The People's Agents and the Battle to Protect the American Public


Book Description

Reasonable people disagree about the reach of the federal government, but there is near-universal consensus that it should protect us from such dangers as bacteria-infested food, harmful drugs, toxic pollution, crumbling bridges, and unsafe toys. And yet, the agencies that shoulder these responsibilities are in shambles; if they continue to decline, lives will be lost and natural resources will be squandered. In this timely book, Rena Steinzor and Sidney Shapiro take a hard look at the tangled web of problems that have led to this dire state of affairs. It turns out that the agencies are not primarily to blame and that regulatory failure actually stems from a host of overlooked causes. Steinzor and Shapiro discover that unrelenting funding cuts, a breakdown of the legislative process, an increase in the number of political appointees, a concurrent loss of experienced personnel, chaotic White House oversight, and ceaseless political attacks on the bureaucracy all have contributed to the broken system. But while the news is troubling, the authors also propose a host of reforms, including a new model for measuring the success of the agencies and a revitalization of the civil service. The People’s Agents and the Battle to Protect the American Public is an urgent and compelling appeal to renew America’s best traditions of public service.




Agents of Change


Book Description

Agents of Change is a compilation of thought-provoking insights, opinions, personal stories, and suggested actions for change in the K-12 education system in Pakistan.




Public Opinion and Politics in the Late Roman Republic


Book Description

This book investigates the working mechanisms of public opinion in Late Republican Rome as a part of informal politics. It explores the political interaction (and sometimes opposition) between the elite and the people through various means, such as rumours, gossip, political literature, popular verses and graffiti. It also proposes the existence of a public sphere in Late Republican Rome and analyses public opinion in that time as a system of control. By applying the spatial turn to politics, it becomes possible to study sociability and informal meetings where public opinion circulated. What emerges is a wider concept of the political participation of the people, not just restricted to voting or participating in the assemblies.




The Great War in History


Book Description

Previous edition of this translation: 2005.




FBI Special Agents Are Real People


Book Description

True stories, told and written by the current and retired former Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). This book is dedicated to the three FBI Special Agents that were killed on August 9, 1979, and their families, as well as 33 other FBI Special Agents who died as a direct result of an adversarial action throughout the FBI's history to date. It is also dedicated to the countless families of both active and retired Agents, who exemplified the Fidelity -Bravery - Integrity that the FBI men and women represent. Throughout human history, man has recorded events, whether in written form, by word of mouth, or electronically. These recordings were made to tell a story, to preserve history, to teach and enlighten future generations about life. This book was written to do all of the above, with stories that are part of the FBI's history. The book contains hundreds of true stories, written by hundreds of current and retired FBI Special Agents. I, as an author, am merely a messenger that put together all the stories, including mine. The author was born in a small village in Slovenia, which at that time was one of the republics of Yugoslavia, a communist country in Eastern Europe. Slovenia is now an independent country and a member of NATO. Author left Slovenia at the age of eleven, with his mother, and arrived in the U.S. on Thanksgiving Day, 1956. He was reunited with his father for the first time in eleven years, as his father left the communist country or face a certain death, when the youngster was three months old. Following graduation from John Carroll University in 1967, and ROTC commitment, author became a Cleveland, Ohio police officer, followed by service as a U.S. Army officer during the Vietnam War. In 1970, upon completion of the FBI Academy, author was sworn in as an FBI Special Agent, given credentials, a badge and a gun and started his 32 years of public service in the FBI. Stories in the book were collected during the 32 years on duty and the 12 years of retirement. Additional stories are being collected and will be published in the next book, God willing. Yes, FBI Special Agents are real people, who have left various jobs, to pursue a dream and a daily challenge in a career serving human beings. We are special, because we put our lives on the line every day to protect those that we have sworn to serve. We reflect the society around us. Our backgrounds are as varied as the people that we serve and protect. We have feelings, we cry and we laugh. We are shot at and we shoot as a last resort. We bleed and we die. We leave for work carrying a gun, a set of credentials and a badge, not knowing if we will return to our loved ones alive in one piece, at the end of the day. We are saints and we are sinners. The split-second decisions that we have to make at times may haunt us, as attorneys rehash our actions for years after their occurrence. These decisions may make the difference whether we will be judged by twelve or carried by six. All of us hope and pray, that our actions will be just and correct and we will make it home to our loving families. Many of the stories that are contained in this book will be labeled by some readers as being politically incorrect, provocative, racist and sexist. None of the stories are meant to offend you. Believe me, the stories are real and they deal with life (and death) in the real world that all of us live in today.




How to Get a Literary Agent


Book Description

Written by a top literary agent who gives writers an insider's view of how to find and work with an agent throughout the process of getting published. Includes: -- How to know that you're ready for an agent -- 7 ways to find an agent -- Writing a cover letter that grabs attention -- What to do with an agent once you've got one -- What you can expect and what you'd better not hope for -- Making sure this is the right agent for you -- Congratulations, now you have an agent AND an editor -- How to avoid the 7 worst pitfalls for aspiring writers -- And much, much more. In today's highly competitive publishing industry, literary agents are more important than ever. Whether you write fiction or non-fiction, reference or children's books, here is everything you need to know about using an agent to launch and sustain your literary career.a




Spying for the People


Book Description

Since the end of the Cold War, the operations of secret police informers have come under the media spotlight and it is now common knowledge that vast internal networks of spies in the Soviet Union and East Germany were directed by the Communist Party. By contrast, very little historical information has been available on the covert operations of the security services in Mao Zedong's China. However, as Michael Schoenhals reveals in this intriguing and sometimes sinister account, public security was a top priority for the founders of the People's Republic and agents were recruited from all levels of society to ferret out 'counter-revolutionaries'. On the basis of hitherto classified archival records, the book tells the story of a vast surveillance and control apparatus through a detailed examination of the cultivation and recruitment of agents, their training and their operational activities across a twenty-year period from 1949 to 1967.




Readings in Agents


Book Description

This book collects the most significant literature on agents in an attempt top forge a broad foundation for the field. Includes papers from the perspectives of AI, databases, distributed computing, and programming languages. The book will be of interest to programmers and developers, especially in Internet areas.




When the State Meets the Street


Book Description

Street level discretion -- Three pathologies: the indifferent, the enforcer, and the caregiver -- A gymnastics of the self: coping with the everyday pressures of street-level work -- When the rules run out: informal taxonomies and peer-level accountability -- Impossible situations: on the breakdown of moral integrity at the frontlines of public service




Agents of Influence


Book Description

The astonishing story of the British spies who set out to draw America into World War II As World War II raged into its second year, Britain sought a powerful ally to join its cause-but the American public was sharply divided on the subject. Canadian-born MI6 officer William Stephenson, with his knowledge and influence in North America, was chosen to change their minds by any means necessary. In this extraordinary tale of foreign influence on American shores, Henry Hemming shows how Stephenson came to New York--hiring Canadian staffers to keep his operations secret--and flooded the American market with propaganda supporting Franklin Roosevelt and decrying Nazism. His chief opponent was Charles Lindbergh, an insurgent populist who campaigned under the slogan "America First" and had no interest in the war. This set up a shadow duel between Lindbergh and Stephenson, each trying to turn public opinion his way, with the lives of millions potentially on the line.