The United States has released 425 terrorists from Guantánamo, at least 50 of whom have returned to the battlefield to fight our troops.
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton both say they're fiscally responsible. But each has called for $1 trillion in tax increases over the next ten years—and dressed them up as tax cuts!
Mainstream Media has been given marching orders from the Society of Professional Journalists: never refer to "Islamic terrorists" or "Muslim terrorists." And they are obeying! Whenever our brave agents disrupt a terror plot, The media dismisses the culprits as a gang of idiots—lulling us into a false sense of security.
If the liberals win the 2008 election, they will cripple talk radio—forcing stations to give equal time to left-wing programs, and insisting that liberals play a key role in station management.
Up to a quarter of all state pension funds in the United States are invested in companies that are helping Iran, Syria, North Korea, or the Sudan—for a total of nearly $200 billion.
The Do-Nothing Congress is still doing nothing—and the worst offenders are the presidential candidates Clinton, Obama, and McCain, who never show up for their day jobs as senators . . . except to pick up their $165,000 paycheck!
Is it any wonder that Americans feel fleeced at every turn?
As more and more critical problems develop that need national attention, the White House and Congress appear to be AWOL.
Who's calling the shots instead?
Big business, big government, big labor, and big lobbyists. And their self-serving agendas are doing nothing to help the ever-increasing number of American people who are losing their homes, paying credit card interest rates higher than 25 percent, and finding their jobs increasingly outsourced to foreign countries.
In this hard-hitting call to arms, Dick Morris and Eileen McGann reveal the hundreds of ways American tax-payers are routinely fleeced—by our own government; by foreign countries like Dubai that are gobbling up American interests and spending millions to influence government decisions and American public opinion; by Washington lobbying firms that are pushing the agendas of corrupt foreign dictators on Capitol Hill; and by hedge-fund billionaires collecting huge tax breaks courtesy of the IRS.
With their characteristic blend of sharp analysis and insider insight, Morris and McGann call offenders of all kinds on the carpet—and offer practical agendas we all can follow to help turn the tide.
About this product: A tribe is any group of people, large or small, who are connected to one another, a leader, and an idea. For millions of years, humans have been seeking out tribes, be they religious, ethnic, economic, political, or even musical (think of the Deadheads). Its our nature.
Now the Internet has eliminated the barriers of geography, cost, and time. All those blogs and social networking sites are helping existing tribes get bigger. But more important, theyre enabling countless new tribes to be borngroups of ten or ten thousand or ten million who care about their iPhones, or a political campaign, or a new way to fight global warming.
And so the key question: Who is going to lead us?
The Web can do amazing things, but it cant provide leadership. That still has to come from individuals people just like you who have passion about something. The explosion in tribes means that anyone who wants to make a difference now has the tools at her fingertips.
If you think leadership is for other people, think againleaders come in surprising packages. Consider Joel Spolsky and his international tribe of scary-smart software engineers. Or Gary Vaynerhuck, a wine expert with a devoted following of enthusiasts. Chris Sharma leads a tribe of rock climbers up impossible cliff faces, while Mich Mathews, a VP at Microsoft, runs her internal tribe of marketers from her cube in Seattle. All they have in common is the desire to change things, the ability to connect a tribe, and the willingness to lead.
If you ignore this opportunity, you risk turning into a sheepwalkersomeone who fights to protect the status quo at all costs, never asking if obedience is doing you (or your organization) any good. Sheepwalkers dont do very well these days.
Tribes will make you think (really think) about the opportunities in leading your fellow employees, customers, investors, believers, hobbyists, or readers. . . . Its not easy, but its easier than you think.
About this product: The U.S. government is in crisis.
With America’s attention fixated on who will step into the Oval Office in 2009, no one has noticed where the real power has shifted—to a vast network of unelected officials whose authority has grown wildly out of control. In his latest blockbuster book, acclaimed defense and national security reporter Bill Gertz exposes these astonishingly powerful leaders and their enablers in the political class—and their devastating impact on America's national security.
