Humanity on a Tightrope

Humanity on a Tightrope
Author: Paul R. Ehrlich
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Total Pages: 194
Release: 2010-12-16
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1442206500

More than ever, the world finds itself faced with common problems that affect most of the planet's population in some way: climate change, poverty, escalating violence, international conflicts, illness. And while an 'us v. them' mentality persists, a growing sense of empathy, of connection, with those in remote parts of the world has caught hold and is spreading. The authors argue that empathy and feelings of kinship with others are necessary to preventing the collapse of civilization. Through a careful examination of how humans must learn to relate to one another to avoid global calamity, they show how empathy can help to create a sustainable society of many billions of individuals.

Tightrope

Tightrope
Author: Nicholas D. Kristof
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2020-01-14
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0525655093

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • With stark poignancy and political dispassion Tightrope addresses the crisis in working-class America while focusing on solutions to mend a half century of governmental failure. This must-read book from the authors of Half the Sky “shows how we can and must do better” (Katie Couric). "A deft and uniquely credible exploration of rural America, and of other left-behind pockets of our country. One of the most important books I've read on the state of our disunion."—Tara Westover, author of Educated Drawing us deep into an “other America,” the authors tell this story, in part, through the lives of some of the people with whom Kristof grew up, in rural Yamhill, Oregon. It’s an area that prospered for much of the twentieth century but has been devastated in the last few decades as blue-collar jobs disappeared. About a quarter of the children on Kristof’s old school bus died in adulthood from drugs, alcohol, suicide, or reckless accidents. While these particular stories unfolded in one corner of the country, they are representative of many places the authors write about, ranging from the Dakotas and Oklahoma to New York and Virginia. With their superb, nuanced reportage, Kristof and WuDunn have given us a book that is both riveting and impossible to ignore.

Making Sense

Making Sense
Author: Sam Harris
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 435
Release: 2020-08-11
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0062857800

A New York Times New and Noteworthy Book From the bestselling author of Waking Up and The End of Faith, an adaptation of his wildly popular, often controversial podcast “Sam Harris is the most intellectually courageous man I know, unafraid to speak truths out in the open where others keep those very same thoughts buried, fearful of the modish thought police. With his literate intelligence and fluency with words, he brings out the best in his guests, including those with whom he disagrees.” -- Richard Dawkins, author of The Selfish Gene “Civilization rests on a series of successful conversations.” —Sam Harris Sam Harris—neuroscientist, philosopher, and bestselling author—has been exploring some of the most important questions about the human mind, society, and current events on his podcast, Making Sense. With over one million downloads per episode, these discussions have clearly hit a nerve, frequently walking a tightrope where either host or guest—and sometimes both—lose their footing, but always in search of a greater understanding of the world in which we live. For Harris, honest conversation, no matter how difficult or controversial, represents the only path to moral and intellectual progress. This book includes a dozen of the best conversations from Making Sense, including talks with Daniel Kahneman, Timothy Snyder, Nick Bostrom, and Glenn Loury, on topics that range from the nature of consciousness and free will, to politics and extremism, to living ethically. Together they shine a light on what it means to “make sense” in the modern world.

Dancing on the Tightrope

Dancing on the Tightrope
Author: Beth Kurland
Publisher: Wellbridge Books
Total Pages: 172
Release: 2018-10-09
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 9781942497431

Life can feel like a challenging tightrope walk. How do we face life's difficulties yet remain resilient and open hearted? Clinical psychologist & award-winning author Beth Kurland reveals 5 common obstacles - habits of the mind that get in the way of living your fullest life and 5 tools of transformation for resilience, peace, and joy.

Half the Sky

Half the Sky
Author: Nicholas D. Kristof
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2010-06-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0307387097

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A passionate call to arms against our era’s most pervasive human rights violation—the oppression of women and girls in the developing world. From the bestselling authors of Tightrope, two of our most fiercely moral voices With Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn as our guides, we undertake an odyssey through Africa and Asia to meet the extraordinary women struggling there, among them a Cambodian teenager sold into sex slavery and an Ethiopian woman who suffered devastating injuries in childbirth. Drawing on the breadth of their combined reporting experience, Kristof and WuDunn depict our world with anger, sadness, clarity, and, ultimately, hope. They show how a little help can transform the lives of women and girls abroad. That Cambodian girl eventually escaped from her brothel and, with assistance from an aid group, built a thriving retail business that supports her family. The Ethiopian woman had her injuries repaired and in time became a surgeon. A Zimbabwean mother of five, counseled to return to school, earned her doctorate and became an expert on AIDS. Through these stories, Kristof and WuDunn help us see that the key to economic progress lies in unleashing women’s potential. They make clear how so many people have helped to do just that, and how we can each do our part. Throughout much of the world, the greatest unexploited economic resource is the female half of the population. Countries such as China have prospered precisely because they emancipated women and brought them into the formal economy. Unleashing that process globally is not only the right thing to do; it’s also the best strategy for fighting poverty. Deeply felt, pragmatic, and inspirational, Half the Sky is essential reading for every global citizen.

Human Purpose and Transhuman Potential

Human Purpose and Transhuman Potential
Author: Ted Chu
Publisher: Red Wheel/Weiser
Total Pages: 422
Release: 2014-03-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1579830234

For millennia, great thinkers have contemplated the meaning and purpose of human existence; but while most assumed that humanity was the end point of creation or the pinnacle of evolution, Ted Chu makes the provocative claim that the human race may in fact be a means rather than an end—that humankind will give rise to evolutionary successors. In this wide-ranging and authoritative work, Chu reexamines the question of human purpose in light of the extraordinary developments of science and technology. Arguing that a deep understanding of our place in the universe is required to navigate the magnitude of the choices that lie ahead, he surveys human wisdom from both East and West, traces the evolutionary trajectory that has led to this point, and explores the potentials emerging on the scientific frontier. The book addresses the legitimate fears and concerns of “playing God” but embraces the possibility of transcending biological forms and becoming or creating entirely new life-forms.

