Profiles of America 2003: A Statistical Overview of Every U.S. Community

Book Description

In a democracy that for over 200 years has prided itself on public participation and citizen involvement in government, thousands have been and will be the targets of multi-million-dollar lawsuits. They will be sued for such "all-American" activities as circulating a petition, writing a letter to the editor, testifying at a public hearing, reporting violations of the law, filing an official complaint, lobbying for legislation, or otherwise communicating their views. Such cases, named "Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation," with their apropos acronym, SLAPPs, are a shocking abuse of one of our most basic political rights—the Right to Petition. So extensive and grievous is the phenomenon that Justice Nicholas Colabella remarked, "Short of a gun to the head, a greater threat to First Amendment expression can scarcely be imagined."

George W. Pring and Penelope Canan explore the full range of SLAPP stories in this first study of SLAPPs— retaliatory lawsuits by real estate developers; teachers; police; politicians; opponents of civil rights; consumers' rights; women's rights; and many others. This comprehensive book examines what happens to the targets of SLAPPs and what is happening to public participation in American politics. Addressing the ultimate dilemma—what can be done to turn the tables and fight back—Pring and Canan offer concrete, well-supported, balanced solutions for preventing, managing, and curing SLAPPs at all levels of government.

Customer Reviews:

Insight from a SLAPP research insider.......2003-06-23

I was one of the law students working with Prof's Pring and Canan in their research of SLAPPs. I spoke with a number of "average Joe's" from around the country, as well as with their attorneys. What cannot be emphasized more strongly is the outright fear expressed by the victims of these SLAPP suits, who refuse to sign another petition, go to another public meeting, send another letter to their government representative, etc. This is the fundamental suppression of their free speech and petitioning rights as residents and citizens of the United States, which this book documents both historically and practically. Never forget that knowledge is power. As a result of my work on this project, I have been able to document new SLAPP cases, which had not raised SLAPP defenses, communicate with their attorneys, and help them summarily deal with these "chilling" lawsuits. These SLAPP lawsuits continue, and only by empowering ourselves with resources such as this book can we fight to protect our rights.

Excellent book on defending our constitutional rights........1996-10-02

I am involved in a SLAPPs situation in Oklahoma and my sister in Colorado recommended this book. This book is not sold in Oklahoma but it should be. This book is 10 years worth of experience of dealing with suits Big Corporations, Developers, etc. file against concerned citizens when the citizens speak out, exercising their constitutional rights. It is a how-to book for citizens, attorneys, and judges to defend the constitutional rights of ordinary citizens. The book is practical, it is philosophical, and it is accurate. It is easy to read and very clear and logical as well. It should be the handbook of every neighborhood organization across the United States, as well as every citizen's group that might have to question the powers that be in their local governments in order to facilite changes for the better in their neighborhoods, towns, cities, states, etc.

SLAPPs: Getting Sued for Speaking Out. (book reviews): An article from: Multinational Monitor

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SLAPPs: Getting Sued for Speaking Out. (book reviews): An article from: Multinational Monitor

Manufacturer: Essential Information, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B00096NP02
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Multinational Monitor, published by Essential Information, Inc. on July 1, 1996. The length of the article is 663 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: SLAPPs: Getting Sued for Speaking Out. (book reviews)
Publication: Multinational Monitor (Refereed)
Date: July 1, 1996
Publisher: Essential Information, Inc.
Volume: v17 Issue: n7-8 Page: p37(1)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

This outstanding volume enables researchers to develop robust sensors and instruments for automatic 'on site' measurement of water quality. The need for an efficient multi-parameter monitoring system is ever-increasing, given that human activity is impacting so greatly on ecosystems and the increased need to develop our understanding of the underlying environmental processes.

Edited by two renowned experts, this book evaluates developments over the last 10-20 years which will form the basis of future sophisticated in situ monitoring systems. The emphasis is on micro-analytical monitoring techniques and microtechnology.

Critically discusses the state of the art of existing techniques and devices
Overviews what can be expected in terms of performance
Outlines possible improvements in the future

This book will be invaluable to both researchers interested in the development of environmental monitoring systems and laboratories in charge of water quality assessment by providing them with a critical evaluation of existing and possible future options.

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In-Situ Monitoring of Aquatic Systems: Chemical Analysis and Speciation
Jacques Buffle
Manufacturer: Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MUOMB6

Book Description

The lecture notes of Julian Schwinger's UCLA course consist of three parts corresponding to the three quarters of teaching. The first part begins with an analysis of Stern--Gerlach-type experiments which accomplishes a self-contained physical and mathematical development of the general structure of quantum kinematics. The second part proceeds from there. The response to infinitesimal time displacements yields the equations of motion. Then the Quantum Action Principle (QAP) is derived, and accepted as a fundamental principle. In a sense, the rest of part two and all of part three consist of instructive applications of the QAP.

