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Endgame: Bobby Fischer’s Remarkable Rise and Fall

Posted by admin | Posted in Entertainment-New, New Releases | Posted on 11-12-2011-05-2008

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0307463907 : Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall - from America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness
ISBN: 0307463907

 
Author: Frank Brady

Endgame is acclaimed biographer Frank Brady’s decades-in-the-making tracing of the meteoric ascent—and confounding descent—of enigmatic genius Bobby Fischer.  Only Brady, who met Fischer when the prodigy was only 10 and shared with him some of his most dramatic triumphs, could have written this book, which has much to say about the nature of American celebrity and the distorting effects of fame.  Drawing from Fischer family archives, recently released FBI files, and Bobby’s own emails, this account is unique in that it limns Fischer’s entire life—an odyssey that took the Brooklyn-raised chess champion from an impoverished childhood to the covers of Time, Life and Newsweek to recognition as “the most famous man in the world” to notorious recluse.
 
At first all one noticed was how gifted Fischer was.  Possessing a 181 I.Q. and remarkable powers of concentration, Bobby memorized hundreds of chess books in several languages, and he was only 13 when he became the youngest chess master in U.S. history.   But his strange behavior started early.  In 1972, at the historic Cold War showdown in Reykjavik, Iceland, where he faced Soviet champion Boris Spassky, Fischer made headlines with hundreds of petty demands that nearly ended the competition.
 
It was merely a prelude to what was to come.
 
Arriving back in the United States to a hero’s welcome, Bobby was mobbed wherever he went—a figure as exotic and improbable as any American pop culture had yet produced.  No player of a mere “board game” had ever ascended to such heights.  Commercial sponsorship offers poured in, ultimately topping $10 million—but Bobby demurred.  Instead, he began tithing his limited money to an apocalyptic religion and devouring anti-Semitic literature.  Read the rest of this entry »

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The Magnetic North: Notes from the Arctic Circle

Posted by admin | Posted in New Releases, Outdoors & Nature-New, Sports-New, Travel-New | Posted on 04-03-2011-05-2008

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0374200130 : The Magnetic North: Notes from the Arctic Circle
ISBN: 0374200130

 
Author: Sara Wheeler

More than a decade ago, Sara Wheeler traveled to Antarctica to understand a continent nearly lost to myth and lore. In the widely acclaimed, bestselling Terra Incognita, she chronicled her quest to find a hidden history buried in Antarctica’s extreme surroundings. Now, Wheeler journeys to the opposite pole to create a definitive picture of life on the fringes. In The Magnetic North, she takes full measure of the Arctic: at once the most pristine place on earth and the locus of global warming.

Inspired by the spiraling shape of a reindeer-horn bangle, she travels counterclockwise around the North Pole through the territories belonging to Russia, the United States, Canada, Denmark, Norway, and Finland, marking the transformations of what once seemed an unchangeable landscape. As she witnesses the mounting pollution concentrated at the pole, Wheeler reckons with the illness of the whole organism of the earth.

Smashing through the Arctic Ocean with the crew of a Russian icebreaker, shadowing the endless Trans-Alaska Pipeline with a tough Idaho-born outdoorswoman, herding reindeer with the Lapps, and visiting the haunting, deceptively peaceful lands of the Gulag, Wheeler brings the Arctic’s many contradictions to life. The Magnetic North is an urgent, beautiful book, rich in dramatic description and vivid reporting. It is a singular, deeply personal portrait of a region growing daily in global importance.

Pages: 336
 
Binding: Hardcover
 
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Year: 2011

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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Posted by admin | Posted in New Releases, Nonfiction-New, Professional & Technical-New, Science-New | Posted on 03-03-2011-05-2008

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1400052181 : The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
ISBN: 1400052181

 
Author: Rebecca Skloot

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. If you could pile all HeLa cells ever grown onto a scale, they’d weigh more than 50 million metric tons—as much as a hundred Empire State Buildings. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions.

Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave.

