The Great American Battle

Tobacco companies had been protecting their turf for decades. They had congressmen in their pocket. They had corrupt scientists who made excuses about nicotine, cancer and addiction. They had hordes of lawyers to threaten anyone -- inside the industry or out -- who posed a problem. They had a whole lot of money to spend. And they were good at getting people to do what they wanted them to do. After all, they had already convinced millions of Americans to take up an addictive, unhealthy, and potentially deadly habit. David Kessler didn't care about all that. In this book he tells for the first time the thrilling detective story of how the underdog FDA -- while safeguarding the nation's food, drugs, and blood supply -- finally decided to take on one of the world's most powerful opponents, and how it won. Like A Civil Action or And the Band Played On, A Question of Intent weaves together science, law, and fascinating characters to tell an important and often unexpectedly moving story. We follow Kessler's team of investigators as they race to find the clues that will allow the FDA to assert jurisdiction over cigarettes, while the tobacco companies and their lawyers fight back -- hard. Full of insider information and drama, told with wit, and animated by its author's moral passion, A Question of Intent reads like a Grisham thriller, with one exception -- everything in it is true.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1856.

Governor Bill Hoeksma of Michigan is a simple, gun-loving son of a billionaire who idolises George W. Bush. When a mysterious illness afflicts members of his inner circle, his conspiring advisors point to a rumoured viral weapons attack – via monkeypox-carrying prairie dogs – launched by the Wisconsin government. Governor Bill decides the Michigan militia should lead the military response, chaos ensues, and he falls unwittingly into a scheme of his powerful father’s making. That scheme begins with cheese research and a Hollywood movie star. How it will end all depends on two unlikely heroes: an aging lesbian state senator, and a high-school teacher born and raised in the Michigan militia. When the conspiracy runs out of road, and guns are drawn in a showdown outside a Cracker Barrel, will anyone emerge victorious from the Great American Cheese War? What readers are saying about The Great American Cheese War: "A rollicking riot of insanity and I mean that in the most wonderful sense! I laughed my way through this story." "Highly recommended!! This book was a lot of fun, I laughed out loud, and it's a clever satire book. It's well written, engrossing and entertaining." "Enjoy your summer, read this book!" "Satire at its finest. The whole book had me rolling on floor laughing!"

In one remote detonated explosive instant of murder, an act of National Service and family duty befalls the youngest sister of a killed-in-action soldier in the war in Iraq. Down the rabbit hole of post-traumatic stress disorder, the Gold Star Sister finds herself in the dark revelations of wars-classified blown-up human carnage, Army gross negligence, and Army dereliction of duty. The United States Army declares to the dead soldier’s family, “There’s nothing to see!” The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) declares, “No record exists on Corporal Christopher West!” All the family received is an empty Army uniform in a wooden casket, without being informed or guided on Corporal Christopher West’s congressionally mandated Army enlisted posthumous rights. The battle for justice and advocation commence with Godspeed.

A diet and nutrition book exposes how the food industry victimizes the U.S. consumer. The U.S. is one of the fattest and sickest nations on Earth. While Baldasare (The Nutrition Cure, 2015, etc.) once viewed Americans malnutrition as a problem of poor personal choices, he now realizes it is actually a more systemic issue. The truth is that far too many of our food choices are made for us, not by us, he writes. The struggle to eat healthily...has become a battle in which many powerful forces are aligned against us. The aims of this book are twofold. The first is to reveal the ways in which the food industry and its lobbyists have actively misled the public to serve their own needs, suppressing scientific research and waging a campaign of nutritional misinformation. The second is to inform consumers as to what foods and ingredients they are actually eating and how to cut through the cultural noise to locate sources of real nutrition. Divided into brief sections, many less than a page, the book tackles the myriad topics that constitute the current diet debate: from the diseases that most affect the American public to strategies employed by the food industry to sell products (including packaging, qualified and unqualified health claims, ecology and ethics labels, and plastic coding) to breakdowns of the additives, fats, pesticides, and other specifics for each food group. The author concludes with the current state of food activism and provides an appendix of useful charts documenting everything from types of food coloring to sources of gluten. For Baldasare, an informed public remains the best chance at fixing the food system, and he offers an impressive amount of information. Writing in a clear, practical prose aimed at the general reader, the author approaches each topic with candor and occasional humor ( Got milk? If you re a US citizen, your government certainly hopes so ). The book s encyclopedic nature lends itself more to discretionary browsing than to proceeding straight through, but readers of all lifestyles should learn troubling and helpful facts about the food they eat. An exhaustive and informative guide to the intricacies of America s food. --Kirkus Reviews