Amidst All This Debris

For many liberal commentators at the turn of the 1990s, the collapse of the Soviet Union represented a final victory for Western reason and capitalist democracy. But, in recent years, liberal norms and institutions associated with the post-Cold War moment have been challenged by a visceral and affective politics. Electorates have increasingly opted for a closing inwards of the nation-state, not just in the democratic heartlands of Europe and North America, but also on the periphery of the world economy. As the popular appeal of the 'open society' is thrown into question, it is necessary to revisit assumptions about the permanence of its enabling political and ethical projects. Previously promoted by the US and its allies as a necessary complement to liberal capitalist culture and the globalization of markets, humanitarian multilateralism seems to have lost strategic currency. In this collection of essays, public intellectuals, scholars, journalists and aid workers reflect on the relationship between humanitarianism and 'liberal order'. What role has humanitarianism played in processes of liberal ordering? Amidst challenges to liberal order, what are the implications for the political economy of humanitarianism, and for the practices of humanitarian agencies?

Thousands of light years separated him from his home stellar system, when troubling unfamiliar overload notes clearly resounded from the spaceship’s sustainer engines. Vey glanced over the control panels. It was clear – he will not make it back home in time. And whether he will ever even make it home remains to be seen. The spaceship entered the typical space in a galaxy unknown to Vey. In the vicinity there spun a stellar system. One of this system’s planets was inhabited and populated by rational beings who called themselves Humans. He braked, left the spaceship and headed for this planet on his atmospheric unit.

Intensely moving stories that tell of the absurd violence of war, and tenderly depict the animals and children caught in its vortex. In 1945, Akiyuki Nosaka watched the Allied firebombing of Kobe kill his adoptive parents, and then witnessed his sister starving to death. The shocking and blisteringly memorable stories of The Cake Tree in the Ruins are based on his own experiences as a child in Japan during the Second World War. They are stories of a lonely whale searching the oceans for a mate, who sacrifices himself for love; of a mother desperately trying to save her son with her tears; of a huge, magnificent tree which grows amid the ruins of a burnt-out town, its branches made from the sweetest cake imaginable. Profound, heartbreaking and aglow with a piercing beauty, they express the chaos and terror of conflict, yet also how love can illuminate even the darkest moment.

Learn from those who actually dealt with disaster! Regardless of the type of library, natural disasters can have catastrophic effects on its collections and artifacts. Dealing with Natural Disasters in Libraries provides an inside look at different disasters and how diverse types of libraries dealt with the consequences. This useful resource covers a wide range of natural disasters, including flood, fire, water damage, mold, sick building syndrome, and hurricane damage. Librarians from different types of libraries describe personal efforts to cope with real-life cases of disaster, and discuss principles and lessons which can be used to plan for—and better respond to—future catastrophic occurrences. Every library should have a disaster plan in place. Dealing with Natural Disasters in Libraries provides realistic guidance on how to best prepare for catastrophic damage and loss, and practical suggestions on how to best respond once disaster does strike. These authors use their unique perspectives on having lived through a disaster to provide a close examination of lessons learned. This crucial book includes a selected bibliography and a series of case studies that illustrate what other librarians did to repair and rebuild collections and facilities after experiencing some of the most challenging circumstances imaginable. Managing people, education and training, the creation of a disaster plan, the treatment of damaged materials, recovery of materials, and the successful rebuilding of a library after its complete destruction are all discussed in detail. Dealing with Natural Disasters in Libraries examines: case studies of different types of disasters and effective responses steps small libraries should take during the first month after a disaster strategies to deal with fire, smoke, and water damage issues what to do to avoid mold growth after moisture problems or water damage fixing “sick” buildings dealing with the devastation of Hurricane Katrina post-disaster recovery differing responses to minor disasters, localized disasters, major disasters, and catastrophic disasters providing public access to vital information after disasters strike prevention of potential disaster situations and more! Dealing with Natural Disasters in Libraries is an essential resource for academic librarians, public librarians, special librarians, school librarians, library science faculty, and administrators.

Drones quite possibly represent the most transformative military innovation since jet engines and atomic weaponry. Through satellite imaging and remote technology, countries such as the United States can destroy small targets halfway around the world with pinpoint accuracy. Now civilian industries are acquiring drones for everything from monitoring crops to delivering packages. Kreps explains how they and the systems associated with them work, how they are being used today, and what will become of the technology in the future.

Are you bored with playing it safe in the opening? Had enough of developing your pieces sensibly, aiming to control the centre and getting your king castled? Do you yearn to tear the opposition apart in the style of the great 19th century masters? Then Grandmaster Gambits 1 e4 is the book for you! The highly successful writing duo of Richard Palliser and Simon (GingerGM) Williams have teamed up again to create a repertoire based on jettisoning a pawn (and often a whole lot more) very early on. Whatever opening your opponent favours against 1 e4, the authors have a dynamic gambiteering counter which will throw them onto their own resources. The Sicilian Defence? Attack it with the Wing Gambit. 1...e5? Tear Black apart with the Max Lange Attack. The French? Suffocate Black with the Advance Variation including Magnus Carlsen’s souped-up version of the Milner-Barry Gambit. The Caro-Kann? Play the Hillbilly Attack with 2 Bc4! Your opponent might laugh but they won’t be laughing when you crash through on f7. Forget about playing “properly” in the opening. Open 1 e4, play the Grandmaster Gambits and rip your unprepared opponents apart!

Former small-town sheriff Cork O’Connor leads a desperate search-and-rescue mission into the unforgiving Minnesota wilderness in this “gritty, bloody adventure” (Publishers Weekly) from critically acclaimed author William Kent Krueger’s award-winning mystery series. The Quetico-Superior Wilderness: more than two million acres of forest, white-water rapids, and uncharted islands on the Canadian/American border. Somewhere in the heart of this unforgiving territory, a young woman named Shiloh—a country-western singer at the height of her fame—has disappeared. Her father arrives in Aurora, Minnesota, to hire Cork O’Connor to find his daughter. Cork joins a search party that includes an ex-con, two FBI agents, and a ten-year-old boy. Others are on Shiloh’s trail as well—men hired not just to find her, but to kill her. As the expedition ventures deeper into the wilderness, strangers descend on Aurora, threatening to spill blood on the town’s snowy streets. Meanwhile, out on the Boundary Waters, winter falls hard. Cork’s team of searchers loses contact with civilization, and like the brutal winds of a Minnesota blizzard, death—violent and sudden—stalks them.