Music, magic and myth are elements essential to the identities of New Orleans musicians. The city's singular contributions to popular music around the world have been unrivaled; performing this music authentically requires collective improvisation, taking performers on sonorous sojourns in unanticipated, 'magical' moments; and membership in the city's musical community entails participation in the myth of New Orleans, breathing new life into its storied traditions. On the basis of 56 open-ended interviews with those in the city's musical community, Michael Urban discovers that, indeed, community is what it is all about. In their own words, informants explain that commercial concerns are eclipsed by the pleasure of playing in 'one big band' that disassembles daily into smaller performing units whose rosters are fluid, such that, over time, 'everybody plays with everybody'. Although Hurricane Katrina nearly terminated the city, New Orleans and its music-in no small part due to the sacrifices and labors of its musicians-have come back even stronger. Dancing to their own drum, New Orleanians again prove themselves to be admirably out of step with the rest of America.

The studies collected in this volume cover a range of topics - market reforms, social justice, ecology, nationalism, new political parties and more - that are at the centre of the revolutionary changes under way in the former Soviet bloc. Their focus on ideology - both the previous orthodoxy of Marxism-Leninism and new political and social currents of thought emerging in tandem with the transformation of these societies - provides a crucial vantage for understanding the historic changes taking place in the USSR and East Europe. The breadth of this book's subject matter is complemented by the variety of methods and approaches that it features: historical interpretation, linguist analysis, statistical analysis and political sociology.

'"San Francisco Chronicle" bestseller. From the speedy rise of the Big Three to their stunning breakup, Urban's book says it all' - John Shea, National baseball Writer, "San Francisco Chronicle". During the 2004 season, each of Oakland's Big Three aces had something to prove. Tim Hudson was determined to demonstrate his recovery from a recurring injury. Barry Zito had to show the world that after a ho-hum 2003, his 2002 Cy Young Award was not a fluke. Mark Mulder missed the 203 playoffs entirely with a stress fracture, but the way he saw it, he simply needed to be himself - the natural-born pitcher. Given unprecedented access to the Big Three , Mychael Urban recreates their tumultuous season through their eyes. He explores the nuts and bolts of major league pitching, examining each player's unique approach to this craft while revealing how three very different personalities cope with the demands, rewards, and challenges of sports stardom. Now with a new afterword on the 2005 season Urban traces the fortunes of the Big Three after Hudson was sent to Atlanta and Mulder to St. Louis, trades which held the dramatic promise of them being reunited again-as opponents-in the playoffs. 'Written with great color, style, humor, and grace, Aces takes readers on a captivating ride' - Mike Silver, "Sports Illustrated". 'Mychael Urban's book is a fabulous read...This is hardly just a baseball book. It's about life, and he tremendous burden each pitcher carried while trying to lead the Oakland A's to the playoffs. I absolutely loved it' - Bob Nightengale, Senor Writer/Columnist, "USA Today Sports Weekly". 'From the southern fried heat of Tim Hudson to Mark Mulder's cool aloofness to Barry Zito's cerebral wanderings, Urban captures the engine of Oakland's Little Engine That Could of a team with grace and aplomb' - Scott Miller, National Baseball Columnist, CBS.SportsLine.com.

