The alligatorFlorida's most feared, maligned animal. From the time European settlers first stepped onto Florida soil, the alligator has been a target of dread and revulsionand the hunter's gun.

Collected here are true (and tongue in cheek) accounts of alligators and the people who have hunted them, been attacked by them, and tried to save them from extinction. Journey through the Everglades with 1800's Seminoles, experts at stalking and killing gators. Go along with a "Northern girl" as she shoots "my first alligator in my glove and veil." And learn how modern alligator hunters go about their business, which hasn't changed much in the last hundred years or so.

If you like tall tales, you'll love Henry, the alligator-turned-head-waiter who becomes despondent when a pretty New York girl spurns his lovesick advances. Or Algy, the gator who survives a broiling in a furnace by his owners, who happen to think he's already dead and won't mind the heat.

Why has the military not intervened in the post-communist political arena since the advent of democracy in Russia? Do lowered levels of professionalism actually lead to higher levels of intervention? Through a systematic exploration of professionalism within the Russian military, this study addresses these important questions. Moran suggests that by examining the notion of subjective fragmentation, both Gorbachev and Yeltsin utilized a highly effective, yet potentially troublesome, form of civil-military control. Findings that overall levels of praetorian behavior on the part of the Russian military have declined in this period, in spite of declining levels of military professionalism, challenge one of the most basic theoretical assumptions of civil-military relations. Since 1991, post-communist Russia has exhibited all of the classic indicators of a society ripe for a military takeover. Not only have institutional interests of the Russian officer corps been gravely threatened, but surveys conducted within it have found a general lack of sympathy for democratic values. Furthermore, Russia's weak civil society is accompanied by high levels of corruption, rampant crime, secessionist movements, a significant terrorist threat, and a general disrespect for the rule of law. Even further augmenting the chances of a military coup d'^D'etat, public opinion polls of civilians have found that the military is one of the most trusted institutions in the country—so trusted, in fact, that many Russian citizens have expressed support for a military takeover. Moran explains why the military has not capitalized on these factors.

The Cambridge Companion to Latina/o American Literature provides a thorough yet accessible overview of a literary phenomenon that has been rapidly globalizing over the past two decades. It takes an innovative approach that underscores the importance of understanding Latina/o literature not merely as an ethnic phenomenon in the United States, but more broadly as a crucial element of a trans-American literary imagination. Leading scholars in the field present critical analyses of key texts, authors, themes, and contexts, from the early nineteenth century to the present. They engage with the dynamics of migration, linguistic and cultural translation, and the uneven distribution of resources across the Americas that characterize Latina/o literature. This Companion will be an invaluable resource, introducing undergraduate and graduate students to the complexities of the field.

Performance management can be an uncomfortable topic within the discipline of public health. Written by leaders in public health performance management and quality improvement, this book carefully explains what public health performance management is - and makes a strong case for why it is needed to tackle successfully the long-standing health issues plaguing communities and states. Notably, the book eschews the need to invest in technology or to learn a new performance management vocabulary. Rather the authors advocate for more thoughtful use of the resources already available in the organization, relying on public health leadership working in conjunction with well trained staff to manage their own organizational performance. To be broadly accepted within public health, performance management concepts and models have to be framed and populated with public health examples, and this book offers a wealth of practical insights and case studies that may be immediately applied to public health organizations, from assessing an organization's needs, introducing a performance management system to the organization, developing an agency's goals and targets, to implementation of sound performance management systems and plans. Collaborative Performance Management for Public Health is required reading for all public health leaders and employees concerned with maximizing the health impact of scarce resources.

This specially curated collection features four reviews of current and key research on heat stress in dairy cattle. The first chapter outlines technologies to breed for more heat tolerant dairy cattle, exploiting either between or within breed genetic variation in the trait. It discusses future perspectives on the use of different tools to achieve accelerated improvements of this important trait. The second chapter discusses breeding goals and multi-trait selection to balance production and non-production traits. It considers newer breeding objectives such as ensuring that cattle can adapt to a changing climate, including breeding for heat tolerance. The third chapter reviews challenges facing smallholder dairy farmers in Asia. These include the impact of high temperatures and humidity on milk yield, reproductive efficiency and animal health. The chapter places these challenges in the context of the broader economic constraints faced by smallholders and how they can be overcome. The final chapter highlights constraints in improving smallholder dairy production in Sub-Saharan Africa. Issues include developing breeds balancing yield with resilience to local climatic conditions. The chapter reviews ways of Improving breeding and productivity, as well as broader organisational support

The complex nature of globalization increasingly requires a comparative approach to literature in order to understand how migration and commodity flows impact aesthetic production and expressive practices. This special issue of Symbolism: An International Journal of Critical Aesthetics explores the trans-American dimensions of Latina/o literature in a trans-Atlantic context. Examining the theoretical implications suggested by the comparison of the global North-global South dynamics of material and aesthetic exchange, this volume highlights emergent Latina/o authors, texts, and methodologies of interest in for comparative literary studies. In the essays, literary scholars address questions of the transculturation, translation, and reception of Latina/o literature in the United States and Europe. In the interviews, emergent Latina/o authors speak to the processes of creative writing in a transnational context. This volume suggests how the trans-American dialogues found in contemporary Latina/o literature elucidates trans-Atlantic critical dialogues.

