Tadasu Ohe Plantec Architects

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With their intense professional activity, Plantec Architects are in the van of the deep changes produced in Japanese architecture by the new information culture.

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A fascinating exploration of the multiple roles of photography as viewed through perhaps the single most important collection of American photography of the 1960s, 70s, 80s, and 90s the permanent collection of The Museum of Contemporary Photography. Isolating the development of postwar photography into four major roles artistic expression, documentation, commercial industry, and scientific tool the book delivers insightful essays from renowned scholars coupled with 170 perfectly printed quadratone images from all the most important photographers of this era. As an instructive primer on four decades of photography, as a work of extensive research and scholarship, or simply as an unprecedented assemblage of great photography, Photography s Multiple Roles is a monumental, accessible and much needed work. 272 pp., 170 quadratone illus., 10 x 11 , Softbound.

Book Description

Vance Rodewalt got his start drawing professionally for Marvel comics and the magazines Mad and Cracked. As an editorial cartoonist for first the Albertan (later the Calgary Sun) and then for the Calgary Herald, Rodewalt's controversial cartoons have provoked both laughter and angry letters to the editor. In this collection Rodewalt takes on all comers in a Western-style shoot-out of wit and satire against the powerful, the pompous and the plain peculiar.

Book Description

This book provides an extensive evaluation of the numerous policy instruments used by regional governments in Europe to promote innovation activity in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The instruments are compared and benchmarked in order to identify `good practice', in an effort to bridge the gap between the theory of regional innovation and real-world policy implementation.

The authors argue for a new policy paradigm and highlight the value of an interactive style of policy intervention. Since the majority of SMEs have a limited resource base with regard to innovation, they need external orientation to understand and adapt to their environment. Thus, the main role for policy should be to increase the innovative capacity of a region and its SMEs by fostering interactive learning both within firms, and within the region as a whole. The authors also collect extensive data on the efficiency of innovation-driven policy measures and introduce three key concepts for successful regional innovation policy: coherence, interactivity and cumulative character.

This volume will provide practical lessons and useful comparative results for a variety of professionals working on SME-oriented innovation at the EU, national and regional level. In particular, the mix of theoretical and empirical material will be of considerable interest to academics and researchers studying regional innovation systems and their role in knowledge-based economies. The book will also appeal to professional consultants, practitioners and policymakers who will find the frameworks for the evaluation and design of innovation policies to be of immense value.

Book Description

Whether talking of globalization, democracy, adjustment, or flexibility, this is a world of constant change. In some ways, we are also at the end of a period of labor market stability. In many countries, trade unions, employers, and governments have long been the main architects of this stability. Is collective representation now in crisis? In this major report, the ILO investigates the state of industrial relations worldwide. Drawing on examples from all the world's regions, from the company to the national and international levels, in the formal and informal sectors, it offers a comprehensive assessment of how change in the real world is negotiated.

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The Plight of America's Unwanted

Must read if you are in the field

Unwanted aren't always on welfare

Honest and On Point

informative yet entertaining

Wasted: The Plight of America's Unwanted Children
Patrick T. Murphy
Manufacturer: Ivan R. Dee Publisher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Social Services & Welfare | Poverty | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Social Work | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Sociology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Children's Studies | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
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ORPHANS OF THE LIVING : Stories of America's Children in Foster Care

The Heart Knows Something Different: Teenage Voices from the Foster Care System : Youth Communication

On Their Own: What Happens to Kids When They Age Out of the Foster Care System?

Turning Stones: My Days and Nights with Children at Risk: A Caseworker's Story

Nobody's Children: Abuse and Neglect, Foster Drift, and the Adoption Alternative

ASIN: 1566633338

Book Description

The public guardian of Cook County, Illinois, charges that the child welfare bureaucracy, designed to help children, is instead helping to destroy them. Murphy explains the facts and failures of the child welfare system--and offers solutions--better than any expert I've ever read on the subject....A first-rate read--poignant and instructive. --Edward I. Koch

Customer Reviews:

The Plight of America's Unwanted.......2007-07-25

This book, written by a 30-year court guardian of the Chicago-area in Illinois, argues for the reformation of our child social services departments. Too many resources are being funneled into programs to keep families together, treating parents as victims and ultimately costing children their health (mental and physical), their childhoods (spent in prisons and psychiatric facilities), and sometimes their lives. Told in the form of anecdotes, case studies, and laced with statistics, Murphy presents his case forcefully that there should be more termination of parental rights and placements in adoptive homes and residential care facilities for abused children and less money in welfare agencies spent repairing parents and families that are beyond, well, repair. He makes a careful distinction between those who truly are down-trod by circumstances of poverty and livelihood and those who refuse ample opportunities to change themselves and their behavior, staying mired in their own world of misery which Murphy dubs "the underclass".

