No Alternative


Book Description

The author, Shmuel Shimshoni, born in Montreal Canada and now living in Israel, has created a number of imaginative essays, some bordering on fictionalized reality.We find David, a timid clerk looking for the host. His cell phone indicates an incoming call that happens to be from the elusive host. The voice notifies him, I won't be joining you for the Sabbath retreat. Therefore it's up to you to take things in hand and organize a program.With no alternative, our central figure somehow finds a way to become the leader of thirteen other men who were likewise invited to attend this event in total ignorance of what to expect.Throughout the story a fine strand connects all fourteen total strangers. They all have something to contribute; as between courses during their meals, each one tells of an event in his life that unwittingly relates to the other participants.But before they even get to eat their first meal they are introduced to a discourse based upon a little known religious ruling about how guests are supposed to conduct themselves, especially when the host is absent.All the seemingly disconnected guests share something in common. But it is not till the very end of the day that they learn what it is, as a most completely unexpected secret is revealed.




There Is No Alternative


Book Description

Great Britain in the 1970s appeared to be in terminal decline -- ungovernable, an economic train wreck, and rapidly headed for global irrelevance. Three decades later, it is the richest and most influential country in Europe, and Margaret Thatcher is the reason. The preternaturally determined Thatcher rose from nothing, seized control of Britain's Conservative party, and took a sledgehammer to the nation's postwar socialist consensus. She proved that socialism could be reversed, inspiring a global free-market revolution. Simultaneously exploiting every politically useful aspect of her femininity and defying every conventional expectation of women in power, Thatcher crushed her enemies with a calculated ruthlessness that stunned the British public and without doubt caused immense collateral damage. Ultimately, however, Claire Berlinski agrees with Thatcher: There was no alternative. Berlinski explains what Thatcher did, why it matters, and how she got away with it in this vivid and immensely readable portrait of one of the towering figures of the twentieth century.




Capitalist Realism


Book Description

An analysis of the ways in which capitalism has presented itself as the only realistic political-economic system.




No Alternative


Book Description

"Simultaneously brutal and funny, caustic and caring, 'No Alternative' is a sacrament to be shared by all the survivors who grew up at the tail end of the fragmenting century." -Jack O'Connell, author of "The Resurrectionist" "No Alternative" is a coming-of-age drama that drills a hole into the world of suburban American teenagers in the early '90s. Thomas Harrison is determined to start his own alternative band, an obsession that blinds him to what's either the mental collapse, or the eruption of musical genius, of his little sister, Bridget. Bridget boldly rejects her brother's music, and the music of an entire generation of slackers, by taking on the persona of a gangsta' rapper named "Bri Da B." "No Alternative" probes the lives of rebellious kids who transition into adulthood via the distortion pedals of their lives in an era when the "Sex, Drugs & Rock 'n' Roll" ethos was amended to include "Suicide" in its phrase. "No Alternative" is now a major motion picture starring Michaela Cavazos, Conor Proft, Chloe Levine, Kathryn Erbe and Harry Hamlin. This updated edition of the novel includes a Foreword by Harry Hamlin and an Afterword by William Dickerson, which explores the making of the film.




An alternative to "alternativeless"


