The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism


Naomi Klein - 2006
    She called it "disaster capitalism." Covering Sri Lanka in the wake of the tsunami, and New Orleans post-Katrina, she witnessed something remarkably similar. People still reeling from catastrophe were being hit again, this time with economic "shock treatment" losing their land and homes to rapid-fire corporate makeovers. The Shock Doctrine retells the story of the most dominant ideology of our time, Milton Friedman's free market economic revolution. In contrast to the popular myth of this movement's peaceful global victory, Klein shows how it has exploited moments of shock and extreme violence in order to implement its economic policies in so many parts of the world from Latin America and Eastern Europe to South Africa, Russia, and Iraq. At the core of disaster capitalism is the use of cataclysmic events to advance radical privatization combined with the privatization of the disaster response itself. By capitalizing on crises, created by nature or war, Klein argues that the disaster capitalism complex now exists as a booming new economy, and is the violent culmination of a radical economic project that has been incubating for fifty years.

The Mental Equivalent


Emmet Fox - 2006
    How do you do it? You build in the mental equivalents by thinking quietly, constantly, and persistently of the kind of thing you want, and by thinking that has two qualities: clearness or definiteness, and interest. If you want to build anything into your life-if you want to bring health, right activity, your true place, inspiration; if you want to bring right companionship, and above all if you want understanding of God-form a mental equivalent of the thing which you want by thinking about it a great deal, by thinking clearly and with interest. Remember clarity and interest; those are the two poles. Wilder Publications is a green publisher. All of our books are printed to order. This reduces waste and helps us keep prices low while greatly reducing our impact on the environment.

David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants


Malcolm Gladwell - 2013
    Now he looks at the complex and surprising ways the weak can defeat the strong, the small can match up against the giant, and how our goals (often culturally determined) can make a huge difference in our ultimate sense of success. Drawing upon examples from the world of business, sports, culture, cutting-edge psychology, and an array of unforgettable characters around the world, David and Goliath is in many ways the most practical and provocative book Malcolm Gladwell has ever written.

Global Warming Skepticism for Busy People


Roy W. Spencer - 2018
    Global warming and associated climate change exists - but the role of humans in that change is entirely debatable. A little-known aspect of modern climate science is that the warming of the global atmosphere-ocean system over the last 100 years, even if entirely human-caused, has progressed at a rate that reduces the threat of future warming by 50% compared to the climate model projections. To the extent warming is partly natural (a possibility even the IPCC acknowledges), the future threat is reduced even further. This, by itself, should be part of the debate over energy policy – but it isn’t. Why? The news media, politicians, bureaucrats, rent-seekers, government funding agencies, and a “scientific-technological elite” (as President Eisenhower called it) have collaborated to spread what amounts to fake climate news. Exaggerated climate claims appear on a daily basis, sucking the air out of more reasoned discussions of the scientific evidence which are too boring for a populace increasingly addicted to climate change porn. Upon close examination it is found that the "97% of climate scientists agree" meme is inaccurate, misleading, and useless for decision-making; human causation of warming is simply assumed by the vast majority of climate researchers. In contrast to what many have been taught, there have been no obvious changes in severe weather, including hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts or floods. Despite an active 2018 wildfire season, there has actually been a long-term decrease in wildfire activity, although that will change if forest management practices are not implemented. Proxy evidence of past temperature and Arctic sea ice changes suggest warming and sea ice decline over the last 50 years or so is not out of the ordinary, and partly or even mostly natural. The Antarctic ice sheet isn't collapsing, but remains stable. The human component of sea level rise is shown to be, at most, only 1 inch per 30 years (25% of the observed rate of rise); and the latest evidence is that more CO2 dissolved in ocean water will be good for marine life, not harmful. Admittedly, continued emissions of CO2 from fossil fuel burning can be expected to cause (and probably has caused) some of our recent warming. But the Paris Agreement, even if extended through the end of the 21st Century, will have no measurable effect on global temperatures because the governments of the world realize humanity will depend upon fossil fuels for decades to come. Despite news reports and politicians' proclamations, international agreements to reduce CO2 emissions are all economic pain for no observable climate gain. What government-mandated reliance on expensive and impractical energy sources will do is increase energy poverty, and poverty kills. This downside to illusory efforts to “Save the Earth” is already being experienced in the UK and elsewhere. If people are genuinely concerned about humanity thriving, they must reject global warming alarmism. In terms of environmental regulation, the end result of the U.S. EPA's Endangerment Finding will be reduced prosperity for all, and climate gain for none. The good news is that there is no global warming crisis, and this book will inform citizens and help guide governments toward decisions which benefit the most people while doing the least harm.

Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals


Saul D. Alinsky - 1969
    Like Thomas Paine before him, Alinsky was able to combine, both in his person and his writing, the intensity of political engagement with an absolute insistence on rational political discourse and adherence to the American democratic tradition.ContentsThe PurposeOf Means and EndsA Word about WordsThe Education of an OrganizerCommunicationIn the BeginningTacticsThe Genesis of Tactic ProxyThe Way Ahead

Text Fails: 101 Epic Text Fails that Temporarily Ruined People's Lives (Autocorrect Fails)


Chris Chappelle - 2015
    Note: These texting fails contain profanity, not for children.When are people going to learn that autocorrect can't be trusted? With FAILS like these, we actually hope that's not for a long time.This book complies 101 of the funniest, most viral and cringeworthy autocorrect screenshots to date.Guaranteed to put you on the floor laughing!

Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World


Steven Johnson - 2016
    . . . Wonderland inspires grins and well-what-d'ya-knows" —The New York Times Book Review From the New York Times-bestselling author of How We Got to Now and Where Good Ideas Come From, a look at the world-changing innovations we made while keeping ourselves entertained. This lushly illustrated history of popular entertainment takes a long-zoom approach, contending that the pursuit of novelty and wonder is a powerful driver of world-shaping technological change. Steven Johnson argues that, throughout history, the cutting edge of innovation lies wherever people are working the hardest to keep themselves and others amused.Johnson's storytelling is just as delightful as the inventions he describes, full of surprising stops along the journey from simple concepts to complex modern systems. He introduces us to the colorful innovators of leisure: the explorers, proprietors, showmen, and artists who changed the trajectory of history with their luxurious wares, exotic meals, taverns, gambling tables, and magic shows.In Wonderland, Johnson compellingly argues that observers of technological and social trends should be looking for clues in novel amusements. You'll find the future wherever people are having the most fun.

I Think You'll Find It's a Bit More Complicated Than That


Ben Goldacre - 2014
    In 'Bad Science', Ben Goldacre hilariously exposed the tricks that quacks and journalists use to distort science. In 'Bad Pharma', he put the $600 billion global pharmaceutical industry under the microscope. Now the pick of the journalism by one of our wittiest, most indignant and most fearless commentators on the worlds of medicine and science is collected in one volume.

Everyone Loves You When You're Dead: Journeys into Fame and Madness


Neil Strauss - 2011
    With his groundbreaking book The Game, Strauss penetrated the secret society of pickup artists; now, in Everyone Loves You When You’re Dead, his candid, surprising, and often hysterical interviews reveal the hidden sides of 120 of the world’s biggest celebrities, from Hugh Heffner to Johnny Cash to Snoop Dogg and beyond.

Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All


Paul A. Offit - 2010
    On one side are parents, bombarded with stories about the dangers of vaccines, now wary of immunizing their sons and daughters. On the other side are doctors, scared to send kids out of their offices vulnerable to illnesses like whooping cough and measles--the diseases of their grandparents.How did anyone come to view vaccines with horror? The answer is rooted in one of the most powerful citizen activist movements in our nation's history. In Deadly Choices, infectious disease expert Paul Offit relates the shocking story of anti-vaccine America--its origins, leaders, influences, and impact. Offering strategies to keep us from returning to an era when children routinely died from infections, Deadly Choices is a vigorous and definitive rebuttal of the powerful anti-vaccine movement.

Advanced Procedure & Axioms


L. Ron Hubbard - 1951
    Ron Hubbard shows you how to move from effect to cause in life. Learn basic discoveries about life, including the incredible Axioms-the 194 codified natural laws that allow you to harness the powerful forces of life rather than be the effect of them.

Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative


Austin Kleon - 2012
    That’s the message from Austin Kleon, a young writer and artist who knows that creativity is everywhere, creativity is for everyone. A manifesto for the digital age, Steal Like an Artist is a guide whose positive message, graphic look and illustrations, exercises, and examples will put readers directly in touch with their artistic side.

A Manual for Creating Atheists


Peter Boghossian - 2013
    Indeed, the faithful often view converting others as an obligation of their faith—and are trained from an early age to spread their unique brand of religion. The result is a world broken in large part by unquestioned faith. As an urgently needed counter to this tried-and-true tradition of religious evangelism, A Manual for Creating Atheists offers the first-ever guide not for talking people into faith—but for talking them out of it. Peter Boghossian draws on the tools he has developed and used for more than twenty years as a philosopher and educator to teach how to engage the faithful in conversations that will help them value reason and rationality, cast doubt on their religious beliefs, mistrust their faith, abandon superstition, and irrationality, and ultimately embrace reason.

Out of the Wreckage: A New Politics in the Age of Crisis


George Monbiot - 2017
    It misrepresents human nature, destroying hope and common purpose. Only a positive vision can replace it, a new story that re-engages people in politics and lights a path to a better world.George Monbiot shows how new findings in psychology, neuroscience and evolutionary biology cast human nature in a radically different light: as the supreme altruists and cooperators. He shows how we can build on these findings to create a new politics: a “politics of belonging.” Both democracy and economic life can be radically reorganized from the bottom up, enabling us to take back control and overthrow the forces that have thwarted our ambitions for a better society.Urgent, and passionate, Out of the Wreckage provides the hope and clarity required to change the world.

Finish Your Dissertation Once and for All!: How to Overcome Psychological Barriers, Get Results, and Move on with Your Life


Alison B. Miller - 2008
    Combining psychological support with a project management approach that breaks tasks into small, manageable chunks, experienced dissertation coach Alison Miller shows you how to overcome negativity and succeed in completing your dissertation beyond your own expectations.