (that's "deserts" not desserts"), the emptying of our rural communities, etc., etc. One look at the "cornification" graphic and a message comes through loud and clear: what the government tells farmers to raise has ramifications far beyond Renville County, Minnesota. Imhoff's book, Food Fight: The Citizen's Guide to a Food and Farm Bill, is full of these kinds of eye-opening, mind-expanding graphics. His message isn't new, but the way he presents it is fresh and important. The phrase "must-read" is much abused (I've thought that ever since someone used "must-read" and the book The Bridges of Madison County in the same sentence). But if you are interested in how U.S. farm policy affects our environment, our communities and what we eat, and you want to do something about reforming the system, then Food Fight, is, yes, a must-read.
Imhoff's book provides a valuable service in a year when a new federal Farm Bill is being written up. It's time to take the development of ag policy out of the hands of large agribusiness and narrowly-focused commodity groups. But creating a Farm Bill that's accountable to society requires an informed public.
That's where Food Fight comes in--it makes a dense topic quite accessible. In a succinct, clear, USA Today-type format, Imhoff's chapters relate information that anyone who reads newspaper investigative pieces or watches PBS regularly probably has an inkling of: federal farm policy in this country is dysfunctional and expensive, as well as harmful to the environment, human health and our communities.
Imhoff, who is the writing/publishing force behind such books as Farming and the Fate of Wild Nature and Farming with the Wild, knows the power of images. He's summarized studies, media reports and sleep-inducing statistics in brief, easy to digest graphics. He's read the think-tank white papers and plowed through the USDA data, so you don't have to. And then he's put it all in context.
Don't let the readability of this book fool you into thinking this is lightweight material; these are some heavy topics Imhoff is addressing: "...nearly 40 million Americans, 12 percent of all households, confront food insecurity, meaning that they often experience hunger or need to skip meals to get by. Many are children," reads one sentence above a heartbreaking photo of a homeless man sleeping on the sidewalk.
This isn't all graphics, charts and photos. Imhoff also uses clearly-written text to explain complicated issues like the history of U.S. farm programs, how New Zealand reformed its system and what can be done here, now, to reform ours. With chapter titles like, "Why the Farm Bill Matters," "What Is The Farm Bill?" and "Where It All Started," this book lives up to its "Citizen's Guide" claim.
Glancing over Food Fight's facts and figures, I was surprised at how many of them I was familiar with. But the sheer weight of their overall impact had not struck me before. Having all of this information put together into one cohesive piece provides a powerful tool for action. As I was reading the book, I was also chagrined at how I've become numbed to the ludicrousness of federal ag policy. Over the years, I've read about the major corporations that receive the lion's share of crop subsidies, but it wasn't until I saw Imhoff's top 20 "Subsidy Recipients" list that the sheer criminality of it struck home.
For example, J.G. Boswell Company received over $17 million in USDA ag subsidies between 1994 and 2004. Boswell grows cotton in the bottom of what was once the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi. Sixty percent of U.S. cotton is dumped on the world market at cut-rate prices, threatening the livelihood of farmers all over the planet. I've met a few of those Third-World farmers and they don't want a handout. All they want is to be able to sell their crop at a fair price. But they can't because our tax money is subsidizing behemoths like Boswell. Free market agriculture? Give me a break. I know a West African farmer (Ear to the Ground No. 20) that could teach us a thing or two about the free market.
Food Fight is a quick read and that's good; the 2007 Farm Bill deliberations are upon us and may be wrapped up as early as this fall. Read this book and call your Senators and Representatives armed with facts, figures...and a lot of righteous citizen anger.
Book Description
When Diane Wilson, fourth-generation shrimp-boat captain and mother of five, learns that she lives in the most polluted county in the United States, she decides to fight back. She launches a campaign against a multibillion-dollar corporation that has been covering up spills, silencing workers, flouting the EPA, and dumping lethal ethylene dichloride and vinyl chloride into the bays along her beloved Texas Gulf Coast. In an epic tale of bravery, Wilson takes her fight to the courts, to the gates of the chemical plant, and to the halls of power in Austin. Along the way she meets with scorn, bribery, character assassination, and death threats. Finally Wilson realizes that she must break the law to win justice: She resorts to nonviolent disobedience, direct action, and hunger strikes. Wilson's vivid South Texas dialogue resides somewhere between Alice Walker and William Faulkner, and her dazzling prose brings to mind the magic realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, replete with dreams and prophecies.
