Guardians or Oppressors

Guardians or Oppressors
Author: Gülçin Balamir Coşkun
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Total Pages: 165
Release: 2015-05-13
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1443877719

This book investigates an important phenomenon in the Middle East and the Mediterranean region, namely the role that the military plays in the governments of several states of the region. Can military forces be defined as guardians of a regime in a democratic state? How is it possible to limit the power of armies to solely military prerogatives and competences? How can the intervention of military forces in the political arena in democratising countries be prevented? It is easy to ask these questions, but finding answers is more difficult. Using historical events and theories as examples to follow is an even more complicated task. What happened after the Arab Spring has demonstrated again how civil-military relations constitute an important pillar of the democratisation process. The contributors to this book develop and analyse the reasons why militaries in the Middle East and the Mediterranean wished to obtain a guardianship role and the methods they used to achieve and maintain it. The book also investigates how these militaries reacted to democratisation in their respective countries, and begins with a conceptual framework followed by examples from Spain, Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon and Iran. This work provides a multi-faceted understanding of the historical, political, social and economic layers of complicated civil-military relations in one of the world’s most unstable regions.

No Friend but the Mountains

No Friend but the Mountains
Author: Behrouz Boochani
Publisher: House of Anansi
Total Pages: 426
Release: 2019-02-11
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1487006845

Winner of Australia’s richest literary award, No Friend but the Mountains is Kurdish-Iranian journalist and refugee Behrouz Boochani’s account of his detainment on Australia’s notorious Manus Island prison. Composed entirely by text message, this work represents the harrowing experience of stateless and imprisoned refugees and migrants around the world. In 2013, Kurdish-Iranian journalist Behrouz Boochani was illegally detained on Manus Island, a refugee detention centre off the coast of Australia. He has been there ever since. This book is the result. Laboriously tapped out on a mobile phone and translated from the Farsi. It is a voice of witness, an act of survival. A lyric first-hand account. A cry of resistance. A vivid portrait of five years of incarceration and exile. Winner of the Victorian Prize for Literature, No Friend but the Mountains is an extraordinary account — one that is disturbingly representative of the experience of the many stateless and imprisoned refugees and migrants around the world. “Our government jailed his body, but his soul remained that of a free man.” — From the Foreword by Man Booker Prize–winning author Richard Flanagan

The Madness of Crowds

The Madness of Crowds
Author: Douglas Murray
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2019-09-17
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1635579996

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER Updated with a new afterword "An excellent take on the lunacy affecting much of the world today. Douglas is one of the bright lights that could lead us out of the darkness." – Joe Rogan "Douglas Murray fights the good fight for freedom of speech ... A truthful look at today's most divisive issues" – Jordan B. Peterson Are we living through the great derangement of our times? In The Madness of Crowds Douglas Murray investigates the dangers of 'woke' culture and the rise of identity politics. In lively, razor-sharp prose he examines the most controversial issues of our moment: sexuality, gender, technology and race, with interludes on the Marxist foundations of 'wokeness', the impact of tech and how, in an increasingly online culture, we must relearn the ability to forgive. One of the few writers who dares to counter the prevailing view and question the dramatic changes in our society – from gender reassignment for children to the impact of transgender rights on women – Murray's penetrating book, now published with a new afterword taking account of the book's reception and responding to the worldwide Black Lives Matter protests, clears a path of sanity through the fog of our modern predicament.

My Song (Enhanced Edition)

My Song (Enhanced Edition)
Author: Harry Belafonte
Publisher: Knopf
Total Pages: 514
Release: 2011-10-11
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0307959287

This deluxe eBook edition of Harry Belafonte's remarkable memoir includes nearly eighteen minutes of original video—Mr. Belafonte talking about his first meeting with Martin Luther King, Jr. . . . his friendship with Sidney Poitier . . . the making of “We Are the World” . . . and much more—the bonus song “Jump in the Line” from the companion album Harry Belafonte—Sing Your Song: The Music; and the book's photographs compiled as a slide show. Harry Belafonte is not just one of the greatest entertainers of our time; he has led one of the great American lives of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Now, at last, this extraordinary icon tells us about it all—his poverty-ridden childhood in Harlem and Jamaica; his meteoric rise to become one of the world’s most popular singers, breaking down racial barriers that no one had broken before, achieving equal popularity with white and black audiences; his lifelong, passionate involvement at the heart of the civil rights movement and countless other political and social causes. Along the way he’s befriended many beloved and important figures in both entertainment and politics—Paul Robeson; Eleanor Roosevelt; Sidney Poitier; John F. Kennedy; Marlon Brando; Martin Luther King, Jr.; Robert Kennedy; Nelson Mandela; Fidel Castro—and writes about them with the same exceptional candor and insight with which he reveals himself on every page. As both an artist and an activist, Belafonte has touched the lives of countless men and women. With My Song, he has found yet another way to entertain and inspire us. It is an electrifying memoir from a remarkable man.

The Guardians

The Guardians
Author: Geoffrey Kabaservice
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
Total Pages: 832
Release: 2014-09-02
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1466880058

How liberalism and one of the most dramatic eras in American history were shaped by an influential university president and his powerful circle of friends Yale's Kingman Brewster was the first and only university president to appear on the covers of Time and Newsweek, and the last of the great campus leaders to become an esteemed national figure. He was also the center of the liberal establishment—a circle of influential men who fought to keep the United States true to ideals and extend the full range of American opportunities to all citizens of every class and color. Using Brewster as his focal point, Geoffrey Kabaservice shows how he and his lifelong friends—Kennedy adviser McGeorge Bundy, Attorney General and statesman Elliot Richardson, New York mayor John Lindsay, Bishop Paul Moore, and Cyrus Vance, pillar of Washington and Wall Street—helped usher this country through the turbulence of the 1960s, creating a legacy that still survives. In a narrative that is as engaging and lively as it is meticulously researched, The Guardians judiciously and convincingly reclaims the importance of Brewster and his generation, illuminating their vital place in American history as the bridge between the old establishment and modern liberalism.