Tracing his own roots as a DA lawyer to his stint in Somalia as a peace corps worker and then back to legal services, Murphy shows how cultural changes have influenced the child welfare system both in terms of policy and how the children have ended up their in the first place. He is honest enough to admit his own mistake in initially arguing for the build-up family preservation services, but one cannot help but admire his courage and tenacity of conviction even if he is not, by his own admission, a team-player. I was intrigued by his take on the influence of politics on the child welfare system, and his belief that neither side is "correct": the conservatives neglect the poor to their own devices, while the liberals constantly defend the behavior of those viewed as "victims", ultimately steeping them further into a culture of dependency. He skillfully takes on the complex issues of class and race and the roadblocks they produce in terms of figuring out a child's best interest, without ever seeming racist or insensitive to the plight of the poor.

While I agree with the point of another viewer that abused children are not always poor and that there are perhaps fewer programs instituted to help middle-class children (whose parents may, in fact, have the money and means to dodge "the legal system"), I think Murphy's point was to define a certain subgroup of abusers, "the underclass" and expose how these people are often excused of their behavior due to their poverty, reduced prospects, and racial issues. Whereas abuse cases in middle-class families are viewed as isolated incidents, among poorer people, they are blamed on circumstance, which is, as Murphy points out, truly an insult to the majority of impoverished people who work very hard to raise their children despite limited means.

This is a short, crisp, to-the-point read. It is also a heart-breaking one. Indeed, perhaps the most persuasive part of the book is not any of the reality-based factual arguments about making welfare more self-sufficient, that schools can only help kids who are motivated by parents to learn, setting up a parens patriae court, or de-racializing foster homes, but Murphy himself, whose sarcastic comments about the system around him go beyond humor and becomes raw and bitterly, abrasive, reflecting the years he has spent dealing with innocents beyond hope who have no hope. One gets the impression he believes he is the only person who cares about these children, and perhaps he is.

Must read if you are in the field.......2007-05-21

I stumbled upon this book while looking for something related to foster care. I am a director of a small therapeutic foster care program and have been in the child welfare field for some time. This is the best text I have read on the subject. It probably makes much more sense if you are in the field. I not, you will not have a very good understanding of the topics discussed. My immediate thought was to share this book with coworkers. It is amazing how the sequence of events in Illinois in the mid 1990s almost exactly mirror the last few years here in Connecticut. If you are in the field buy this book.

Unwanted aren't always on welfare.......2006-06-07

Unfortunately, this author fails to include unwanted children that even come from wealthy families. Unwanted children of wealthy families often end up in similar circumstances. Even though the focus of this book is primarily for families in poverty, the author fails to realize even further, that often times, children from wealthy families end up with NO HELP and NO RESOURCES for their plights, in contrast to programs specifically designed for those in poverty. He fails to recognize the value of programs as a universal ideal, as does the Federal Government.
It is too bad that the author places the stigma of being an unwanted child based upon class. It is a sad enough dilemma in itself, especially when children are victimized and used as scapegoats, no matter what their class background may be.

Honest and On Point.......2002-04-30

Patrick Murphy brings a wealth of knowledge and experience into this books discussion of povery and America's developing underclass. I would agree with many this book is not easy reading, but rings true in many respects.

His opinions on the current state of Child Welfare Services is rough but honest. He is generally negative and does not hold a great deal of hope for the future of our "system". While personal and profession beliefs in regards to many of his points differ, one cannot disagree with his reasoning.

The book is well thought out and worth reading.

informative yet entertaining.......2001-05-22

Although the legal terminology may turn some readers off, I found Murphy to be painfully honest and accurate with his description of the foster care system. As a teacher who has also been a foster parent, I have been witness to some very disturbing situations, and I am still not sure what is in the best interest of the child, long term. Murphy's use of humor certainly helps deliver this message, and I would recommend this book to anyone who works with children.