Fairest

Fairest
Author: Meredith Talusan
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2020-05-26
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0525561315

Finalist for the 2021 Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Nonfiction "Talusan sails past the conventions of trans and immigrant memoirs." --The New York Times Book Review "A ball of light hurled into the dark undertow of migration and survival." --Ocean Vuong, author of On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous A singular, beautifully written coming-of-age memoir of a Filipino boy with albinism whose story travels from an immigrant childhood to Harvard to a gender transition and illuminates the illusions of race, disability, and gender Fairest is a memoir about a precocious boy with albinism, a "sun child" from a rural Philippine village, who would grow up to become a woman in America. Coping with the strain of parental neglect and the elusive promise of U.S. citizenship, Talusan found childhood comfort from her devoted grandmother, a grounding force as she was treated by others with special preference or public curiosity. As an immigrant to the United States, Talusan came to be perceived as white. An academic scholarship to Harvard provided access to elite circles of privilege but required Talusan to navigate through the complex spheres of race, class, sexuality, and her place within the gay community. She emerged as an artist and an activist questioning the boundaries of gender. Talusan realized she did not want to be confined to a prescribed role as a man, and transitioned to become a woman, despite the risk of losing a man she deeply loved. Throughout her journey, Talusan shares poignant and powerful episodes of desirability and love that will remind readers of works such as Call Me By Your Name and Giovanni's Room. Her evocative reflections will shift our own perceptions of love, identity, gender, and the fairness of life.

Tightrope

Tightrope
Author: Amanda Quick
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2019-05-07
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0399585370

An unconventional woman and a man shrouded in mystery walk a tightrope of desire as they race against a killer to find a top secret invention in this New York Times bestselling novel from Amanda Quick. Former trapeze artist Amalie Vaughn moved to Burning Cove to reinvent herself, but things are not going well. After spending her entire inheritance on a mansion with the intention of turning it into a bed-and-breakfast, she learns too late that the villa is said to be cursed. When the first guest, Dr. Norman Pickwell, is murdered by his robot invention during a sold-out demonstration, rumors circulate that the curse is real. In the chaotic aftermath of the spectacle, Amalie watches as a stranger from the audience disappears behind the curtain. When Matthias Jones reappears, he is slipping a gun into a concealed holster. It looks like the gossip that is swirling around him is true—Matthias evidently does have connections to the criminal underworld. Matthias is on the trail of a groundbreaking prototype cipher machine. He suspects that Pickwell stole the device and planned to sell it. But now Pickwell is dead and the machine has vanished. When Matthias’s investigation leads him to Amalie’s front door, the attraction between them is intense, but she knows it is also dangerous. Amalie and Matthias must decide if they can trust each other and the passion that binds them, because time is running out.

Leadership in the LAPD

Leadership in the LAPD
Author: Renford Reese
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2005
Genre: Police administration
ISBN: 9781594600203

The most successful public sector leaders today are ones that have the capacity to lead internally and externally. They are able to see and understand the inherent contradictions in their multiple roles. For instance, appeasing the community with a more humanistic approach to policing, while getting tough on crime; giving the community a greater role in police affairs, but maintaining the autonomy to make unilateral decisions; supporting tough actions against bad cops to appease the community while steadfastly defending the rank and file. These are scenarios that are difficult for police chiefs to reconcile. This book examines how chiefs of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) have attempted to reconcile contradictory objectives. It explores the history of leadership in this famed police department, analyzing the leadership styles of its contemporary chiefs. This book explores the leader's capacity to walk the public leadership tightrope. This exercise is the most important task of any public sector leader. As one of the most highly profiled public agencies in the U.S., the LAPD has embraced many contradictions. The department has been a model of professionalism and misconduct. The LAPD has been at the center of many of the nation's most racially explosive experiences: the 1965 Watts riots, the Rodney King beating and subsequent 1992 riots, and the O.J. Simpson case. Additionally, the Rampart Scandal was one of the biggest police corruption scandals in the nation. Because of its proximity to Hollywood, the contradictory culture of the LAPD has been exposed in television and film. Indeed, America has become familiar with the LAPD through its periodic scandals and by its media and popular culture profile. Specifically written for students of criminal justice and public administration, this book examines the ways in which the LAPD's leaders have attempted to navigate crisis after crisis. The author uses interviews with thirty LAPD officers of various rankings and several Los Angeles residents to tell the LAPD story.

What About Me

What About Me
Author: D. John Jackson
Publisher:
Total Pages: 170
Release: 2021-02-08
Genre:
ISBN: 9781544519005

Have you ever felt unseen, unheard, misjudged, or misunderstood? In What About Me: Walking the Tightrope as a Black Man in America, D. John Jackson, a Fortune 50 corporate leader with over thirty years of engineering and business leadership, shares a simple, powerful message: Your life matters. Your dreams matter. And you can achieve them, no matter who you are or where you're starting out. Through the stories and lessons of his own personal journey, Jackson proves time and again that what you say and do can change the trajectory of your life. Written specifically for young Black men and boys in America today, What About Me speaks to, and for, all marginalized or underrepresented voices with a call of courage and perseverance. When young Black men and boys are fully appreciated, when we all come together through stories of success and hope, this country will finally reach its true potential.