Book Description

The main focus is on a novel analysis, a first-time exposure of the true causes and a sensational immediate solution (which I rightly call a "trick") to our economic, monetary and financial problems, a solution that can not only be implemented in a sensationally short time, but is also made sustainable and lasting by accompanying measures. This sustainability of the solution, which goes hand in hand with the immediate effect of the trick, does not apply to the commercial banks, because they were only deliberately made into superficial scapegoats, the main evil being the algorithms used by the central banks to create so-called primary money creation. Within EMU, the "trick" involves the introduction of country-specific parallel currencies to the EURO. In detail, this is designed to create parallel economic areas, which, however, do not overlap the euro economic area, but rather fit exactly into the gaps that have been torn open within the euro economic area by undesirable developments. These incredibly important details are explained in detail in the book. With the implementation of such a basic solution (trick plus novel money creation at the central banks), the prerequisite would be created to also approach and solve other political problem areas, which have also been celebrated up to now "without alternatives", in the same "alternative" way of thinking, and therefore they are also taken up in the book, e.g: Pension policy, family policy, parliamentary reform, tax reform, reform of the electoral law, reform of care for the elderly, school policy, securing the European energy supply. However, these other political problem areas that I have taken up are to be regarded as secondary; they are merely suggestions, in contrast to the two main points of the basic solution, without which nothing at all can be done, and which I am calling for in the long term because no other promising alternative is known at present. Although my book naturally focuses on the German way out of the crisis, I would like to emphasize that I would like to see a European solution (at least for all countries of the European Monetary Union) and that a German solo effort is hardly feasible and also not desirable. The solutions I propose can be transferred practically 1:1 to all EMU countries, and I often point this out in my remarks. Even the non-EMU countries Great Britain and the USA could immediately adopt my concepts; for they face identical problems!




No Alternative


Book Description




Simon Gray: Plays 3


Book Description

'The brave little lives that Gray so compassionately illuminates could be lived by any of us, and that's why they arouse emotions that are anything but small.' New York Times on Quartermaine's Terms




Through Arid Places


Book Description

Sister Agathe Deladier has selflessly sought to serve others all her life, yet she has been caught up in two of history’s most appalling atrocities. As a young nun, she witnessed the virtual extermination of an entire French village during the Second World War. Later she was again forced to fight for her own survival, this time in the Rwandan genocide, an event with horrific parallels to Nazi brutality.Having come close to death, she tries to make sense of the evil events which play out before her. In doing so she has a profound impact on those with whom she comes into contact, notably Otto Bauer, a disillusioned Nazi soldier who saves her life but who in turn becomes dependant on her for his own survival.When all hope seems lost it is still possible for the most despised to be redeemed. Father Dominic Leseuer has abused young boys for years, stolen from his parishioners and ridiculed the faithful. Yet, in an act of supreme courage he is able to rediscover his former upright and idealistic self.However, others find that revenge is the only antidote to brutality. Samuel Karamira, trying to cope with the death of his son and his own life-threatening injuries, can only find satisfaction through the pursuit of his tormentor. In doing so he perpetuates the very hatred that has wrecked his life and those of thousands of others.In exploring the reactions of those caught up in these most visceral experiences, Through Arid Places glimpses the cosmic spiritual struggle being played out on earth and, in a surprising twist, reveals the motivation of Agathe Deladier in trying to make good come out of the most unspeakable evil.




Transition to Hydrogen


Book Description

This book is a comprehensive and objective guide to understanding hydrogen as a transportation fuel. The effects that pursuing different vehicle technology development paths will have on the economy, the environment, public safety and human health are presented with implications for policy makers, industrial stakeholders and researchers alike. Using hydrogen as a fuel offers a possible solution to satisfying global mobility needs, including sustainability of supply and the potential reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. This book focuses on research issues that are at the intersection of hydrogen and transportation, since the study of vehicles and energy-carriers is inseparable. It concentrates on light duty vehicles (cars and light trucks), set in the context of other competing technologies, the larger energy sector and the overall economy. The book is invaluable for researchers and policy makers in transportation policy, energy economics, systems dynamics, vehicle powertrain modeling and simulation, environmental science and environmental engineering.




And Yet It Moves


Book Description

Originally published in 1993, this book of essays is a largely nonmathematical account of some of the strange behaviour, both classical and quantum, exhibited by moving particles, fluids and waves. Drawn from the author's researches in quantum mechanics, atomic and nuclear physics, electromagnetism and optics, gravity, thermodynamics, and the physics of fluids, the essays describe different physical systems whose behaviour provokes surprise and challenges the imagination. There are strange processes for which no visualisable mechanism can be given; processes that seem to violate fundamental physical laws, but which in reality do not; processes that are superficially well understood, yet turn out to be subtly devious. The essays address questions or controversies from whose resolution emerge lessons of general significance regarding the mystery and fascination of motion. Anyone with a basic physics background or with an interest in the fundamental questions of physics will find this book of use.