Average customer rating:
- Drawn out and boring, hard to understand
- Supervision of Police Personnel
- Don't pay for this book...
- Sleeping Material
- Some good info... but rambling and poorly written
|
Supervision of Police Personnel (6th Edition)
Nathan F. Iannone , and
Marvin P. Iannone
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Social Services & Welfare
| Poverty
| Current Events
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Politics
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
| AIDS
| Abuse
| Adults
| Aging
| Children
| Class
| Communities
| Culture
| Death
| General
| History
| Leisure
| Marriage & Family
| Medicine
| Men
| Occupational
| Race Relations
| Religion
| Research & Measurement
| Rural
| Social Groups
| Social Situations
| Social Theory
| Suburban
| Urban
| Women
Systems Of Government
| Political Science
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
| General
| Islamic Government
| Monarchy
| Representative Government
General
| Criminal Law
| Law
| Subjects
| Books
Law Enforcement
| Criminal Law
| Law
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Criminal Law
| Law
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Law Enforcement
| Criminal Law
| Law
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Law
| New & Used Textbooks
| Stores
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Nonfiction
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Professional
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Look Inside Nonfiction Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Police Field Operations (7th Edition)
-
Supervision of Police Personnel Study Guide
-
Criminal Investigation, with Student Simulation CD
-
Police Sergeant Examination Preparation Guide (Cliffs Test Prep)
-
Community Policing: A Contemporary Perspective
ASIN: 0136492290 |
Book Description
This book offers complete coverage for leadership training of supervisors in law enforcement and allied fields. The relationships involved in individual and group management methods and the practical techniques for carrying out the various responsibilities of the supervisor are explored. Everyday problems faced by the police supervisor in interpersonal, operational, and administrative relationships with subordinates are also covered in detail. Chapter topics include the supervisor's role, and function in organization, administration, and management; leadership, supervision, and command presence; interpersonal communications; principles of interviewing; psychological aspects of supervision; employee dissatisfaction, grievances, and complaints; discipline principles, policies, and practices; tactical development of field forces; and conference leading. For the training of managerial and supervisory personnel in police departments and law enforcement agencies.
Customer Reviews:
Drawn out and boring, hard to understand.......2007-05-13
I found Supervision of Police Personnel (6TH) to be pretty much drawn out and boring. It is painfully evident that the same information could have been relayed in a lot less then 400 boring pages. It was difficult to follow and often repetitive. A lot of detail was focused on irrelevant material. This was a difficult book for me to swallow (as a 12 year LEO), but it certainly rated high as a sleep aid for me.
Supervision of Police Personnel.......2007-03-10
It is a very good informational source for anyone that wants to pursue a promotion in police work. The review questions at the end of each chapter are convenient and helpful.
Don't pay for this book..........2006-11-29
Don't spend a dime...borrow it from a fellow Officer. I am a firm believer in capitalism, but these guys are really pushing the envelope. $99.00?! Nathan can keep the book!
Is the content any good? Yes, it is solid, however basic, leadership for Police Officers. But $99.00?! Go read something by Covey...it is a hell of a lot cheaper and far less boring.
Sleeping Material.......2006-11-10
This book is so dry and painful to look at. It's great to look at right before you go to bed to ensure a great nights sleep.
Some good info... but rambling and poorly written.......2006-10-23
This text is required reading for many taking police promotional exams. While there is some good information in it, it is rambling and poorly written. There are some indications that the book is not properly reviewed and edited before each new reprint. I hope the seventh edition is better and ties together the concepts clearly. There are several chapetes that are seperated but could easily dovetail into one. I found a 107 word run-on sentence (p.139), and it was by no means an exhaustive search -- there are many such examples. You can make it enjoyable to a degree by trying to find the number of times "catharsis" and "splendid" appear, but other than that, have your asprin bottle handy. I'd recommend a study guide such as Sgt. Walker recommends, or try to outline the thing yourself. Good luck.
Book Description
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION is one of the most widely adopted books for both undergraduate and graduate levels. The basis of the appeal is the three part framework of management, politics, and the law. Its theme is that all three perspectives are central to public administration, and that ignoring one or another leads to failures in both the practice of and in academic treatments of the field. This edition continues to refer to these three perspectives, but it divides management into two subsets: traditional and "the new public management".
Customer Reviews:
Difficult reading, very "wordy".......2006-12-15
This book was a required text for my PA course. It was very wordy and at times difficult to understand due to the repetitious content. I feel that there is probably a more straight forward style of writing than this one. Not for the student who is just beginning a public administration course, some back ground would be helpful if this text is to be used. However, it contains "Introduction" in its title. Well! I 'don't know about that? Great info, however, difficult reading.
mosgt boring book ever........2006-11-06
This is the most repetative book I have ever read. Just reading the intro to any chapter is all you really need, within the chaper, the author will state the exact same thing 3-5 times. I give it three starts because there is a lot of good information, it is just not well presented.
Good Graduate Level Text.......2005-10-27
This was a required text book for one of the classes in my master of public administration program (MPA). I found it to be extremely useful for understanding both the historical evolution of public administration and the current practice. The emphasis on the (sometimes conflicting) managerial, legal, and political perspectives of each aspect of public administration works nicely if you are also learning the Hamiltonian, Madisonian, and Jeffersonian perspectives on the founding of the government. I always find it useful to understand and remember how things work if I get a good explanation of why it is so--this book does a good job of balancing the how/why.
It's not a text for the casual reader, but if you are a graduate student, plan to be (or already are) a public manager, or just want a thorough grounding in the theory and practice of public administration, this book will serve you well.
Since I know some students don't buy books on their syllabi for financial reasons or for stubbornness, my recommendation is to get the book. It also makes a great reference for the papers you'll have to write.
Public Administration.......2000-05-21
Public Administration: Understanding Management, Politics, and Law in the Public Sector is a textbook that explicitly examines and explains the three major issues of public administration: management, politics, and law. It is an excellent text for advanced undergraduate or graduate students. In addition, this book identifies the differences in roles involved in public administration. For example, it describes the difference between the managerial and leadership roles in delivering public services. It discusses the traditional management style versus the New Public Management style in dealing with accountability on the part of administration, as well as the public.