Over the Wall of Oppression

Over the Wall of Oppression
Author: John Ardent
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Total Pages: 573
Release: 2016-09-23
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1524640379

Did you ever pray the Lords Prayer, where you prayed for the coming of the kingdom of God on earth, Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven? This is the only prayer that Jesus gave us. Did you ever wonder what it actually means? This kingdom of God on earth is a real kingdom with a king. This king is a hereditary position that fulfills Gods promise that he gave to King David that his lineage and throne shall endure forever. God has already sent the return of Christ, and he is a male descendant of the Davidic kings. He did not come according to the imagination of man. Rather, he came fulfilling prophecy. He brought a new revelation through which the kingdom of God on earth that Jesus taught us to pray for will be firmly established throughout the entire world. His revelation is the culmination of all the previous revelations given by God through his messengers. As what happened with all previous revelations, man has taken what was originally intended and changed it according to his own limited capacity and selfish desires. In so doing, mankind has been deprived of the truth of Gods will and purpose and his glorious covenant for a new age. This new revelation was given by the glory of the Father through the words of Jesus the Christ and written down by Mark in chapter 8, verse 38: For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his father. As Jesus foretold, the name of the return of Christ is Bahaullah. He came well over 150 years ago. Placed in chains, beaten, and put in prison, Bahaullah spent forty years proclaiming Gods new covenant to the people, writing to the kings and rulers of the earth, imploring them to turn to God. Bahaullahs message has gone unheeded. As in ages past, those who did hear and embrace his message later turned their hearts away from God, choosing instead to seek earthly power and riches. Those who were to protect and serve the covenant of Bahaullah as well as his chosen ones after him created an oppression so great that the people of the world have been denied this glorious message. Dr. Leland Jensen, mentioned here in Over the Wall of Oppression, was a third-generation Bahai. He began teaching this new faith at the age of seventeen, and since that time, he devoted his entire life to teaching this wonderful message of the kingdom. He was well acquainted with biblical scripture and the Bahai teachings, being very successful in bringing new believers into the faith. He was present when the faith was hijacked by a group of people whose sole purpose was to protect and serve the covenant, and thus he had considerable knowledge of events that transpired at that time. The facts presented within these pages are written in very clear and understandable language so all may know of the deeds done. This text provides a great opportunity for those who do not have the understanding of those events or the meaning of the covenant to come out from under this great oppression and embrace the glorious truth. We have been blessed with having known him for nearly two decades and with hearing this message directly from him. We not only learned of the Bahai faith but also the real meaning of our existence and purpose in life. His love for Bahaullah and for God showed in everything that he did. We would stay up for hours, listening to his words, thirsty for more. Over the Wall of Oppression isnt only for the Bahais but also for the Christians. The explanations and commentaries on various Christian subjects and prophecy will truly open ones eyes to the truth of such subjects as the meaning of the word Christ, the history of the trinity, the meaning of the Resurrection, the beast, and more. Part 2 consists of the explanations and commentaries on the book of Revelation, which is a message of the kingdom and the catastrophe.

The Obelisk Gate

The Obelisk Gate
Author: N. K. Jemisin
Publisher: Orbit
Total Pages: 346
Release: 2016-08-16
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0316229288

Essun's missing daughter grows more powerful every day, and her choices may destroy the world in this "magnificent" Hugo Award winner and NYT Notable Book. (NPR) The season of endings grows darker, as civilization fades into the long cold night. Essun -- once Damaya, once Syenite, now avenger -- has found shelter, but not her daughter. Instead there is Alabaster Tenring, destroyer of the world, with a request. But if Essun does what he asks, it would seal the fate of the Stillness forever. Far away, her daughter Nassun is growing in power -- and her choices will break the world. N. K. Jemisin's award winning trilogy continues in the sequel to The Fifth Season.

Dream Hoarders

Dream Hoarders
Author: Richard V. Reeves
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
Total Pages: 206
Release: 2018-05-08
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0815735499

Dream Hoarders sparked a national conversation on the dangerous separation between the upper middle class and everyone else. Now in paperback and newly updated for the age of Trump, Brookings Institution senior fellow Richard Reeves is continuing to challenge the class system in America. In America, everyone knows that the top 1 percent are the villains. The rest of us, the 99 percent—we are the good guys. Not so, argues Reeves. The real class divide is not between the upper class and the upper middle class: it is between the upper middle class and everyone else. The separation of the upper middle class from everyone else is both economic and social, and the practice of “opportunity hoarding”—gaining exclusive access to scarce resources—is especially prevalent among parents who want to perpetuate privilege to the benefit of their children. While many families believe this is just good parenting, it is actually hurting others by reducing their chances of securing these opportunities. There is a glass floor created for each affluent child helped by his or her wealthy, stable family. That glass floor is a glass ceiling for another child. Throughout Dream Hoarders, Reeves explores the creation and perpetuation of opportunity hoarding, and what should be done to stop it, including controversial solutions such as ending legacy admissions to school. He offers specific steps toward reducing inequality and asks the upper middle class to pay for it. Convinced of their merit, members of the upper middle class believes they are entitled to those tax breaks and hoarded opportunities. After all, they aren't the 1 percent. The national obsession with the super rich allows the upper middle class to convince themselves that they are just like the rest of America. In Dream Hoarders, Reeves argues that in many ways, they are worse, and that changes in policy and social conscience are the only way to fix the broken system.