Book picks similar to
The Women of the 116th Congress: Portraits of Power by The New York Times
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Bugf#ck: The Worthless Wit and Wisdom of Harlan Ellison
Harlan Ellison - 2011
History has no record of him. There is a moral in that, somewhere.""The problem with being a pain in the ass is that you never quite know who's trying to get you.""Why do people keep insisting that I join the 21st Century? I *LIVE* in the 21st Century! I just don't want to be bothered by the shitheads on the internet!""I have no mouth. And I must scream.""I think love and sex are separate and only vaguely similar."
No More Nice Girls: Countercultural Essays
Ellen Willis - 1992
With characteristic intelligence, wit, and insight, she confronts the conservative backlash that has slowly eroded the democratic ideals and advances of the '60s, as well as the internal debates that have frequently splintered the left.
This Country
Chris Matthews - 2021
It is a story of risk and adventure, of self-reliance and service, of loyalty and friendship. It is a story driven by an abiding faith in our country.Raised in a large Irish-Catholic family in Philadelphia at a time when kids hid under their desks in atomic war drills, Chris's life etched a pattern: take a leap, live an adventure, then learn what it means. As a young Peace Corps graduate, Chris moved to DC and began knocking on doors on Capitol Hill. With dreams of becoming what Ted Sorensen had been for Jack Kennedy, Chris landed as a staffer to Utah Senator Frank Moss, where his eyes were opened to the game of big-league politics.In the 1970s, Matthews mounted a campaign for Congress as a Democratic maverick running against Philadelphia's old political machine. He didn't win the most votes, but his grit put him on the path to a top job in the White House. As a speechwriter for President Carter, Matthews witnessed the triumphs and tragedies of that administration; from the diplomatic brilliance of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty to the disaster of the Iran hostage crisis. After Carter's defeat, Chris became chief of staff to legendary Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill, a perch that gave him an on-the-job PhD in American politics during the Reagan years.Chris then leapt to the other side of the political matrix as a columnist and reporter. For the San Francisco Examiner, he covered the fall of the Berlin Wall, the first all-races election in South Africa, the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland, and every American presidency from Reagan to George W. Bush. Chris would go on to pioneer cable news with a fast-paced, no-nonsense television program. His show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, would become a political institution for twenty years.As Chris charts his political odyssey, he paints an energetic picture of a nation searching for its soul. He reflects with grace and wisdom, showcasing the grand arc of the American story through one life dedicated to its politics.A sweeping memoir of American politics and history from Chris Matthews, New York Times bestselling author and former host of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews.
Get a Life!
William Shatner - 1999
Through the years, the phrase has spurred laughter, anger, controversy, and far more than its fair share of debate. It's now also given birth to an honest, sentimental, insightful book. Uncomfortable with speaking onstage, William Shatner had spent the better part of the previous quarter century steadfastly avoiding convention appearances. However, to publicize the release of "Star Trek Generations," Shatner agreed to a rare series of speaking engagements at "Star Trek" conventions around the globe. He was jolted by an unavoidable dose of reality.Shatner was met with wild enthusiasm, love, and good humor at convention after convention. Touched and fascinated, he was overwhelmed with the realization that in almost three decades of starship hopping, he'd never really taken the time to enjoy or understand "Star Trek's" fans or their conventions. That's when the light bulb clicked on; that's when "Captain Kirk" dove headfirst into action.For the past several years, William Shatner has been treating each "Star Trek" convention like an enormous research project. Interviewing fans, dealers, fellow castmembers, convention organizers, and promoters -- even going undercover beneath alien makeup -- Shatner's been scouring convention floors. Having grilled trekkers and trekkies in all corners of the planet, Shatner's hadhis eyes opened and his mind boggled. He's amassed a small mountain of research material, and cultivated his findings in "Get A Life!"This is a first-person journey of discovery told with self-deprecating wit, unflagging honesty, and his trademark enthusiasm and humor. "Get a Life!" tells William Shatner's own story of how the actor who played the now deceased starship captain, James T. Kirk, can finally come to grips with his past, his fans, their love, and his own intergalactic legacy.
