The Fight To Save The Town

A sweeping and eye-opening study of wealth inequality and the dismantling of local government in four working-class US cities that passionately argues for reinvestment in people-centered leadership and offers “a welcome reminder of what government can accomplish if given the chance” (San Francisco Chronicle). Decades of cuts to local government amidst rising concentrations of poverty have wreaked havoc on communities left behind by the modern economy. Some of these discarded places are rural. Others are big cities, small cities, or historic suburbs. Some vote blue, others red. Some are the most diverse communities in America, while others are nearly all white, all Latino, or all Black. All are routinely trashed by outsiders for their poverty and their politics. Mostly, their governments are just broke. Forty years after the anti-tax revolution began protecting wealthy taxpayers and their cities, our high-poverty cities and counties have run out of services to cut, properties to sell, bills to defer, and risky loans to take. In this “astute and powerful vision for improving America” (Publishers Weekly), urban law expert and author Michelle Wilde Anderson offers unsparing, humanistic portraits of the hardships left behind in four such places. But this book is not a eulogy or a lament. Instead, Anderson travels to four blue-collar communities that are poor, broke, and progressing. Networks of leaders and residents in these places are facing down some of the hardest challenges in American poverty today. In Stockton, California, locals are finding ways, beyond the police department, to reduce gun violence and treat the trauma it leaves behind. In Josephine County, Oregon, community leaders have enacted new taxes to support basic services in a rural area with fiercely anti-government politics. In Lawrence, Massachusetts, leaders are figuring out how to improve job security and wages in an era of backbreaking poverty for the working class. And a social movement in Detroit, Michigan, is pioneering ways to stabilize low-income housing after a wave of foreclosures and housing loss. Our smallest governments shape people’s safety, comfort, and life chances. For decades, these governments have no longer just reflected inequality—they have helped drive it. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Anderson shows that “if we learn to save our towns, we will also be learning to save ourselves” (The New York Times Book Review).

A sweeping and eye-opening study of wealth inequality and the dismantling of local government in four working-class US cities that passionately argues for reinvestment in people-centered leadership and offers “a welcome reminder of what government can accomplish if given the chance” (San Francisco Chronicle). Decades of cuts to local government amidst rising concentrations of poverty have wreaked havoc on communities left behind by the modern economy. Some of these discarded places are rural. Others are big cities, small cities, or historic suburbs. Some vote blue, others red. Some are the most diverse communities in America, while others are nearly all white, all Latino, or all Black. All are routinely trashed by outsiders for their poverty and their politics. Mostly, their governments are just broke. Forty years after the anti-tax revolution began protecting wealthy taxpayers and their cities, our high-poverty cities and counties have run out of services to cut, properties to sell, bills to defer, and risky loans to take. In this “astute and powerful vision for improving America” (Publishers Weekly), urban law expert and author Michelle Wilde Anderson offers unsparing, humanistic portraits of the hardships left behind in four such places. But this book is not a eulogy or a lament. Instead, Anderson travels to four blue-collar communities that are poor, broke, and progressing. Networks of leaders and residents in these places are facing down some of the hardest challenges in American poverty today. In Stockton, California, locals are finding ways, beyond the police department, to reduce gun violence and treat the trauma it leaves behind. In Josephine County, Oregon, community leaders have enacted new taxes to support basic services in a rural area with fiercely anti-government politics. In Lawrence, Massachusetts, leaders are figuring out how to improve job security and wages in an era of backbreaking poverty for the working class. And a social movement in Detroit, Michigan, is pioneering ways to stabilize low-income housing after a wave of foreclosures and housing loss. Our smallest governments shape people’s safety, comfort, and life chances. For decades, these governments have no longer just reflected inequality—they have helped drive it. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Anderson shows that “if we learn to save our towns, we will also be learning to save ourselves” (The New York Times Book Review).

At a young age, Sara knew she wanted to be free from slavery. She attempted many times to run away. On one of these attempts, she was caught by another slave owner, Massa Horn. Massa Horn was a very angry man who wanted to beat her like she never was beaten before just to teach her the consequences of running away. But it was not Massa Horn's decision to beat Sara because he did not own her. Massa Monroe was her owner, and he made it clear to Massa Horn that it was not his decision to punisher her. Sara was chastised by Massa Monroe and her parents about running away. They told her to stop trying and to stay put. As time went on, Sara grew into a beautiful young lady, desired by every slave owner in Mississippi. Massa Monroe made sure Sara would not be abused by any slave owner. When slavery ended, Massa Monroe gave the Monroe family their freedom papers to start a new beginning. Finally, Sara received her freedom. Sara's parents decided to leave Mississippi to start a new beginning in Texas now that they were no longer slaves. Because of the move, this begins the journey of Sara becoming the first-ever Black cowgirl in Texas. During this time in Sara's journey, she has discovered that the town her father and the town's people built will have many outlaws and Klansmen trying to destroy the town she loves. She will have to fight to protect the town of Jacob Water and every member of Jacob Water from being destroyed. Sara will be the one cowgirl every outlaw and Klansmen have to watch out for.

A daring expose' on how our genes shape our personality and.…pull the strings on our actions, all part of a dark conspiracy that results in a myriad of dilemmas in modern multi-racial/multi-cultural societies. An intriguing and controversial new theory of human behavior, based solely on a axiom the author calls Genes and the Survival Principle(GSP). The theory is developed via Socratic-style, pointed discourses which lead to gripping and often humorous explanations of religiosity, homosexuality, racism , violence, sexual aberrations, phobias, death, and other human quirks or idiosyncrasies.

The dramatic story of one of the biggest natural disasters in Canadian history, the Fort McMurray wildfire of 2016, told by three of the firefighters who fought to save the city. On May 1, 2016, a wildfire burning to the southwest of Fort McMurray, Alberta, led to the declaration of a local state of emergency. Two days later, the fire had reached Fort McMurray, forcing the evacuation of 88,000 citizens and destroying 2,400 buildings. In total, the fire would consume more than 500,000 hectares. Into the Fire is a remarkable first-hand account of fighting a major wildfire as it moved with terrifying speed. Over the course of six days, firefighters Jerron Hawley, Graham Hurley, and Steve Sackett of the Fort McMurray Fire Department joined local expert wildfire teams and fire departments from across the country to battle the blaze. In photographs and notes made at the time, they vividly describe what they witnessed; their own personal losses and triumphs; and the fire's devastating effects. With more than 90 stunning colour photographs, Into the Fire is a dramatic eyewitness account of one of the most catastrophic disasters in recent North American history. Intimate in its telling, it is above all a testament to the courage, pride, and extraordinary efforts of the citizens of Fort McMurray, who along with emergency personnel, came together to save their city.