Die Frage nach dem Verhaltnis zwischen den Einzelnen und dem Sozialen ist spatestens seit der Erfindung der Soziologie im 19. Jahrhundert Thema einer Vielzahl theoretischer Klarungs- und Beschreibungsansatze. In immer wieder neuen Varianten wurde versucht, dieses Verhaltnis zu begreifen als die Relation von Teil und Ganzem, von Individuum und Gesellschaft, von psychischen und sozialen oder von subjektiven und objektiven Strukturen - um nur die wichti- ten der zumeist binar strukturierten Begrifflichkeiten anzusprechen, die zur Theoretisierung dieses Zusammenhangs genutzt wurden. Der Diskurszus- menhang der soziologischen Systemtheorie in der von Luhmann (insbesondere 1 1987, 1997) begrundeten und von einer Reihe anderer Autoren weiterent- ckelten Form hat zur Bestimmung dieses Verhaltnisses einen spezifischen und von den bisherigen Konzepten stark abweichenden Vorschlag hervorgebracht: In Anschluss an die Arbeiten Luhmanns (vgl. etwa 1987: 32, 192) wird das Feld des Sozialen uber den Ausschluss des Psychischen konstituiert. Soziale Systeme bilden sich nach dieser theoretischen Konstruktion nicht uber das gemeinsame Handeln oder Interagieren von Menschen, Individuen oder Subjekten, sondern werden als operativ geschlossene, ihrer eigenen Autopoiesis folgende Systeme konzipiert, die sich uber die Selbstkontinuierung der Vernetzung eines spezi- schen Typus von Operationen bilden. Dieser systemkonstituierende Operatio- typus wird fur soziale Systeme in der Kommunikation gefunden (Luhmann 1987: 193, 1997: 81)."

Michael Urban chronicles the advent of blues music in Russia and explores the significance of the genre in the turbulent, postcommunist society. Russians, he explains, have taken a music originating in the "low" culture of the American South and transformed it into an object of "high" culture, fashioning a social identity that distinguishes blues adherents from both the discredited Soviet past and the vulgar consumerism associated with the country's Westernization. While adapting the idiom to their own conditions, Russia's bliuzmeny (bluesmen) have absorbed the blues ethos encoded in the music by their American forebears, using it to invert their social world, thus deriving dignity and satisfaction from those very things that give one the blues.Based on more than forty interviews with blues musicians and fans, nightclub managers, and others, Russia Gets the Blues reveals the fascinating history of blues in Russia, from the initial mimicry of British blues-rock to the recent emergence of a specifically "Russian blues." The gradual mastering of the idiom in Russia has been conditioned by the culture of the country's intelligentsia, a fact explaining why, on one hand, bliuzmeny feel compelled to proselytize on behalf of the music, to share with others this treasure of "world culture," while, on the other, they perform blues almost exclusively in English which almost no one understands and condemn any and all efforts to make the music commercially successful."

Latente Steuern stellen rein fiktive Werte dar und haben eine zentrale Kernfunktion: Den Steueraufwand in der handelsrechtlichen GuV so auszuweisen, wie er auszuweisen ware, wenn der handelsrechtliche Jahresabschluss Bemessungsgrundlage fur die Steuer ware. Denn Zielsetzung der Handelsbilanz ist insbesondere, eine moglichst zutreffende Darstellung der Ertragslage abzubilden. Ohne die latente Steuerrechnung konnte dieses Ziel nicht effektiv realisiert werden. Durch das Bilanzrechtsmodernisierungsgesetz hat das Themengebiet "Latente Steuern" insgesamt sehr stark an Bedeutung gewonnen. Besonders der Wegfall des im Steuerrecht verankerten Prinzips der umgekehrten Massgeblichkeit sowie das damit verbundene Auseinanderdriften zwischen Handelsbilanz und Steuerbilanz spielen hierbei eine grosse Rolle. Ein weiterer wichtiger Aspekt ist die Umstellung des Abgrenzungskonzepts latenter Steuern. Das vormals gebrauchliche GuV-orientierte "Timing-Konzept" wurde durch das international angewandte bilanzorientierte "Temporary-Konzept" ersetzt. Somit werden neuerdings auch alle erfolgsneutral im Eigenkapital entstandenen Differenzen bei Bildung latenter Steuern berucksichtigt. Durch das BilMoG wurde nun auch explizit geregelt, dass steuerliche Verlustvortrage bei der Ermittlung aktiver latenter Steuern mit einzubeziehen sind. Die bis dato angewandte Praxis wurde somit zum Gesetz. Das vorliegende Werk geht auf diese und weitere einschlagige Anderungen des BilMoG im Zusammenhang mit der Bilanzierung latenter Steuern ein. Angefangen bei der Definition und Notwendigkeit latenter Steuern baut die Studie systematisch bis hin zu Spezialgebieten innerhalb des Themenbereiches (z.B. Latente Steuern beim Unternehmenserwerb) auf. Zahlreiche Anwendungsfalle sollen zudem das Verstandnis in den einzelnen Bereichen vertiefen sowie Anwenderinnen und Anwendern in der Praxis nutzlich sei

