Drone Warfare:
Killing by Remote Control
By Medea Benjamin, OR Books, 2012
Drone Warfare is a comprehensive look at the
growing menace of drone warfare, with an extensive
analysis of who is producing the drones, where
they are being used, who are "piloting"
these unmanned planes, who are the victims and
what are the legal and moral implications. But
this book is also a call to action, with a look
at what activists, lawyers and scientists are
doing to rein in the drones, and ways to move
forward. More...
"Activist extraordinaire Medea Benjamin
has documented how the U.S. government's use of
drones to murder hundreds of innocent civilians
in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen has
increased the danger to our national security.
And Benjamin's “Drone Warfare”
is the first book that reveals the vocal international
citizen opposition that challenges the legality
and morality of America's extrajudicial execution
drones before they kill here at home."
—Ann Wright, retired US Army
Reserve Colonel and former US diplomat
Beautiful Trouble:
A Tool Box for Revolution
OR Books
This anthology includes anecdotes by CODEPINK
staff members and activists around the country.
Assembled by Andrew Boyd with Dave Oswald Mitchell
"The current political moment calls for
bold leaps of imagination, new forms of organizing
and a fearless blend of confrontation and celebration.
Beautiful Trouble is a crash course in the emerging
field of carnivalesque realpolitik, both elegant
and incendiary."
—Naomi Klein, author of The
Shock Doctrine and No Logo
The 99%: How the
Occupy Wall Street Movement Is Changing America
by Don Hazen, Tara Lohan, Lynn Parramore
Published: Alternet.org , Dec 5, 2011
Provocative, fresh, and profound, the book reveals
how in a tiny park, a bold idea broke through
to broad public consciousness: that regular people
can take on the entire economic and political
system.
CODEPINK's Melanie Butler is among the journalists,
eyewitnesses, artists, teachers, union leaders,
rappers, progressive icons and ordinary citizens
who follow the spark of hope as it leaps from
city to city, state to state, and across the ocean,
igniting a new conversation about our society
and the future. They share the sights, the sounds,
and the solidarity of the early days, and take
you on the drama-charged journey from the concrete
of lower Manhattan to the mass marches and the
police violence that swept across the globe.
Cheating Justice:
How Bush and Cheney Attacked the Rule of Law and
Plotted to Avoid Prosecution - And What We Can
Do about It
By Elizabeth Holtzman with Cynthia L. Cooper
Beacon Press, 2012
"Former Democratic congresswoman Holtzman
of New York teams up with Cooper (The Impeachment
of George W. Bush) for a detailed investigation
into how the Bush administration broke the law.
While much speculation has been made over the
former president's awareness of the lack of weapons
of mass destruction in Iraq before the declaration
of war, this book barrels through his defense
strategies to prove his guilt. Through carefully
documenting the dates of speeches he gave to the
public and Congress against the dates of investigations
and reports back to him regarding the situation
in Iraq, Holtzman alleges that the president was
more than aware of the erroneous information in
his addresses. She further examines how the Bush
administration bypassed legality to set up wiretaps,
tortured detainees, evaded internal investigations,
and withheld government documents. It's an impressive
effort, but the book suffers from its brevity
and poor organization. Some sections place quotations
of legislation alongside countless memorandums
and documents to create something that's oftentimes
incomprehensible. The case for conspiracy becomes
confusing, the data disorienting, and at times
the book is bafflingly dense. It's unfortunate,
as the amount of information collected is astounding,
and the extent of the authors' research is admirable.
But without more explanation and analysis, accessibility
is sacrificed." -- Publishers Weekly Copyright
PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
The Military Industrial
Complex at 50 - MIC50.org
By David Christopher Naylor Swanson / David Swanson
This book is the most comprehensive collection
available explaining what the military industrial
complex (MIC) is, where it comes from, what damage
it does, what further destruction it threatens,
and what can be done and is being done to chart
a different course.
Transforming
Terror: Remembering the Soul of the World
Edited by Karin Lofthus Carrington and Susan Griffin
$24.95, University of California Press
An anthology that includes writings by
Joan Didion, Rederico Garcia Lorca, Mahmoud Darwish
and CODEPINK co-founder Jodie Evans.
"This volume brings together the wisest
voices of our era to reveal the prevalence of
terror in our world, and its unconsidered consequences.
Until a behavior has a name, it cannot be challenged.
This amazing collection of wise and beautiful
voices challenges our received definition of terror,
and moves us a step further toward a world of
peace.” - Marilyn Sewell, editor of Cries
of the Spirit.
FLOODLINES:
Community & Resistance from Katrina to the Jena
Six By Jordan Flaherty
FLOODLINES is a firsthand account of community,
culture, and resistance in New Orleans from dedicated
community organizer and top-rate investigative
journalist Jordan Flaherty. The book weaves together
the stories of gay rappers, Mardi Gras Indians,
Arab and Latino immigrants, public housing residents,
and grassroots activists in the years before and
after Katrina. From post-Katrina evacuee camps
to torture testimony at Angola Prison to organizing
with the family members of the Jena Six, FLOODLINES
tells the stories behind the headlines from an
unforgettable time and place in history. Learn
more: http://floodlines.org
Boycott,
Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian
Rights by Omar Barghouti
THIRTY YEARS ago, an international movement utilizing
boycott, divestment, and sanction (BDS) tactics
rose in solidarity with those suffering under
the brutal apartheid regime of South Africa. The
historic acts of BDS activists from around the
world isolated South Africa as a pariah state
and heralded the end of apartheid. Now, as awareness
of the apartheid nature of the State of Israel
continues to grow, Omar Barghouti, founding member
of the Palestinian Civil Society Boycott, Divestment
and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel, presents
a renewed call to action. Aimed at forcing the
State of Israel to uphold international law and
universal human rights for the Palestinian people,
here is a manifesto for change.