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero Vol. 1
Larry Hama - 2010
JOE comic is back - and so is Larry Hama! After the Joes were disbanded, COBRA made their move - with no G.I. JOE to stop them! The Reign of COBRA begins! This trade collects #155.5 thru #160.
Faithful Presence: The Promise and the Peril of Faith in the Public Square
Bill Haslam - 2021
And he has consistently been guided by his faith, which influenced his actions on issues ranging from capital punishment to pardons, health care to abortion, welfare to free college tuition. Yet the place of faith in public life has been hotly debated since our nation's founding, and the relationship of church and state remains contentious to this day--and for good reason. Too often, Bill Haslam argues, Christians end up shaping their faith to fit their politics rather than forming their politics to their faith. They seem to forget their calling is to be used by God in service of others rather than to use God to reach their own desires and ends.Faithful Presence calls for a different way. Drawing upon his years of public service, Haslam casts a remarkable vision for the redemptive role of faith in politics while examining some of the most complex issues of our time, including:partisanship in our divided era;the most essential character trait for a public servant;how we cannot escape "legislating morality";the answer to perpetual outrage; andhow to think about the separation of church and state.For Christians ready to be salt and light, as well as for those of a different faith or no faith at all, Faithful Presence argues that faith can be a redemptive, healing presence in the public square--as it must be, if our nation is to flourish.
Essential Thinkers - Socrates
Plato - 2004
But it is clear that Socrates contributed three new ideas to the development of philosophy: that goodness consists not in helping friends and harming enemies, but in not harming anybody at all; that goodness and knowledge are one and the same thing; and that for progress to be made in argument, there must be step-by-step agreement between those arguing.The similarity to Jesus goes further. Socrates too was put to death for defying the conventions of his day; and he too sets us, by the manner of his life and his death, an example which is at the same time an inspiration and an impossible ideal.Socrates was born in Athens in 469bce, and spent much of his life pointing out the absurdities of current beliefs. Though he played no part in political life, he antagonized both the democratic and oligarchic factions in Athens, and in 399bce was put to death on a charge of atheism and corrupting the young. By the manner of his life and death he became the inspiration for the philosopher Plato.
You Can't Spell Truth Without Ruth: An Unauthorized Collection of Witty Wise Quotes from the Queen of Supreme, Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Mary Zaia - 2018
An octogenarian who has proven that disagreeing does not make one disagreeable, Ginsburg is well-known for her pithy observations as well as her strongly argued dissents. Beloved by many - including her ideological opposition, former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who was her dear friend - Ginsburg's wisdom has never been more relevant or more important to American democracy.Sample quotes: "Women belong in all places where decisions are being made...it shouldn't be that women are the exception.""Fight for the things you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.""People ask me sometimes...When will there be enough women on the Court? And I say, 'When there are nine.' People are shocked. But there'd been nine men, and nobody's ever raised a question about that.""My mother told me two things constantly. One was to be a lady and the other was to be independent. For most girls growing up in the '40s, the most important degree was not your B.A. but your M.R.S.""We have the oldest written constitution still in force in the world, and it starts out with three words, 'We, the people.'"
Chronic Condition: Why Canada's Health Care System Needs To Be Dragged Into The 21c
Jeffrey Simpson - 2012
Touch it and you die. Every politician knows this truism, which is why no one wants to debate it. Privately, many of them understand that the health care system, which costs about $200 billion a year in public and private money, cannot continue as it is—increasingly ill-adapted to an aging population with public costs growing faster than government revenues. In Chronic Condition, Jeffrey Simpson meets health care head on and explores the only four options we have to end this growing crisis: cuts in spending, tax increases, privatization, and reaping savings through increased efficiency. He examines the tenets of the Medicare system that Canadians cling to so passionately. Here, he finds that many other countries have more extensive public health systems, and Canadian health care produces only average value for money. In fact, our rigid system for some health care needs and a costly system for other needs—drugs, dentistry, and home care—is really the worst of both worlds. Chronic Condition breaks the silence about the huge changes and real choices that Canadians face.