Customer Reviews:

Enlightening.......2006-10-31

This is a fascinating, illuminating, even exciting work. I'm giving it 5 stars, but with the caveat that occaisonally Schwinger's thought process merely left me confused. I'm sure that had he lived to finish the book those few snags would have been worked out with the editors.

One interesting feature is that, once he starts getting into applications,
derivations are worked out in great detail, which may make the book look more mathematically dense than it really is. It's all pretty accessible to anyone who has had undergrad QM. There are also tons of exercises (no solutions, though.) This would make a great supplement to a book like Sakurai's that takes a more deductive approach. I could even see a talented instructor using it as a primary text.

relatively easy to follow; unlike his research papers.......2006-10-27

Schwinger died in 1994, and this book is largely a summation of his lecture notes for courses he gave at UCLA in the 80s. To a physicist who already knows the subject, there are still chances of gleaning insight from Schwinger's approach.

Keep in mind that the notes were for lectures to undergrads and grads. They are not reprints of his journal papers. The latter are somewhat notorious to generations of physics grads. Yes, Schwinger's work on QED was seminal. No physicist disputes that. But his papers were sometimes so hard to follow. Feynman's approach was considered much clearer, especially with his refactorings into what we now call Feynman diagrams. These gave an intuition often lacking from reading the analysis in Schwinger's papers.

Anyhow, the level of dissertion in this book is a lot clearer than in those papers. Rather surprising, to me at least. Because my acquaintance with Schwinger was through the journal papers. I never knew that he could write so clearly as he did here.

Great read!.......2004-11-20

This is how quantum mechanics ought to be written and studied. By reading this book you will be learning from a true master!

A unique perspective by a unique man.......2001-12-26

I presume I do not need to introduce Schwinger's list of credentials, including a nobel prize for QED alongside with Feynman and the third guy (I'm sorry, I never seem to remember his name). Schwinger has always had his own view of physics, much like Feynman, and in his books he usually follows that view. The consequence is a book on an old subject, such as QM, which includes many new viewpoints and ideas not found in other books, especially in use of action principles, of which Schwinger was a major proponent.

That being said, it should be stressed that you should not approach this book without taking a course or two in QM - Schwinger himself states so at the introduction. It would not only make the book hard to follow, but also make it pointless - the whole idea of reading this book is getting a fresh new perspective on QM.

For example, instead of stating the "axioms" of QM, Schwinger decides to examine physical experiments and try to see where these axioms come from. He is not always successful in doing that, but at the very least he should get every faithful reader to deeply ponder the foundations of QM. Instead of just writing down Schroedinger's equation and saying, "this is how our system evolves in time", he decides to take an action principle as his fundamental rule for time evolution and derive Schroedinger's equation from it. In short, he turns QM upside down - and gets away with it.

It is definitely worthwhile checking out this book, although many will not like the idea of doing things Schwinger's way - in a sense, the book's greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. You have been warned.

The Perfect Way to Do Quantum Mechanics.......2001-12-08

Schwinger has presented in the text the perfect way to do Quantum Mechanics. This book is actually transformed from lecture notes given by him for three quarters at UCLA in the mid-1980s. Just look at how he induses the general structure of quantum kinematics and establishes the dynamical principle - his quantum action principle, you would agree with me that it should be on the shelf of every physist, physics teacher and student.

Book Description

The key to understanding a volatile region
In 1989, to the surprise of many, the infamous Iron Curtain separating Western and Eastern Europe collapsed. In a matter of months, a world that had existed for four decades was overturned, and nations and peoples who had for centuries been dominated-and at times destroyed-by their more powerful neighbors were detached from the Russian sphere of influence and set on a radically new economic and political path.
Major articles on the countries of Eastern Europe
The cornerstones of the encyclopedia are the articles on countries and regions of Eastern Europe: Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and the countries that once made up Yugoslavia. Additional coverage of European Russia is also included. These articles are both detailed and concise, offering the reader a brief but comprehensive introduction into a country's history during the last two centuries.

Articles on the major political organizations and movements
Eastern Europe was an area rich in diverse political ideas and movements, stretching from monarchists on the one extreme to radical socialists and anarchists on the other. These movements often played decisive roles in the political and social evolution of the region but have often been little covered in histories written from a Western European orientation. The book also covers the leading figures who shaped the region's political destiny, as well as the major artists, writers, and other culturally significant individuals during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Maps and other reader aidsAn extensive map program enriches the text and helps the reader place a topic in geographic context. Bibliographies at the end of entries direct the reader to accessible sources for further reading on Eastern European history.
This encyclopedia serves as an excellent introduction for the reader who is unfamiliar with Eastern Europe, but it is also a comprehensive reference for the expert interested in checking a detail or examining the latest historical perspective about a subject.