Customer Reviews:
One person shining a light in the darkness makes a difference.......2007-01-29
With the discovery that her "piddlin' little county on the Gulf Coast" led the nation in toxic emissions, Diane Wilson fought friends, family, local politicians, corrupt state regulators, legislators, senators, and the multi-billion dollar company Formosa Plastic. This leader of Taiwan's petrochemical industry had environmental practices so appalling that twenty thousand Taiwanese came out under threat of police violence to protest its proposed new $8 billion dollar complex. That's how Formosa decided to shift its operations to Texas. Texas was willing to give Formosa $200 million in subsides and to look the other way on environmental violations for it's proposed $1.3 billion expansion of its PVC manufacturing facility in Calhoun County, Texas.
Diane wanted to know why in her small community "a man could make the arrest column in the local newspaper any day of the week for running his truck with expired license plates or no insurance, but let a chemical company, half a mile wide and with a thousand unknown chemicals zipping through their pipes, release eighty tons of a baby-aborting chemical into his neighbor's backyard, and it would be lucky if it made a note in a report. The plant manager sounded startled over the phone. "Good God!" he said. "Of course we can't put that type of information in the paper. Do you want old Mister Weaver across the street to have a heart attack?" " (p. 250)
Vinyl chloride monomer is one of the worst cancer-causing chemicals in the world.
"It's so hazardous the government says you're in violation if a single pound is released. But here seventy-four tons of vinyl chloride was released within one mile of an elementary school right across the road from Point Comfort. And if that wasn't enough, Formosa, in the same breath they were polluting with, asked the state to permit a tenth reactor while the ninth was violating production permits. You tell me the state is getting it? You exceed permits and you're rewarded with more?" (p.186)
Maybe all this had something to do with Formosa giving campaign funds to U.S. Senator Gramm, who appointed his former campaign advisor to the head of EPA Region 6, and who was now the final authority on Formosa's penalty and all their permits.
"The commission decided that even though Formosa's fine warranted something in the seven-figure bracket, they would calculate it thirty times lower, and although Formosa continued to violate their wastewater permit on a daily basis into a body of water they had already degraded, the state would allow the waste water permit and violations to continue.
It wasn't the Water Commissions fault, Chairman Bucko said. The blame lay squarely with the federal agencies who prevented the Water Commission from dealing appropriately with the environmental issues at Formosa. Maybe now the agencies would back off their demand for a comprehensive environmental impact statement and let the state regulatory process work." (p. 208)
Pure Dynamite!.......2006-06-22
I found Diane's use of local dialect when "she" is talking, and standard prose elsewhere, a delightful aspect of this book. The local dialect is what one hears in the Texas Coast fishing communities, and it evokes an incredible feeling of time and place. The reader feels the salt spray right along with her.
Outstanding Story Excitingly Written .......2006-02-26
Diane Wilson is not only an unreasonable woman she is an outstanding human being. She is a reluctant hero, the most authentic kind. She eventually stands up for her native waters, mother earth and the very survival of the human race.
Doing something doesn't necessarily mean you can write well about it. In this case, Diane writes in her own authentic and electrifying voice. Her story rings true and reads like the most exciting fiction. I recommend this book to anyone who loves nature, adventure or just plain good reading.
Bravo This Heroine and Great Story Teller.......2005-12-22
What a pleasure to read this story of an amazing and heroic woman, giving it all to take down giants. Ms Wilson's Marquez-like writing style and choice of words leaves me breathless and imagining I'm there with her as her mission lays itself at her feet and she picks it up and takes it on. Bravo! An absolutely wonderful read.
One person CAN make a difference . . . .......2005-12-05
It took me about 2 weeks to read this book. Not because it was that bad . . .but because it was that good.
I wanted to experience every moment as Diane Wilson took on the mighty Formosa plastics giant, fought corruption all the way to Washington, went on hunger strikes, traveled 1/2 way around the world and finally made a significant dent in the pollution that was killing her beloved shrimping waters along the Texas Gulf Coast.
Diane Wilson made a difference. With this book, the world can now read about it . . . from her own pen, not ghost written and packaged for a "target market." Her voice is fresh, raw almost and it grabbed me from page 1 until the epilogue.
Kudos to Wilson. Wish there were more like her.
Enjoy!
Book Description
Since the early 1940s, the remains of Valley Forge, Connecticut have lain one hundred feet beneath the waters of the Saugatuck Reservoir. The town, once a thriving nineteenth-century iron and steel manufacturing town, was rendered an unwilling victim to the Bridgeport Hydraulic Company's post-World War I plans for the scenic valley. Historic glass plate negatives depicting the lost town in its heyday, documented in the 1860s by Civil War photographer Charles H.D. Adelbert Whitlock and others, lay unnoticed in an abandoned garage until their chance discovery in 1969. In Village of the Dammed, James Lomuscio has reconstructed from these images and other remarkable primary sources the story of the rise and fall of Valley Forge. He shares with the reader extraordinary reproductions of the historical photographs and reminiscences of the futile battle to save the town. Village of the Dammed is the stirring story of the proud Yankee residents' resistance in the late 1930s to the proposed flooding and its life-altering repercussions.