And Still Peace
Did Not Come: A Memoir of Reconciliation by Agnes Kamara-umunna & Emily Holland
When bullets hit Agnes Kamara-Umunna's home in
Monrovia, Liberia, she and her father hastily
piled whatever they could carry into their car
and drove toward the border, along with thousands
of others. An army of children was approaching,
under the leadership of Charles Taylor. It seemed
like the end of the world.
Slowly, they made their way to the safety of
Sierra Leone. They were the lucky ones.
Moonrise: “The
Power of Women Leading from the Heart”
Edited by Nina Simons with Anneke Campbell, Foreword
by Terry Tempest Williams
Includes essays from more than 30 eminent
women who are reinventing leadership by emphasizing
collaboration, inner awareness, and relational
intelligence including CODEPINK co-founder
Jodie Evans. Their passionate stories can
inspire us to co-create a healthy, peaceful, just,
and sustainable world. Explores the flourishing,
passionate forms of leadership emerging from women
on behalf of the earth and community. Among the
contributors are writers Alice Walker and
Eve Ensler, psychiatrist Jean Shinoda
Bolen, holistic doctor Rachel Naomi Remen,
hip-hop performer Rha Goddess, and famous
tree-sitter Julia Butterfly Hill.
Stop the Next
War Nowby Medea Benjamin and Jodie
Evans
How can we humanize each other and act as responsible
global citizens? Stop the Next War Now
shares expert insight on the issues and powers-that-be
that can lead us to war - including the media,
our elected politicians, global militarization,
and the pending scarcity of national resources.
It aims to educate and reflect on the effectiveness
of peace-movement activities and offers hope,
through shared ideas, action steps, and practical
checklists to transition from a culture of violence
to a culture of peace.
CODEPINK Women for Peace presents "Peace
Never Tasted So Sweet" a cookbook of women's
delicious recipes for a sweeter world (with action
‘how-tos' and a few cookies thrown in
for good measure)! This cookbook has sweet, savory,
classic, raw & vegan pies submitted from women
around the world who work for peace, harmony and
justice in their communities. Doesn't everyone
deserve a piece of peace pie? Let's redirect our
nation's resources into positive, life-affirming
activities; let's gather, connect (and bake) to
start this peaceful revolution for a truly sweeter
world.
Dissent: Voices
of Conscienceby Ann Wright and Susan
Dixon
Government Insiders Speak Out Against the
War in Iraq: During the run-up to war in Iraq,
Army Colonel (Ret.) and diplomat Ann Wright resigned
her State Department post. She was one among dozens
of government insiders and active-duty military
personnel who leaked documents, spoke out, resigned,
or refused to deploy in protest of government
actions they felt were illegal. In Dissent: Voices
of Conscience, Ann Wright and Susan Dixon tell
the stories of these men and women, who risked
careers, reputations, and even freedom out of
loyalty to the Constitution and the rule of law.
Peace Mom: A Mother's
Journey Through the Heartache to Activismby Cindy Sheehan
Cindy Sheehan's latest book is the heartfelt
and profoundly moving story of her journey to
activism. She recounts the dark days following
Casey's death, when it seemed her life would never
have meaning again. She tells of her June 2004
meeting with President Bush, and how that encounter
ultimately set her on a path that would take her
to hearings in the Capitol, test old friendships
and family ties, and culminate outside Crawford,
Texas, in a monthlong peace action that would
draw thousands of supporters and worldwide attention.
“What Cindy Sheehan has done for our country
is miraculous and a mighty blessing. A thaw is
felt throughout the land. People have started
to speak, and their voices are being heard.” (Martin
Sheen)
This New York Times best seller by political
blogger Glenn Greenwald is one man's transformation
from apolitical centrist to citizen activist in
defense of our Constitution. How would a patriot
act today? Greenwald has some ideas. “Over the
past five years, a creeping extremism has taken
hold of our federal government that is threatening
to alter our system and who we are as a nation.”
Greenwald adds, “This extremism is neither conservative
nor liberal by nature, but is instead driven by
theories of unlimited presidential power that
are antithetical to the values that have governed
this country since its founding.” First released
online, pre-sale orders on Amazon shot to number
one from 50,000 in one day. The book then went
on to hit the Washington Post best seller list
and is #11 on the New York Times best seller list.
Cindy Sheehan lost her son Spc. Casey Austin
Sheehan in an ambush in Sadr City, Baghdad, in
early 2004. As information became available revealing
that the war in Iraq was based on lies, she began
speaking out against it and demanding the troops
come home. In August 2005, she went to Texas,
to ask President Bush to explain "the noble
cause" for the war he cites in his speeches,
and her efforts attracted thousands to create
Camp Casey, and drew worldwide attention. This
book is a clear, well-written statement of her
case against the war and her plea for ending this
senseless adventure. The book includes a foreword
by Martin Sheen, and an introduction by Thom Hartmann
and CODEPINK co-founder
Jodie Evans.
An
Unreasonable Woman: A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos,
Polluters, and the Fight for Seadrift, Texasby Diane Wilson
When Diane Wilson, fourth-generation shrimp-boat
captain, mother of five, and CODEPINK
co-founder, learned that she lived in the most
polluted county in the United States, she decided
to fight back. She launched a campaign against
a multibillion-dollar corporation that had been
covering up spills, silencing workers, flouting
the EPA, and dumping lethal ethylene dichloride
and vinyl chloride into the bays along her beloved
Texas Gulf Coast. In an epic tale of bravery,
Diane took her fight to the courts, to the gates
of the chemical plant, and to the halls of power
in Austin. Along the way she met with scorn, bribery,
character assassination, and death threats. Diane
realized that she had to break the law to win
justice: She used nonviolent disobedience, direct
action, and hunger strikes.