Between 1910 and 1920, thousands of Mexican Americans and Mexican nationals were killed along the Texas border. The killers included strangers and neighbors, vigilantes and law enforcement officers-in particular, Texas Rangers. Despite a 1919 investigation of the state-sanctioned violence, no one in authority was ever held responsible. Reverberations of Racial Violence gathers fourteen essays on this dark chapter in American history. Contributors explore the impact of civil rights advocates, such as Jose Tomas Canales, the sole Mexican-American representative in the Texas State Legislature between 1905 and 1921. The investigation he spearheaded emerges as a historical touchstone, one in which witnesses testified in detail to the extrajudicial killings carried out by state agents. Other chapters situate anti-Mexican racism in the context of the era's rampant and more fully documented violence against African Americans. Contributors also address the roles of women in responding to the violence, as well as the many ways in which the killings have continued to weigh on communities of color in Texas. Taken together, the essays provide an opportunity to move beyond the more standard Black-white paradigm in reflecting on the broad history of American nation-making, the nation's rampant racial violence, and civil rights activism.

Performance management can be an uncomfortable topic within the discipline of public health. Written by leaders in public health performance management and quality improvement, this book carefully explains what public health performance management is - and makes a strong case for why it is needed to tackle successfully the long-standing health issues plaguing communities and states. Notably, the book eschews the need to invest in technology or to learn a new performance management vocabulary. Rather the authors advocate for more thoughtful use of the resources already available in the organization, relying on public health leadership working in conjunction with well trained staff to manage their own organizational performance. To be broadly accepted within public health, performance management concepts and models have to be framed and populated with public health examples, and this book offers a wealth of practical insights and case studies that may be immediately applied to public health organizations, from assessing an organization's needs, introducing a performance management system to the organization, developing an agency's goals and targets, to implementation of sound performance management systems and plans. Collaborative Performance Management for Public Health is required reading for all public health leaders and employees concerned with maximizing the health impact of scarce resources.

In wonder and gratitude, prize-winning photographer John Moran travels the Sunshine State with his cameras, seeking his vision of natural Florida as it must have appeared to Ponce de Leon and other early strangers in paradise. This remarkable collection of images and essays celebrates the magic of a landscape born of water, he writes, and ""blessed with beauty beyond measure."" The book caps Moran's 20-year odyssey to discover the soul of one of the most photographed states in the country. Still, he says, for a photographer who works on the road, he doesn't get around very much. The outer limits of his travels ordinarily are defined by places close to home, with names like Live Oak, Cedar Key, and Micanopy. Working mostly in north and central Florida, Moran says his pictures consecrate a region ""steeped in black-water swamps and rivers, populated by egrets and alligators."" Keenly aware that much of the state's wilderness has all but vanished, his pictures sometimes only suggest the illusion of unspoiled nature. ""I can't tell you how often I've had to recompose my pictures to eliminate a beer can or a bed mattress or worse in the woods,"" he writes. At times, he's made his best pictures literally within sight of his car, ""aware of my own impact on the land, mindful of the myth of untainted nature that I promote with my camera."" He's also worked in unconventional situations, lying inside a home-made PVC pipe-and-burlap blind to photograph dancing sandhill cranes and perching inside a bucket truck 50 feet aboveground to photograph nesting ospreys. The companion essays reflect Moran's philosophy about both nature and photography, and they weave together personal narrative, natural history, and photo-technical instruction. They include commentary about the actual moment he snapped each picture, factual information about the place, and sometimes a historical perspective on the setting by such well-known writers and naturalists as William Bartram and Archie Carr. Moran emphasizes ""making"" pictures as opposed to casually taking them, and writes that his job can't be done without a plan and a specific set of tools and materials. But, he says, his job ""isn't always about the picture, it's about the experience of just being there, chasing the light; alive and awake and aware."" And he recalls some of the best advice he ever received: before you focus your camera, first focus yourself.

The Cambridge History of Latina/o American Literature emphasizes the importance of understanding Latina/o literature not simply as a US ethnic phenomenon but more broadly as an important element of a trans-American literary imagination. Engaging with the dynamics of migration, linguistic and cultural translation, and the uneven distribution of resources across the Americas that characterize Latina/o literature, the essays in this History provide a critical overview of key texts, authors, themes, and contexts as discussed by leading scholars in the field. This book demonstrates the relevance of Latina/o literature for a world defined by the migration of people, commodities, and cultural expressions.

The Cambridge Companion to Latina/o American Literature provides a thorough yet accessible overview of a literary phenomenon that has been rapidly globalizing over the past two decades. It takes an innovative approach that underscores the importance of understanding Latina/o literature not merely as an ethnic phenomenon in the United States, but more broadly as a crucial element of a trans-American literary imagination. Leading scholars in the field present critical analyses of key texts, authors, themes, and contexts, from the early nineteenth century to the present. They engage with the dynamics of migration, linguistic and cultural translation, and the uneven distribution of resources across the Americas that characterize Latina/o literature. This Companion will be an invaluable resource, introducing undergraduate and graduate students to the complexities of the field.

For nearly thirty years, John Moran has sought to capture the very soul of one of the most photographed states in the country. As anyone who has seen his work can attest, he seemingly does just that every time he opens his shutter. These postcards were hand-selected by Moran as some of his favourite images. But be forewarned: you might have such a difficult time deciding which to mail and which to keep you'll wish you had bought a copy for yourself

The Cambridge History of Latina/o American Literature emphasizes the importance of understanding Latina/o literature not simply as a US ethnic phenomenon but more broadly as an important element of a trans-American literary imagination. Engaging with the dynamics of migration, linguistic and cultural translation, and the uneven distribution of resources across the Americas that characterize Latina/o literature, the essays in this History provide a critical overview of key texts, authors, themes, and contexts as discussed by leading scholars in the field. This book demonstrates the relevance of Latina/o literature for a world defined by the migration of people, commodities, and cultural expressions.