Author: Noam Chomsky File Type: pdf Noting that the current period has much in common with the Colombian Age of Imperialism, during which Western Europe conquered most of the world, Chomsky focuses on various historical moments in this march of imperial power, up to and including the current axis where the U.S., Germany, and Japan share world economic control with the U.S. reveling in a monopoly of military might.

Author: Marta Moreno Vega File Type: epub Long cloaked in protective secrecy, demonized by Western society, and distorted by Hollywood, Santeria is at last emerging from the shadows with an estimated 75 million orisha followers worldwide. In The Altar of My Soul, Marta Moreno Vega recounts the compelling true story of her journey from ignorance and skepticism to initiation as a Yoruba priestess in the Santeria religion. This unforgettable spiritual memoir reveals the long-hidden roots and traditions of a centuries-old faith that originated on the shores of West Africa. As an Afro-Puerto Rican child in the New York barrio, Marta paid little heed to the storefront botanicas full of spiritual paraphernalia or to the Catholic saints with foreign names Yemaya, Ellegua, Shango. As an adult, in search of a religion that would reflect her racial and cultural heritage, Marta was led to the Way of the Saints. She came to know Santeria intimately through its prayers and rituals, drumming and dancing, trances and divination that spark sacred healing energy for family, spiritual growth, and service to others. Written by one who is a professor and a santera priestess, The Altar of My Soul lays before us an electrifying and inspiring faithone passed down from generation to generation that vitalizes the sacred energy necessary to build a family, a community, and a strong, loving society.**

Author: Čarna Brković File Type: pdf Why do people turn to personal connections to get things done? Exploring the role of favors in social welfare systems in postwar, postsocialist Bosnia and Herzegovina, this volume provides a new theoretical angle on links between ambiguity and power. It demonstrates that favors were not an instrumental tactic of survival, nor a way to reproduce oneself as a moral person. Instead, favors enabled the insertion of personal compassion into the heart of the organization of welfare. Managing Ambiguity follows how neoliberal insistence on local community, flexibility, and self-responsibility was translated into clientelist modes of relating and back, and how this fostered a specific mode of power.

Author: Don D'Ammassa File Type: pdf From BooklistThe book is part of Facts On Files Literary Movements series, and it has its uses. It also has flaws that make it less useful than it might be. It is the work of one writer, who is described in promotional material as one of the worlds leading experts on contemporary science fiction and a writer of fiction and criticism. The prose is full of errors like muddling prophesy and prophecy.The work is alphabetical and combines articles on authors, novels, novellas, short stories, and series. A term in capitals in one article sends the reader to another. Articles range from a few paragraphs to a page or two. A glossary, a list of Hugo and Nebula Award winners, bibliographies of science fiction works and secondary sources, and an index complete the volume. Although the emphasis seems to be on British and American authors, there are entries for a few writers outside the English-speaking world. Coverage extends from Mary Shelleys Frankenstein to the present. Since the emphasis is on science fiction as literature, this volume does not have the broad coverage of the field found in John Clute and Peter Nicholls Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (St. Martins, 1993). Terms related to themes and to subgenres, such as cyber punk, hard science fiction, and military science fiction, are defined in the glossary instead of being treated as main entries. The author includes some writers not generally associated with science fiction but has some curious omissions, including Karel Capeks R.U.R., which gave us the term robot, and Mary Doria Russells The Sparrow and Children of God. Information about authors lives is cursory at best someone looking for biographical information would do better with resources such as Gales Contemporary Authors or Dictionary of Literary Biography series. Librarians will want to keep in mind this volumes narrow focus when considering purchase. Libraries with extensive science fiction criticism sections may find it useful. Kathleen Stipek American Library Association. lt