Though unsuccessful in Valley Forge, in the 1990s a second group of dedicated grassroots Connecticut citizens opposed the development of nearby Trout Brook Valley through a land sell-off by Aquarion (now the owner of the Bridgeport Hydraulic Company). With the moral and financial support of popular actor and local resident Paul Newman, Trout Brook Valley was saved after a heated battle.
Flooding natural valleys for commercial gain has been a volatile issue for almost a century. As the population of the American northeast continues to grow and spread, placing new demands on established resources, communities are frequently confronted with forces and choices not unlike those faced by Valley Forge and Trout Brook Valley. Village of the Dammed reminds us to be ever vigilant in the protection of our irreplaceable environmental heritage.
Customer Reviews:
Great Read on Local Interests.......2006-03-27
James Lomuscio has written a thorough and interesting history of one of the most beautiful areas in the country. As a resident of CT whose daily commute covers the area that he discusses in his book, there were several "WOW" moments in the book where content really hit home. A must read for everyone in Fairfield County, CT (and everywhere else) who cares about open space.
The book would have been greatly enhanced by having a decent map in it. I read it while I was on vacation and was wishing I had my Hagstroms map with me, the map he included was so small I had to use a magnifying glass!
Excellent Book, full of history of an area I've lived in for years and didn't know.......2005-08-17
I recently bought a house moved from the Village of the Dammed some sixty years ago, and bought this book to get a bit of background on the project. Mr Lomuscio went way beyond my expectations, to the point where I felt like I was actually in the meetings, planning sessions, and everything else in the book. The history of what one of the most expensive housing markets in the country was some 200 years ago makes this more then worth reading if you have any interest at all in this area. If you live in this area, or have any interest at all in how a big utility can make an entire town disappear (exactly what is happening in China right now, only over there it's on a much larger scale), then you will probably enjoy reading this book. It's a very specific subject matter, with a very specific audience, but well worth reading. I loved it, and as soon as time permits will visit the historical societies to get more information about things I never would have known if not for Village of the Dammed.
Amazon.com
In the 1960s the Hudson River, under threat from polluters and energy concerns but beloved by its shoreline residents and local fishermen, became one of the United States' first major environmental battlegrounds. Out of those early legal wrangles emerged some important environmental legislation, and also the Soundkeeper organization, with a mandate to fight for the health of this historic New York river.
This book reveals something about the organization, and even more about the history of the Hudson and environmentalism in America, from John Winthrop to Newt Gingrich, and quite a bit, too, about the upbringings--glamorous (who'd have thought keeping a pet seal in your swimming pool would lead to activism?) and not-so-unusual--of its authors. Promising early chapters sketch out the exploitation of the river by industry and describe some of its colorful champions. (One of the most interesting here is Robert H. Boyle, the writer of a seminal account of the Hudson, The Hudson River: A Natural and Unnatural History, who comes off as a hero.) A terrific final section explains in accessible terms the basis for environmental law in the founding of our country. In between, this book sometimes falters under the weight of too much information. You can't fault these writers for the work they've done, or for the scattered gems of thoughtful information on the modern environmental movement, which make this book worth reading. Just be prepared to pick through some irrelevancies (did Bobby Shriver really bring a leopard tortoise home for Robert Kennedy Jr. from Kenya in a suitcase?) to get to the heart of this unusual book. --Maria Dolan
Book Description
A modern-day David and Goliath tale, The Riverkeepers is an impassioned firsthand account by two advocates who have taken on powerful corporate and government polluters to win back the Hudson River. John Cronin and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., tell us how we too can fight for our fundamental right to enjoy our invaluable natural resources.
Revealing shocking stories of commonplace environmental crime -- from drinking water tainted with hospital waste to fish populations contaminated by freely dumped PCBs -- Cronin and Kennedy describe their dramatic confrontations with more than ninety environmental lawbreakers. The Riverkeepers is a timely call to action that will resonate across America as the backlash spearheaded by congressional leaders and their major corporate allies threatens to reverse the hard-won victories in environmental law and policy.
Customer Reviews:
A Monument to Environmental Activism, Struggles and Successes.......2006-06-17
"The Riverkeepers" is one of the most potent calls for environmental awareness and action I have ever read. It is an inspiration for all those interested in becoming serious advocates of a clean world. It stands right along side Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" with it's eye-opening accounts environmental havoc created by thoughtless, greedy, untreated sewage spewing municipalities, chemical companies, power generating plants and manufacturing facilities.