Diane's vivid South Texas dialogue resides somewhere
between Alice Walker and William Faulkner, and
her dazzling prose brings to mind the magic realism
of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, replete with dreams
and prophecies.
In The Progressive Revolution, noted political
strategist and blogger Michael Lux argues that
progressives today are fighting to improve America,
as they always have, in contrast to conservatives,
who have always worked to defend the status quo
and the interests of elites. Drawing on a deep
knowledge of American history and the ways of
Washington, and writing in a clear, accessible
style, Lux shows how progressives have time and
again been instrumental in creating positive change,
whether in the realm of civil rights, electoral
democracy, civil liberties, women's rights, or
economic fairness. Having worked in five presidential
campaigns and played a role in developing important
new progressive organizations, Lux knows his subject
better than most. His book is an intellectual
Swiss Army knife for readers interested in politics
and history—and in a progressive future for
America.
Standing Up to
the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary
Times by Amy Goodman
Powerful examples to inspire action on behalf
of social justice. The celebrated host of
Pacifica Radio's Democracy Now! and her brother,
a respected author and journalist, explore the
inspiring stories of unsung heroes, past and present,
who fought to keep democracy and justice alive.
We meet the Connecticut librarians who defied
the PATRIOT Act by refusing to spy on their patrons,
the activist-soldiers who opposed the Vietnam
war from within the military, the psychologist
who broke with the American Psychological Association
when she realized her colleagues were cooperating
in torture.
Part inspiration, part activist how-to, Standing
Up to the Madness includes clear, specific examples
of how we all can take action on behalf of social
change and justice — whether by supporting
independent media, making ethical consumer choices,
campaigning to raise awareness about global warming
or taking a stand against government bullying,
among many other suggestions. As the Goodmans
write, "great change begins with small steps
taken at home."
We Are the Ones
We Have Been Waiting For: Inner Light in a Time
of Darknessby Alice Walker
A beautifully packaged book of spiritual ruminations
with a progressive political edge, from the incomparable
Pulitzer Prize-winner—a woman who has devoted
her life to befriending the earth.
Author of the perennially bestselling novel The
Color Purple, Alice Walker has long been a force
for sanity in a chaotic world. In We Are the Ones
We Have Been Waiting For she draws on her deep
spiritual grounding, her political conviction
and experience, and her literary gifts to offer
a series of meditations filled with wisdom, hope,
encouragement, and, at times, serenity to a world
in need of all these things. The perfect gift
for Alice Walker fans and anyone who longs for
peace, on earth and within, this lovely volume
will be embraced for its wise insights and mature
compassion.
A Woman Among
Warlords:
The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared
to Raise Her Voice,
By Malalai Joya, $25, Simon & Schuster
CODEPINK has hosted Malalai Joya in several cities
during her US speaking tours and helped fundraise
for her important work in Afghanistan. She has
been called “the bravest woman in Afghanistan.”
At a constitutional assembly in Kabul in 2003,
she stood up and denounced her country's
powerful NATO-backed warlords. She was twenty-five
years old. A controversial political figure in
one of the most dangerous places on earth, Malalai
Joya is a hero for our times, a young woman who
refused to be silent, a young woman committed
to making a difference in the world, no matter
the cost.
MEENA: HEROINE
OF AFGHANISTAN,
Melody Ermachild Davis, St. Martin's Press,
2003. With a forward by Alice Walker.
In this clearly and simply written biography
of Meena, the founder of the Revolutionary Association
of Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), Davis reconstructs
Meena's life while giving a brief history
of Afghanistan and detailing the early days of
RAWA.
Imagine that a jewel-like garden overlooking
Kabul is your ancestral home. Imagine a kitchen
made fragrant with saffron strands and cardamom
pods simmering in an authentic pilau. Now remember
that you were born in London, your family in exile,
and that you have never seen Afghanistan in peacetime.
These are but the starting points of Saira Shah's
memoir, by turns inevitably exotic and unavoidably
heartbreaking, in which she explores her family's
history in and out of Afghanistan. As an accomplished
journalist and documentarian–her film Beneath
the Veil unflinchingly depicted for CNN viewers
the humiliations forced on women under Taliban
rule–Shah returned to her family's homeland
cloaked in the burqa to witness the pungent and
shocking realities of Afghan life. As the daughter
of the Sufi fabulist Idries Shah, primed by a
lifetime of listening to her father's stories,
she eagerly sought out, from the mouths of Afghan
refugees in Pakistan, the rich and living myths
that still sustain this battered culture of warriors.
And she discovered that in Afghanistan all the
storytellers have been men–until now.
Persepolis
tells the story of a young girl's experience during
the Iranian revolution. As we discussed in our
last book club meeting, it is through reading
and hearing the stories of those who seem "Other"
than us that we realize the "Other"
is not so "Other" after all.
This book will open your eyes and
touch your heart and remind you of the common
humanity we share.
Journal Entries from CODEPINK's
Iraq Trip. CODEPINK's
Jodie Evans, who traveled to Baghdad directly
before and after the war, explains the stratification
between American economic interests and Iraqi
helplessness that is the occupation's chief
characteristic.
