Reviews (1)

Be Better Prepared for Hurricanes and Related Flooding
When my colleagues and I planned the conference upon which this book was based, we wanted to make sure we would come to understand why Hurricane Floyd wreaked such devastation upon Eastern North Carolina in September of 1999 so we could better inform the public as to the causes and remedies. What we found was that many of the disastrous consequences could have been avoided. A series of freakish natural events, combined with thousands of political and individual property development decisions over a 50 year period, converted Eastern NC into a giant bathtub with many of its key drains clogged. Some have described the flooding that occured as "Biblical" in nature. And it can happen again unless community leaders show the courage to make the necessary modest and reasonable changes to their respective communities. This is a book from which scientists, politicians, agency personnel and the general public all can benefit. It is based on research in the physical, environmental, and social sciences as well as "on the ground" experiences. All net proceeds go to projects for improving our understanding of the impacts of hurricanes. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Disaster Relief & Rescue Operations    2. Environmental Science    3. Environmental Studies    4. Environmental aspects    5. Hurricane Floyd, 1999    6. Hurricanes    7. Natural Disasters    8. North Carolina    9. Social Science    10. Social aspects    11. Sociology    12. Sociology - General    13. Weather   

Reviews (1)

The Two Best Things About This Book
There are two things that make this book outstanding.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business Administration (General)    4. Business/Economics    5. Disaster Situation Planning    6. Disasters & Disaster Relief    7. Human Resources & Personnel Management    8. Business & Economics / Human Resources & Personnel Management    9. Personnel & human resources management   

Reviews (4)

Newspeak: "Bushtruth"
A wonderful book built on paranoia and lies. I am even scared to write opinion I have because I fear my statements will make me a target by those who might believe this kind newspeak.I am sure the jews were guilty of asymetrical warfare in WWII. Just like the Cambodians waged asymetrical war against the Khomer Rouge in Laos, when they were executed by the millions.
Hits the nail on the head!
Anthony H. Cordesman's Terrorism, Asymmetric Warfare, and Weapons of Mass Destruction: Defending the U.S. Homeland is a text I assign as the centerpiece for a Law Enforcement Intelligence course. This very comprehensive work covers the main elements for an actionable policy against threats both foreign and domestic.
The Textbook
If you were to teach a graduate seminar in 'homeland defense,' you could make a strong case for using this book as your teaching text. It's an extremely comprehensive look at the topic, with sections on everything from risk analysis to the roles of various state and federal agencies. It also scores high on Buzzword Bingo -- featuring not only the title phrases 'weapons of mass destruction,' 'asymmetric,' and 'homeland' (who ever used that term prior to September 11?) but other current insider jargon like jointness, CBRN, proxies, and learning curve. Civil and military aspects of the 'homeland defense' question are all thoroughly covered.Read more

Subjects:  1. Asymmetric warfare    2. Defenses    3. Disasters & Disaster Relief    4. Military Science    5. Military policy    6. Political Freedom & Security - International Secur    7. Political Freedom & Security - Terrorism    8. Politics / Current Events    9. Prevention    10. Social Science    11. Sociology    12. Terrorism    13. United States    14. Weapons of mass destruction    15. Military intelligence    16. Political Science / International Relations    17. Terrorism, freedom fighters, armed struggle    18. USA   

Reviews (7)

A story of two exceptional women who gave more and received more than they expected
In the days immediately following the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina two women decide they cannot sit by and wait for others to help those devastated by the storm. A few days later they left their home in New York for Memphis where they rented a van, loaded it with supplies and took off for Mississippi where they planned to distribute their desperately needed cargo.
REBUILDING WHAT KATRINA WASHED AWAY
I can't tell you how touched I am by Cholene Espinoza's inspirational story about rebuilding what Katrina washed away.Her clarity, honesty, and sincerity are compelling, humbling and vivid.While I was reading this amazing story, I felt I was on the site myself and that I personally got to know the people she writes about; I could feel their suffering and their hope.Ms. Espinoza gives the readers a wonderful gift by opening our eyes, our hearts, our pocketbooks, and our tool chests to get in there and give whatever help we can, wherever the need exists.I admire her strength to spread this necessary message; it will help so many people. Thank you, Cholene, for your courage to share your experience with us.