It is the story of how the Hudson River "Riverkeepers" came to be- spawned from a small group of sport and commercial fishermen, the Hudson River Fishermen's Association with their ardent yet eloquent spokesman, Robert H. Boyle, author of "The Hudson River: A natural and unnatural history" and a contributing writer to "Sports Illustrated", all of whom were fed-up with the river being used as toxic waste dump, poisoning the fish, fouling the drinking water and seriously endangering the health and lives of literally millions of people who live both in the Hudson Valley where the headwaters begin at Lake Tear in the Adirondack Mountains and runs South 315 miles down to New York City Harbor where the river meets the Atlantic Ocean and where most of the pollution is concentrated. A sad commentary on one of America's most productive bodies of water.
Significantly and appropriately, this is where the birth of America's first well organized environmental legal challenges to the desecration of America's waterways started. It is the personal stories of those who chose to take a stand and fight seemingly undefeatable corporate giants like General Electric, Con Ed, et al. By combining forces, such groups as the NRDC; Pete Seeger's group, Clearwater; Scenic Hudson, et al., have been able to rectify many wrongs to the environment.
The personal stories of author's John Cronin and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. are inspiring and heartwarming- their trials, tribulations and success' in fighting for environmental justice are a profound demonstration of courage and dedication.
The success of Riverkeepers has replicated itself all over America with separate, but associated groups under the umbrella of the National Alliance of River, Sound & Bay Keepers and most every major body of water in America now has a program.
This is a top choice manual for environmental activism. Highly recommended!
The Reasons Behind Environmentalism.......2005-04-19
I spent most of my younger years in the Hudson Valley, and the work of the Riverkeepers has made a profound and positive impact on our local environment. The story of how they have stood up to the corporate and government polluters is outlined here and is inspiring.
The real story of The Riverkeepers is outlining why they do what they do - our right to clean air, water, and an unspoiled environment. These are not priviliges, they are rights.
For years, anti-environmental hacks have been trying to convince us that to be for the environment is to be anti-property rights, anti-growth, and, as Rush Limbaugh calls us, "wackos." The Riverkeepers points out that these people are motivated by at best a misunderstanding of the issues, and at worst motivated by pure profit.
To be an environmentalist, The Riverkeepers points out, is to be for the very essence of American democracy: the rights of the people to stand up and protect our children, property, livelihoods, and future. The Riverkeepers will not only inspire you, it will make you feel at home in your caring for the environment, by showing you your place in the traditions and philosophy behind the environmental movement.
More than I bargained for.......2004-08-05
I bought this book thinking it would offer a profile of environmental activism that could be turned into action by others- I wanted to see how they did what they did. This I got, but also much more. This a most enlightening book, superbly written, difficult to put down. You get not only a history of environmental activism on the Hudson River, but a brief history of same in the U.S., complete with philosophical underpinnings. If you don't know how corporations act in the U.S., or how government complicity coddles them, read this book. If you THINK you know, read this book. If you are at all concerned about your rights as a citizen, and how they relate to the environment, read this book! An important, gripping work, at once hopeful and dismaying- and certainly inspiring.
American Environmentalism.......2004-04-03
Cronin and Kennedy offer a hopeful and reasonable approach to environmentalism by documenting the great strides that citizens have made along the Hudson River. One of the most common critisims of environmentalism is that it fails to take the livelihood of workers into account. The authors show that this doesn't have to be the case and that protecting our environment can actually ensure better job security.
Along with the specific example of the Hudson River, the authors go through the variety of federal laws that have been put in place to protect communities and show how they were able to use those laws to go up against some of the most powerful industries in the country.
Anyone doubtful of the power of regular citizens in this country would find "The Riverkeepers" a refreshing read.
Great service, best yet.......2004-01-16
I'd order all my books from them if i could, plus it supports a charity. It got here quickly and in good condition. Completely satisfied
Book Description
Nick Nichols pulls no punches in this rousing defense of the free enterprise system. He's fed up with the corporate cowardice so prevalent among today's executives who cave in to just about every leftist cause that comes along - and he says so! His advise? Fight back! Nick Nichols says, "I wrote this book in the firm belief that something can be done. We do not need to stand by while radical activists cripple the economic heart of our society." Rules for Corporate Warriors is chock full of courageous stands, savvy strategies, and in-your-face zingers - all backed up by years of in-the-trenches experience as a crisis manager for major corporations.
We should proudly defend corporate America, says Nick Nichols, not meekly raise the white flag when its radical opponents make their demands. Who are tomorrow's corporate warriors? Nick says, "If you own a business, own stock in a business or work in a business, I wrote this book for you!"
Customer Reviews:
Poorly written and badly bound.......2006-02-12
The "useable" content of this book could easily be distilled down to 12-15 pages. Nichols uses the book as an opportunity to strike out against those that he feels have personally wronged him. The "evidence" that he draws on is heavily biased. His stated strategies are often contradictory and to top it all off the book literally fell apart...the binding is cheap. Don't waste your money.