Contributors: Lynsey Addario, Fadhil al-Azzawi,
Medea Benjamin, Tiosha Bojorquez Chapela, Kristina
Borjesson, Anne E. Brodsky, Mike Davis, Jodie
Evans, Tahmeena Faryal, Sandra Fu, Amy Goodman,
Amir Hussain, Eman Ahmed Khammas, Naomi Klein,
Mark LeVine, Yanar Mohammed, Viggo Mortensen,
Christian Parenti, Jerry Quickley, Omid Safi,
Lauren Sandler, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, Nadia
Yassine
Born in Kandahar in 1978, Sultan fled to the
United States at age five with her family. Raised
in Brooklyn and Flushing, Queens, Sultan saw her
life change when she was married by arrangement
at the young age of seventeen to a virtual stranger
fourteen years her senior -- a marriage she struggled
to maintain and then hastily fought, eventually
(after three years) being granted a divorce. This
very divorce would become one of the first in
her close-knit Afgan community, where the subject
is considered rare and taboo.
Sultan went on to graduate from college summa
cum laude with a degree in economics, and in July
2001, she returned to Kandahar, to explore her
family roots and find herself. There she met her
relatives and surveyed the conservative provincial
town where she was born. on return visit to afganistan,
she discovered the tragic death of her relatives
at the hands of American troops and began to seek
answers.
My War at Home is her memoir of
self-discovery, family tradition, and life as
a Muslim and feminist with political ideals. It
speaks to the younger generation of Muslims in
America as they struggle to resolve the ever-present
inner conflict about what it means to be an American
and a Muslim, while also examining the Muslim-American
identity at both personal and political levels.
Invisible History:
Afghanistan's Untold Storyby Paul
Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould
Despite official declarations, the war in Afghanistan
is far from over; in fact, it's escalating. Seven
years after 9/11, the Taliban continue to regroup,
attack, and claim influence over most of the region.
This book presents a fresh, comprehensive analysis
of Afghanistan's political history that begins
at the roots of tribal leadership and ultimately
emphasizes our present political moment and the
impact of ongoing US military intervention.
Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould, a husband
and wife team, first went to Afghanistan in 1981
and have reported for CBS News, Nightline, and
The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. Their documentary
Between Three Worlds was broadcast by PBS.
What Kind of Liberation?:
Women and the Occupation of Iraqby
Nadje Al-Ali
In the run-up to war in Iraq, the Bush administration
assured the world that America's interest was
in liberation--especially for women. The first
book to examine how Iraqi women have fared since
the invasion, What Kind of Liberation? reports
from the heart of the war zone with dire news
of scarce resources, growing unemployment, violence,
and seclusion. Moreover, the book exposes the
gap between rhetoric that placed women center
stage and the present reality of their diminishing
roles in the "new Iraq." Based on interviews
with Iraqi women's rights activists, international
policy makers, and NGO workers and illustrated
with photographs taken by Iraqi women, What Kind
of Liberation? speaks through an astonishing array
of voices. Nadje Al-Ali and Nicola Pratt correct
the widespread view that the country's violence,
sectarianism, and systematic erosion of women's
rights come from something inherent in Muslim,
Middle Eastern, or Iraqi culture. They also demonstrate
how in spite of competing political agendas, Iraqi
women activists are resolutely pressing to be
part of the political transition, reconstruction,
and shaping of the new Iraq.
The Holocaust
is Over, We Must Rise from its Ashesby
Avraham Burg
Modern day Israel, and the Jewish community,
is strongly influenced by the memory and horrors
of Hitler and the Holocaust. Burg argues that
the Jewish nation has been traumatized and has
lost the ability to trust itself, its neighbors
or the world around it. He shows that this is
one of the causes for the growing nationalism
and violence that are plaguing Israeli society
and reverberating through Jewish communities worldwide.
Burg uses his own family history--his parents
were Holocaust survivors--to inform his innovative
views on what the Jewish people need to do to
move on and eventually live in peace with their
Arab neighbors and feel comfortable in world at
large. Thought-provoking, compelling, and original,
this book is bound to spark a heated debate around
the world.
Winter Soldier:
Iraq and Afghanistan: Eyewitness Accounts of the
Occupationsby Iraq Veterans Against
the War
In spring 2008, inspired by the Vietnam-era Winter
Soldier hearings, Iraq Veterans Against the War
gathered veterans to expose war crimes in Afghanistan
and Iraq. Here are the powerful words, images,
and documents of this historic gathering, which
show the reality of life in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Blackwater: The
Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary
Armyby Jeremy Scahill
Meet BLACKWATER USA, the world's most secretive
and powerful mercenary firm. Based in the wilderness
of North Carolina, it is the fastest-growing private
army on the planet with forces capable of carrying
out regime change throughout the world. Blackwater
protects the top US officials in Iraq and yet
we know almost nothing about the firm's quasi-military
operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and inside the
US. Blackwater was founded by an extreme right-wing
fundamentalist Christian mega-millionaire ex-
Navy Seal named Erik Prince, the scion of a wealthy
conservative family that bankrolls far-right-wing
causes. Blackwater is the dark story of the rise
of a powerful mercenary army, ranging from the
blood-soaked streets of Fallujah to rooftop firefights
in Najaf to the hurricane-ravaged US gulf to Washington
DC, where Blackwater executives are hailed as
new heroes in the war on terror. This is an extraordinary
exposé by one of America's most exciting young
radical journalists. Click
here for book tour info.
