How can we create and sustain an America that never was, but should be? How can we build a truly multiracial democracy in which everyone is valued and possesses the needed political, economic and social capital so that democracy becomes a meaningful way of life, for all citizens? By critically probing these questions, the editors of Community Wealth Building and the Reconstruction of American Democracy seize the opportunity to bridge the gap between our democratic aspirations and our current reality.   In a moment of democratic disappointment and anxiety, politicians, policy officials, scholars and citizens desire an effective response. This book assembles new voices and novel perspectives that offer a compelling vision for democracy and the prospects and possibilities afforded by community wealth building, an emerging policy paradigm focused on community-based, creative solutions to systemic problems. The contributors explore how, by cultivating the capacities of citizens, American democracy can be revived - indeed, created - as a veritable practice of everyday life. Scholars of democracy in political science, history, sociology, public policy, economics, African-American studies and related topics as well as policy practitioners, journalists and students will appreciate the cutting-edge work by leading scholars and the contributions from impactful practitioners from the White House to City Halls, in this discussion of the challenges facing contemporary American democracy and the prospects for reform and change.

After a life time of seeing this Country we love, developing problem, after problem, and not fixing any of them, some one had to speak out. Just stop and think about any problem that comes to mind, gas prices, health care, lost jobs, or a hundred others you could come up with. What caused them? It wasn't the people, or a terrorist, business, or an enemy, it was the Governments actions, or inactions. Our government of the people, by the people, and for the people, is supposed to be a representative democracy. Represent is the word lost, the people we send to Washington think representing us, is them doing as they please. From our President, to our Senators and representatives, they tell us what is good for us, and dictate what we must endure. Our political party system, has become like two Mafia gangs, trying to take the other out to run the show. No matter which is in power, the crimes are the same. We are to blame because we let these people who are our hired help, forget this fact, and think they are like exalted rulers. They have used politics to divide us, gave us divided Government, and divided and conquered us. A divided people can not stand, can we ever be one people, one nation under God, one for all, and all for one, as some men dreamed.

The second edition of this widely used text has been carefully rewritten to ensure that it is up-to-date with cutting-edge debates, evidence, and policy changes. Since the book's initial publication, there has been an expansion of interest in disability in the social sciences, and disability has come to play an increasingly prominent role in political debates. The new edition takes account of all these developments, and also gives greater emphasis to global issues in order to reflect the increasing and intensifying interdependence of nation states in the twenty-first century.

The authors examine, amongst other issues, the changing nature of the concept of disability, key debates in the sociology of health and illness, the politicisation of disability, social policy, and the cultural and media representation of disability. As well as providing an excellent overview of the literature in the area, the book develops an understanding of disability that has implications for both sociology and society.

The second edition of "Exploring Disability" will be indispensable for students across the social sciences, and in health and social care, who really want to understand the issues facing disabled people and disabling societies.

The conventional view of religion is that the basic truths were settled long ago, that all we have to do is to accept them and behave accordingly. Essentially then, there is no room for originality. To be religious we have to be followers, adherents, to be convinced, addicted, to be in a position to say: we are right, you are wrong. In A Vast Bundle of Opportunities, originally published in 1975, Kenneth Barnes maintains that this is a sterile condition of mind. Religion is not a separate kind of experience; it includes our whole selves and all that we do. It follows that if art and science can be creative and originative, so also must religion be, if it is real. If it is the Christian religion we are thinking of, then to try to ‘imitate’ Jesus is to kill him stone dead. To make him an ideal is to put him away. But to respond to him is to come alive as creators and originators. The writer, as the founder of an unusual kind of boarding school – Wennington School, Wetherby – knows what it is like to live in the midst of incessant enterprising activity; in his own life he knows what it feels like to be a scientist, an artist, a craftsman. He asks if there are ways we can deliberately choose by which we can become originators. He takes the philosophy of John Macmurrray to show what freedom could mean to us, and the more recent writings of Arthur Koestler and Edouard de Bono to suggest that the obvious development of creativeness in science can be encouraged in the total approach to life and human problems. Life then becomes an experience of endless discovery, a continual opening up of possibilities.

