Average customer rating: |
EU Law and the Welfare State: In Search of Solidarity (Collected Courses of the Academy of European Law)
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 0199287414 |
Book Description
This collection of essays addresses a topical subject of current importance, namely the impact of the EU on national welfare state systems. The volume aims to question the perception that matters of social welfare remain for Member States of the EU to decide, and that the EU's influence in this field is minor or incidental. The various essays trace the different ways in which the EU is having an impact on the laws and practices of the Member States in the area of welfare, looking at issues of social citizenship and the influence of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, as well as at the impact of EU economic freedoms - competition law and free movement law in particular - on both 'services of general economic interest' and on national health-care systems. The significance of the so-called Open Method of Coordination in developing a new compromise on 'social Europe' is discussed, as well as the tensions between market liberalization and social protection in the specific context of this transnational political system are examined. While the various authors clearly have different views on the likelihood of a robust form of European social solidarity developing, the book as a whole suggests the emergence of a distinctive, although partial and fragmented, European Union welfare dimension.
Average customer rating: |
Social Security and Solidarity in the European Union
Manufacturer: Physica-Verlag Heidelberg ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 3790813346 |
Book Description
Since the 1970s social security in the European Union has been dominated by attempts at reform and cost control. In the last decade of the twentieth century these attempts have been strengthened by the coming European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). This book offers an overview of the social security system and its development in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. The national contributions are preceded by an introduction on the development of social security in Europe till the present day, with special reference to the postwar process of European integration and its effects. The book is concluded by two essays. The first examines the danger and opportunities of European integration for social security. The second discusses ethical aspects: what effect will European integration have on the quality of social security in Europe?
Average customer rating: |
The Cost of War: British Policy on French War Debts, 1918-1932
Arthur Turner Manufacturer: Sussex Academic Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: 1898723370 |
Average customer rating: |
Estimating How the Macroeconomy Works
Ray Fair Manufacturer: Harvard University Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: 0674015460 |
Book Description
Macroeconomics tries to describe and explain the economywide movement of prices, output, and unemployment. The field has been sharply divided among various schools, including Keynesian, monetarist, new classical, and others. It has also been split between theorists and empiricists. Ray Fair is a resolute empiricist, developing and refining methods for testing theories and models. The field cannot advance without the discipline of testing how well the models approximate the data. Using a multicountry econometric model, he examines several important questions, including what causes inflation, how monetary authorities behave and what are their stabilization limits, how large is the wealth effect on aggregate consumption, whether European monetary policy has been too restrictive, and how large are the stabilization costs to Europe of adopting the euro. He finds, among other things, little evidence for the rational expectations hypothesis and for the so-called non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment (NAIRU) hypothesis. He also shows that the U.S. economy in the last half of the 1990s was not a "new age" economy.
Average customer rating:
|
If God Wanted Us to Travel...
David Brenner Manufacturer: Pocket Books ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 0671701142 |
Customer Reviews:
An extremely funny little ditty that will confirm your Fears.......1997-07-22
Average customer rating: |
IF GOD WANTED US TO TRAVEL
David Brenner Manufacturer: Pocket Books ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: B000IOG6V0 |
Average customer rating:
|
Masters of Jazz Guitar: The Story of the Players and Their Music Softcover with CD
Charles Alexander Manufacturer: Backbeat Books ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0879307285 |
Amazon.com
There are at least three kinds of jazz books: text-laden historical or critical overviews; photo-laden visual chronicles; and collections that detail the operations of a jazz musician, how a musician technically or creatively acts as a pioneer. Masters of Jazz Guitar dabbles happily in all three areas. It's a coffee-table book first, with fantastic, evocative photographs strewn throughout. You rarely see a collection in jazz that features photos of folks like Hungarian six-stringer Atila Zoller just pages away from far better known quantities like Al DiMeola, but the visuals here are just a sweet coating. Inside, the text is even more delicious, with 25 chapters breaking down the jazz guitar traditions, from Django Reinhardt to Wes Montgomery, Pat Metheny, and many more. In addition, the chapters are authored by a slew of great British critics, including Stuart Nicholson and Brian Priestley, each of whom demonstrates a liberal cut in the jazz tradition, an idea of the genre that easily spans swing, bop, free jazz, and the chilly abstractions of Derek Bailey. For the guitar player, this is a splendid and entertaining resource. For the jazz fan, it's all that and more. --Andrew BartlettBook Description
The jazz guitar and its master players have had vast influence in a genre of uniquely provocative 20th century music. Written by some of the world's foremost jazz authorities and illustrated with more than 200 gorgeous photographs, this book spotlights remarkable musicians whose artistry has made the guitar fundamental to jazz. From 1930s electric pioneer Charlie Christian, to 1960s fusion visionary Larry Coryell and beyond, Masters of Jazz Guitar celebrates the achievements of players who changed the sound of jazz. Features deluxe paper stock, full-color throughout the book, and a bonus CD with 14 classic tracks by Howard Alden, Tal Farlow, Danny Barker, Al Casey, George Barnes, Herb Ellis, Bucky Pizzarelli, Phil Upchurch and Jack Wilkins.Customer Reviews:
A MUST have for any jazz guitarist or fan........2003-06-28
I love this book, and it would be a GREAT present for ANY jazz guitarist. If you love one, buy it for them and they'll never forget it!
