Author: Viktor Shklovsky File Type: pdf

Author: Arianna Huffington File Type: mobi Its not an exaggeration to say that middle-class Americans are an endangered species and that the American Dream of a secure, comfortable standard of living has become as outdated as an Edsel with an eight-track player. That the United States of America is in danger of becoming a third world nation. The evidence is all around us Our industrial base is vanishing, taking with it the kind of jobs that have formed the backbone of our economy for more than a century our education system is in shambles, making it harder for tomorrows workforce to acquire the information and training it needs to land good twenty-first century jobs our infrastructureour roads, our bridges, our sewage and water, our transportation and electrical systemsis crumbling our economic system has been reduced to recurring episodes of Corporations Gone Wild our political system is broken, in thrall to a small financial elite using the power of the checkbook to control both parties. And Americas middle class, the driver of so much of our economic success and political stability, is rapidly disappearing, forcing us to confront the fear that we are slipping as a nation that our children and grandchildren will enjoy fewer opportunities and face a lower standard of living than we did. Its the dark flipside of the American Dream an American Nightmare of our own making. Arianna Huffington, who, with the must-read Huffington Post, has her finger on the pulse of America, unflinchingly tracks the gradual demise of America as an industrial, political, and economic leader. In the vein of her fiery bestseller Pigs at the Trough, Third World America points fingers, names names, and details whos killing the American Dream. Finally, calling on the can-do attitude that is part of Americas DNA, Huffington shows precisely what we need to do to stop our freefall and keep America from turning into a third world nation. Third World America is a must-read for anyone disturbed by our countrys steady descent from 20th century superpower to backwater banana republic. Its not an exaggeration to say that middle-class Americans are an endangered species and that the American Dream of a secure, comfortable standard of living has become as outdated as an Edsel with an eight-track player. That the United States of America is in danger of becoming a third world nation.The evidence is all around usOur industrial base is vanishing, taking with it the kind of jobs that have formed the backbone of our economy for more than a century our education system is in shambles, making it harder for tomorrows workforce to acquire the information and training it needs to land good twenty-first century jobs our infrastructureour roads, our bridges, our sewage and water, our transportation and electrical systemsis crumbling our economic system has been reduced to recurring episodes of Corporations Gone Wild our political system is broken, in thrall to a small financial elite using the power of the checkbook to control both parties.And Americas middle class, the driver of so much of our economic success and political stability, is rapidly disappearing, forcing us to confront the fear that we are slipping as a nation that our children and grandchildren will enjoy fewer opportunities and face a lower standard of living than we did.Its the dark flipside of the American Dream an American Nightmare of our own making. Arianna Huffington, who, with the must-read Huffington Post, has her finger on the pulse of America, unflinchingly tracks the gradual demise of America as an industrial, political, and economic leader. In the vein of her fiery bestseller Pigs at the Trough, Third World America points fingers, names names, and details whos killing the American Dream. Finally, calling on the can-do attitude that is part of Americas DNA, Huffington shows precisely what we need to do to stop our freefall and keep America from turning into a third world nation. Third World America is a must-read for anyone disturbed by our countrys steady descent from 20th century superpower to backwater banana republic.From the Hardcover edition.

Author: Alexia Petsalis-Diomidis File Type: pdf In Truly Beyond Wonders Alexia Petsalis-Diomidis investigates texts and material evidence associated with healing pilgrimage in the Roman empire during the second century AD. Her focus is upon one particular pilgrim, the famous orator Aelius Aristides, whose Sacred Tales, his fascinating account of dream visions, gruelling physical treatments, and sacred journeys, has been largely misunderstood and marginalized. Petsalis-Diomidis rehabilitates this text by placing it within the material context of the sanctuary of Asklepios at Pergamon, where the author spent two years in search of healing. The architecture, votive offerings, and ritual rules which governed the behaviour of pilgrims are used to build a picture of the experience of pilgrimage to this sanctuary. Truly Beyond Wonders ranges broadly over discourses of the body and travel and in so doing explores the place of healing pilgrimage and religion in Graeco-Roman society and culture. It is generously illustrated with more than 80 drawings and photographs, and four colour plates. **

Author: Richard Bonin File Type: epub In 1958, Ahmad Chalabis wealthy Shiite family was exiled from Iraq after a revolution that ultimately put Saddam Hussein in power. The young Chalabi devoted his life to restoring his family to prominence. His first coup attempt was in 1963 at age nineteen, while on a school break from MIT. His next was aided by Iranian intelligence. But as the years passed and Saddam stayed in power, Chalabi made an audacious decision he needed the support of both Iran and its powerful archenemy, the United States. Drawing on unparalleled access to Chalabi, Bonin traces the exiles ingenious efforts to stoke a desire for Iraqi regime change in the U.S. He narrates Chalabis ill-fated engage­ment with the CIA and his later focus on neoconservative policy makers who rose to power under George W. Bush. As a result, from day two of the Bush presidency, the push for a new Iraq was on, with the intent to install Ahmad Chalabi as overseer of U.S. interests in the Middle East. The...