COLLADA, the digital entertainment industry's first standard interchange format for 3D graphics, defines an XML-based schema to enable 3D authoring applications to freely exchange digital assets without loss of information - enabling multiple software packages to be combined into extremely powerful tool chains. It was developed in a cooperative effort between the industry's leading developers of applications, games, and platforms to streamline the interchange process. This book, written by the two driving forces behind COLLADA, is a complete guide to the COLLADA 1.4 specification. It provides content developers, application developers, and tool providers with a unique insight into the design of COLLADA that will help them to: exchange and fully preserve asset data; package programmable shader effects; control real-time physics engines; and build powerful content creation pipelines that can automatically condition and scale 3D geometry and texture assets for real-time playback on a wide diversity of platforms. tool vendors and game developers and has been adopted as an official industry standard by the Khronos Group.

Focusing on the challenges faced by the US military in responding to "operations other than war" in the post-Cold War era, Rudolph Barnes makes a plea for the US government to address the "organizational bias for combat" and "narrow traditionalist view of military professionalism" within the Pentagon, which, he argues, are serious obstacles to developing an effective capabiilty for operations other than war. He draws on examples from Vietnam to the mismanagement of US military involvement in Somalia.

Military legitimacy concerns the delicate balance between might and right. It begins with the law - operational law (OPLAW) and the law of war (LAW) - but it goes beyond the law to its moral underpinnings. Moral and cultural standards in the area of operations must be respected to ensure legitimacy. Personal and national values provide the framework for military decision making. The potential conflict between civilian and military perceptions of these values represents a continuing threat to military legitimacy because, in a democracy, public support is both a requirement and a measure of such legitimacy. This book provides an overview of the concept of legitimacy as it applies to military operations, especially in peacetime. It is argued that legitimacy was hardly an issue during the Cold War as it was defined in terms of combatting the Soviet threat. With the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and diminishing defence resources, there must be a new under-standing of military legitimacy and its relationship to new strategies. The diplomat-warrior personifies legitimacy in peacetime and is an effective means of filling the gap between the limits of diplomacy and conventional military operations.

Love and Depth in the American Novel seeks to change how we think about the American love story and how we imagine the love of literature. By examining classics of nineteenth-century American literature, Ashley Barnes offers a new approach to literary theory that encompasses both New Historicism and the ethical turn in literary studies. Couples like Huck and Jim and Ishmael and Queequeg have grounded the classic account of the American novel as exceptionally gothic and antisocial. Barnes argues instead for a model of shared intimacy that connects the evangelical sentimental best seller to the high art of psychological realism. In her reading of works by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Elizabeth Stoddard, Henry James, and others in the context of nineteenth-century Protestant-Catholic debates about how to know and love God, what emerges is an alternate tradition of the American love story that pictures intimacy as communion rather than revelation. Barnes uses that unacknowledged love story to propose a model of literary critical intimacy that depends on reading fiction in its historical context.

COLLADA is a COLLAborative Design Activity for establishing an open standard Digital Asset schema for interactive 3D applications. This book explains in detail how to use the COLLADA technology in a project utilizing 3D assets, and ultimately how to create an effective content creation pipeline for the most complex development. Errata are posted at http://collada.org/mediawiki/index.php/COLLADA_book.

The fast evolution of the technology, social network services and mobile platforms have transformed the traditional notions of community and intercultural communication. This book presents topical research in the study of the technology, network and user issues in mobile phones today. Topics discussed include increased genetic damage due to mobile telephone radiation; mobile phone interfaces for collaborative learning in everyday life; the internationalisation process of European operators and mobile health services improving healthcare through mobile technology.