Rules for Corporate Warriors Rules!.......2002-04-05
Rules for Corporate Warriors: How to fight and Survive Attack Shakedowns by Nick Nichols
Everyone should read Rules for Corporate Warriors! In it, PR crisis management guru Nick Nichols takes the reader on a guided tour of the billion-dollar world of unregulated NGO's, showing us the underbelly of multi-national organizations that make their money by attacking and shaking down corporations with deep pockets. Nichols not only gives the reader a ringside seat to the carnage, he also offers strategic advice about how to effectively counter and overcome these shakedown groups. Whether corporate executive, concerned citizen or activist, if you've ever been angered about the extent of corruption in even one social movement, you will recognize in Nichols' work a template for all the movements and causes that have been hijacked and corrupted over the last 30 years - from animal rights and radical environmentalism to consumer and civil rights. Rules for Corporate Warriors is well researched, practical in its approach and yet thoroughly entertaining. I urge everyone who values living in a free and democratic society to buy it and give it their full attention today.
Poorly Written Corporate Diatribe.......2002-02-08
Mr. Nichols no doubt feels upstaged by his more eloquent business partner, Eric Dezenhall, and his writing ability. As he well should. I do battle with some of the same groups he describes in his book and though some of his tactics may be applicable, his hysterical and poorly thought through style of writing forced me to ignore the better parts of the book and just struggle to get through it. I would not recommend this book to anyone.
The Best Defense..........2002-02-07
Ever wonder why companies do such a rotten job defending themselves against meritless attacks? Nick Nichols tells you why. It's lack of guts and the pernicious belief that allowing your corporation to be smeared is somehow smart PR. This book provides invaluable advice on what to do when you're in the media cross-hairs. I loved the chapter about how media icon Bill Moyers covered the chemical industry with "no questions asked" because both he and PBS believe that one side tells all. A tough, funny and very serious book.
Corporate Fascism.......2002-02-02
Some don't believe that corporatism or corporate fascism is on the rise, I think this book only shows otherwise. Corporations believe that they shouldn't be held accountable for their actions, and regard the general population as unwashed heathens for which they are to exploit... it's the new fascism, american style!
Average customer rating:
- New twist in young adult literature
|
Flight or Fight (Jane Ray's Wildlife Rescue Series)
Diane Haynes
Manufacturer: Walrus Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Fiction
| Birds
| Animals
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Action & Adventure
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Fiction
| Nature
| Science, Nature & How It Works
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Adventure & Thrillers
| Literature & Fiction
| Teens
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Literature & Fiction
| Teens
| Subjects
| Books
Fiction
| Birds
| Animals
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Action & Adventure
| Literature
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
General
| Literature
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Fiction
| Nature
| Science, Nature & How It Works
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Adventure & Thrillers
| Literature & Fiction
| Teens
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
General
| Literature & Fiction
| Teens
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
All 4-for-3 Deals
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Crow Medicine (Jane Ray's Wildlife Rescue Series)
ASIN: 1552856585 |
Book Description
An adventure-packed debut for an exciting new fiction series.
When shy, quiet Jane Ray rescues a drowning seabird from an oil spill in Vancouver's Burrard Inlet, she finds herself face to face with national television cameras -- and head to head with the alleged culprit, SeaKing Shipping Pacific.
In
Flight or Fight, the first book in Whitecap's newest action-packed series, Jane discovers that there comes a time when everyone has to choose between running and taking a stand. Impassioned by the dedication of animal rescue crews working around the clock to save hundreds of oiled birds, Jane volunteers with the Urban Wildlife Rescue Center and begins a campaign urging SeaKing to take responsibility for the spill. Jane grows frustrated by the lack of response, but far from ignoring her, SeaKing executives are growing worried about the vocal young girl.
Will they resort to drastic measures to keep her quiet? Jane is going to need all the help she can get from her two best friends... and a couple of surprising allies as well.
About the
Wildlife Rescue Series:
When you carve a city out of a rainforest, you can be sure the animals are going to need somebody on their side. In Wildlife Rescue, reluctant heroine Jane Ray is that somebody. An exciting new series that explores the challenges and rewards of wildlife rescue and rehabilitation, Wildlife Rescue is packed with fascinating facts and interactive resources including volunteer opportunities and animal rescue how-to's.
Wildlife Rescue is sure to delight animal lovers everywhere.
