CATALOGUES - Politics & Current Affairs

Lively and authoritative, this study of a widely misunderstood subject skillfully navigates the rough waters of anarchistic concepts--from Taoism to Situationism, ranters to punk rockers, individualists to communists, and anarcho-syndicalists to anarcha-feminists. Exploring key anarchist ideas of society and the state, freedom and equality, authority and power, the record investigates the successes and failures of anarchist movements throughout the world. Presenting a balanced and critical survey, the detailed document covers not o... read more

This book provides a new and up-to-date look at the politics of Pacific Island countries and territories. When the South Pacific Forum held its first meeting in 1971 only seven member states participated - New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Nauru and the Cook Islands. Today this organisation, now known as the Pacific Islands Forum and no longer confined to the 'South Pacific', includes 16 member states as well as a handful of associate member and observer member countries and organisations. At the same time, the literature... read more

The Helen Clark we see today is a carefully manufactured, airbrushed political brand. She's also New Zealand's most powerful politician, ever. Absolute Power strips away the facade to find what makes the real Helen Clark tick, and explores the track record of a government that boasted it would bring a new age of "frugality and integrity", and an end to "cronyism, sleaze and dishonesty". Absolute Power is not just about what happened publicly and what played out on the news each night. It is much more about what was going on behind ... read more

What you are about to read is the most up to date and easy to read assessment of the global warming debate, and arguably one of the most important general books you'll read this year. That's because proposed new carbon cuts to be finalised in December this year are expected to cost each household more than $3,000 in new taxes and fees every year! This is your money don't you want to know whether they're telling you the truth? Regardless of whether you currently believe global warming is caused by humans, or whether you have nagging... read more

Air Con demonstrates, with hundreds of scientific references, that global warming was not, is not, and will not be a global crisis; that, even if per impossibile it might be, it is far more cost-effective to adapt as and if needed than to attempt to mitigate 'global warming' by cutting emissions of carbon dioxide; and that all attempts at mitigation would serve only to imprison the very poorest in their poverty, thereby perversely increasing world population and consequently the 'carbon footprint' of humakind, achieving an outcome precisely the opp..read more

From one of our wittiest social critics comes a brilliant and entertaining foray into the nation's highest office and the men who have held it. From Washington to Clinton, Vidal shows how presidents have always served the interests of the people who "own the country".

Critically analyzing the concept of terrorism, this collection focuses on the Canadian and U.S. governments' responses to terrorist activity since the events of September 11, identifying the problem of government policies infringing on basic human rights and freedoms. Investigating the relationship between the capitalist economic system and the war on terror, this study also reviews the legality and efficacy of the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Patriot Act, highlighting the insecurities created by the new security regime. Emphasizing ... read more

Tired of politics as usual? This vision of what politics can be in America poses a crucial question: what if our political leaders started talking to us as if we were grown-ups? The author models a realistic new candour that could break through the downward spiral that has us expecting less of our political leaders while they're thinking less and less of us.

Using top secret documents stolen from Russian archives, historian Pavel Stroilov, a Russian dissident living in London in political exile, has written a masterpiece on the behind-the-scenes politicking of the first Gulf War that exposes direct lies in the memoirs of President Bush Senior, Brent Scowcroft and James Baker, and explains the truth behind the current revolutions throughout the Middle East. In addition to revealing a great number of never-before-seen top secret documents, Behind the Desert Storm delves into closed-... read more

With a thorough exploration of the political climate of the time and Russia's invasion of Afghanistan, this book describes the repercussions of Jimmy Carter's American boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. Despite missing the games they had trained relentlessly to compete in, many U.S. athletes went on to achieve remarkable successes in sports and overcame the bitter disappointment of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity dashed by geopolitics.

Foreword by the Dalai Lama This emotionally gripping book tells the story of Burma's struggle for independence and democracy, based on interviews with hundreds of Burmese from ordinary citizens to freedom fighters in the jungle.