Gertz shows how entrenched liberal activists have become dominant even under an ostensibly conservative administration. And he names names of those who actively subvert official U.S. policy—including not only liberal Democrats but also a number of so-called Republicans who have joined this insidious “Blame America First” crowd.
The Failure Factory reveals:
• The shocking, previously untold story of the partisan bureaucrats who completely undercut the U.S. position on Iran’s radical Islamist regime • Barack Obama’s disastrous national security policies—and his stable of advisers who have already put America at risk • The recent showdown in the Pentagon that laid bare the U.S. government’s ongoing failures to tackle the threat of Islamist extremism • Flagrant cases of sabotage by top State Department officials that have emboldened dangerous states like Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Communist China • Stunning new intelligence failures—including one that may have allowed a terrorist group to penetrate the FBI and CIA • How even the Bush White House was overrun with Democrats and liberal Republicans • The legions of “Clinton generals”—top military brass whose careers blossomed during the Clinton administration—who make the United States more vulnerable • How Democrats are exploiting the antiwar movement for political gain, with little regard for the potentially devastating consequences • How the defense secretary’s public defiance of official U.S. policy could have gotten him fired—but instead went unchallenged
Based on scores of exclusive interviews and displaying the groundbreaking reporting that has made Bill Gertz’s previous books smash bestsellers, The Failure Factory offers a chilling look at the threats to our national security that exist within our own government.
About this product: As Little Cub and her family prepare to celebrate the most special day of the year, the curious young polar bear begins to wonder… “Who invented Christmas?” Mama’s answer only leads to more questions like “Is God more important than Santa?” So she and Little Cub head off on a polar expedition to find God and to see how he gave them Christmas. Along the way, they find signs that God is at work all around them. Through Mama’s gentle guidance, Little Cub learns about the very first Christmas and discovers that… Jesus is the best present of all. This enchanting tale provides the perfect opportunity to help young children celebrate the true meaning of Christmas and to discover how very much God loves them.
Would you be surprised that road rage can be good for society? Or that most crashes happen on sunny, dry days? That our minds can trick us into thinking the next lane is moving faster? Or that you can gauge a nation’s driving behavior by its levels of corruption? These are only a few of the remarkable dynamics that Tom Vanderbilt explores in this fascinating tour through the mysteries of the road.
Based on exhaustive research and interviews with driving experts and traffic officials around the globe, Traffic gets under the hood of the everyday activity of driving to uncover the surprisingly complex web of physical, psychological, and technical factors that explain how traffic works, why we drive the way we do, and what our driving says about us. Vanderbilt examines the perceptual limits and cognitive underpinnings that make us worse drivers than we think we are. He demonstrates why plans to protect pedestrians from cars often lead to more accidents. He shows how roundabouts, which can feel dangerous and chaotic, actually make roads safer—and reduce traffic in the bargain. He uncovers who is more likely to honk at whom, and why. He explains why traffic jams form, outlines the unintended consequences of our quest for safety, and even identifies the most common mistake drivers make in parking lots.
The car has long been a central part of American life; whether we see it as a symbol of freedom or a symptom of sprawl, we define ourselves by what and how we drive. As Vanderbilt shows, driving is a provocatively revealing prism for examining how our minds work and the ways in which we interact with one another. Ultimately, Traffic is about more than driving: it’s about human nature. This book will change the way we see ourselves and the world around us. And who knows? It may even make us better drivers.
From the author who brought you the massive New York Times bestseller Bringing Down the House, this is the startling rags-to-riches story of an Italian-American kid from the streets of Brooklyn who claws his way into the wild, frenetic world of the oil exchange.
After conquering the hallowed halls of Harvard Business School, he enters the testosterone-laced warrens of the Merc Exchange, the asylumlike oil exchange located in lower Manhattan. A place where billions of dollars trade hands every week, the Merc is like a casino on crack, where former garbagemen become millionaires overnight and where fistfights break out on the trading floor.