Rebirth & Rebuilding
We all have seen the news - we saw the unbelievable destruction that Mother Nature bestowed upon the Gulf. We saw the raw emotion - and sometimes lack of - on the the faces of the hundreds of thousands of men, women and children who called the Gulf home. Many of us jumped in to help - mostly by writing a check, or sending donations. And, some of us did nothing. For those of us who stood back not knowing what to do, here's our chance.
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Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Case studies    3. Church work with disaster victims    4. Disaster relief    5. Disasters & Disaster Relief    6. General    7. Gulf Coast    8. Hurricane Katrina, 2005    9. Mississippi    10. Personal Memoirs    11. Regional Subjects - South    12. Self-Help   

Reviews (1)

FDNY Offical History is the Real Deal
This book is a "coffee table" sized history of the FDNY. I was also surprised to learn that it is the offical history as written by a member of the FDNY. It is a must have for any fire collector or people who are interested in the FDNY. It is packked with color photos and a comprehensive text outlining the department's history since 1865. It has a section that I haven't seen anywhere else, individual photos of the firefighters killed on 9-11. Having seen so much about that horrible act, nothing brought home the tragedy like seeing the photos of the brave souls who lost their lives taht day.While there are many books on 9-11 that provide great history such as 102 minutes, FDNY: The bravest fills a gap that no other book does. It provides an insider look the department's photos and account of the event.
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Subjects:  1. Disaster Relief & Rescue Operations    2. History    3. History - U.S.    4. History: American    5. Political Freedom & Security - Law Enforcement    6. United States - State & Local - General    7. United States - State & Local - Middle Atlantic   

Reviews (1)

Exactly what I was looking for.
This is exactly what I was looking for.My great great grandparents lived in Chicago during the great fire.I always wondered what my family had experienced during the years they were in Chicago and why they decided to leave for Nebraska.I believe I found my answers. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Chicago (Ill.)    2. Great Fire, Chicago, Ill., 187    3. Great Fire, Chicago, Ill., 1871    4. History    5. History - U.S.    6. History: American    7. To 1875    8. United States - State & Local - General    9. American history: c 1800 to c 1900    10. History / United States / State & Local    11. Social history    12. Social impact of disasters    13. USA    14. Urban communities    15. c 1800 to c 1900   

Subjects:  1. California    2. Case studies    3. Disaster Relief Services    4. Earthquake Engineering    5. Earthquakes    6. Engineering - Civil    7. Human Services    8. Loma Prieta Earthquake, Calif    9. Loma Prieta Earthquake, Calif., 1989    10. Natural Disasters    11. Planning    12. Political planning    13. Politics / Current Events    14. Public Policy - General    15. Public Policy - Regional Planning    16. San Francisco Bay Area    17. Science/Mathematics    18. Social Science    19. Sociology    20. Aid & relief programmes    21. History    22. Nature-Natural Disasters    23. Political Science / Regional Planning    24. Political Science-Public Policy - General    25. Social Science / Sociology / General    26. Social impact of disasters    27. Social welfare & social services    28. Soil & rock mechanics    29. Vulcanology & seismology   

Subjects:  1. Disasters & Disaster Relief    2. Natural Disasters    3. Nature    4. Nature/Ecology    5. Sociology   

Subjects:  1. Disaster Situation Planning    2. Earth Sciences - Geology    3. Engineering - Hydraulic    4. Environmental Science    5. Flood Control    6. Floods    7. Science    8. Science/Mathematics    9. Technology    10. Water Supply    11. Hydrology (freshwater)    12. Science / Geology    13. Social impact of disasters   

Reviews (5)

very well written !
very well written ! couldn't put it down and it gave a real understanding of that type of event

