A Matter Of Principle

This is a book about fundamental theoretical issues of political philosophy and jurisprudence. In his familiar forceful and incisive style Professor Dworkin guides the reader through a re-examination of some perennial moral, philosophical, and legal dilemmas.

"I never ask for mercy and seek no one's sympathy. I would never, as was once needlessly feared in this court, be a fugitive from justice in this country, only a seeker of it." —Conrad Black, in his statement to the court, June 24, 2011 In 1993, Conrad Black was the proprietor of London's Daily Telegraph and the head of one of the world's largest newspaper groups. He completed a memoir in 1992, A Life in Progress, and "great prospects beckoned." In 2004, he was fired as chairman of Hollinger International after he and his associates were accused of fraud. Here, for the first time, Black describes his indictment, four-month trial in Chicago, partial conviction, imprisonment, and largely successful appeal. In this unflinchingly revealing and superbly written memoir, Black writes without reserve about the prosecutors who mounted a campaign to destroy him and the journalists who presumed he was guilty. Fascinating people fill these pages, from prime ministers and presidents to the social, legal, and media elite, among them: Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, George W. Bush, Jean Chrétien, Rupert Murdoch, Izzy Asper, Richard Perle, Norman Podhoretz, Eddie Greenspan, Alan Dershowitz, and Henry Kissinger. Woven throughout are Black's views on big themes: politics, corporate governance, and the U.S. justice system. He is candid about highly personal subjects, including his friendships - with those who have supported and those who have betrayed him - his Roman Catholic faith, and his marriage to Barbara Amiel. And he writes about his complex relations with Canada, Great Britain, and the United States, and in particular the blow he has suffered at the hands of that nation. In this extraordinary book, Black maintains his innocence and recounts what he describes as "the fight of and for my life." A Matter of Principle is a riveting memoir and a scathing account of a flawed justice system.

In A Matter of Principle, Jana Wendt, one of Australia's most experienced interviewers, connects with remarkable men and women from the worlds of politics, entertainment, society, art, cinema, sport and architecture. Former US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage, feminist Camille Paglia, screen siren Charlotte Rampling, 'starchitect' Frank Gehry, former German foreign minister Joschka Fischer, Muslim rebel Wafa Sultan, war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte and, in Australia, entertainer Rove McManus, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty, Olympic swimming champion Shane Gould, writer David Malouf, art critic Robert Hughes and photographer Bill Henson talk to Wendt about where their values lie. Thought-provoking and engagingly revealing, Wendt shows that a life well led is A Matter of Principle.

When Becca and her friends publish an underground newspaper, their principles are put to the test Becca and her friends are fed up with having their school paper controlled by the faculty. They want to run stories that reflect the real challenges high schoolers are facing at Southfield, and they’ll do it themselves if they have to. Except when they do put out an independent underground newspaper, the first edition gets them into a lot of trouble. Becca’s dad, a lawyer, is helping her stand on principle, but not everyone can afford to deal with the repercussions the same way she does—financially or emotionally. Can Becca learn to love her friends and still let them make their own decisions, even if they make mistakes? If she doesn’t, she might not have any friends left.

Current debate over the motives, ideological justifications, and outcomes of the war with Iraq have been strident and polarizing. A Matter of Principle is the first volume gathering critical voices from around the world to offer an alternative perspective on the prevailing pro-war and anti-war positions. The contribu-tors—political figures, public intellectuals, scholars, church leaders, and activists—represent the most powerful views of liberal internationalism. Offering alternative positions that challenge the status quo of both the left and the right, these essays claim that, in spite of the inconsistent justifications provided by the United States and its allies and the conflict-ridden process of social reconstruction, the war in Iraq has been morally justifiable on the grounds that Saddam Hussein was a brutal tyrant, a flagrant violator of human rights, a force of global instability and terror, and a threat to world peace. The authors discuss the limitations of the current system of global governance, which tolerates gross violations of human rights and which has failed to prevent genocide in places such as Bosnia and Rwanda. They also underscore the need for reform in international institutions and international law. At the same time, these essays do not necessarily attempt to apologize for the mistakes, errors, and deceptions in the way the Bush administration has handled the war. Disputing the idea that the only true liberal position on the war is to be against it, this volume charts an invaluable third course, a path determined by a strong liberal commitment to human rights, solidarity with the oppressed, and a firm stand against fascism, totalitarianism, and tyranny.

Were the values of mainstream America reflected in the rejection of Robert Bork's nomination to the Supreme Court? Senate Judiciary Committee senior staffer Mark Gitenstein tackles that question and provides a keen analyis of Bork in this provocative insider's account of the battle for control of the Supreme Court.

This open access State-of-the-Art Survey describes and documents the developments and results of the Once-Only Principle Project (TOOP). The Once-Only Principle (OOP) is part of the seven underlying principles of the eGovernment Action Plan 2016-2020. It aims to make the government more effective and to reduce administrative burdens by asking citizens and companies to provide certain standard information to the public authorities only once. The project was horizontal and policy-driven with the aim of showing that the implementation of OOP in a cross-border and cross-sector setting is feasible. The book summarizes the results of the project from policy, organizational, architectural, and technical points of view.

#1 New York Times Bestseller “Significant...The book is both instructive and surprisingly moving.” —The New York Times Ray Dalio, one of the world’s most successful investors and entrepreneurs, shares the unconventional principles that he’s developed, refined, and used over the past forty years to create unique results in both life and business—and which any person or organization can adopt to help achieve their goals. In 1975, Ray Dalio founded an investment firm, Bridgewater Associates, out of his two-bedroom apartment in New York City. Forty years later, Bridgewater has made more money for its clients than any other hedge fund in history and grown into the fifth most important private company in the United States, according to Fortune magazine. Dalio himself has been named to Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Along the way, Dalio discovered a set of unique principles that have led to Bridgewater’s exceptionally effective culture, which he describes as “an idea meritocracy that strives to achieve meaningful work and meaningful relationships through radical transparency.” It is these principles, and not anything special about Dalio—who grew up an ordinary kid in a middle-class Long Island neighborhood—that he believes are the reason behind his success. In Principles, Dalio shares what he’s learned over the course of his remarkable career. He argues that life, management, economics, and investing can all be systemized into rules and understood like machines. The book’s hundreds of practical lessons, which are built around his cornerstones of “radical truth” and “radical transparency,” include Dalio laying out the most effective ways for individuals and organizations to make decisions, approach challenges, and build strong teams. He also describes the innovative tools the firm uses to bring an idea meritocracy to life, such as creating “baseball cards” for all employees that distill their strengths and weaknesses, and employing computerized decision-making systems to make believability-weighted decisions. While the book brims with novel ideas for organizations and institutions, Principles also offers a clear, straightforward approach to decision-making that Dalio believes anyone can apply, no matter what they’re seeking to achieve. Here, from a man who has been called both “the Steve Jobs of investing” and “the philosopher king of the financial universe” (CIO magazine), is a rare opportunity to gain proven advice unlike anything you’ll find in the conventional business press.