Book Description
Wouldn't you love to abolish the IRS. . . .
Keep all the money in your paycheck. . . .
Pay taxes on what you spend, not what you earn. . . .
And eliminate all the fraud, hassle, and waste of our current system?
If so, the FairTax is for you!
A smash #1 New York Times bestseller from the moment it went on sale, The FairTax Book launched a massive grassroots movement across the country with its dramatic call to rid Americans of the punishing burden of income tax. Talk-radio firebrand Neal Boortz and Congressman John Linder are leading the charge to replace the current tax system with the FairTax -- a simple 23 percent retail sales tax on new goods and services that would eliminate the reviled IRS and replace it with a system that's fair to all -- while jump-starting the U.S. economy, bringing businesses and jobs back to our shores, and recapturing billions of untaxed dollars currently lost to criminal and offshore businesses. Americans would get to keep 100 percent of their hard-earned paycheck . . . and April 15 would become just another beautiful spring day.
Endorsed by scores of leading economists -- and gaining momentum in both the House and the Senate -- the FairTax Plan could revolutionize the way America pays for itself. Here -- revised and updated, with a new afterword by the authors -- is the straight-talking book that started it all.
Download Description
"
Wouldn't you love to abolish the IRS ...
Keep all the money in your paycheck ...
Pay taxes on what you spend, not what you earn ...
And eliminate all the fraud, hassle, and waste of our current system?
Then the FairTax is for you. In the face of the outlandish American tax burden, talk-radio firebrand
Neal Boortz and Congressman
John Linder are leading the charge to phase out our current, unfair system and enact the FairTax Plan, replacing the federal income tax and withholding system with a simple 23 percent retail sales tax on new goods and services. This dramatic revision of the current system, which would eliminate the reviled IRS, has already caught fire in the American heartland, with more than six hundred thousand taxpayers signing on in support of the plan.
As Boortz and Linder reveal in this first book on the FairTax, this radical but eminently sensible plan would end the annual national nightmare of filing income tax returns, while at the same time enlarging the federal tax base by collecting sales tax from every retail consumer in the country. The FairTax, they argue, would transform the fearsome bureaucracy of the IRS into a more transparent, accountable, and equitable tax collection system. Among other benefits, it will:
- Make America's tax code truly voluntary, without reducing revenue
- Replace today's indecipherable tax code with one simple sales tax
- Protect lower-income Americans by covering the tax on basic necessities
- Eliminate billions of dollars in embedded taxes we don't even know we're paying
- Bring offshore corporate dollars back into the U.S. economy
Endorsed by scores of leading economists and supported by a huge and growing grassroots movement, the FairTax Plan could revolutionize the way America pays for itself. In this straight-talking book,
Neal Boortz and
John Linder show you how it would work -- and how you can help make it happen.
"
Customer Reviews:
For everyone.......2007-10-06
Yes, it's a book on economics and taxes, but Mr. Boortz helps to make it an entertaining and easily understood book. While it pretty much explains the theory of the fair tax in full and is a great place to start, it's a good idea to do your own research into the fair tax, studying the pros and cons. Just be sure that you understand the basics, or else you may get confused by anti-fair tax information that gets an idea wrong or blatantly lies...
The Cure for a Disease Known as Income Taxes.......2007-10-03
In this book, Boortz and Linder discuss the abolishment of the income tax. Under this system, wages would not be taxed at all. As an alternative to raise revenue for the government, they propose a national sales tax. The goal is revenue neutral so that same amount of revenue would be collected to run the government.
This would allow the individual to choose when they paid tax. So those who save and invest money rather than spending all of it, would come out much better.
The proposed sales tax rate would be around 23%. While this may sound high, one should keep in mind that no tax would have been withheld from his or her paycheck. For example, say that the average household income for America which is approximately $40,000 a year were not taxed. This would mean the Joneses get to take home all $40,000 of that hard earned income. As it stands today, they are probably only taking home around $32,000 assuming a 20% income tax rate and not considering state, Social Security, or Medicare taxes.
As a component of the national sales tax, they propose that a certain poverty level determination of say $10,000 which would be considered the bare minimum for a person to survive on and each person would receive a "prebate" of $2,300 per year paid in monthly installments. This would significantly help those on the low end of the income spectrum and actually result in additional money to spend on essentials such as food, clothing, and housing. It would also avoid the potential disparities which could occur with a food exemption if the wealthy purchased steak and lobster or other such expensive food items.
Additionally, it would take many of the inefficiencies out of the current system in that each time there is a touch on producing a good or service, income tax is charged. For example, when you buy a loaf of bread, the business who produced the seeds, the farmer who grew the wheat, the mill, the bakery, the trucking company, and the grocery store all pay income tax on their portion of the bread production. By taking the income tax away, the loaf of bread would subsequently be much cheaper (estimated around 25%) from the reduction of built in income tax for a product. (This assumes that businesses will not pay income tax. There would be many rules set up to prevent people setting up "businesses" to evade taxes.)
The Fair Tax also has the benefit of helping prevent tax evasion. Under the current system, there are millions upon millions of dollars of unreported income every year which are not taxed. This could occur in anything from illegal trades such as selling drugs on the street to the legal trades of wait staff or any industry in which cash is used to pay for goods or services but not reported. Every time these dollars were spent by the individuals, however, they would be taxed so this revenue which is currently lost would be collected.
It would additionally get rid of the estimated $265 billion spent annually to comply with the tax code. This is not to mention the 100s of thousands of hours that would be freed up to engage in more productive and enjoyable pursuits.
Economists estimate that in the first year of its implementation the economy would grow by 10.5%. Foreign companies would also have incentive to build factories in the U.S. to take advantage of the eliminated inherent cost included as mentioned in the bread example.
I think that this is a really great idea and hope that it is implemented one day. To learn more about it and see if your congressperson supports it or not, go to FairTax.org.
Fair Tax.......2007-09-29
Excellent reading to get yourself ready to defend the concept when it is attacked by the tax and spend crowd in Washington. It is a quick read and makes a great deal of sense.