Customer Reviews:
New twist in young adult literature.......2005-11-24
I really enjoyed Flight or Fight. The main character Jane Ray and her two stalwart pals, Amy and Flory, are a very likeable and charming new literary trio. Their adventures in fighting for the rights of animals and the environment prove that even three young girls can make a difference. Uplifting but not sentimental, Flight or Fight is story which shows that nothing is as straight forward as it seems and that help can come from unexpected sources. Author Diane Haynes has also included some real-life facts on rescuing wildlife which are fascinating as well as practical. A great gift for yourself or the tweens and teens in your life.
Average customer rating:
|
Sixties Sandstorm: The Fight over Establishment of a Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, 1961-1970
Brian C. Kalt
Manufacturer: Michigan State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Natural Resources
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
1960s
| 20th Century
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| State & Local
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Michigan
| State & Local
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Midwest
| State & Local
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Environmental & Natural Resources Law
| Law
| Subjects
| Books
Conservation
| Environment
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Conservation
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Reference
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Environmental & Natural Resources Law
| Law
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Federal Government
| Government
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0870135597 |
Book Description
The 1,600 people who lived in the proposed park area feared not only that the federal government would confiscate their homes, but that a wave of tourists would ensue and destroy their beloved and fragile lands. In response, they organized citizen action groups and fought a nine-year battle against the legislation. Sixties Sandstorm is not a book about dunes as much as it is a book about people and their government. It chronicles the public meetings, bills, protests, and congressional interactions that led to the signing of the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes Act in 1970. The Dunes park fight is a case study of the politics, the legislative process, citizen response to the expanded role of government in the 1960s, and the rise of the environmental movement in America during that decade. Since Hart's legislation was made law, millions of Americans have traveled to the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes National Lakeshore. Few imagine what the area would look like today if not for the efforts of people like Senator Hart. On the other hand, few appreciate the sacrifice of the landowners who-not always willingly-gave up their property in this place where, as one resident put it, "stars are closer to the earth than anywhere else in the world
Book Description
Is there anything you can do when development threatens your local forest, beach, prairie, or wetland? Yes, there is. Across America, citizen activists are fighting and winning battles against unwanted development in their own communities. To help you resist the urban sprawl and absentee landowners that can wreck small towns and cities alike, this book is a practical, hands-on guide for building a grassroots campaign to defeat undesirable development.
Written by a successful activist,
Citizen's Primer for Conservation Activism takes you through all the steps necessary to stop unplanned development in your community:
- Identifying the issues at stake
- Getting involved and developing leadership
- Devising a strategy
- Hiring and working with legal counsel
- Building coalitions and partnerships
- Influencing local government
- Conducting a media campaign
- Raising money
- Countering developer tactics
- Managing the whole process
With the proven strategies in this easy-to-access book, you can quickly gear up to challenge unwanted development and preserve the character of your local community.
Customer Reviews:
Got More Than Expected.......2006-10-03
My small Indiana "hick town" has recently become the target of a proposed Vera Sun ethanol fuel refinery site. Had it not been for Ms. Perlman's book "Citizen's Primer for Conservation Activism: How to Fight Development in Your Community" I would have sat on my hands and been too timid to take on Big Brother. Having read it I am now involved and prepared to at least put up one helluva fight against it. I was attracted to Ms. Perlman's book because of the words "primer" and "community" in the title. I needed something elementary, something easy, to guide me and educate me in the basics of fighting development in my small community. Her book did just that and more. I now have a foundation of knowledge to build on. Did her example fit my situation perfectly? Am I ready to take on every big corporation in a big metropolis? No, but I feel informed enough to know where to start digging for information and places to go for answers if need be. I didn't get the impression that Ms. Perlman's intention was for this to be "THE" book on conservation activism and one should look no further. I may end up with an ethanol plant in my back yard, literally, but I won't hold Ms. Perlman or her book responsible if my community loses the fight. I feel more empowered as a citizen and come away with more determination to exercise my rights and make my vote count in the upcoming election. This book was the perfect "first step" for me and for others whom I have shared with.
Ms. Perlman has taken the "fire in her belly" and produced something of value. I hope she writes even bigger and better "guide books" on conservation activism. I'll be watching for them.
Wasted potential.......2005-09-01
I was excited about using this book in my own non-profit work---until I had a chance to actually read it. It is only applicable to certain types of activists who fight their fights in small and/or rural communities.
I'm happy that Ms. Perlman and her friends were able to stop counterproductive redevelopment in their own community. However, I am also concerned that she generalizes too readily about the immediate applicability of this book to all people's situations.
Like other reviewers have previously noted, she does not recognize that different environments need adjustments in organizing strategies. This is an embarrassing mantra for somebody who positions herself as an author and activist.
One of my long-standing pet peeves is activists who are ultimately in love with the idea of `being progressive' rather than actually following through on it. Because they will not concede the flaws in their own arguments, these people are often more shallow than the society which they seek to change.