(-:
-d
Average customer rating: |
Of One Mind: The Collectivization of Science (Masters of Modern Physics, Vol 16)
John Ziman Manufacturer: AIP Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: 1563960656 |
Book Description
This superb collection by the eminent physicist and critic John Ziman, opens with an album of portraits of scientists--Albert Einstein, Freeman Dyson, Lev Landau, Mark Azbel, Andrei Sakharov. Ziman takes readers into the world of the contemporary scientist, showing how discoveries are made and how claims are tested. He then travels into the minds of scientists as they are drawn into competing directions. Here Ziman exposes the path of discovery, which is strewn with complex human needs, governmental restrictions, the desire for profits, and the exercise of technical virtuosity.
Average customer rating: |
Of One Mind: The Collectivization of Science.
John. ZIMAN Manufacturer: AIP Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: B000OFZRTK |
Average customer rating: |
Television Variety Shows: Histories and Episode Guides to 57 Programs
David M. Inman Manufacturer: McFarland & Company ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 0786421983 |
Product Description
For the few hundred television viewers in 1946, a special treat on the broadcast schedule was the variety show called Hour Glass. It was the first TV program to go beyond talking heads, cooking demonstrations, and sporting events, featuring instead dancers, comics, singers, and long commercials for its sponsor, Chase and Sanborn coffee. Within two years, another variety show, Texaco Star Theatre, became the first true television hit and would be credited with the sales of thousands of television sets. The variety show formula was a staple of television in its first 30 years, in part because it lent itself to a medium where everything had to be live and preferably inside a studio. Most of the early television starsincluding Jackie Gleason, Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Ed Sullivan, Red Skelton, Dinah Shore, and Arthur Godfreyrose to prominence through weekly variety shows. In the 1960s, major stars such as Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Judy Garland and Danny Kaye were hosting variety shows. By the 1970s, the format was giving way to sitcoms and dramas, but pop music stars Sonny and Cher, Tony Orlando and Dawn, and Donny and Marie Osmond hosted some of the last of the species. This book details 57 variety shows from the 1940s through the 1990s. A history of each show is first provided, followed by a brief look at each episode. Air date, guest stars, sketches performed, and a listing of songs featured are included.
Average customer rating:
|
Artificial Intelligence Illuminated
Ben Coppin Manufacturer: Jones & Bartlett Publishers ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0763732303 |
Book Description
Artificial Intelligence Illuminated presents an overview of the background and history of artificial intelligence, emphasizing its importance in today's society and potential for the future. The book covers a range of AI techniques, algorithms, and methodologies, including game playing, intelligent agents, machine learning, genetic algorithms, and Artificial Life. Material is presented in a lively and accessible manner and the author focuses on explaining how AI techniques relate to and are derived from natural systems, such as the human brain and evolution, and explaining how the artificial equivalents are used in the real world. Each chapter includes student exercises and review questions, and a detailed glossary at the end of the book defines important terms and concepts highlighted throughout the text.Customer Reviews:
Artificial Intelligence Illuminated.......2007-09-09
Suitable for a brief course, inappropriate for a regular one.......2007-01-30
A Thorough Introduction and Beyond!.......2004-08-09
Average customer rating:
|
The Art of Strategy: A New Translation of Sun Tzu's Classic The Art of War
R.L. Wing Manufacturer: Main Street Books ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0385237847 Release Date: 1988-04-01 |
Customer Reviews:
more applicable for the modern thinker.......2007-04-11
Personal strategic development workbook.......2006-12-05
Brilliant! A brilliant piece of a complex whole.......2004-02-06
I came to Wing's translation after having studied and studied the old public domain English translation with its copius notes and explanations. Wing gives the reader a tremendous insight into THE ART OF WAR, the brevity and compactness of Chinese language expression, the morality and thinking of Sun Tzu, and the different ways that the Eastern mind comprehends war from the Western mind.