Book Description

Here is a tightly written, concise survey of the history of technology and science over four centuries. In constructing this engaging account, Professor Brose weaves a fabric from three histories which, until now, have been thought of as mutually exclusive. The history of technology, the history of science, and the history of economic development leading to the Industrial Revolution have been developed to a large degree separately. Few historians have attempted a synthesis such as this which demonstrates the relationship between them and general political developments in a way which produces a rounded account, with each strand playing its part in supporting and interacting with the others.

The narrative starts with the opening of the modern historical epoch around 1500 and ends with the outbreak of World War I in 1914 and covers events in both Europe and the United States. Brose constructs his account from the standpoint of technological systems--the idea that each epoch evolves a system to meet the material demands of society--and the rise and fall of each system within the period.

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Canadian Journal of History, published by University of Saskatchewan on December 1, 2001. The length of the article is 746 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Technology and Science in the Industrializing Nations 1500-1914. (Reviews: general and international). (book review)
Author: Janis Langins
Publication: Canadian Journal of History (Refereed)
Date: December 1, 2001
Publisher: University of Saskatchewan
Volume: 36 Issue: 3 Page: 636(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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The best steel design reference

The Standard

Good book

Still the Best General Steel Structural Design Book Available

steel structures: design and behavior (4th edition)

Steel Structures: Design and Behavior : Emphasizing Load and Resistance Factor Design
Charles G. Salmon , and John Johnson
Manufacturer: Harpercollins College Div
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Civil | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Steel Design | Civil | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Structural | Civil | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
General | Science | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0060457031

Customer Reviews:

The best steel design reference.......2007-03-11

This book covers the basics and fundamentals of steel design in such a way that provides a great reference for the structural engineering student or professional. Possibly the best book you can find in the field.
I've been using it since graduate school and through the years as a consultant in structural engineering.

The Standard.......2006-11-20

This is simply the best book on steel design out there, and anyone interested in learning the subject needs to read it. It covers the crucial aspects of the AISC code in a unified manner and is quite readable. The authors begin each topic in the book with the detailed background mechanics behind the observed structural behavior and then proceed to verify these ideas with experimental evidence. Next the authors explain how the the code provisions result practically from these ideas. Finally, the authors offer a number of solved examples in design and analysis and explain the methods used to solve them.

This is exactly the way that a book on design should be put together. The code is not a black box, but sometimes it can be presented as such. In order to properly design or analyze a real building, you need a firm grasp of the basic and not so basic principles of structural mechanics and the empirical evidence that backs it up; you can't simply be a "Code Monkey" and expect to do a whole lot more than determining if a W10x16 or a W10x14 should be erected. Salmon and Johnson really explain steel structural engineering in this book, and if you make an effort to seriously learn the material, you will gain tremendous dividends in your understanding of these complex and interesting topics.

Good book.......2006-07-10

This book thoroughly describes design procedures with numerous examples using both LRFD and ASD design, exactly what I need as an intern engineer. Sometimes I find the examples difficult to follow when units are not carried through and commentary left out; however, details are plentiful enough to eventually catch on. The AISC Manual of Steel Construction is constantly referred to and thus necessary to follow examples fully (I broke down and purchased it). Lastly, readers should be on the lookout for typos as I have spotted several.

Still the Best General Steel Structural Design Book Available.......2006-01-15

Given the available books on the market for general steel structural design in the U.S., this is by far the best. The breadth of topics covered is abundant without any sacrifice in depth of full backround and commentary, which is sorely missing from other books of this kind. The layout and presentation of information is very clear and readable.

Although a new edition covering changes in the industry since the last publication would be greatly appreciated, the book taken for when it was published is still very applicable for use now (despite reviews to the contrary given below). Any competent engineer can adjust to changes in industry standards as the base material given in the book is very solid and sound.

The proof in the outstanding quality of this book is trying to use other similar books in the market today, which generally fall short in comparison.

steel structures: design and behavior (4th edition).......2005-04-02

Great book! Lots of theory and examples to support subject matter. Unfortunately, sometimes the theory and layout of the book becomes overwhelming. THE reference for P.E. exam.

Steel Structures: Design and Behavior : Emphasizing Load and Resistance Factor Design

Average customer rating:

Steel Structures: Design and Behavior : Emphasizing Load and Resistance Factor Design
Harper Collins Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000SWVP0E

Average customer rating:

Steel Structures: Design and Behavior : Emphasizing Load and Resistance Factor Design
Harper Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000SWTM3G

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