Yes, it worked for her, but many of the tactics would be impractical in a metropolis where activists are expected to work through and with boards in order to impact social change. Increasing gentrification of `redeveloping' urban centers means smart development policies can be a hot seller there too---with the right sales pitch.
Her social justice prescriptions aren't going to provide anything to people who cannot use the remedies in their own organizing environments. Unlike John P. Kretzmann and John L. McKnight (authors of `Building communities from the inside out') she generalizes about communities. What was her point of writing a `practice' book if the tenets cannot actually be put into practice?
This book would be better off repackaged as a handbook for rural and small suburban communities. It has no applicability for the realities of organizers in larger communities. Selling it as a general organizing book does a tremendous disservice to the people who are seriously committed to helping all communities organize.
Citizen's Primer for Conservation Activism: How to Fight Dev.......2005-05-16
Pearlman has provided an inspiring and essential guide to preserving valued natural land, especially when under developmental pressure from characteristically greed driven developers who rarely have any vested interest in the post-development future of the land they desicrate.
A must read for caring citizens who will learn thatdevotion and extraordinary teamwork can truly work miracles!
-- JC
Fighting the Good Fight.......2005-05-16
The last two statements in Judith Perlman's book, "CONSERVATION ACTIVISM, - "Keep fighting the good fight. The universe will thank you.", should not be taken lightly. Keep fighting" is the most important as it is the theme throughout her book - never give up! Universe can be brought down to state, county, township, etc. - even your own backyard.
The first statement, on the cover - before the title is: "Citizen Primer for" (CONSERVATION ACTIVISM), also explains it all. This is a guide for the preservation of natural areas. Judith Perlman's book will be used by untold numbers of individuals and groups involved with (or planning to be involved with) small and big skirmishes regarding the preservation of unique areas. The subtitle explains that: "How to fight development in your community."
Whether the "good fight" pertains to small local governments (as her book has) or to large governments, this book is a valuable guide. The entire text from the cover to the closing statements is well organized and written in a manner that citizens can understand and follow.
All too often, we are told that "you can't fight City Hall." This thought is put to rest in Judith Perlman's book.
Bernie Brouchoud, Founder and Executive Director (retired), Woodland Dunes Nature Center, Two Rivers, Wisconsin
A Strong Primer - If You're in a Small Wisconsin Town.......2005-03-30
Judith Perlman has successfully battled development projects, working for the preservation of natural areas and the defeat of sprawling subdivisions. She was involved in three efforts around her small town in Wisconsin, and two were successful while the third was in progress at the time of writing. Perlman's experience makes for a book that can be useful for those who are up against similar battles in their own communities. Some of Perlman's advice is fairly obvious, such as exercising your constitutional rights at public meetings or building coalitions with sympathetic organizations, though Perlman fleshes out these suggestions with strong practical details. Perlman also has some not-so-obvious recommendations as well, such as filming council meetings, or hiring lawyers to simply concoct stalling tactics when a governmental body is trying to rush a vote on a development plan. Such simple tactics can really alter the power balance when local citizens are up against developers and their pocketed local politicians.
However, in the introduction to this book Perlman states that her goal is to extend her personal experiences and successes into general recommendations that can be used in many different types of situations. Unfortunately, this is only true if your battle is in a political environment that is not especially different from that faced by Perlman. Granted, some of her tactics will work anywhere, such as setting up 501(c)(3) tax status or making use of media resources and local experts. But the biggest forms of government ever faced by Perlman and her colleagues were small town planning boards and county commissions. The book offers no practical knowledge on battles that would take place in much different political environments, such as large cities, or public lands in which state or even federal government agencies would be involved. Additionally, the book's expertise is only based on resisting relatively small residential developments, and battles against large-scale commercial or industrial interests would also face much different political realities. So in the end, this book is certainly a practical and detailed primer for the conservation activist, but it is based on limited examples and the details apply mostly to very specific types of local efforts. [~doomsdayer520~]
Book Description
Takes the reader inside the often bizarre world of the Earth First! Movement and the back to nature counterculture of California's North Coast.
Download Description
Kate Coleman traces Judi Bari's rise from college activist to would-be Mother Jones of the Redwoods. Drawing on extensive interviews with Bari's friends and comrades as well as critics, Coleman describes her struggle for selfhood against her husband, against those in her movement who felt that she was not radical enough, and ultimately against the FBI and the State of California. Judi Bari's wars continued until her death from cancer seven years after the explosion that changed her life permanently. THE SECRET WARS OF JUDI BARI takes us inside the often bizarre world of the Earth First! movement and the back-to-nature counterculture of California's North Coast. The result is an irresistible combination of biography and social history.