If you are a dedicated student of Sun Tzu's ART OF WAR, this translation belongs in your collection. I don't know if it's the best or not, but it's a vital translation. If peace is your highest aim and the resolution of conflict without coming to violence is your highest aspiration, this book displays the wisdom of the great general in terms that clarify meaning for Western readers.
Explanation on Strategy & Politics.......2002-04-12
Sun Tzu's strategy is based on the laws of nature - both human and environment. His treatise is a universal template that shows the way to triumph over conflicts from interpersonal to international. The strategy follows a direct path that escalates until victory is assured. From analysis and projection, through planning and positioning and on to confrontation. Sun Tzu explains such techniques as the use of camouflage the creation of illusion and gathering intelligence. A true victory can be won only with a strategy of tactical positioning so that the moment of triumph is effortless and destructive conflict is averted. Sun Tzu pointed out "Those who win one hundred triumphs in one hundred conflicts do not have supreme skill. Those who have supreme skill use strategy to bend others without coming to conflict".
Sun Tzu explores the psychological motivations for power and discipline in `Art of War'. His work is ostensibly about tactics and day-to-day practice of warfare. As Sun Tzu was a keen observer of human nature, `the Art of war' is filled with advice useful not only for those engaged in war but also for those carrying on their normal lives.
The strategic and tactical doctrines expounded in `The Art of War' are based on deception, the creation of false appearance to mystify and delude the enemy; the indirect approach; readily adaptability to the enemy situation' flexible and co-ordinate maneuver of combat elements and speedy concentration against point of weakness. The best policy is to attack the enemy plans to prevent him from acting; then disrupt his alliances; creating a wedge amongst the people in state.
In the `Art of War' the underlying tone is discipline. The general has to spend considerable amount of energy in emphasizing the need for discipline. Discipline via fear is however useful only up to a point. There must be a motivating force for all people who aspire to succeed, whether in the field of business, politics, administration, government or warfare. Wars cannot be won by just mere strength but it is on a conglomeration of factors, which need to be accounted. Sun Tzu emphasizes the need to take the moral of oneself and its enemy, the environment and other barriers into consideration. The moral strength and intellectual faculty of men were decisive in war, and that if these were applied war could be waged with certain success. Never to be undertaken thoughtlessly or recklessly, war was to be preceded by measures designed to make it easy to win. The master conqueror frustrates his enemy plans and breaks his alliances; he creates cleavages between the sovereign and minister, superior and inferiors, commanders and subordinates. His spies and agents are active everywhere, gathering information, sowing dissention and nurturing subversion. The enemy needs to be isolated and demoralized and his will to resist broken, thus without battle his army is conquered his cities taken and his state overthrown.
Sun Tzu is a very vigilant and keen observer on human psychology.
The commentaries and annotations inserted preceding each chapter by R.W.Wang were lacking in depth; thought and any structure. They are more of an irritant than interesting read. I found myself skipping over his annotations. I found that his annotations had grammatical mistakes and I didn't find an introduction about the author.
Enter the Dragon.......2002-01-11
The book is laid out in such a way that it makes a perfect blueprint for a year's worth of meditations. I rushed the process, but memorized each of the pages, and followed up with journal writings. A bit more extreme than the average bear, I confess but it made such a difference. Now, more than ten years later, what I have internalized from that period remains core. As I review the axioms, it's hard for me to imagine how I saw things before they became as self-evident to me as they are now. And yet I still find myself drawn to repeat the entire process as I embrace a new set of challenges at middle age.
I'm not the kind given to 12 step programs and all that, I make jokes about the person who asks for directions to the self-help section of the bookstore, but this is great stuff for the most hard headed pragmatists as well as the wooliest thumbsuckers. My recommendation to you is to take this book as a guide to meditations and study of the tao. The deeper you are into 'untenable' situations, the more profound the insights you will gain.
Average customer rating: |
Untying the Knot: A Short History of Divorce (Canto original series)
Roderick Phillips Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items: ASIN: 0521423708 |
Book Description
The rapid spread of divorce since the 1960s has dramatically affected family life in Western society. Extensive research has been devoted to this recent period of change, and yet the long-term history of divorce has remained surprisingly obscure. Roderick Phillips, author of the highly acclaimed magisterial history of divorce, Putting Asunder, has now abridged his fascinating and wide-ranging study for a general readership. Encompassing religious and secular attitudes to divorce, the evolution of divorce laws, and changing responses to marriage breakdown, Untying the Knot offers a highly readable and thought-provoking history of the phenomenon, placed illuminatingly against a variety of social, economic, political and cultural backgrounds.