THE ESSENTIAL, COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO CARTRIDGES--PAST AND PRESENT! Serious shooters and reloaders will find the cartridges they love--and many they never dreamed of--in this newest edition of the most widely read cartridge reference book ever published. From the latest introductions in standard American sporting cartridges, to the hottest proprietary rounds, and new authoritative feature articles by the gun industry's heavy hitters on cartridge design, application, selection, tips and idiosyncrasies, this book is packed with everything shooters, handloaders and cartridge collectors need to know. Cartridges of the World, 16th Edition is packed with over 688 pages of concise information and data on old, new and currently manufactured ammo. Heavily illustrated with more than 1,500 photos, this book is the ultimate guide for gun owners interested in current and historical ammunition for handguns, rifles and shotguns. With 50 new cartridges, from the latest cutting-edge factory loads to wildcats that will set ballistic trends for years to come, plus updated cartridge descriptions and the newly expanded full-color feature article section, Cartridges of the World, 16th Edition is the most comprehensive reference of its kind, and a must-have for every firearms owner--from beginner to advanced. IT'S ALL HERE! 50 new cartridges Full-color feature story section Trendsetting wildcats Updated spec and reference charts Expert advice on handloads and cartridge selection

This book describes the impact, stability and designs of dams, which are based upon structural, geotechnical and hydraulic properties. The impact of the dam structure on the upstream and downstream catchments are considered: e.g., sediment trap, fish migration, downstream water quality, and modifications of the water table and associated impacts (salinity). The impact dams have on the survival of certain fish is also reviewed. For example, dams impact the survival of juvenile anadromous fishes by obstructing migration corridors, lowering water quality, delaying migrations, and entraining fish in turbine discharge. To reduce these impacts, structural and operational modifications to dams- such as voluntary spill discharge, turbine intake guidance screens, and surface flow outlets are instituted. These data on the operational and structural changes to the dams for the benefit of anadromous fish populations are examined. This book also describes the bankfull hydraulic geometry adjustments caused by check dams. The concrete-face rockfill dam (CFRD), a simple dam type which has remarkable economical, ecological and environmental benefits, is analysed as well, as it has become one of the most widely used dam types. Finally, this book explores two aspects related to the environmental impacts that trigger the construction of hydrological correction check dams: the erosion caused within the riverbeds and the ploughing and soil movements made by the opening of paths in order to grant access to the check dams.

The Ku Klux Klan established a significant foothold in Arkansas in the 1920s, boasting more than 150 state chapters and tens of thousands of members at its zenith. Propelled by the prominence of state leaders such as Grand Dragon James Comer and head of Women of the KKK Robbie Gill Comer, the Klan established Little Rock as a seat of power second only to Atlanta. In The Ku Klux Klan in 1920s Arkansas, Kenneth C. Barnes traces this explosion of white nationalism and its impact on the state's development.Barnes shows that the Klan seemed to wield power everywhere in 1920s Arkansas. Klansmen led businesses and held elected offices and prominent roles in legal, medical, and religious institutions, while the women of the Klan supported rallies and charitable activities and planned social gatherings where cross burnings were regular occurrences. Inside their organization, Klan members bonded during picnic barbeques and parades and over shared religious traditions. Outside of it, they united to direct armed threats, merciless physical brutality, and torrents of hateful rhetoric against individuals who did not conform to their exclusionary vision. By the mid-1920s, internal divisions, scandals, and an overzealous attempt to dominate local and state elections caused Arkansas's Klan to fall apart nearly as quickly as it had risen. Yet as the organization dissolved and the formal trappings of its flamboyant presence receded, the attitudes the Klan embraced never fully disappeared. In documenting this history, Barnes shows how the Klan's early success still casts a long shadow on the state to this day.

Love and Depth in the American Novel seeks to change how we think about the American love story and how we imagine the love of literature. By examining classics of nineteenth-century American literature, Ashley Barnes offers a new approach to literary theory that encompasses both New Historicism and the ethical turn in literary studies. Couples like Huck and Jim and Ishmael and Queequeg have grounded the classic account of the American novel as exceptionally gothic and antisocial. Barnes argues instead for a model of shared intimacy that connects the evangelical sentimental best seller to the high art of psychological realism. In her reading of works by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Elizabeth Stoddard, Henry James, and others in the context of nineteenth-century Protestant-Catholic debates about how to know and love God, what emerges is an alternate tradition of the American love story that pictures intimacy as communion rather than revelation. Barnes uses that unacknowledged love story to propose a model of literary critical intimacy that depends on reading fiction in its historical context.