A plan for the rich (1.5 *s).......2007-09-23
If you want a fundamental principle of government/society discussed with right-wing, shock-radio bluster, this is your book. Though a congressman is the co-author, the book is simply a continuation of the rant that has been heard daily on a local radio station in Atlanta for over thirty years. We learn early in the book that the passage of the Sixteenth Amendment in 1913 enabling the collection of income taxes is akin to the devastation of Pearl Harbor or the destruction of the World Trade Center on Sept 11, 2001. The IRS is no less than the enemy of the people, fulfilling a Marxian prophecy. You get the general idea.
One would like to think that anyone proposing a fundamental overhaul of our taxation system would first lay out a philosophy of taxation, which must be consistent with a broader philosophy of society and government. You won't find that in this book. The principal author has consistently exhibited a decided lack of social concern and understanding.
The so-called fair-tax is a twenty-three percent consumption tax in lieu of apparently all other federal level taxes: income, dividends, social security, Medicare, corporate, etc. [State taxes don't seem to be addressed.] It has long been held that the wealthy in a nation should pay taxes at a higher rate than ordinary citizens. The wealthy benefit far more than most from government. In fact they have a huge advantage over the rest of us by having an overwhelming say in the choice of those who occupy governmental offices and the consequent setting of policies and decisions. In essence, the rich get richer. They should pay for that largesse.
Consumption taxes are by far the most regressive of taxes that can be imposed. The median earner in this nation spends every dollar on necessary items. The rich do not. In fact a large portion of their income goes towards investments and wealth production. By exempting income, dividends, and interest from taxation, the so-called fair tax would simply exacerbate a tax scheme already weighted to the rich. The tax rate for the rich would plummet; for the poor suckers taken in by the fair-tax scheme, their tax rate would maximize.
The one thing that the book gets right is the necessity of changing the tax system. The loop holes for the rich are disgraceful. The idea that corporations don't really pay taxes is certainly a reality. The book complains about class warfare, not about the one that the powerful have been waging for decades. But the one where the ordinary citizen wants the powerful to get the boot off of his or her neck. But then that merely reflects where the hearts of the author are.
The fair-tax scheme proposed is utterly useless. It seems to assume that consumption is definitive of life - there is no larger context with greater significance and ramifications. For example, issues of power. Usually schemes such as this get a bit of a spike in public interest when first proposed, appealing to ideologues and the ignorant. Fortunately, there usually is no staying power. The length of the attention spans is commensurate with the depth of the knowledge of those jumping on the bandwagon.
The Fair Tax book.......2007-09-15
This book is an absolutely necessary read for any taxpayer in the country. We must get Congress to pass the Fair Tax and get rid of the incideous income tax and the IRS! This book explains in every detail how to do it by enacting the Fair Tax! The book answers all the questions I had!
Amazon.com
Noam Chomsky is considered the father of modern linguistics. In this richly detailed criticism of American foreign policy, he seeks to redefine many of the terms commonly used in the ongoing American war on terrorism. Surveying U.S. actions in Cuba, Nicaragua, Turkey, the Far East and elsewhere over the past half a century along with the modern American war in Iraq, Chomsky indicates that America is just as much a terrorist state as any other government or rogue organization. George W. Bush's 2003 invasion of Iraq drew worldwide criticism, in part because it seemed to present a new philosophy of pre-emptive war and an appearance of global empire building. But according to Chomsky, such has been the operating philosophy of American foreign policy for decades. Opponents of the Bush administration's tactics consistently point out how the American government supported Saddam Hussein for many years prior to the 1990 invasion of Kuwait (pictures of Donald Rumsfeld shaking Saddam's hand are easy to come by) as a means of pointing out how the United States is happy to fund despots when it's in American interests. But Chomsky, armed with extensive historical notation, takes this notion further, arguing how the repression of other nations' citizenry is, in fact, the very reason Americans support certain foreign leaders. The charges made throughout the book are severe, as are the dire consequences he posits if current trends are not reversed, and Chomsky is no more likely to make friends or gain supporters from the mainstream now than he's ever been. But Hegemony or Survival is relatively dispassionate. Instead of relying on camp or shock value or personal attacks as some of his contemporaries have done, Chomsky drives his well-supported points steadily forward in an earnest and highly readable style. --John Moe
Book Description
"Reading Chomsky today is sobering and instructive . . . He is a global phenomenon . . . perhaps the most widely read voice on foreign policy on the planet." The New York Times Book ReviewAn immediate national bestseller, Hegemony or Survival demonstrates how, for more than half a century the United States has been pursuing a grand imperial strategy with the aim of staking out the globe. Our leaders have shown themselves willing-as in the Cuban missile crisis-to follow the dream of dominance no matter how high the risks. World-renowned intellectual Noam Chomsky investigates how we came to this perilous moment and why our rulers are willing to jeopardize the future of our species.With the striking logic that is his trademark, Chomsky tracks the U.S. government's aggressive pursuit of "full spectrum dominance" and vividly lays out how the most recent manifestations of the politics of global control-from unilateralism to the dismantling of international agreements to state terrorism-cohere in a drive for hegemony that ultimately threatens our existence. Lucidly written, thoroughly documented, and featuring a new afterword by the author, Hegemony or Survival is a definitive statement from one of today's most influential thinkers.
Download Description
The United States is in the process of staking out not just the globe but the last unarmed spot in our neighborhood-the heavens-as a militarized sphere of influence. Our earth and its skies are, for the Bush administration, the final frontiers of imperial control. In Hegemony or Survival, Noam Chomsky investigates how we came to this moment, what kind of peril we find ourselves in, and why our rulers are willing to jeopardize the future of our species.
Customer Reviews:
Connect the dots?.......2007-09-13
This material is not easy to digest in two ways. First, there are so many facts and figures that after a while your head begins to spin. I listened to it twice in succession just for that reason. Secondly, it's difficult to believe that your country's political leaders could possibly be saying one thing and doing another. Aren't we, the US, always the "good guys"? Don't we always do things the right way, "the American way"? Maybe that is a problem. Perhaps other nations want to do things their own way.
If you wonder why so much of the world dislikes or even hates the US, then this book will offer bountiful explanations, dating back to probably the Monroe Doctrine in the first part of the nineteenth century. Whether or not you agree with Mr. Chomsky's conclusions is up to you, but to refute him you will have a lot of offered facts to overcome.