Book Description

Hard cover, large format (9"x12"), 480 pages, 800 black and white photographs. Extensive photo coverage, with very detailed captions, of the Waffen SS, from the common soldier in the field to well-known personalities. Includes many photos of foreign volunteers and also features many pictures of armor and equipment. Most of the photos are either previously unpublished, rare or captioned correctly for the first time. A carefully researched book which will become a classic on the Waffen SS.

Customer Reviews:

If you're interested in germanic volunteers..........2005-11-26

... serving in the Waffen SS, this book is definitely for you... In effect, "Soldiers of..." is an impressive collection of photos concerning the western-european volunteers of the Armed SS. I have to reconize that although, now, this book is not "new", it contains a great amount of never seen pictures... and this fact is, to my opinion, an acceptable justification to get it.

But I still have an objection concerning "Soldiers of the Waffen-SS : Many Nations...". There is very little, except the baltic states, about the units raised in eastern and south-eastern europe ... For sure, these formations didn't get as many knight crosses as the germanic divisions and their battle record weren't as impressive but, numerically, they were the majority... For example, I didn't find any pic about the Ukrainians of the "14th Waffen-grenadier division der SS"...

Apart this, Rikmenspoel delivers a superb book of well chosen pictures concerning the Waffen SS... A second part including eastern formations would be a very great...

Excellent collection of rare photes.......2005-07-01

I found this to be an outstanding collection Of photographs concerning the waffen ss.
The vast majority of photos i had never seen before dispite owning many books on the subject.Lots of different types of photo as well, many portraits, Lots of interesting documents and lots of front line/situation photos.
Every photo has detailed captioning explaining who or what the photo concerns.
Proberly the most interesting aspect were the pictures of all the different nationalities that servered in the waffen ss.
An absolute must have for waffen ss enthusiasts.

Excellent Photo Collection of the Waffen-SS.......2004-05-15

I cannot praise this book enough. All the photos contained are excellent, with most being previously unpublished. Most of the photos are of the foreign volunteers in the Waffen-SS, which is usually not seen in other works. The main strength of the book lies in the detailed captions of each and every photograph. The author, Marc Rikmenspoel, did an excellent job of identifying the people in the photos, the place is was taken, and the time period. More often than not the caption also includes some other piece of information like when the person was awarded the Knights Cross, when he died, or information about the unit itself. The detailed captions absolutely give a greater appreciation when looking at the photos because the people in them become real instead of nameless faces.

The book does not cover any attrocities, moralizing, or politics, and gladly so. The author gives his excellent reasons for this in his introduction. I thank the author for an excellent book that I am proud to own. If you are worried about the price, don't be because you get your money's worth. You could spend that same amount on three inferior quality books about the Waffen-SS. Furthermore I'd bet between the three they would have almost no new photos and just rehash the same information.

Reviewer - John J Kubenski Jr from North Dakota........2000-07-25

First of all I have a B.A. Degree in History and consider myself a historian. Also I have a small library that are historical and about Military History. The book 'Soldiers of the Waffen-SS, Many Nations, One Motto' is the best and I give it 5 stars because it contains the military aspects of the Waffen-SS [ Schute Staffle] and the military concept of it instead of the crimes commited against military personnal and civilians. Despite of what they did during WW2, the Waffen [armed]SS was Germany's elite troops. The Waffen-SS in other books focused on it's sordid aspects during the war by book markets to garner sales rather than focusing of their military activities. The fact that any mention of Hitler's Elite Force fifty years later always stirs emotions that distracts their complex and many facted armed SS. Historians have been able to sort out the military aspects of the Waffen-SS and their battle harded quest to win against all odds through digging into wartime files with the use of modern day technology is fantastic that makes this book and other SS titles presentable. The author [Mark Rikmenspoel] did a fantastic job on this book which took time and effort. From what I read the use of different nationalities to beef up the SS Divisions and to create new ones was the only thing the SS had to do to keep going. The fact that Germany lost the war and the Waffen-SS was branded a outlaw organization doesn't discredit that they were the best. Also the denial of pensions by the West German government is wrong because of certain factions of the SS who did commit the crimes should be put to rest along with the constant harassment of former SS men is boring to the public. They paid their dues and should be left alone. These men fought and died for their country and once they realized that the war was lost, they fought for pride and for themselves in order to survive. Both sides in every war commits crimes against humanity on way or the other. So by placing the blame on one organization is wrong and unjust. Mark Rikmenspoel's book is outstanding and stands out in my library along with the other SS books. It's worth reading,objective, insightful, a book to buy, and a learning experiance and a tool for the historian.