Average customer rating: |
Conjeturas Y Refutaciones/ Conjectures and Refutations: El Desarrollo Del Conocimiento Cientifico/ the Growth of Scientific Knowledge (Paidos Basica / Basic Paidos)
Karl Raimund Popper Manufacturer: Ediciones Paidos Iberica ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 8475091466 |
Average customer rating:
|
Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge (Routledge Classics)
Karl R. Popper Manufacturer: Routledge ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0415285941 |
Book Description
This classic remains one of Karl Popper's most wide-ranging and popular works, notable not only for its acute insight into the way scientific knowledge grows, but also for applying those insights to politics and to history.
Customer Reviews:
My conjecture on this book.......2007-07-09
Conjectures and Refutations.......2007-05-15
How do we know what we know? We don't, we only guess..........2005-09-23
Conjectures and Refutations.......2005-01-10
an enjoyable book.......2002-11-29
Also, Popper's answer to the challenge that Duhem's problem posed on his philosophy is disappointing, the answer being something like "there exists a logical method of proving independence from axioms, so we might hopefully see from which axiomS the falied prediction depended; and even so, I admit that this method is usually difficult to apply; therefore holism is an untenable dogma."
The thesis of the book, says Popper, can be put like this: we can learn from our mistakes. This is held together with this other thesis: there is no ground for believeing any empirical statement to be true. The reader might wonder how Popper managed to believe in these two thesis at one and the same time. In Popper's view, science is this: conjecturing a theory to be true; subjecting this theory to criticism (empirical testing); this testing is done after experiment, but experiments are not reliable, we have no warrant that our perceptual apparatus is not deceiving us; if the theory fails the test, we reject it; but "it" is a whole system of related theories, even observational theories (even logic and mathematics, says Quine); and then we have to guess which of these we have to reject. The risk of taking a true theory to be false is certainly very high, as high as that of taking a false theory to be true. So I don't see how Popper can be so confident that we can learn from mistakes. Perhaps if we purged Popper's methodology of things like truth (not to mention verisimilitude), we could get a methodology of science conceived as a canon of critical procedure, with no claims as to what we are achieving when we abide by it.
The article on hegelian Dialectics is amusing. It tries the impossible task of explaining dialectics in a simple language, and then to refute it. The dialectician's typical reply to this kind of criticism is: you used clear language, so that is NOT Hegel's diatectics.
As I said, this is a highly stimulating and clearly written book, which deserves to be read even if many things in it must to be corrected or complemented.
Average customer rating: |
Conjectures & Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge
Karl R. Popper Manufacturer: Basic Books ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: B000E1B29S |
Average customer rating: |
Conjectures & Refutations: the growth of scientific knowledge
karl r popper Manufacturer: Routledge Kegan Paul ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: B000GJ9TG6 |
Average customer rating: |
Conjectures & Refutations: the growth of scientific knowledge
Manufacturer: Routledge Kegan Paul ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: B000HJNLIC |
Average customer rating: |
Conjectures and Refutations : The Growth of Scientific Knowledge
Karl R. Popper Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: B000OEWW8A |
Average customer rating: |
Conjectures and Refutations : The Growth of Scientific Knowledge
Karl R. Popper Manufacturer: HarperTorch ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: B000WAB5R0 |
Average customer rating: |
CONJECTURES AND REFUTATIONS THE GROWTH OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE
Manufacturer: Harper & Row ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: B000HGHFXC |
Average customer rating: |
Conjectures and Refutations: the growth of scientific knowledge
K.R. Popper Manufacturer: Routledge & Kegan Paul ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: B000NT3K4G |
Average customer rating: |
Conjectures and Refutations: the Growth of Scientific Knowledge
Karl Popper Manufacturer: Routledge ProductGroup: Book Binding: Unknown Binding ASIN: B0000CLMAX |
Average customer rating: |
Trout fishing at Banner Lakes.(GETAWAYS) : An article from: Business Record (Des Moines)
Joe Gardyasz Manufacturer: Thomson Gale ProductGroup: Book Binding: Digital ASIN: B000CIX8BS Release Date: 2005-11-29 |
Books:
Recommended Books