Previous reviewers have labeled him a communist, or at the least, a communist sympathizer. I didn't get that impression. He just doesn't like American interventionist foreign policy which supposedly is leading to a New World Order, with the US the undisputed leader. And a lot of other people in the world think the same way and don't like it either.
If even a small portion of what he writes is true, it's a sad situation in my eyes. But if you consider the facts and connect the dots...where does it lead? Make up your own mind.
Dr. Chomsky.......2007-09-10
The most insightful look at the past 60 some odd years of american foreign policy, it's consequences and possible motives. A thouroughly researched and meticulously catalogued breakdown of the views and voices that have been there every step of the way, the voices that are usualy silenced and swallowed up by the historical accounts of the victors.
Chomsky poses the compelling question of our time.......2007-08-28
Other reviews have covered, at length, the perceived pros and cons of Chomsky's critique of American foreign policy in general and of the war in Iraq in particular, and I will reveal from the outset that my conclusions on these topics are simliar to Chomsky's in many respects. The incredible value of this book, however, is that seeks to address the question of human survival within the context of American foreign policy.
Although Chomsky does not delve deeply into the topic of the pending petroleum crisis, it, as well as other questions regarding the future of industrial civilization, is never too far beneath the surface. According to geologists of the Hubbard school, the world has reached or will soon reach a point of peak oil production after which the ability of global production to meet demand will inevitably decline, leading to a global crisis of unprecedented proportions. To the extent that U.S. policy continues along the lines of exerting hegemonic control over what is left as opposed to engaging in principled and collective effort towards creating a more equitable post-petroleum global economy, it certainly does lead us towards destruction or at the very least, a nightmarish Hobbesian existence in which human lives will indeed be "nasty, brutish and short".
One may choose to agree or disagree with many of Chomsky's arguments. However, for any thinking person who is conversant with history and who has an interest in social justice for all and not just for some, Chomsky drives home a number of points that are practically unassailable:
1. U.S. foreign policy, like the policies of great powers before it, have rarely been predicated on the publicly espoused principles of democracy, equality and freedom, but in the pursuit of its elite's interests, often to the detriment of the environment, democracy itself, and of the well-being of working and oppressed people around the world as well as within the United States. The unprecedented ability of modern man to destroy not only each other, but the very environment that makes sustainable existence on Earth possible however, dictates that unlike any empire or imperial age before it, the consequences of American policy are truly global in scope, and they may prove to be beyond any conceivable ability of repair.
2. The phenomenon of "globalizaton", in practice, has benefited, for the most part, only the financial elites and the military and technocratic elements whose services are necessary to maintain the system. For the rest of humanity, globalization has come to mean a nightmare of economic and cultural disruption and dislocation on a global scale. It is interesting to note that with the advent of globalization, the gap between the rich and poor has increased significantly, not only on a global scale but within the individual economies of the wealthiest nations as well. Lenin's "aristocracy of labor" is shrinking as we speak!
3. Despite the fact that the U.S. can justifiably be seen as the world's only military superpower, its attempts to exert unilateral control over the dwindling energy resources of the Middle East (and by extension of the rest of the world) will increasingly lead it into escalating conflict with other nations and peoples, resulting not only in its own moral, political and economic bankruptcy, but potentially in the destruction of civilization as we know it.
4. Only by understanding the nature of the current situation and organizing to change course can Americans and other people around the world prevent this continuing descent into madness.
Regardless of one's ideological inclination, "Hegemony or Survival" should provoke readers to serious thought on these matters, and for that Professor Chomsky should be thanked and applauded.
Another mandatory reading for those who wish to understand the world. .......2007-07-27
The writing has Chomsky's typical laser-like clarity. The facts are abundant and irrefutable. The arguments are powerful and inescapable. A refreshing break from all the propaganda and indoctrination that cover the landscape.
disturbing revelations.......2007-07-05
I hated how the book made me feel but it gets 5 stars for its brutal edification - as I'm sure was his intent.
Whatever your politics are, and regardless of whether you dislike or disbelieve Chomsky's conclusions, the facts laid out in this book speak disturbingly for themselves. Our government consistently pays lip service to supporting and promoting democracy but apparently has a nasty track record to the contrary. I would sincerely rather that not be true but there it is in the historical record. As stated by another reviewer, his facts are correct.
I could only read this book a little at a time. I would get too angry and have to set it aside for a few days until I could handle some more ugly truth.
I always thought Bush's statement that the terrorists "hate us because of our freedoms" did not quite ring true. In light of our government's actions reported in this book, the statement becomes absurdly transparent misinformation.
At least now we know the REAL reasons why they hate us.
SG
Book Description
The best-selling, most comprehensive book available for police administration and management, Police Administration 6/e presents a carefully researched and vivid introduction to police organizations that focuses on the procedures, politics and human relations issues that law enforcement managers and administrators must understand in order to succeed. Representing the collective experience of the authors' decades of experience in law enforcement, training, and teaching, Police Administration 6/e is recognized by both the academic and law enforcement communities as the authoritative treatment of this important topic.
Chapter topics include the evolution of American policing, community policing, organizational theory, concepts of police organizational design, leadership, organizational and interpersonal communication, human resource management, stress and police personnel, labor relations, legal aspects of police administration, planning and decision-making, financial management, and organizational change and the future.
For law enforcement managers and administrators.