Authentic voice from the survivors
This is a collection of stories gathered from first hand survivors of the Great Galveston Hurricane that occured on September 9th in 1900.There are letters that were written in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, as well as memoirs written in the years that followed.Oral histories aretranscribed, so that you "hear" the voices of those that went through the storm and the recovery efforts. Many of the sources were collected from the Rosenberg Library in Galveston.The letters and the memoirs are reproduced in their original form, which only adds to the pure authenticity of the horror and despair ofthe residents of Galveston.
History at its Best
This is the best book available on the Great Storm of 1900 and its effect on Galveston, Texas. An unbelievable amount of research obviously went into it. Very well written. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. History    2. History - U.S.    3. History: American    4. Natural Disasters    5. United States - State & Local - General    6. Atmospheric disturbances    7. Local history    8. Social history    9. Social impact of disasters    10. Texas    11. USA   

Reviews (2)

some interesting concepts
There are some interesting ideas presented by Mr Myers in this book.But, for the most part the concepts are too old-school, naive and simplistic.Truth is, it would be hard for most modern day corporations using ERP systems, automated production and other technologies to apply the principles of this book. Sensible approach to quickly getting a plan in place
While this book addresses contingency planning across the enterprise I found it extremely useful for a much narrower scope, which is assuring applications and systems availability, and service delivery.Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business/Economics    3. Corporate Planning    4. Crisis management    5. Disaster Relief & Rescue Operations    6. Industrial Health & Safety    7. Leadership    8. Management - General    9. Politics / Current Events    10. Risk assessment    11. Strategic planning    12. Use Of Computers In Management (General)    13. Business & Economics / Leadership    14. Industrial relations & safety    15. Management & management techniques   

Subjects:  1. Disaster Relief & Rescue Operations    2. Disasters & Disaster Relief    3. Politics / Current Events    4. Social Science    5. Sociology    6. Sociology - General    7. Business information systems    8. Management & management techniques    9. Social Science / Sociology / General   

Subjects:  1. Environmental Science    2. Environmental Studies    3. Geodynamics    4. Geophysical Prediction    5. Geophysics    6. Natural disasters    7. Science    8. Science/Mathematics    9. Geology & the lithosphere    10. Social impact of disasters    11. Technology / Environmental   

Editorial Review

On the night of December 3, 1984, a cyanide cloud drifted over the streets of Bhopal, India, set loose by a leak in a nearby chemical plant. When the deadly fog lifted untold numbers of the city's residents--perhaps as many as 30,000, by some accounts--lay dead, while half a million others were injured. Dominique Lapierre, a French journalist and longtime champion of India's poor, joins with Spanish writer Javier Moro to recount the terrors of that night, about which the whole truth may never be known. The deaths are but one part of the authors' long, sometimes elaborate tale, which relates how the industrial conglomerate Union Carbide had come to build its vast chemical complex at Bhopal, one meant to be a glory of technology and, ironically, to save thousands of lives brought low by insect-wrought starvation. There are few villains but many heroes in the authors' account, which explores the margins at which good intentions conflict with the profit motive, at which cost-cutting omissions yield horrifically unintended consequences. It all makes for a thoughtful and disturbing book. Read more

Reviews (13)

Why did it happen: GREED!
Five Past Midnight in Bhopal: The Epic Story of the World's Deadliest Industrial Disaster, Dominique Lapierre and Javier Moro - The gas leak in Bhopal in the winter of 1984 claimed 3,787 lives. That's the official count; unofficial estimates range from 20,000 dead and half a million suffering from the after-effects of inhaling a noxious gas. Why did the tragedy happen? Simple: greed. Union Carbide, in a zeal to supply more pesticide than could be used in the subcontinent, built a plant to produce the pesticide locally. When the Indian droughts and distribution problems conspired to reduce their revenues, UC did what any western corporation does with pride: reduce costs. In this case, costs were reduced by allowing the safety systems of the plant to atrophy. The air-conditioner which should have maintained a regulating temprature was shut down; the flare which would normally have burned off the excess gas was extinguished; the pipes which would have shunted the execss gas to other tanks were left to rust; the employees who should be monitoring the saftey functions of the plant were let go. After all, UC thought, a plant that was not producing any pesticide could not turn into an environment disaster. They were wrong.
A FASCINATING READ
A great and interesting read .. Beautiful coverage and master story telling

