Transoceanic Lights

TRANSOCEANIC LIGHTS tells of three families who immigrate to the US from post-Mao China. The unnamed narrator's overbearing mother is plagued with regret as financial burdens and lack of trust begin to rend apart her marriage. Her only solace lies in the distant promise of better lives for her children. Yet her son spends his days longing for the comfort and familiarity of his homeland, while his two cousins, one precocious and the other rambunctious, seem to assimilate effortlessly. Transoceanic Lights explores familial love and discord, the strains of displacement, and the elusive nature of the American Dream."Here they come, fresh off the flight from China: The father, Ba, the mother, Ma, and their only child, unnamed; we'll call him Son. Son is 5, the same age the Chinese-American author was on his arrival in the U.S.; the novel has a strong autobiographical flavor."--Kirkus

Machines dominate our lives, from alarm clocks that wake us up in the morning to radios that lull us to sleep. Most of our interactions with automated machines and computers are problem-free, but more often than we would like, they can be irritating and confusing. This is frequently harmless, such as a VCR recording the wrong show, but when it involves a critical system like an autopilot or medical device it can be a matter of life or death. Taming HAL seeks to explain these miscommunications between humans and machines by exploring user interfaces of everyday devices. Degani examines thirty different systems for human use, including watches, consumer electronic products, Internet applications, cars, medical equipment, navigation systems onboard cruise ships, and autopilots of commercial aircraft. Readers will discover why interfaces between people and machines all too often do not work and what needs to be done to avoid potential tragedies.

Pre-Columbian Trans-Oceanic Contact examines the discovery and settlement of The New World hundreds and even thousands of years before Christopher Columbus was born.

I took a trip down to L’America To trade some beads for a pint of gold. Jim Morrison As the title indicates, Trans/American, Trans/Oceanic, Trans/lation points towards the International American Studies Society’s aims to promote cross-disciplinary study and teaching of the Americas regionally, hemispherically, nationally and transnationally. But it also reflects, less strategically but more forcefully, the heterogeneous and often unexpected themes, topics and motifs addressed in this forum. These articles are revealing in that they give face and expression to the evolving trends and preoccupations in the field. In various ways and from different disciplinary angles, the essays explore key questions in International American Studies: what have been the symbolic and material relations between the “Americas” and the “USA,” and between “America” and the “World”? What are the meanings and workings of these four entities when examined across nations, cultures and languages? In what ways does American experience contribute to the global (re-)production of social, cultural and economic practices?

KEY FEATURES 360 degree overview of the GST provisions on services Detailed HSN code (Activity) wise commentary on services in 28 chapters Exclusive chapters on exempt government, agriculture and employees' services Comprehensive discussion on important GST concepts on services Upto date notifications of Service Tax Rates and Exemptions Online chapters on CGST Act/Rules and IGST Act/Rules, Scheme of Classification of Services & Explanatory Notes at www.rgargsgarg.com CONTENTS Part A: Concepts of GST (Services) – Chapters A-1 to A-22 cover general provisions relating to services, such as, meaning & scope of supply, time, value & place of supply, levy & reverse charge, composition, input tax, export & refund, registration, accounts etc. Part B: HSN Code wise Guide on Services – Chapters B-1 to B-28 comprises of critical analysis of HSN Code wise services through illustrations and tables. Part C: Rates – Chapters containing upto date notifications of Service Tax Rates and Exemptions Part D: Online Chapters – Online chapters on CGST Act/Rules and IGST Act/Rules, Scheme of Classification of Services and Explanatory Notes available at www.rgargsgarg.com