Amazon.com
If the 20th century was the American century, the 21st century may be a time of reckoning for the United States. Chalmers Johnson, an authority on Japan and its economy, offers a troubling prognosis of what's to come. Blowback--the title refers to a CIA neologism describing the unintended consequences of American activity--is a call for the United States to rethink its position in the world. "The evidence is building up that in the decade following the end of the Cold War, the United States largely abandoned a reliance on diplomacy, economic aid, international law, and multilateral institutions in carrying out its foreign policies and resorted much of the time to bluster, military force, and financial manipulation," writes Johnson. "The world is not a safer place as a result." Individual chapters focus on Okinawa (where American servicemen were accused of raping a 12-year-old girl in "Asia's last colony"), the two Koreas, China, and Japan. The result is a liberal-leaning (and Asia-centric) call for the United States to disengage from many of its global commitments. Critics will call Johnson an isolationist, but friends (perhaps admirers of Patrick Buchanan's A Republic, Not an Empire) will say he simply speaks good sense. All will agree he is an earnest voice: "I believe our very hubris ensures our undoing." --John J. Miller
Book Description
The term 'blowback,' invented by the CIA, refers to the unintended results of American actions abroad. In this incisive and controversial book, Chalmers Johnson lays out in vivid detail the dangers faced by our overextended empire, which insists on projecting its military power to every corner of the earth and using American capital and markets to force global economic integration on its own terms. From a case of rape by U.S. servicemen in Okinawa to our role in Asia's financial crisis, from our early support for Saddam Hussein to our conduct in the Balkans, Johnson reveals the ways in which our misguided policies are planting the seeds of future disaster. In a new edition that addresses recent international events from September 11 to the war in Iraq, this now classic book remains as prescient and powerful as ever.
Customer Reviews:
Blowback? Nah---mainly just Blow........2007-08-23
Chalmers Johnson might very well have entitled this manifestly overrated little jeremiad of gloom, doom, and rice-paddy Manchurian manifest destiny "Everything I know about Geopolitics I learned from the Golden Rule".
That's "Blowback": do unto others, O Mighty Great Satan, as you would have them do unto you. Or as the learned geo-strategist and member of the Council on Foreign Relations grandmaster funk-flash rapper extra-ordinaire Jay-Z once put it (in verse, and to a funky hip-hop beat, which is *way* more than Johnson accomplishes in this nearly cranium-anesthetizing snoozer):
"now you shoot my my dog/
I'ma gonna kill yo' cat/
just the unwritten Laws/
in Rap."
Word. Basically, Johnson is saying that all those nasty, naughty, uber-meanie things the U.S. did (or might have done, deniability, baby, deniability) in the last century (and now, yes, tiresomely the first part of the 21st century) are gonna come back to haunt us. Payback's a bizzle, fo shizzle.
Or, to dip deeply into the cliche snuffbox, what goes around, comes around. Or better still, if you're up for Chinese---4th BC Chinese---: "if you sit by the River long enough, you will see the bodies of all your enemies float by."
There: in this review, you've gotten the gist of Johnson's 'argument', and you've saved yourself the misery of having "Blowback" inflicted on you. You should be grateful.
OK: so example---we helped supply, feed, & train the Mujahadeen to fight a nasty and ultimately successful insurgency against the Soviets. The Jihadis won, kicked the Soviets out, and replaced a doddering, backward, socially repressive & economically retarded 19th century system with a---get this---doddering, backward, socially repressive & economically retarded 7th century system.
Progress? Yes. Blowback? NO! Not Blowback, not that bit anyway. Blowback was what happened when the Taliban and their buddies (including our Bon Ami et Frere Amicable Osama bin "Gin & Juice" Laden) got tired of crushing homosexuals beneath stone walls, blowing up ancient Buddha statues, and strangling dogs. Those crazy Talibs! We got 9/11, the ultimate "blowback.". Or blowup. Or something like that.
Now, it's true that Chalmers Johnson's 'idea' has a nice, simple symmetry to it, in the same way the delightful childrens' potty book "Everything Poops" does: it's, well, true. And obvious.
But seen from a different angle (say, that of adulthood), it's a bit retarded. Or, let's be kind, simplistic. It says, if you, as an Empire, or Republic, or whatever you are---if you do something, something's going to happen. Man, go tell it to the Spartans! (or Newton). Actions have consequences. If you read "Blowback", for instance, the blowback might be that you hear your brain cells scream as they die.
Take the British, who for years now have done everything they can to pretend to be a stodgier, duller, more moldy version of Canada, & what has that gotten them? Flaming gate crashers at Glasgow airport and having their Royal Marines publicly humilated and dressed by Tehran's answer to Today's Man.
But like Paul Kennedy yammering, with yen besotted yuppies back in the early eighties, that the Land of the Rising Sun was about to make us all eat sushi and do Shinto devotionals before our morning calisthenics prior to ruling the World---well, Blowback is just not all that. It's too elementary, man: it's thermodynamical.
And in politics, in affairs of state, in war and manipulation & sabotage, in all of that, it's not even necessarily true. The point being: if you're brutal enough, there will be no blowback.
Think about that for a moment: you don't even have to consult antiquity for examples where if you're willing to play around in a little bit of blood and crack some skulls, there will be no real `blowback'. Russia has ruthlessly crushed & decimated Muslim movements in its former Asian provinces and puppet states, the latest being the pathetic instance of Chechnya. And for all that, I have yet to hear Russia denounced by any imams as even a moderate-sized Satan. Hell, Russia & Iran are great buddies, so long as the latter keeps those rent checks coming on the old Bushehr reactor.
China is another great example: for more than five decades, China has occupied Tibet and taken every step possible to destroy its society and culture. For all of that, wanna know China's "blowback" from this merciless, honestly fascist occupation? The 2008 Olympic Games, a few thousand pathetic "Free Tibet" bumper sticker affixed to the bumpers of liberals' Priuses, & Richard Gere.
To dragoon Orwell's delicious little phrase, if you stomp on a man's face long and hard enough---you know, until you hear bone snap & soft tissue turns to jelly and the eyeballs pop out---there ain't gona be enough to---well, blow back.
In summary: Chalmers gets a big fat F for his stupid "Blowback" and should wear a duncecap in public.
That said, I can find one example---right here, right now!---that supports Johnson's thesis. Are you ready?
Johnson writes his tired, pathetic, dull little ratturd of a book.
In return, I gut his book like a sick fish in a quick and deadly online review.
Now that's what I call blowback.
JSG
Enlightening.......2007-08-17
The book's idea is that US foreign policy, made to win the cold war, has consequences. For instance, in '53 when we installed the Shah of Iran to act as a puppet for the West (overthrowing the democratically elected Mosaddeq because of oil) he repressed the people until he was overthrown in Jan. 1979. We'd be crazy to believe that the people who overthrew Persia's most ruthless dictator not be anti-American (since we installed that dictator). To this day I see people asking why Iran's government dislikes the US - "Do they hate us for our freedoms?" Taking this idea of "unintended consequences," Johnson talks specifically about East Asia and its history during the Cold War and after. In particular, he mentions Indonesia, Korea, China, and Japan.