Marginal prose reveals powerful, enraging story
When a cruise missile destroys a target, there is a certain level of responsibility on Raytheon, the manufacturer.That type of corporate complicity though, is subservient to the lion's share of the blame which would go to the government that uses the cruise missile.In the case of Union Carbide, no such opportunities to share the blame exist.The deaths of up to 30,000 people lie directly at the door of the company as has been made clear in several books, Five Past Midnight in Bhopal being the most recent.Read more

Subjects:  1. Asia - India    2. Asia - India & South Asia    3. Disasters & Disaster Relief    4. General    5. Hazardous Industrial Materials    6. History    7. History - General History    8. History: World    9. Industrial Accidents    10. History / India   

Reviews (14)

Well researched
My mom gave this book to read to help me understand what happened to her as a child of Pedro Pan Operation. It was used a tool for her to let her finaly express her emotions and events that had happened to her. After reading this book she and I both realized how fortunate we are for the risk my grandparents took to send their children to the states. This book was well research and through with historical information. I found that the stories she added to book were really used to validate her reseach and her point of view. Overall its a pretty easy read and is good if you want to learn about the history of the Pedro Pan Operation. There isn't much of the human side of to the story.

Lies and Heartbreak: The Real Story of Operation Pedro Pan
The year was 1960 and the CIA codename for the plot was "Liborio." The plan was to undermine popular support for the new Cuban government, culminating in mass protests in front of the Presidential Palace where an assassin would make an attempt on Castro's life should he address a crowd of protestors.The plan involved the following elements:
Final Analysis
Finally, a realistic review, by former Pedro pan from Camp St John in Jacksonville, presently "Chair of History and Literature"at NY State University, Dr. Roman de la Campa in his book, "CUBA ON MY MIND" juorney to a Severed Nation, published in London by Verso. Read more

Subjects:  1. Americas (North Central South West Indies)    2. Cuba    3. Disaster Relief & Rescue Operations    4. Ethnic Studies - General    5. History - General History    6. Political History    7. Refugee children    8. Services for    9. Social Science    10. Sociology    11. United States    12. American history: postwar, from c 1945 -    13. Child welfare    14. Family welfare    15. Human rights    16. Political Science / History & Theory    17. Refugees    18. USA   

Features

• Illustrated

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. General    6. Humanitarian assistance, American    7. Humanitarians    8. Personal Memoirs    9. Physicians    10. Social workers    11. United States    12. Aid & relief programmes    13. Biography: general    14. HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE    15. Health systems & services    16. INTERNATIONAL RELIEF    17. PHYSICIANS_BIOGRAPHY    18. Social Science / Disasters & Disaster Relief   

Subjects:  1. Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice    2. Disaster relief    3. Emergency management    4. Environmental    5. Law    6. Law and legislation    7. Legal Reference / Law Profession    8. Natural Law    9. Natural disasters    10. United States   

Editorial Review

An American could fly on a turboprop run by a regional carrier once per day and not expect to die in a crash for 8,000 years, according to one estimate. That's small consolation to the 29 people who found themselves on ASA Flight 529 in 1995, when a faulty propeller cracked and destroyed one of their plane's engines. As Gary M. Pomerantz notes in Read more

Reviews (23)