The Deserter's
Tale: The Story of an Ordinary Soldier Who Walked
Away from the War in Iraqby Joshua
Key
In the first ever memoir from a young soldier
who deserted from the war in Iraq, Joshua Key
offers a vivid and damning indictment of what
we are doing there and how the war itself is being
waged. Key, a young husband and father from a
conservative background, enlisted in the Army
in 2002 to get training as a welder and lift his
family out of poverty. A year later, Key was sent
to Ramadi where he found himself participating
in a war that was not the campaign against terrorists
and evildoers he had expected. He saw Iraqi civilians
beaten, shot, and killed for little or no provocation.
Nearly ever other night, he participated in raids
on homes that found only terrified families and
no evidence of terrorist activity. On leave,
Key knew he could not return so he took his family
underground, finally seeking asylum in Canada.
The Deserter's Tale is the story of a
patriotic family man who went to war believing
unquestioningly in his government's commitment
to integrity and justice, and how what he saw
in Iraq transformed him into someone who could
no longer serve his country.
10 Excellent Reasons
Not to Join the Militaryby Elizabeth
Weil-Greenberg, ed.
The armed forces are having a tough time attracting
new recruits lately, in no small part due to the
mess in Iraq. Young people are getting wise to
the many excellent reasons not to join the U.S.
Military, and this handy book brings them all
together, combining accessible writing with hard
facts and devastating personal testimony. Contributors
with firsthand experience point out the dangers
facing soldiers, describe the tricks used by recruiters,
and emphasize that there really are other options,
even in a sluggish economy. This book is essential
reading for anyone thinking of signing up, and
anyone working to counter military recruitment.
Contributors include Cindy Sheehan and other
members of Military Families Speak Out, Iraq Veterans
Against the War, the National Lawyers Guild Military
Law Task Force, Citizen Soldier, and CODEPINK.
Click
here to read the chapter on non-military
alternatives written by CODEPINKer
Rae Abileah.
The American Way
of War: Guided Missiles, Misguided Men, and a
Republic in Perilby Eugene Jarecki
In the sobering aftermath of America's invasion
of Iraq, Eugene Jarecki, the creator of the award-winning
documentary Why We Fight, launches a penetrating
and revelatory inquiry into how forces within
the American political, economic, and military
systems have come to undermine the carefully crafted
structure of our republic -- upsetting its balance
of powers, vastly strengthening the hand of the
president in taking the nation to war, and imperiling
the workings of American democracy. This is a
story not of simple corruption but of the unexpected
origins of a more subtle and, in many ways, more
worrisome disfiguring of our political system
and society.
The American Way of War is a deeply thoughtprovoking
study of how America reached a historic crossroads
and of how recent excesses of militarism and executive
power may provide an opening for the redirection
of national priorities.
Devil's Tango:
How I Learned the Fukushima Step by Step By Cecile Pineda, Wings Press, 2012
Devil's Tango: How I learned the Fukushima
Step by Step is Pineda's anguished dissection
of the nuclear industry seen through the lens
of the industrial and planetary disaster now unfolding
at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plants in Japan.
"Pineda's masterful framing of the urgency
for readers to learn from the Japanese nuclear
disaster … makes Devil's Tango one of the
most important and required reads this year.”–
review on Huffington Post by Jeff Biggers
Black
Tide: the Devastating Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill by Antonia Juhasz
It is the largest oil disaster in American history,
and it could happen again. It is more than a story
of ruined beaches, dead wildlife, chemical dispersants,
corporate spin, political machinations, and financial
fallout. It is a riveting human drama filled with
people whose lives will forever be defined as
“before” and “after” the Gulf
oil disaster. Black Tide is the only book to tell
this story through the perspective of people on
all sides of the catastrophe, from those who lost
their lives, loved ones, and livelihoods to those
who made the policies that set the devastating
event in motion, those who cut the corners that
put corporate profits over people and the environment,
and those who have committed their lives to ensuring
that such an event is never repeated.
DIARY OF AN ECO-OUTLAW:
An Unreasonable Woman Breaks the Law for Mother
Earth
by Diane Wilson
As George Bernard Shaw once said, "All progress
depends on unreasonable women."
In the Diary of an Eco-Outlaw, the eminently unreasonable
Diane Wilson delivers a no-holds-barred account
of how she-a fourth-generation shrimper, former
boat captain, and mother of five-took a turn at
midlife, unable to stand by quietly as she witnessed
abuses of people and the environment. Since then,
she has launched legislative campaigns, demonstrations,
and hunger strikes-and has generally gotten herself
in all manner of trouble.
Nuclear Power
is Not the Answerby Dr. Helen Caldicott
Caldicott's latest antinuke book searingly debunks
the claim that the impending "nuclear power
renaissance," purported by some to be the
only answer to global warming, is "clean
and green." She covers all the bases, from
the carbon emitted in the creation of nuclear
power (higher than fossil fuels if the entire
process from uranium mining to waste disposal
is included) to the cost of nuclear plants (too
high to be viable without large government subsidies)
and the health risks and possibility of accidents
and terrorists' access (more than we'd like to
think). She also points out that, despite proponents'
assurances, we still haven't found a safe place
to store the waste materials for the necessary
thousands of years, and that state-of-the-art
nuclear plant technology is still full of unresolved
problems. Caldicott's predictable alternative
is also sensible: switch to wind and other benign
renewables, turn down the thermostat, wear a sweater,
use energy efficient lights and dry clothes on
the clothesline. . . .those who believe that facts
matter will want to read her frighteningly convincing
argument.
How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems.
A history-making plan for confronting our pressing
economic and environmental crises.