A Moment on the Lips
Phyllis Bourne - 2006
Wall Street wizard Melody Mason holds the key to both. All she has to do is accept his job offer. Trouble is, she flat out refuses. With his coveted promotion on the line, Grant's game plan is to do whatever it takes to change her mind. Melody has abandoned big business and her old pressure-cooker lifestyle in exchange for the serenity of small town living. There's no way she's accepting Grant's proposal. But their instant attraction and off the charts chemistry can't be denied. And soon Grant's wondering if he is really offering the sexy recluse a job or his heart.
You're Fired: The Perfect Guide to Beating Donald Trump
Paul Begala - 2020
In November, tens of millions of Americans want to yell it right back at him. Yet Trump has seemed to almost defy the laws of political physics. Paul Begala, one of America’s greatest political talents, lays out the strategy that will defeat him and send him and his industrial-strength spray-on tan machine back to Mar-a-Lago.In You’re Fired, Paul Begala tells us how Trump uses division to distract from the actual reality of his record. Distraction, he argues, is Trump’s superpower. And this book is Kryptonite. In it, the man who helped elect Bill Clinton and reelect Barack Obama, details: -The special weapons and tactics needed in the unconventional war against this most unconventional politician -How to drive a wedge—or, rather, a pickup truck—between Trump and many of his supporters, especially blue-collar workers and farmers -Where the votes to defeat Trump will come from, and how the Rising American Electorate can catch Trump flat-footed -How Democrats can run on issues ranging from Coronavirus and healthcare to the economy, as well as climate change and Trump’s long-term plan to dominate the federal judiciary -There is one chapter called simply, “This Chapter Will Beat Trump.” Find out why Begala is so confident and what issue he says will sink the Trumptanic Full of memorable advice and Begala’s trademark wit, You’re Fired focuses on the lessons we can learn from the party’s successes and failures—and the crucial tools Democrats need to beat Trump.
50 Things They Don't Want You to Know
Jerome Hudson - 2019
Many of our most hotly debate topics are shaped by Davos power brokers, woke college professors, TV talking heads, social media activists and feckless Washington swamp monsters who want you to only follow their narrative. Your teachers, your politicians, and your local paper are not likely to ever tell you:
Racial minorities fare far better in the absence of race-based affirmative action policies.
Latinos make up a little more than 50% of the Border Patrol, according to 2016 data.
The U.S. settled more refugees in 2017 than any other nation.
Between 2011 and 2016, the IRS documented 1.3 million identity thefts by Illegal aliens.
Half of federal arrests are immigration-related.
Welfare recipients in 34 states earn more than a person making minimum wage.
Taxpayers doled out $2.6 billion in food stamps to dead people in less than two years.
1,700 private jets flew to Davos to discuss the impact of global warming.
Google could swing an election by secretly adjusting its search algorithm, and we would have no way of knowing.
Once you’re done reading 50 Things They Don’t Want You to Know, you’ll never trust the powers that be to give you the whole truth again.
Better Off Without 'Em: A Northern Manifesto for Southern Secession
Chuck Thompson - 2012
In Better Off Without ’Em, the biggest book of his career, Thompson offers a heavily researched, serious inquiry into national divides that is unabashedly controversial, often uproarious, and always thought-provoking. By crunching numbers, interviewing experts, and traveling the not-so-former Confederacy, Thompson—an openly disgruntled liberal Northwesterner—makes a compelling case for Southern secession. Along the way, he interacts with possum-hunting conservatives, trailer park lifers, prayer warriors, and other regional trendsetters, showing that the South’s perverse church-driven morality, politics, and personality never have and never will define the region as a fully committed part of the United States. Better Off Without ’Em is a deliberately provocative book whose insight, humor, fierce and fearless politics, and sheer nerve will spark a national debate that is perhaps long overdue.
Defending Identity
Natan Sharansky - 2008
Better to have hostile identities framed by democracy than democrats indifferent to identity.In a vigorous, insightful challenge to the left and right alike, Natan Sharansky, as he has proved repeatedly, is at the leading edge of the issues that frame our times.