I found the book very enlightening. Since 9/11 the US news and media's idea of international news coverage has been Middle-Eastern news coverage (except for natural disasters around the world and other frivolous events). Also, I went to public-school - I didn't know anything about Asia in the 19th and 20th centuries (and I took all AP history classes). So, there was this vacuum of knowledge about East Asia I had, which this book filled quite nicely.
Also mentioned in the book, briefly, are neoclassical economics, WTO, IMF, World Bank, 1997 economic crisis, Hungarian revolution, and the '73 Chilean coup as well as some other US interventions in the Middle-East.
Very informative, but drawn out and wordy............2007-08-04
This book is very informative and the first and last chapters are worth paying for the entire thing just to read them. Not the most Pro-American book I've ever read, but will give you an interesting take on things. Very in depth and revealing. Certainly shows how our American Empire can throw our weight around when necessary - and when not. Not bad, but a bit too wordy for me. Still good though.
Pull Your Head Out or Die With It In The Sand.......2007-07-17
This book deserves five stars, but I can tell you it's nothing like listening to this man speak in person. As in "Blowback" he lays it all out on the table. Sadly he says, "We just may have gone pass the point of no return." Americans now know that authors like Chalmers Johnson, Norm Chomsky, Webster Griffin Tarpley and Paul Waldman are not just over-educated nay sayers. We know that we're in real trouble, we just don't know what to do about it. If 9/11 proved nothing else, it proved that aircraft carriers, F16's, and smart bombs are useless against terrorists and apathy.
Dr. Johnson summarizes the status quo: "We have a strong civil society that could, in theory, overcome the entrenched interests of the armed forces and the military-industrial complex. At this late date, however, it is difficult to imagine how Congress, much like the Roman senate in the last days of the republic, could be brought back to life and cleansed of its endemic corruption. Failing such a reform, Nemesis, the goddess of retribution and vengeance, the punisher of pride and hubris, waits patiently for her meeting with us."
I am without the education to travel in the circles of the aforementioned authors, but I can in my own way address my fellow blue collar workers... The media has dubbed me one of America's most controversial writers. I think it's because I criticize my own party, the Republican Party, instead of the Democrats. This unorthodox approach of mine gives people the wrong idea about me. I don't hate predators. If there weren't hawks in this country, those in other countries would show up here. Do not misinterpret "Hawk" to mean I approve of George W. Bush and Richard Cheney and their Hermann Goering protégés in the Pentagon. Bush is a mouth and a pen; he's in a different league altogether than his vice president. Cheney is a vulgar, immoral, sadistic subhuman. Does that make me a Libertarian?
Catastrophic consequences for America's "hopeless hypocrisy".......2007-06-29
When Blowback was first published in the spring of 2000, about eighteen months before the 9/11 attacks, many foreign policy journals ignored it; a review in Foreign Affairs even said that it "read like a comic book." After all, Johnson's book was filled with gloomy warnings, including this one in his last few pages: "the United States will be a prime recipient in the foreseeable future of all of the more expectable forms of blowback, particularly terrorist attacks against Americans in and out of the armed forces anywhere on earth, including the United States (p. 223, my emphasis). While American critics ignored him, the international community resonated with Johnson, and the book was immediately translated into German, Italian, and Japanese. That his early critics could have been so badly wrong, and Johnson so presciently right, is symptomatic of the problems he describes, and only one indicator of the importance of this book and its two sequels, The Sorrows of Empire (2004) and Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic (2007).
Blowback is "another way of saying that a nation reaps what it sows." The term first appeared in a 1953 CIA document about its overthrow of the Iranian government, and described the predictable but unintended consequences of America's covert operations and foreign policies. What many people around the world "hate" about America, Johnson argues, is not our freedom and way of life, as Bush likes to say, but our global militarism and predatory economic policies which virtually assure future retaliations for decades to come. Even if most Americans are ignorant about our government's secret activities, and believe that our country's motivations are virtuous, most peoples and nations think differently and have long memories; cf., for example, Steven Kinzer's book Overthrow that documents the fourteen nations where America has toppled governments in just the last hundred years.
Johnson examines American foreign policy over the last fifty years, and the parallels between America and the demise of the Soviet Union. His special focus is Asia and the last ten years. The "peace dividend" at the end of the Cold War did not bring a period of American demilitarization, but the exact opposite. Instead of prudence, we have acted with what is now predictable condescension towards other nations and myopia about the certain consequences. Our deliberate "global military-economic dominion," and careless disregard for how the rest of the world understands our predations, are "seeding resentments that are bound to breed attempts at retaliation." Separate chapters look at Okinawa, South Korea, North Korea, China, Japan, and the 1997 economic meltdown in East Asia.
In characterizing America as a "rogue super power" Johnson is polemical but not partisan. The problems that he describes are far broader and deeper than any single administration. Given that many people around the world resent our "exploitative hegemony" as a "hopeless hypocrisy," "one must ask when, not whether, our accidental empire will start to unravel." Johnson asked that question over eight years ago. The subtitle of Nemesis (2007) gives his answer; we are already in "the last days of the American republic."
Book Description
The eighth edition of this best-selling book continues to provide readers with a realistic picture of actual collective bargaining and labor relations situations drawn from the authors' considerable experiences. Sections of actual labor agreements as well as arbitration cases and decisions of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and the courts illustrate and emphasize contemporary issues of collective bargaining and labor relations. Experts in the fields of labor law and arbitration have contributed âtipsâ on how the concepts in the book can actually be applied.
In addition to covering history and law, workplace challenges, the collective bargaining process, and labor contracts, major features of this new edition include expanded coverage of public sector labor relations, international collective bargaining issues, union organizing and avoidance strategies, and collective bargaining in professional sports.
Because of its comprehensive coverage and excellent resource material, this book is an excellent reference for human resource directors, labor relations directors, personnel directors, and labor negotiators.
Customer Reviews:
Dry.......2007-02-19
I only bought this book because I'm in labor relations class. It's as dry as a piece of stale bread. But if you want to know anything and everything about Labor Relations and the history, BUY IT!