“Van Jones demonstrates conclusively that
the best solutions for the survivability of our
planet are also the best solutions for everyday
Americans.” —Al Gore
Rachel Carson's landmark 1962 book, Silent
Spring, was a pivotal ecological treatise that
changed the course of history. Now, rising above
the endless political debate over the environment
and the economy, Van Jones, the go-to expert of
our time on these issues—renowned for his
work at GreenForAll.org and the Ella Baker Center
for Human Rights—gives us The Green Collar
Economy, which delivers an inspiring, timely,
and essential call to action.
From a distance, it appears that our failing
economy and devastated environment are two separate
problems; but when we look closer, the connection
becomes unmistakable. In The Green Collar Economy,
Jones shows us how the economy is built on and
powered almost exclusively by oil, natural gas,
and coal—a “gray economy” essentially
based on fast-diminishing nonrenewable resources.
As supplies disappear, the price of energy climbs
and nearly everything becomes more expensive.
With costs and unemployment soaring, the economy
stalls. And when these fuels are burned, the greenhouse
gases they create overheat the atmosphere and
the climate crises looms. The bottom line: We
cannot drill and burn our way out of these dual
dilemmas.
The Tyranny of
Oil: The World's Most Powerful Industry and
What We Must Do to Stop Itby Antonia
Juhasz
The hardest-hitting exposé of the oil
industry in decades, and a bold blueprint for
reining it in. Required reading for every concerned
global citizen.
Why are oil and gasoline prices rising so
quickly?
Where will prices go in the future?
Who's really controlling those prices?
How much oil is left?
How far will Big Oil go to get it?
And at what cost to the economy, environment,
human rights, worker safety, public health,
democracy, and America's place in the world?
Author-activist Antonia Juhasz (The Bush Agenda)
investigates the true state of the U.S. oil industry
— uncovering its virtually unparalleled global
power, influence over our elected officials, and
lack of regulatory oversight, and the truth behind
$150-a-barrel oil, $4.50-a-gallon gasoline, and
the highest profit in corporate history. Exposing
an industry that thrives on secrecy, Juhasz shows
how Big Oil manages to hide its business dealings
from policy makers, legislators, and, most of
all, consumers. She reveals exactly how Big Oil
gets what it wants—through money, influence,
and lies.
A cautionary Cold War tale (first told by Dr.
Seuss back in 1984), The Butter Battle Book
still has a lot to teach about intolerance and
how tit-for-tat violence can quickly get out of
hand. Explaining the very serious differences
between the Zooks and the Yooks, a Zook grandpa
tells his grandchild the unspeakable truth: "It's
high time that you knew of the terribly horrible
thing that Zooks do. In every Zook house and every
Zook town every Zook eats his bread with the butter
side down!" He then recalls his days with
the Zook-Watching Border Patrol, as he gave any
Zook who dared come close "a twitch with
my tough-tufted prickley Snick-Berry Switch."
But when the Zooks fought back, the switches gave
way to Triple-Sling Jiggers, then Jigger-Rock
Snatchems--even a Kick-a-Poo Kid that was "loaded
with powerful Poo-a-Doo Powder and ants' eggs
and bees' legs and dried-fried clam chowder."
With lots of fun and more-than-fair digs at the
runaway spending and one-upmanship of U.S.-Soviet
days, The Butter Battle Book makes a chuckle-filled
read whether you're old enough to get the historical
references or not. (And with all the Bitsy Big-Boy
Boomeroos still in service, this book's message
is far from obsolete.) (Ages 4 to 8) --Paul Hughes
I live across the street,
In the mountains,
On the beach.
I come from everywhere.
And my name is you.
No matter where they live, what they look like,
who is in their families, or what they do, all
children, at heart, are the same. This Sesame
Street song by J. Philip Miller and Sheppard M.
Greene comes to life with Paul Meisel's happy
illustrations. Children from Texas, Peru, and
southern France; with black hair, red hair, or
yellow hair; named Jack or Amanda Sue or Kareem
Abdu; rejoice in the fact that they all "sing
with the same voice." Meisel paints a picture
of diversity that is buoyant and beautiful. Children
in their native garb, from serapes to woven vests
to blue jeans, open their mouths wide in song,
encouraging young readers to sing along with the
accompanying CD. Meisel has illustrated many popular
picture books, including Jean Craighead George's
How to Talk to Your Cat and Go Away, Dog, by Joan
L. Nodset. (Baby to preschool) --Emilie Coulter
Today everyone is talking about peace. But how
do you explain this abstract conceptto young children?
Todd Parr is here to help. Like his bestselling
title It+s Okay to be Different, The Peace Book
gives parents and teachers a valuable tool in
talking about a challenging subject. Todd+s bright,
child-friendly pictures and simple, inspiring
text tell kids just what they need to know:Timeless
and universal, this primer about peace belongs
in every home and classroom all over the world.
For anyone who ever doubted it, Todd Parr is
here to tell us all that it's okay to be different.
With his signature artistic style, featuring brightly
colored, childlike figures outlined in heavy black,
Parr shows readers over and over that just about
anything goes. From the sensitive ("It's
okay to be adopted"--the accompanying illustration
shows a kangaroo with a puppy in her pouch) to
the downright silly ("It's okay to eat macaroni
and cheese in the bathtub"), kids of every
shape, size, color, family makeup, and background
will feel included in this gentle, witty book.
In this simple, playful celebration of diversity,
Parr doesn't need to hammer readers over the head
with his message.