A massive compendium of facts and photos.......2000-04-11

Although this subject has long held fascination for a wide audience of WW2 buffs, the commercial book market has mainly catered to the sordid aspects of SS battlefield atrocities, like Malmedy or le Paradis to garner sales. Even worse, Holocaust or concentration camp details always seem to find their way into any book on the Armed SS in WW2. Even with the passing of five decades since WW2 ended, any subject connected to Hitler's Elite Guard gets viewed with emotions that sometimes cloud our perceptions of the complex and many- faceted Schutz Staffel. A new vanguard of historians has emerged, who have been able to sort out the purely military aspects of the battlefield SS. In digging through WW2 personnel archives with space age computer technology, they have combined their startling factual discoveries with a wealth of previously unseen photos, to create historically valuable presentations. Marc Rikmenspoel, a Dutch-American researcher, has proven himself in this category. As an author, I can well understand the daunting task he undertook in combining over 800 detailed captions in lieu of a conventional text, to bring a wealth of meaning and information to each photo. Although his book progresses in somewhat chronological fashion, there is a mingling of foreign volunteer units with ethnic German units, which I found a bit distracting. However, that is precisely the point of his subtitle. Some valuable new studies by Lapree and Brandt have also shed light on the political complexeties which motivated Freiwilligen troops like Croats and Flemings to fight against the Soviets on the Eastern Front. It becomes increasingly evident that we have much yet to learn. As the despised losers of WW2, Waffen SS combat veterans were denied pensions by the post war German government, and only in recent years have their true stories been explored by objective historians outside Germany. With utter conviction to their cause, the plight of these twisted idealists, once German victory had proven hopeless, has always fascinated me. When I look at Marc Rikmenspoel's book on the shelf alongside the many SS exploitation books, I can clearly see its superiority and worth. The bulk of current market SS books combine little new information with the sure fire formula of sensationalistic stories, and atrocity and artifact photos. The public is finally getting weary of this garbage and Rikmenspoel's book is one I go back to again and again, to glean an endless source of information and refreshingly new photos on the WW2 Waffen SS on several fronts. Although Rikmenspoel doesn't deny that SS war crimes were committed, they are simply outside the scope of this book. This is an objective and valuable work, a learning experience for the military historian.

Book Description

Wider attention to Carl Friedrich Bahrdt should revise the standard picture of eighteenth-century Germany. German writers were often reported to be apolitical. Historians often claim that the Germans developed a more radical politics in response to the French Revolution. A commonly held stereotype depicts the Germans as having no sense of humor. Bahrdt's 1788 play "The Edict of Religion" , a ribald work of satire that attacks the tyranny and hypocrisy of the Prussian authorities, shatters these assumptions. "The Edict of Religion" is chiefly important in the history of ideas because it called for religious freedom, intellectual freedom, and freedom of the press before the French Revolution focused attention on human rights. Upon its publication, however, Bahrdt confronted the quasi-military discipline of the Prussian state that he denounced. He was tried and imprisoned-but could not be silenced. In "The Story and Diary of My Imprisonment", also in this volume (and, like "The Edict of Religion", here in English for the first time), Bahrdt holds the authorities up to ridicule and defends himself as an innocent victim.

Book Description

Extensively revised, the second edition of this highly acclaimed book contains the most up-to-date information available on each of the world`s 96 species of swifts and treeswifts. The author includes recent findings, particularly about the neotropical swifts, and the artist has revised several plates based on new observations of these fascinating birds.

Customer Reviews:

Definitely worth the wait.......2000-04-09

I've been waiting for this second edition for over a year, but it was worth the wait. The swifts are considered by many to be among the hardest species to identify, especially in the tropics where the number of possible species is large, and the differences between species are slight. Identification was even trickier because most field guides neglect them, so it's a great help to finally have (almost) all of the subspecies of Vaux's Swift on the same plate. The species accounts are very detailed, and the range maps are superb. Also, the intruductory chapters about swift biology were quite interesting. Hopefully i'll be ready the next time i find an odd looking bird mixed with a flock of band-rumped swifts and add an ashy-tailed swift to my life list.

Swifts: A Guide to the Swifts and Treeswifts of the World, Second Edition

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Swifts: A Guide to the Swifts and Treeswifts of the World, Second Edition
Phil Chantler
Manufacturer: Pica Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OSL35E

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