Customer Reviews:
Half way through but not liking the author.......2007-09-25
While reading this book I find myself thinking that the author really did not seem to like Judi Bari. She was always pointing out Judi's flaws but never anything good that she did. She makes her to be a very unfocused dramatic liar. I don't know much about the woman's story but I really feel bad that the story just doesn't seem fair to her. I will finish it, I love stories about the redwoods, but I think I may look for another book on the subject to try to balance this one out.
Hack Job by Coleman-.......2007-08-29
I purchased this book by mistake, thinking it was a serious biography. IT IS NOT.
I knew Judi during the 1970's postal organizing period of her life. The fact that this book was funded by a known right-wing group (the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation)which has funded other books pretending to be serious biographies of people like Hillary Clinton and Anita Hill while chopping them up with distorted facts and outright lies and well as doing kiss-up bios on right wing heroes like Clarence Thomas.
To prevent this right-wing hit piece from becoming a source book on Judi Bari, her friends, associates and family are compiling a page-by-page list of the errors, lies and omissions in Coleman's text. So far, the list has reached 351 (the ;last time I checked), more than one mistake per page. For a detailed list of the errors and lies in this book check out the Friends of Judi Bari website.
HATCHET JOB- why did kate coleman write a book .......2007-06-14
that implied bari didn't follow through at all during redwood summer and beyond? I just read bari's own words in timber wars, and it is easy to tell she followed through in a huge way- she wrote, spoke, and represented a deep ecology that is to be admired- coleman is a gossip monger on a good day- I recommend this book as campfire fuel-
Good and important book.......2005-10-14
This book read like a detective story and once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down until I'd finished it. It presents a fascinating, well-researched, convincing and even-handed perspective on the complexity of the personality and motives of its subject, Judi Bari, as well as of others connected with the environmental activist movement on the West Coast. Ms. Coleman's writing is a pleasure to read, and her telling of Judi Bari's story contributes to a better understanding of the reasons for her (and her movement's) successes as well as its failures. It's a good antidote to the uncritical adulation often bestowed on people such as Ms. Bari, whose lives are dominated by a unidimensional devotion to a non-mainstream cause (especialy by others who also espouse that cause).
Why did she write this?.......2005-08-20
I was left wondering why Coleman wrote this book. Was it just to let us all know that Judi Bari was a bitchy, braless diva? Was it to suggest that she was bombed by her ex-husband? Coleman's tone was so contemptuous of her subject that she weaked her central argument, which I believe was to create a more complex view than the highly idealized one promulgated by left media. I would have been open to that project. I loved the book Scars of Sweet Paradise, which attempts to create a more realistic vision of Janis Joplin, a super-star who was not always likable, even to herself. But the book on Joplin does a meticulous and sympathetic job of placing Joplin in the context of the San Franscisco psychedelic era--something that, as other reviewers here have noted, Coleman fails to do. This book is ultimately neither good journalism nor good biography. If Coleman has a bone to pick with Bari's legacy, that is fine. But she ought to frame her project as a polemic, not a piece of journalism. Her book raises these questions: do we expect all leaders to be "nice" people, or do we have higher standards for certain leaders, especially women? Does the "dirty laundry" that accompanies all human life detract from the significance of their accomplishments? And can we find ways to have leaders without expecting super-human powers?
Books:
- In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India
- Individual Differences and Development in Organisations (Wiley Handbooks in Work & Organizational Psychology)
- Introduction to the Mathematics of Financial Derivatives
- ISO 14001 Environmental Certification Step by Step: Revised Edition
- It's Easy Being Green: A Handbook for Earth-Friendly Living
- Lean Thinking : Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation, Revised and Updated
- Making Your Move to One of America's Best Small Towns: How to Find a Great Little Place as Your Next Home Base
- Making Your Move to One of America's Best Small Towns: How to Find a Great Little Place as Your Next Home Base
- Managerial Economics & Business Strategy + Data Disk
- Managing European Coasts: Past, Present and Future (Environmental Science and Engineering / Environmental Science)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the Coming of Islam
- The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
- Creeping Bentgrass Management: Summer Stresses, Weeds and Selected Maladies
- Herzog & de Meuron 1992-1996: The Complete Works
- Lichens of North America
- Supply Chain Management and Advanced Planning: Concepts, Models, Software and Case Studies
- Not a Girl Detective : A Cece Caruso Mystery
- Case: Le Corbusier's Venice Hospital and the Mat Building Revival
- Frank Lloyd Wright: The Interactive Portfolio
- Historical Drawings of Native Flowers
Playing God in Yellowstone: The Destruction of America's First National Park
Hard Green: Saving the Environment from the Environmentalists A Conservative Manifesto
The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World
A Poverty of Reason: Sustainable Development and Economic Growth
But Is It True?: A Citizens Guide to Environmental Health and Safety Issues