The Ku Klux Klan established a significant foothold in Arkansas in the 1920s, boasting more than 150 state chapters and tens of thousands of members at its zenith. Propelled by the prominence of state leaders such as Grand Dragon James Comer and head of Women of the KKK Robbie Gill Comer, the Klan established Little Rock as a seat of power second only to Atlanta. In The Ku Klux Klan in 1920s Arkansas, Kenneth C. Barnes traces this explosion of white nationalism and its impact on the state’s development. Barnes shows that the Klan seemed to wield power everywhere in 1920s Arkansas. Klansmen led businesses and held elected offices and prominent roles in legal, medical, and religious institutions, while the women of the Klan supported rallies and charitable activities and planned social gatherings where cross burnings were regular occurrences. Inside their organization, Klan members bonded during picnic barbeques and parades and over shared religious traditions. Outside of it, they united to direct armed threats, merciless physical brutality, and torrents of hateful rhetoric against individuals who did not conform to their exclusionary vision. By the mid-1920s, internal divisions, scandals, and an overzealous attempt to dominate local and state elections caused Arkansas’s Klan to fall apart nearly as quickly as it had risen. Yet as the organization dissolved and the formal trappings of its flamboyant presence receded, the attitudes the Klan embraced never fully disappeared. In documenting this history, Barnes shows how the Klan’s early success still casts a long shadow on the state to this day.

For most of the twentieth century, people with disabilities have been regarded as 'victims' of their condition and a 'burden' on society. More recently, however, disabled people and their organizations across Europe and North America have challenged conventional explanations for their individual and collective disadvantage, calling for policy measures to change the image and status of disabled people in the Western world.

In this new book, Barnes and Mercer provide a concise and accessible introduction to the concept of disability. Drawing on a burgeoning 'disability studies' literature from around the world, and from a range of disciplinary perspectives, the authors explore the evolution of this concept and offer a wide-ranging critique of established academic, policy and professional orthodoxies. The book highlights disabled peoples' exclusion and marginalization in key areas of social activity and participation across different historical and cultural contexts, such as family life and reproduction, education, employment, leisure, cultural imagery and politics.

The analysis concentrates on disability as a distinctive form of social oppression similar to that experienced by women, minority ethnic and 'racial' groups, and lesbians and gay men. Key issues addressed include: theorizing disability; historical and comparative perspectives; experiencing impairment and disability; professional and policy intervention in the lives of disabled people; disability politics, social policy and citizenship; and disability culture.

This will be essential reading for those studying sociology, social policy, social work, health studies, disability studies, and thosein the therapy and nursing professions.

Over recent years there has been an unprecedented upsurge of interest in the general area of disability and disability studies amongst academics and researchers throughout the world. This has generated an increasingly expansive literature, from a variety of perspectives, including cultural studies, development studies, geography, history, philosophy, social policy, social psychology and sociology. Perhaps inevitably, given this heightened interest, a number of important challenges and debates have emerged which raise many significant questions for all those interested in this newly emergent and increasingly important field. "Disability Studies Today "provides an invaluable introduction to and an overview of these concerns and controversies.

Although the field is increasingly interdisciplinary in nature, the emphasis is primarily a sociological one since sociology continues to play a central role in the development of disability studies. Whilst the focus is primarily on theoretical innovation and advancement, the arguments presented in this book have important political and policy implications for both disabled and non-disabled people. Moreover, since disability studies, like ethnic, women's and gay and lesbian studies, has developed from a position of engagement and activism rather than one of detachment, the articles in this volume maintain this tradition. The book contains contributions from established figures, as well as newcomers to the field. Topics covered include: the history of the development of disability studies in Britain and America, key ideas, issues and thinkers, the role of the body, divisions and hierarchies, history, power and identity, work, politics and the disabled peoples' movement, globalization, human rights, research and the role of the academy.

This book will prove invaluable to scholars, researchers, students and policy makers and, indeed, all those involved in this increasingly important area of social enquiry.