My first textbook order from Amazon.......2007-01-11
This is the first time I have order a textbook online. My experience was awesome. I received my order in a timely manner. The textbook was in outstanding condition. This text consisted of labor law material along with various labor law cases and procedures. I just order another book I am awaiting for the early arrival of this text.
THANK YOU AMAZON !!
Fairly good - Not excellent.......2004-11-19
I just took a college level class in which we used this book as the textbook. There is a lot of good information inside which provides a good introduction to the novice on how the process of collective bargaining works. It begins with the history of how it started and continues through the specific issues that collective bargaining entails. There is even a copy of the National Labor Relations Act in the back of the book.
There are some rough spots that should be worked out in the next edition however. Sometimes I found myself lost in the verbage that the author chose to use and had no idea what the point had been. The case studies at the ends of the chapters have no solutions, they ask questions of you and then leave you - a novice - to flounder with no professional direction in the event - which is frequent - that you can't figure out the answer. And, there are some typo's in key locations which end up disproving, instead of proving, the point that the author was attempting to make (very confusing.)
This text is best used in conjunction with lectures by a good professor if you want to get the most out of it.
Great Book.......2002-05-17
Great book for the novice negotiator or student.Current, easy to read, practical examples.
Concise & complete.......2002-04-11
The authors provide a complete & concise discussion of the process of collective bargaining within a general labor relations context. Many, current cases, tips from experts, and historical references help present the concepts. A solid text for the novice negotiator or interested student.
Book Description
White's TERRORISM: AN INTRODUCTION, a perennial best-seller, is recognized as the most objective terrorism book in the market. In the latest edition, White has rewritten and incorporated parts of his two books DEFENDING THE HOMELAND and TERRORISM to create one new comprehensive text. To reflect this change, the title has been updated to TERRORISM AND HOMELAND SECURITY: AN INTRODUCTION, Fifth Edition. TERRORISM AND HOMELAND SECURITY: AN INTRODUCTION, Fifth Edition strives to discuss the most sophisticated theories by the best terrorist analysts in the world, while still focusing on the domestic and international threats of terrorism and the basic security issues that surround terrorism today. The student-oriented writing style is complemented by rich pedagogy, and there is an adequate amount of research and theoretical discussion to make this the ideal text for both the undergraduate- and graduate-level courses.
Customer Reviews:
Good Book.......2007-09-13
Excellent book to use as a resource. Good quality and very fast to ship.
Great reading.......2007-09-03
To understand what terrorism is, you have to know how it has evolved. This book shows you! Interesting reading!
A great read.......2007-08-13
Dr. White, an international expert in the field of international terrorism has put together a great book to help the average reader who may be inundated with the "war on terrorism" put the problem in perspective. The book is presented in terms comprehensible to the average reader and is not a doomsday approach that many terrorism authors have today. This is a great read and allows a reader to fully comprehend the global problem we face without the rhetoric. Thanks Dr. White.
Terrorism.......2007-01-22
This book is presently being used in my college course on Terrorism. The author presents the information in a precise and readable way. The book was nothing of what I thought it would be. It presents a unbiased history of terrorism . . .from beginning to the present...with explanations about how terrorism works.
Only problem I have with the book, is the author keeps referring to other Chapters when explaining some of the points. I would have preferred to have everything together.
Definitely a book that will help you understand what is going on in the world today.
What a dilemma......!.......2006-10-18
When local governments prove lack of temerity and live in chattering fear from terrorists in their midst, there will be no measure for panic, and experience indicate that fear breeds atrocities.
Experience also indicate that terrorists atrocities do not remain localized, they tend to spread outside the borders.
The UN should leave no stone unturned until terrorism is defined.
If the UN took, in unison, immediate actions in the past century to quash the plots for terrorist's acts, many sad events on the turn of this century would have not been speeded up so sudden and hysterical.
But the UN remained weak by the `Veto' power.
It is amazing how the `super powers' sat on heaps of weapons delicately stored in their arsenals to be on the look out against each others, tiger vis-à-vis tiger, while the bugs were brewing to bug.
Certainly the chain of events leading to 9/11 was so odd they would have been more fitting the famous James Bond - Agent 007 movies.
But the unfortunate fact is that what happened was gravely true.
The USA is to blame because by remaining so passive in the past and by sitting put and lethargic when bloody acts looked them in the eye, America delivered the `wrong' message.
It is incredible how the American public was left aloof to know if the successive Administrations had been seriously handling, or gathering intelligence, about bloody acts around the world.
It is also incredible how the USA abdicated its responsibilities to the UN waiting in profound ignorance to see how the disasters from `petty' and `localized' wars in small countries will unfold.
We can all recall Jimmy Carter's famous smile (a precursor of inaction) and his inclination towards pacifism. (Rescue attempt of American Hostages in Iran that failed).
Despite Ronald Reagan's gifted articulation, his soft actions were no match to his hard words and the same pacifist messages were again delivered.
The USA must have taken better heed of what went `wrong' in small countries on this planet (Lebanon for example), not to stoop from the slightest incident (the attack, that killed 241 marines, on their compound located at Beirut Airport on October 23, 1983, for example). Immediately after this sad event, the USA pulled their forces out of Lebanon - scuttling away from important pressing responsibilities.
As World Power, the USA should not have been deceived!!!
Georges Bush senior daring reprisals looked pale, later on, when Bill Clinton weakened them by his impulse to deal with internal matters at home mixed what they feared to believe with what they dared not to believe. Despite short periods of `hopes' during his first term, Bill Clinton occupied the media for quite sometime bringing up the image that USA house is crumbling, at its weakest point, leaving a lot to be desired.
Mr White sees the definition of terrorism very difficult to formulate, and it gets more confusing within 'Homeland Security.'
Who should decide what is a terrorist act or otherwise a resistance struggle?
Are the Palestinians terrorists? Were Yitzhak Shamir and Menachem Begin terrorists or resistance?
Are Hizbullah terrorists and who should decide so? Were members of the French resistance terrorists?
Which signposts should support `a definition' to be recognized by all nations? Should references to certain groups in history be taken as signposts, and equated with current ones? And how soon will it be settled?