Now Rebecca Skloot takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the “colored” ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to stark white laboratories with freezers full of HeLa cells; from Henrietta’s small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginia—a land of wooden slave quarters, faith healings, and voodoo—to East Baltimore today, where her children and grandchildren live and struggle with the legacy of her cells. Read the rest of this entry »

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Exorbitant Privilege

Posted by admin | Posted in New Releases, Reference-New | Posted on 02-03-2011-05-2008

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0199753784 : Exorbitant Privilege: The Rise and Fall of the Dollar and the Future of the International Monetary System
ISBN: 0199753784

 
Author: Barry Eichengreen

For more than half a century, the U.S. dollar has been not just America’s currency but the world’s. It is used globally by importers, exporters, investors, governments and central banks alike. Nearly three-quarters of all $100 bills circulate outside the United States. The dollar holdings of the Chinese government alone come to more than $1,000 per Chinese resident.

This dependence on dollars, by banks, corporations and governments around the world, is a source of strength for the United States. It is, as a critic of U.S. policies once put it, America’s “exorbitant privilege.” However, recent events have raised concerns that this soon may be a privilege lost. Among these have been the effects of the financial crisis and the Great Recession: high unemployment, record federal deficits, and financial distress. In addition there is the rise of challengers like the euro and China’s renminbi. Some say that the dollar may soon cease to be the world’s standard currency–which would depress American living standards and weaken the country’s international influence. Read the rest of this entry »

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The Crossley ID Guide: Eastern Birds

Posted by admin | Posted in New Releases, Outdoors & Nature-New, Science-New | Posted on 01-03-2011-05-2008

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0691147787 : The Crossley ID Guide: Eastern Birds
ISBN: 0691147787

 
Author: Richard Crossley

This stunningly illustrated book from acclaimed birder and photographer Richard Crossley revolutionizes field guide design by providing the first real-life approach to identification. Whether you are a beginner, expert, or anywhere in between, The Crossley ID Guide will vastly improve your ability to identify birds. Unlike other guides, which provide isolated individual photographs or illustrations, this is the first book to feature large, lifelike scenes for each species. These scenes–640 in all–are composed from more than 10,000 of the author’s images showing birds in a wide range of views–near and far, from different angles, in various plumages and behaviors, including flight, and in the habitat in which they live. These beautiful compositions show how a bird’s appearance changes with distance, and give equal emphasis to characteristics experts use to identify birds: size, structure and shape, behavior, probability, and color. This is the first book to convey all of these features visually–in a single image–and to reinforce them with accurate, concise text. Each scene provides a wealth of detailed visual information that invites and rewards careful study, but the most important identification features can be grasped instantly by anyone. By making identification easier, more accurate, and more fun than ever before, The Crossley ID Guide will completely redefine how its users look at birds. Essential for all birders, it also promises to make new birders of many people who have despaired of using traditional guides. Revolutionary. This book changes field guide design to make you a better birder A picture says a thousand words. The most comprehensive guide: 640 stunning scenes created from 10,000 of the author’s photographs Reality birding. Lifelike in-focus scenes show birds in their habitats, from near and far, and in all plumages and behaviors Teaching and reference. The first book to accurately portray all the key identification characteristics: size, shape, behavior, probability, and color Practice makes perfect. An interactive learning experience to sharpen and test field identification skills Bird like the experts. The first book to simplify birding and help you understand how to bird like the best An interactive website–www.crossleybirds.com–includes expanded captions for the plates and species updates

Pages: 544
 
Binding: Hardcover
 
Publisher: Princeton University Press Year: 2011

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The Day After the Dollar Crashes

Posted by admin | Posted in Business & Investing-New, New Releases, Nonfiction-New, Professional & Technical-New | Posted on 28-02-2011-05-2008

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047091033X : The Day After the Dollar Crashes: A Survival Guide for the Rise of the New World Order
ISBN: 047091033X

 
Author: Damon Vickers

How to profit from the events leading up to the likely collapse of the U.S. dollar

Society is at a crossroads. Here at home and around the world, we are living in a manner that is absolutely, unconditionally, irrevocably unsustainable. The Day After the Dollar Crashes: A Survival Guide for the Rise of the New World Order outlines the kinds of events that could trigger a global economic collapse, describing in detail the events that are likely to occur just prior to, during, and immediately following such a total collapse. It also explains how investors can profit and support a sustainable future by anticipating social trends. The book

  • Describes what government can do now to soften the dollar’s fall later
  • Details how to lead the charge to introduce innovations and solutions to meet the inevitable challenges of new kinds of economic forces
  • Reveals how to profit by changing expectations and taking action to align investments with reality

The Day After the Dollar Crashes tears away the illusions generated by politicians, media, and the financial industry to show how investors can position themselves to survive and thrive in a New World Order.