Parr is well known for his funky feel-good titles,
including Things That Make You Feel Good/Things
That Make You Feel Bad, Underwear Do's and Don'ts,
and This Is My Hair. (Ages 3 to 6) --Emilie Coulter
Let There be Peace:
Prayers from Around the Worldby Jeremy
Brooks and Jude Daly
The world's need for peace is more urgent than
ever before. Jeremy Brooks has gathered together
prayers from Bosnia to Northern Ireland, from
World War II Germany to China. They range from
Taoist and Hindu lines to a prayer by St Francis
of Assisi and from words by Archbishop Desmond
Tutu to a daily prayer said by Muslims everywhere.
A thought-provoking book with beautiful illustrations
which add a universal touch, making this a very
special book for children.
The Contest Between
the Sun and the Wind: An Aesop's Fableby Heather Forest
In this retelling of a classic fable from Aesop,
we learn that being the most forceful does not
make you the strongest. Sometimes the greatest
strength comes from a place of gentleness.
Wangari's
Trees of Peace: A True Story of Africaby Jeannette Winter
As a young girl growing up in Kenya, Wangari
was surrounded by trees. But years later when
she returns home, she is shocked to see whole
forests being cut down, and she knows that soon
all the trees will be destroyed. So Wangari decides
to do something—and starts by planting nine
seedlings in her own backyard. And as they grow,
so do her plans. . . .
This true story of Wangari Maathai, environmentalist
and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is a shining
example of how one woman's passion, vision,
and determination inspired great change.
Afghan Dreams:Young
Voices of Afghanistanby Tony O'Brien
If the stories that come out of Afghanistan are
ever to contain hope for the future, then the
young people readers will meet in these pages
are that hope. From street workers to female students
in newly formed academies, children who work in
family businesses, and pickpockets who steal from
visiting photographers, these are the faces of
young Afghanis who universally wish for peace
in their neighborhoods, in their country, in their
lifetimes.
Award-winning photojournalist Tony O'Brien
and filmmaker Mike Sullivan went to Afghanistan
to interview and photograph children of a wide
range of ages, from varied ethnic backgrounds,
and with very different daily lives. As each one
tells his or her story the reader is placed right
in the middle of everyday life as it is lived
by children in the midst of one of the world's
most enduringly conflict-ridden countries.
The Great, Great,
Great Chicken War by David de la Garza
The Great, Great, Great Chicken War
is a richly drawn tale of conflict begun by those
who are too afraid, or chicken, to address why
they are fighting in the first place. Fully illustrated
by David de la Garza when he was five years old
and watercolored by his mother, Joyce Rosner,
The Great, Great, Great Chicken War presents a
child's interpretation of how silly people can
be when they fight. The book is designed to help
parents begin a conversation about conflict with
their children. A portion of the book's profits
will be donated to a charity for children who
are victims of war or disaster.
Little Pink
Fish~ Winner of both an iParenting
Media and Children's Music Web Award~
offers uplifting surprises and fantastical fun.
The stories are filled with frolic and play; a
fish who learns to read, a monkey who teases a
crab, a hero who sucks his thumb and a "hoppositional"
froggy. Elizabeth's creative use of words and
humor weave together Japanese phrases, charming
choruses, and original music, making this CD sure
to appeal to all ages from 4 up. This release
breaks new ground, as it is the first to include
her own original tale, Little
Pink Fish, and also an Okinawan
story told to the accompaniment of a traditional
Okinawan instrument, the sanshin. Falconer learned
to play sanshin, a 3-stringed lute, and researched
Okinawan traditional culture extensively in order
to bring the singular sound of the sanshin to
American listeners in a unique telling of a folktale
about two frogs. This is Koto World's 5th title
in Elizabeth's series of "musical adventures"
- perfect for emerging readers, adventuresome
parents, and peace activists of all ages.
Every time you buy Little Pink
Fish, FIVE DOLLARS goes to CODEPINK.
Flan Parker's curious nature has translated into
a thriving resale business. The secret of her
success: unique and everyday treasures bought
from the auctions of forgotten and abandoned storage
units. When Flan secures the winning bid on a
box filled only with an address and a note inside
bearing the word "yes," she sets out
to discover the source of this mysterious message
and its meaning. It is an inward journey with
outward surprises. When her search draws her toward
her Afghan neighbor, convinced that a world of
secrets lies beneath the woman's burqa, Flan's
personal quest unexpectedly enters a more public
stage.
"With fluid skill, bold as brass, Gayle
Brandeis has revised the Song of Myself, reconfiguring
'self' as an open circle. This is a novel of passion
and consequence, identity and accountability.
I love the narrator, her children, her wild ride,
and this truly American story of getting mad and
getting wise."
—BARBARA KINGSOLVER, author of Small Wonder
and The Poisonwood Bible
Women and the
Gift Economy: A Radically Different Worldview
is Possibleby Genevieve Vaughan
Genevieve Vaughan is an independent researcher,
activist, social change philanthropist, and author
of For-Giving: A Feminist Criticism of Exchange.
Women and the Gift Economy: A Radically Different
Worldview is Possible is an attempt to respond
to the need for deep and lasting social change
in an epoch of dangerous crisis for all humans,
cultures, and the planet. Featuring articles by
well-known feminist activists and academics from
around the world, this book points to ways to
re-create the connections, which have been severed,
between the gift economy, women, and the economies
of Indigenous peoples, and to bring
forward the gift paradigm as an approach to liberate
us from the worldview of the market that is destroying
life on the planet.
We Got Issues! showcases a new feminine generation
as they speak honestly and courageously about
the 10 most important issues facing young women
today, from money and racism, to relationships
and motherhood. Each chapter frames a particular
issue socially, culturally, and politically.
A diverse range of rants, poems, and monologues
are accompanied by an inspiring portrait of a
woman warrior, "rituals of empowerment,"
quotes, statistics, and trends. Powerful black-and-white
images capture these spiritual descendents of
Eve Ensler, Alice Walker, Jane Fonda, and other
old-schoolers acting up, acting out, and demanding
change.