In the summer of 1958, a 12-year-old girl took the world by storm - "Lolita" was published in the United States - and since then, her name has been taken in vain to serve a wide range of dubious ventures, both artistic and commercial. Offering a full consideration of not only "the Lolita effect" but shifting attitudes toward the mix of sex, children, and popular entertainment from Victorian times to the present, this study explores the movies, theatrical shows, literary spin-offs, artifacts, fashion, art, photography, and tabloid e... read more

Author R. G. Williscroft, who served for 23 years with the U.S. Navy and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, firmly establishes that the sky is not falling - the global greenhouse is not out of control, the ozone layer is still there and the Cold War is over. This fascinating and accessible book reviews the scientific evidence of environmental concerns such as global warming, the dangers of nuclear power, and shortage of water. The author argues that most of these concerns are misplaced and emphasises instead the real ... read more

Hailed by Bruce Sterling as 'a political activist, gizmo freak, junk collector, programmer, entrepreneur, and all-around Renaissance geek', the Internet's favourite high-tech culture maven is celebrated with the first collection of his infamous articles, essays, and polemics. Irreverently championing free speech and universal access to information - even if it's just a free download of the newest Britney Spears MP3 - he leads off with a mutinous talk given at Microsoft on digital rights management, insisting that they stop treating... read more

As he did in "Urban Legends" and "Hollywood Urban Legends", and as he has done in dozens of columns for the "Chicago Sun-Times" over the last decade and a half, Richard Roeper lays out the basics of the conspiracy theory, quotes some of the true believers - and then tears the theory apart with his bare hands. 9/11 was an inside job. Lady Di and JFK Jr. were murdered. Heathens are winning the war on Christmas. American Idol is rigged. Barack Obama is a radical Muslim. The Secret will make you thin. The Virgin Mary's in the grilled c... read more

Our relationship to the natural world is at the heart of the single largest problem we face today. We have a choice: hurt the earth and we hurt ourselves

In 1975, after almost 400 years of Portuguese rue, the tiny island nation of East Timor declared its independence. Nine days later, Indonesia invaded. The conflict continues still, with well over 200,000 deaths among the East Timor rebels — amounting to almost one third of the native population. Jardine's concise history tells of East Timor's heroic resistance against incredible odds, and of the military and diplomatic support Indonesia receives for its genocidal cause from the industrial West. Jardine also suggests ways you c... read more

This is a provocative account of Erin Brockovich’s battle against the city and schools of Beverly Hills and various oil companies. When the high profile legal assistant claimed oil wells were the cause of cancer in former students and community members, Norma Zager launched an investigation to prove her wrong. The journalist details the events that unfolded as a result and recalls the personal struggles of the community caught in the middle of the commotion.

Zager’s story serves as a cautionary tale, emphasizing the s... read more

'Seductive Marketing' and 'Media Spin' are just two of the tools social engineers are using - not to sell you a product but to change the way you and your children think, forever. Ian Wishart is back with his hardest hitting book yet, Eve's Bite, an expose of just how much damage social engineering and political correctness have done to New Zealand and the western world. Wishart tracks the spread of the world's most contagiously deadly ideologies and finds them now deeply rooted in schools, universities, workplaces and government... read more

Painting a vivid picture of the scenes both inside and outside the courtroom and re-creating events from court transcripts, police records, interviews, and notes taken day after day as the story unfolded in court in 2007, this narrative accurately portrays cold-blooded - and sometimes incompetent - killers and their crimes. In 1998 Frank Calabrese Jr. offered to wear a wire to help the FBI build a case against his father, Frank Sr., and his uncle Nick. A top Mob boss, a reputed consigliore, and other high-profile members of the Chi... read more

Today, despite many significant achievements in science, technology, medicine, transportation and communications, and a vast increase in world trade, the globalised world economy is facing serious socio-economic, political, cultural and environmental problems, of potentially catastrophic proportions." "Despite numerous attempts to raise living standards through market economics and free trade, the dire poverty of billions of people and the widening gap between rich and poor, both within and between countries, point to the failure o... read more