Tattoos ... more than a fashion. Tattoos have become a commonplace fashion statement finding their way onto celebrities, executives as well as soccer moms. Tattoos aren't just for sailors and gangs anymore Now a deadly weapon in the wrong hands In TATS, a special ink is deceptively released from a lab turning several teens into psychotic, telepathic killers with ties to rival LA gangs. An unsuspecting dermatologist finds himself in the middle of a gang war that turns deadly with far reaching global implications.

In "What's Left of the Left," distinguished scholars of European and U.S. politics consider how center-left political parties have fared since the 1970s. They explore the left's responses to the end of the postwar economic boom, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the erosion of traditional party politics, the expansion of market globalization, and the shift to a knowledge-based economy. Their comparative studies of center-left politics in Scandinavia, France, Germany, southern Europe, post-Cold War Central and Eastern Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States emphasize differences in the goals of left political parties and in the political, economic, and demographic contexts in which they operate. The contributors identify and investigate the more successful center-left initiatives, scrutinizing how some conditions facilitated them, while others blocked their emergence or limited their efficacy. In the contemporary era of slow growth, tight budgets, and rapid technological change, the center-left faces pressing policy concerns, including immigration, the growing population of the working poor, and the fate of the European Union. This collection suggests that such matters present the left with daunting but by no means insurmountable challenges.

Contributors
Sheri Berman
James Cronin
Jean-Michel de Waele
Arthur Goldhammer
Christopher Howard
Jane Jenson
Gerassimos Moschonas
Sofia Perez
Jonas Pontusson
George Ross
James Shoch
Sorina Soare
Ruy Teixeira

For the past two decades, trade policy has been high on the American political agenda, thanks to the growing integration of the United States into the global economy and the wealth of debate this development has sparked. Although scholars have explored many aspects of U.S. trade policy, there has been little study of the role played by party politics. With "Trading Blows," James Shoch fills that gap.

Shoch offers detailed case studies of almost all of the major trade issues of the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton eras, including administrative and legislative efforts to curb auto, steel, and other imports and to open up markets in Japan and elsewhere, as well as free-trade initiatives such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) treaty that concluded the Uruguay Round of international trade talks, the extension of presidential fast-track trade negotiating authority, and the approval of permanent normal trade relations with China. In so doing, he explains the complex patterns of party competition over U.S. trade policy since 1980 and demonstrates the significant impact that party politics has had on the nation's recent trade policy decisions.