Palast's old-style gum-shoe detective work to
dig out the info on the War on Terror, greed-
dripping schemes to seize little nations with
lots of oil, the hidden program to steal the 2008
election, and the media biases that keep it unreported
are the meat and bones of this BBC television
reporter's new book. Armed Madhouse
is illustrated with dozens of documents marked
"secret" and "confidential"
that have walked out of file cabinets and fallen
into Palast's hands.
“Why has all this focus on security made
me feel so much more insecure? Nothing is secure.
And this is the good news. But only if you are
not seeking security as the point of your life.”–Eve
Ensler
When her stage play The Vagina Monologues became
a runaway hit and an international sensation,
Eve Ensler emerged as a powerful voice and champion
for women everywhere. Now the brilliant playwright
gives us her first major work written exclusively
for the printed page. Insecure at Last is a timely
and urgent look at our security-obsessed world,
the drastic measures taken to keep us safe, and
how we can truly experience freedom by letting
go of the deceptive notion of vigilant “protection.”
Ensler draws on personal experiences and candid
interviews with burka-clad women in Afghanistan;
female prisoners in upstate New York; survivors
at the Superdome after Katrina; and anti-war activist
Cindy Sheehan–sharing unforgettable snapshots
that chronicle a post-9/11 existence in which
hyped obsession for safety and security has undermined
our humanity. The us-versus-them mentality, Ensler
explains, has closed our minds and hardened our
compassionate hearts.
Provocative, illuminating, inspiring, and boldly
envisioned, Insecure at Last challenges us to
reconsider what it means to be free, to discover
that our strength is not born out of that which
protects us. Ensler offers us the opportunity
to reevaluate our everyday lives, expose our vulnerability,
and, in doing so, experience true freedom and
fulfillment.
Wrestling With
the Angel of Democracy: On Being an American Citizenby Susan Griffin
What does it mean to be a citizen of the United
States? In this compelling and intensely personal
work, Susan Griffin—cultural historian, poet,
public intellectual—blends history, cultural
criticism, and memoir to discover the essence
of our democracy. From the Declaration of Independence
to the war in Iraq, from Thomas Jefferson to John
Muir to Jelly Roll Morton, Griffin incisively
and provocatively reflects upon the rise and fall
of the American vision of freedom and equality.
We are still wrestling with the promise of democracy
and the complex idea of equality lying at its
heart, and as American citizens, are deeply affected
by the ongoing struggle between tyranny and freedom.
Susan Griffin, winner of a MacArthur grant and
a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National
Book Award, is widely recognized as one of the
most important feminist thinkers of our day. Griffin
has been broadly praised for her erudition and
depth, and for her poetic and evocative writing
style.
A smart, sassy takedown of the right-wingers
who ran the GOP — and the country —
into the ground.
Blog queen Arianna Hufffington trains her formidable
smarts and biting wit on the right-wing extremists
who in recent years have steadily been dismantling
America and all it stands for. In the process,
she demonstrates not only that "conservative
governance" is a contradiction in terms,
but that nothing less than the survival of America
as we've known it is at stake in the 2008 elections.
It wasn't enough that the lunatic fringe of the
Republican Party took over the GOP; in the Bush
years they've hijacked the entire country. A war
without end in Iraq, a deregulated economy that's
gone off the rails, an all-out assault on science
and, indeed, on the very principle of informed
government, a regression to the Middle Ages in
our treatment of detainees, blockbusting deficits
— the list of conservative achievements in
the Bush years goes on and on. The striking thing
is that the 'wingers wrought all this in open
defiance of the American people, whose views are
considerably more moderate and sane. So how did
they bring it off?
As Huffington shows, the administration was crucially
a docile media too concerned with its own privileges
and trapped in lazy and mindless journalistic
conventions, and supine Democrats who allowed
themselves to be bullied and never missed an opportunity
to roll over and play dead as Bush and company
trampled yet another cherished value.
For those who think a John McCain presidency
will be an improvement over Bush misrule, think
again. For them this book is a wake up call. For
everyone else, it's another reminder: time to
roll up the sleeves and work for a return to sanity
in 2008.
American Fascists:
The Christian Right and the War on Americaby Chris Hedges
“When fascism comes to America, it will
be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross.”
—Sinclair Lewis
Former New York Times war reporter and Harvard
Divinity School alumnus Chris Hedges argues that
the Christian right is a threat to American democracy.
Himself a devout (progressive) Christian steeped
in his faith tradition, Hedges convincingly argues
that the religious right is essentially a mass
movement fueled by militant nationalism and intolerance
and by the deeply anti-democratic aversion to
critical inquiry and freedom of conscience.
Drawing on the psychological and sociological
literature of fascism and cults, Hedges draws
parallels between 20th-century totalitarian movements
and the highly organized, well-funded "dominionist
movement," an influential sect within the
evangelical population whose ultimate aim is a
fundamentalist Christian state that brooks no
dissent. He describes how the movement has extended
its influence deep inside the U.S. government,
with members in all three branches of government
and all over the country, via a massive network
of Christian TV and radio stations.
Based on first-hand reporting of events such
as pro-life rallies and classes on conversion
techniques and on interviews with current and
former adherents, American Fascists investigates
the origins, development and frightening potential
of the dominionists and argues that another 9/11-like
crisis, should it come, will spur the movement
to mount an aggressive assault on American democracy.
American Fascists is a passionate brief for the
open society and a fierce warning about a threat
in its midst.