This ordinary kid has traded Brooklyn for the gold-lined hotel palaces of Dubai. He keeps company on the decks of private yachts in Monte Carlo—teeming with half-naked girls flown in by Saudi sheiks—and makes deals in the dangerous back alleys of Beijing.
But the Merc is just a starting place. Taken under the wing of another young gun and partnering with a mysterious young Muslim, the kid embarks on a dangerous adventure to revolutionize the oil trading industry—and, along with it, the world.
Rigged is the explicit, exclusive, true story behind the headlines that dominate the world stage.
Dubai has a remarkable success story. Since its origins as a small fishing and pearling community, the emirate has steadily grown in strength to become the premier trading center of the Persian Gulf. It is also the locus of an exciting and innovative architectural revolution. Despite its lack of democratization and a genuine civil society, Dubai is now a booming metropolis of more than two million people, most of whom are expatriates benefiting from the city's increasingly diversified economy.
Following a detailed history, Christopher M. Davidson presents an in-depth study of Dubai's post-oil development strategies and their implementation during a period of near-complete political stability. Davidson addresses the probability of future problems as the need for sustained foreign direct investment encourages far-reaching socioeconomic reforms, many of which may affect the ideological, religious, and cultural legitimacy of the traditional monarchy. He also analyzes Dubai's awkward relationship with its federal partners in the United Arab Emirates and highlights some of the pitfalls of being the region's most successful free port-its attractiveness to international criminal fraternities, the economy of the global black market, and terrorist networks.
It's been called the fastest-growing city on earth-a hub for the Gulf region experiencing unprecedented growth in energy, financial services, consumer goods, hospitality, retail, real estate, technology, shipping, and countless other industries. According to global strategist and advisor to Fortune 500 companies Aamir A. Rehman, no truly global firm can afford to ignore the booming Gulf region. The key, however, is to approach the region with savvy strategies for managing risks and drawbacks, while crafting business models designed for this unique market. Welcome to Dubai & Co.
This up-close, in-depth guide will help you to:
Deepen your understanding of a region of critical importance to global business
Change your perceptions about the Gulf states and the broader Middle East
Create corporate strategies that fit your firm and the region
Expand your international business to make it faster, bigger, and better
Access Gulf capital more effectively, enabling expansion and generating both local and global profits
This essential hands-on book will show you how to successfully navigate the region's most attractive markets: the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman. You'll learn the key characteristics of each country-historical, demographic, political, economic, and regulatory-in order to adapt your business to each unique environment. You'll hear stories of major companies that paved the way for your success. Whether you're already doing business in the Middle East or just thinking about expanding your company into new markets, Dubai & Co. is the perfect guide to one of the greatest growth opportunities in the world.
About this product: I got this book as a guide for a five-day trip to Dubai, and it was extremely helpful. It is a small and skinny 128-page book, which meant it fit in my purse and could easily be brought out for quick reference to all of the remarkable sites of Dubai. It is easy to read with great facts and helpful travel tips. I highly recommend it for someone going to Dubai for a shorter stay - if you are going there for a long (over two weeks) time, you will probably want something that digs a little deeper. If I had one complaint, it would be that the maps of the Deira souqs (bazaar) area were not detailed enough. Dubai is not a walkable city, but the souqs of Deira can really only be explored on foot. If you get lost or turned around, it can be rather disorienting. That one portion of the city map could have had more streets listed to assist with that.
Waterfront high-rises, burgeoning financial districts, and tax-free shopping malls reflect Dubai’s love affair with the West. As the city leaps into the future, it keeps a watchful eye on the past. Theme hotels and desert resorts overflow with local hospitality, while new galleries and performance venues tap into the growing interest in the arts. This essential guide covers all of Dubai, from landmarks like the towering Burj Dubai and underwater Hydropolis hotel to the city’s quirkier districts.
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