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  Few Call It War - Religious...

  Robert Michael Hicks

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  “A highly readable and well-documented account of the use and abuse of religion for violent political ends . . . This is a book well worth reading” (Timothy J. Demy, ThD, PhD, coauthor of In the Name of God).   Most Americans could not fathom how Islamic terrorists could bring down the World Trade Center or an army psychiatrist could turn on his own soldiers, taking their lives in the name of his religion. How could an ex-army veteran blow up a federal building, or a Jewish doctor gun down Muslims at worship? None of these incidents fit our conceptions of the benevolence of religion. More importantly, is there something inherent within religions that justifies the taking of human lives?   In Few Call It War, Dr. Robert Hicks explores these questions and takes the blinders off illuminating the roots of religious violence, what religious terrorists have in common, and how they differ. As Hicks points out, all major religions have used violence and terrorist methodologies at some points in their histories. Few Call It War reveals how the teachings of religious founders and the sacred writings attributed to them provide rich soil from which contemporary religious clerics and ideologues gain converts.   If one is interested in gaining an answer to the question, “Of all the religions in the world, which are most prone to using violence?” Few Call It War provides a well-reasoned answer that is well worth the read.   “A masterpiece in the study of religiously motivated terrorism. He has been fair in his critique of all religions, including movements within Judaism and even Christianity.” —Robert L. Brennemann, PhD, professor, Intercultural Studies, North Central University

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  Two Roads Diverged - A Second...

  Mark Sanford

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  Former Republican governor and congressman Mark Sanford shares his brutally honest and hard-hitting political memoir. Sanford first tells the story of his two very different falls and how the hard lessons he learned from the first led him to inevitably choosing the second by maintaining his integrity and opposing Trump.In Two Roads Diverged Sanford analyzes the immense harm he believes Trump's presidency of lies, cronyism, shady dealings, and bullying caused to our country, and especially to the Republican party. Within four years, the GOP was synonymous with fake news, extreme divisiveness, and brazen lies. Rather than becoming great again, the party had degenerated into a personality cult centered around Donald Trump. But Sanford strongly believes that the Republican party has a choice at its current crossroads. Two Roads Diverged is also a serious examination of what fellow conservatives can do to help calm today's political waters and build a better future for both the party and the country. As he was, the GOP has been given a second chance . . . if those in the party are wise enough to recognize it, and brave enough to take it.

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  Innovative State - How New...

  Aneesh Chopra

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  “As the . . . first Chief Technology Officer, Aneesh Chopra did groundbreaking work to bring our government into the 21st century.” —President Barack Obama   Over the last twenty years, our economy and our society, from how we shop and pay our bills to how we communicate, have been completely revolutionized by technology. As Aneesh Chopra shows in Innovative State, once it became clear how much this would change America, a movement arose around the idea that these same technologies could reshape and improve government. But the idea languished, and while the private sector innovated, our government stalled, trapped in a model designed for the America of the 1930s and 1960s.   The election of Barack Obama offered a new opportunity. In 2009, Aneesh Chopra was named the first Chief Technology Officer of the United States federal government. Previously the Secretary of Technology for Virginia and managing director for a health care think tank, Chopra was tasked with leading the administration’s initiatives for a more open, tech-savvy government.   In Innovative State, Chopra offers an absorbing look at how open government can establish a new paradigm for the Internet era and allow us to tackle our most challenging problems, from economic development to affordable health care.   “With inspiring stories and clear insights, [Chopra] provides a playbook for open innovations that work both in the public and the private sector.” —Walter Isaacson, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Steve Jobs

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  The Uprising of the Pandemials -...

  Federico Domínguez

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  The Pandemials are the young people who will be between the ages of 10 and 26 after the pandemic is over. They will be faced with societies devastated by inequality, the end of meritocracy, loneliness, digital automation, the depletion of natural resources and a myriad of environmental crises that will deeply affect life on our planet.
  In addition to lacking the economic prosperity enjoyed by their parents –which for example granted them access to university educations or to more comfortable lives– this generation will also face fewer job opportunities, discouraging prospects and a growing need to radicalize their complaints.
  Covid-19 has not only aggravated this scenario, which was already a serious challenge even before the Crisis of 2020. The asymmetries exposed by the pandemic accelerated predicted timelines, and cycles such as Inequality, Mother Nature, Technology and the Human Spirit will collapse during the Decade of Turbulence (2020-2030).
  As a result, Pandemials will expect much more from governments, and when their neglect is not addressed, they will rebel. They will go straight after the technocratic elites and the foundations of the capitalist system. The lack of solutions to these problems from liberal governments will push them to rekindle old models and left-wing utopias.
  Liberalism –the ideology of freedom, human dignity, and science, which enabled the greatest reduction in poverty in human history– is now dominated by exclusive, self-serving technocratic elites. The complex system they created can only be enjoyed by a select few, while common citizens become ever more alienated from their governments.
  The end of a society based around the middle class and meritocracy is happening amidst a crisis of human spirit, and worsened by the toxic relationship between technological development and the crumbling of certain social institutions. New rituals and forms of relating to each other have not yet taken their place.
  In his book The Uprising of the Pandemials, financial specialist and economic analyst Federico Dominguez employs his clear prose and clever analysis of the available information to convey the elements needed for understanding this new generation, the challenging decade that lies ahead and the personal, collective, economic and business changes that will be crucial in overcoming the turbulent times on the horizon.

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  Cleaning Up the Mess - After the...

  Ian Kennedy

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  In 2009, news broke that MPs had been claiming taxpayers money to pay for such excesses as a floating duck-house, moat-cleaning services and 550 sacks of manure. The revelations shook Westminster and compromised the voters trust. Urgent action had to be taken.
  Cue the establishment of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), a regulator designed to scrutinise every claim and hold MPs to account. Created from scratch and operating in a world of rattled politicians accustomed to old habits, IPSA came up against a series of obstacles, ranging from MPs who had never used a computer to vicious online abuse. Ian Kennedy was the chairman of IPSA for its first seven years, and was responsible for developing it into an effective and transparent organisation.
  Ten years on, he discusses his struggle to ensure the public s money was put to good use, all the while being hounded by the press for not doing what they wanted, and by MPs themselves for doing what they'd voted for but didn't really intend. Cleaning Up the Mess describes the bullying, bitterness and occasional kindness Kennedy encountered, and how a thick skin and conviction in IPSA's purpose helped to restore trust in politics and politicians.

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  The Bletchley Park Codebreakers

  Michael Smith

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  The British codebreakers at Bletchley Park are now believed to have shortened the duration of the Second World War by up to two years. During the dark days of 1941, as Britain stood almost alone against the the Nazis, this remarkable achievement seemed impossible. This extraordinary book, originally published as Action This Day, includes descriptions by some of Britain s foremost historians of the work of Bletchley Park, from the breaking ofEnigma and other wartime codes to the invention of modern computing, and its influence on Cold War codebreaking. Crucially, it features personal reminiscences and very human stories of wartime codebreaking from former Bletchley Park codebreakers themselves. This edition includes new material from one of those who was there, making The Bletchley Park Codebreakers compulsive reading.

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