Inside an Ill Fated Airliner and The Lives of Its Passengers
The term "page turner" is often overused and books described this way are all too often overrated. However this term applies perfectly to "Nine Minutes, Twenty Seconds : A True Story of Tragedy and Triumph" by Gary Pomerantz. The book provides fascinating insights into the aircraft, it's damaged propeller, the inspector was passed the propeller, the crash into a rural Georgia field and, most of all, the lives of the 29 passengers aboard ASA Flight 529.
"Fly it as far into the crash as you can".
A fellow pilot and instructor gave me this book and said "just read it".I did and it was terrific for the genre, if there is indeed one.This book brings together how a commuter turbo prop plane crashed in the mid 1990s, tracing it to a small fracture in the left propeller.I was impressed with the investigative detail Gary Pomerantz went to, with the original work done for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
WOW! A can't put down book
This is one of those books that just takes off when you start reading it.It is hard to break away as the author takes into the lives of the people on this small plane and the others whose lives were impacted by this crash.
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Subjects:  1. Air Transportation    2. Aircraft accident victims    3. Aircraft accidents    4. Aviation - Commercial    5. Aviation - History    6. Disasters & Disaster Relief    7. General    8. Georgia    9. Psychology    10. Social Science    11. Survival after airplane accide    12. Survival after airplane accidents, shipwrecks, etc    13. Transportation    14. Current Events / General   

Reviews (2)

Everyone should have a working understanding of Neoliberalism.
Henry A. Giroux's discussion of the current state of the American political environment and its neoliberal policy design has proven to be an excellent introduction and analysis of the motivations, resulting consequences, and possible future of a country afflicted with a cold, uncompassionate, and simplistic political, cultural, and militaristic direction.The Terror of Neoliberalism is a well-researched illumination of the current American political administration's real motivations and the policy, that which is now known as neoliberalism, which is being used to forward their agenda.Giroux draws on a two centuries' worth of progressive thinkers to form a coherent and cogent expos� of the latest trends in an economic capitalist system that has achieved an unfettered, deregulated, and unrestricted state never before seen.Drawing on the tome of knowledge produced by the likes of profound Marxists thinkers such as Antonio Gramsci, Ernst Bloch, and Jacques Derrida as well as the likes of engaged public intellectuals like the late Edward Said and Noam Chomsky, Giroux has formulated an eye-opening critique of contemporary America.
Time to save human race running out
This book is essential, but be warned, it is almost relentlessly grim.
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Subjects:  1. Disasters & Disaster Relief    2. Free enterprise    3. History & Theory - General    4. Liberalism    5. Neoliberalism    6. Philosophy & Social Aspects    7. Political Ideologies - Conservatism & Liberalism    8. Political Theory    9. Politics / Current Events    10. Social Science    11. Sociology    12. Sociology - General    13. Liberalism & centre democratic ideologies   

Reviews (8)

Americans at the court of the Dalai Lama
Lost in Tibet is a rare kind of book, that gives more than it promises. It deals with an apparently remote and forgotten, or better not renowned episode of WWII. During a flight on "The Hump", the airway help provided by the USA to China, an aircraft carrying five not well acquainted militaries, gets lost in a storm and crashes in a remote Tibetan valley. With great difficulties and much suffering the five survive and are conducted to Lhasa. In 1943 Lhasa was exactly how we see it in Harrer's "Seven years in Tibet", a forbidden and xenophobic city, where only Englishmen and Chinese were accepted and tolerated (making exception only for Harrer and Aufschneider, which were Austrians). The arrival of the Americans is widely misinterpreted by the touchy Tibetans fearfull of Chinese invasion and they are object of a diplomatic upheaval.
Valuable Insights!
My dad never confided in anyone about the true story.All we knew as kids was the story about how he split his chin open when parachuting out of a plane.
Excellent research
I found the book to be most informative and am quite amazed at the amount of research that must have gone in to the creation of this book.
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Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Disaster Relief & Rescue Operations    5. Military    6. Special Interest - Adventure    7. Air forces & warfare    8. Asian / Middle Eastern history: Second World War    9. Biography & Autobiography / Military    10. Biography: historical    11. Tibet    12. True stories: Second World War    13. USA