In Russian politics reliable information is scarce, formal relations are of relatively little significance, and things are seldom what they seem. Applying an original theory of political language to narratives taken from interviews with 34 of Russia's leading political figures, Michael Urban explores the ways in which political actors construct themselves with words. By tracing individual narratives back to the discourses available to speakers, he identifies what can and cannot be intelligibly said within the bounds of the country's political culture, and then documents how elites rely on the personal elements of political discourse at the expense of those addressed to the political community. Urban shows that this discursive orientation is congruent with social relations prevailing in Russia and helps to account for the fact that, despite two revolutions proclaiming democracy in the last century, Russia remains an authoritarian state.

In Russian politics reliable information is scarce, formal relations are of relatively little significance, and things are seldom what they seem. Applying an original theory of political language to narratives taken from interviews with 34 of Russia's leading political figures, Michael Urban explores the ways in which political actors construct themselves with words. By tracing individual narratives back to the discourses available to speakers, he identifies what can and cannot be intelligibly said within the bounds of the country's political culture, and then documents how elites rely on the personal elements of political discourse at the expense of those addressed to the political community. Urban shows that this discursive orientation is congruent with social relations prevailing in Russia and helps to account for the fact that, despite two revolutions proclaiming democracy in the last century, Russia remains an authoritarian state.

Michael Urban chronicles the advent of blues music in Russia and explores the significance of the genre in the turbulent, postcommunist society. Russians, he explains, have taken a music originating in the "low" culture of the American South and transformed it into an object of "high" culture, fashioning a social identity that distinguishes blues adherents from both the discredited Soviet past and the vulgar consumerism associated with the country's Westernization. While adapting the idiom to their own conditions, Russia's bliuzmeny (bluesmen) have absorbed the blues ethos encoded in the music by their American forebears, using it to invert their social world, thus deriving dignity and satisfaction from those very things that give one the blues.Based on more than forty interviews with blues musicians and fans, nightclub managers, and others, Russia Gets the Blues reveals the fascinating history of blues in Russia, from the initial mimicry of British blues-rock to the recent emergence of a specifically "Russian blues." The gradual mastering of the idiom in Russia has been conditioned by the culture of the country's intelligentsia, a fact explaining why, on one hand, bliuzmeny feel compelled to proselytize on behalf of the music, to share with others this treasure of "world culture," while, on the other, they perform blues almost exclusively in English which almost no one understands and condemn any and all efforts to make the music commercially successful."

Blending first hand accounts of grassroots politics with an original theory of social relations under communism, this 1997 book seeks to explain one of the seminal events of this century: the rebirth of politics in Russia amid the collapse of the USSR. The authors trace the process from the pre-political period of dissident activity, through perestroika and the appearance of political groups and publications, elections, the formation of political parties and mass movements, counter-revolution and coup d'etat, the victory of democratic forces and the organization of a Russian state; to the struggle of power in the post-communist epoch, the violent end of the first republic and the contentious relations engulfing its successor. By focusing on the popular forces which accomplished Russia's political rebirth, rather than the reforms of the Soviet establishment, this book offers an original perspective on this critical period.

Blending first hand accounts of grassroots politics with an original theory of social relations under communism, this 1997 book seeks to explain one of the seminal events of this century: the rebirth of politics in Russia amid the collapse of the USSR. The authors trace the process from the pre-political period of dissident activity, through perestroika and the appearance of political groups and publications, elections, the formation of political parties and mass movements, counter-revolution and coup d'etat, the victory of democratic forces and the organization of a Russian state; to the struggle of power in the post-communist epoch, the violent end of the first republic and the contentious relations engulfing its successor. By focusing on the popular forces which accomplished Russia's political rebirth, rather than the reforms of the Soviet establishment, this book offers an original perspective on this critical period.