As long as there are inequities in the pending issues facing the UN there shall never be a universal definition.
Who should take the lead to define the legend `Terrorism' , the UN or the USA. This time, the UN seems to abdicate this responsibility to the USA. Our impression is one that the UN is playing the role of the Carrot and the Stick is relegated to the USA.
Perhaps this very dilemma that has been challenging the USA presidents in the last twenty years of the twentieth century until the beginning of this one, will also determine the shape of nations in our times.
Book Description
In 1995, the International Committee of the Red Cross, along with a range of renowned experts, embarked upon a major international study into current state practice in humanitarian law in order to identify customary law in this area. This book (and its companion, Volume 2: Practice) is the result of that study. Volume 1 is a comprehensive analysis of the customary rules of international humanitarian law applicable in international and non-international armed conflicts.
Book Description
A scathing portrait of contemporary executive power run amok, by the author of the original 1976 Church Committee report on executive abuse.
"In thirty-four years, I have repeatedly seen an erosion of the powers and the ability of the president of the United States to do his job."—Vice President Dick Cheney
Thirty years after the Church Committee unearthed COINTELPRO and other instances of illicit executive behavior on the domestic and international fronts, the Bush administration has elevated the flaws identified by the committee into first principles of government.
Through a constellation of non-public laws and opaque, unaccountable institutions, the current administration has created a "secret presidency" run by classified presidential decisions and orders about national security. A hyperactive Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice is intent on eliminating checks on presidential power and testing that power's limits. Decisions are routinely executed at senior levels within the civilian administration without input from Congress or the federal courts, let alone our international allies. Secret NSA spying at home is the most recent of these. Harsh treatment of detainees, "extraordinary renditions," secret foreign prisons, and the newly minted enemy combatant designation have also undermined our values. The resulting policies have harmed counterterrorism efforts and produced few tangible results.
With a partisan Congress predictably reluctant to censure a politically aligned president, it is all the more important for citizens themselves to demand disclosure, oversight, and restraint of sweeping claims of executive power. This book is the first step.
Customer Reviews:
Love the PW review- as always.......2007-07-10
I'm so glad we have the reader reviews on Amazon. The Publishers Weekly evaluations are often very biased and dismissive. "Though another book criticizing the Bush presidency is of questionable necessity" - really? We've reached the limit on books examining and critiquing the performance of the President of the United States? Thanks, PW! I'll stop worrying about the health of our democracy and go straight to bed.
"A Republic, If You Can Keep It".......2007-07-09
Benjamin Franklin, when asked what type of government we had created, is said to have replied, "A republic, if you can keep it." "Unchecked and Unbalanced" shows why America is in danger of being transformed into a monarchy by the Bush Administration, reporting how this new theory of unchecked presidential power developed and why it is wrong. The authors also contend that the theory is not a response to 9/11, but long nurtured by Cheney and his assistant David Addington from at least the days of the Iran-Contra investigation, and even followed (to a much lesser extent) by Bill Clinton.
Executive branch lawyers now describe an ongoing (not just emergency) power to set aside legal checks imposed by Congress and to even act when Congress is silent. This authority extends to treaties as well, and at least one Office of Legal Council (OLC) leader claims coverage of judicial decisions as well.
Lincoln acted early on at the start of the Civil war without Congressional authorization, and even ignored an order by the Chief Justice. The difference between Lincoln and Bush is that Lincoln did not do so on an on-going basis, sought subsequent approval, and did not act in secret.
"Unchecked and Unbalanced" provides rationale for concluding that OLC's conclusions are wrong; it also asserts that the OLC claims were developed without adherence to professional obligations - eg. they failed to identify, let alone respond to, weaknesses in their legal arguments, and failed to mention key Supreme Court cases.
Finally, to protect our republic, the authors recommend Congress hold hearings and act, and that the Supreme Court follow suit. Unfortunately this is made difficult by executive branch supervision of intelligence gathering and distribution.
Very dangerous premise.......2007-07-06
propounded here. For background, Schwarz was counsel for the Church Committee. It was that committee that emasculated the CIA, not allowing it to deal with foreign agents with any sort of criminal record (who does the spying; not the Boy Scouts) and putting up barriers for communications between U.S. intelligence agencies. All this lead directly to many of the problems of 9/11. Now, because of their hatred for Bush, these authors want to return to that Alice in Wonderland approach to national security. That's why this premise is so dangerous; our lives depend on it.
Responsibly Written - Well Researched.......2007-05-24
The authors documents how the Bush Administration, in an effort to fight terrorism, has side-stepped the constitution, circumvented the Geneva Convention, and broken countless other laws. The authors describe how the net result is an erosion of the moral character of America, which, in the long run, is counterproductive in the war on terror.
The right people to ring the alarm bells.......2007-05-07
Frederick A.O. Schwarz Jr. is senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law and a partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore. He was chief counsel to the Church Committee. Aziz Z. Huq is associate counsel at the Brennan Center and previously clerked for the U.S. Supreme Court. This is a book you will not be able to put down, in which they demonstrate and document how the Bush administration has gone further than Nixon or Reagan ever dreamed to create a monarchical presidency with the acquiescence of a complicit Congress and a cowed judiciary.
Books:
- Supervision of Police Personnel (6th Edition)
- The 48 Laws of Power
- The 48 Laws of Power
- The Attractor Factor: 5 Easy Steps for Creating Wealth (or Anything Else) from the Inside Out
- The Canon of American Legal Thought
- The Complete Taj Mahal
- The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics (Popular Science)
- The Essays of Warren Buffett : Lessons for Corporate America
- The Foundation: A Great American Secret; How Private Wealth is Changing the World
- The Legal and Regulatory Environment of Business
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Meggs' History of Graphic Design
- History: Fiction or Science
- Brief Review for New York Chemistry: The Physical Setting - 2007 Edition
- Exes and Ohs
- Early Pottery: Technology, Function, Style, and Interaction in the Lower Southeast
- History: Fiction or Science
- Facets of a Diamond: Reflections of a Healer
- Rugs to Riches: Guide to Buying Oriental Rugs
- Art of Responsive Drawing, The
- Cherokee Plants: Their Uses-- A 400 Year History