From the Author: A Fictional Timeline of Events for the Crash of the U.S. Dollar

Author Damon Vickers

10 a.m. EST Wednesday. The U.S. government is having its regular auction of U.S. Treasury notes. Here we go again begging to the world with our tin cup. Only this time the world says, “No. We aren’t going to buy any more U.S. I.O.U.s.”
3 p.m. EST Sunday. When the Asian markets open, we see a meltdown. The Asian markets are down 5 percent, then 6 percent then 7 percent in an all out free-fall. It touches off an avalanche of selling and markets around the world go into independent free-falls.
3 p.m. EST Sunday. Global currencies start to slip and are also in free fall. Gold prices rise by $300 to $400 dollars an ounce. Silver and palladium are also up as global investors convert, to put everything they have into precious metals.
9:30 a.m. EST Monday. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) opens and within minutes circuit breakers around the world pop under a deluge of market orders.
9:50 a.m. EST Monday. The NYSE is advised of the liquidity problems and the market shuts down. Markets around the world react with volatility in a strong down trend. Everyone starts selling bonds to raise capital, but there are few buyers. Prices plunge; yields rise.
10:10 a.m. EST Monday. Markets around the world react to the close of the NYSE with volatility in a strong down trend.
10:45 a.m. EST Monday. Several countries in Europe announce they have raised interest rates by 3 or 4 percent to make their own bonds attractive to buyers. In response, other global markets become very nervous and even less stable.
9:30 a.m. EST Tuesday. The NYSE is unable to open due to the quantity of sell orders jamming the systems.
9:45 a.m. EST Tuesday. The Federal Reserve calls an emergency meeting. The United States needs liquidity and must compete for it.
10:45 a.m. EST Tuesday. The Federal Reserve announces a hike in interest rates.
11:15 a.m. EST Tuesday. Global markets don’t like the hike in U.S. interest rates, but respond by seeking some type of footing for the short term.
11:30 a.m. EST Tuesday. The NYSE finally manages to open two hours after the opening bell. Global markets have gapped down 6 to 7 percent from Friday’s close.
12:05 p.m. EST Tuesday. Traders believe the worst is behind them.
Tuesday afternoon through Friday morning. The dollar rallies. Markets find new levels. Traders around the world are walking on eggshells and having a hard time sleeping. Global currencies are still in free fall. Gold prices continue to rise along with other precious metals as more buyers come in.
2 p.m. EST Friday. In spite of the hike in interest rates, the U.S. dollar continues to fall as global confidence continues to erode.
8 a.m. EST Saturday. The Fed reconvenes.
3 p.m. EST Sunday. The Fed announces a second interest rate hike in as many weeks. At Asian open China gets first crack at the higher yield bonds.
3:01 p.m. EST Sunday. Currency markets instantly respond as bank interest rates in Western Europe are hiked simultaneously with the U.S., but there are no buyers.
9:30 a.m. EST Monday. At the NYSE bell all hell is unleashed. Traders around the world become net sellers of equities, bonds, and western currencies. Everyone wants out at the same time. The world markets are thrown into chaos. Panic and confusion sweep the globe and all markets are in free fall.
9:42 a.m. EST Monday. Everything is jammed as the volume of selling off all distributed equities in all the global markets becomes overwhelming. The markets around the world seize up. Trading ceases.
10:11 a.m. EST Monday. On the NYSE floor, someone turns up the volume on CNN and people slowly gather around the screen to watch videos of bodies falling out of exchange headquarters in Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, London, Frankfurt, Paris and Bucharest. Someone turns the sound off, but the videos keep playing.
10:28 a.m. EST Monday. On the NYSE floor, traders start to pick up their tickets. Every hand is shaking. Throughout the day shocked traders wander out of the building. Some find their way home. Others are never heard from again. Others begin to obsess about how to recoup their losses if and when the market reopens.
12:01 a.m. EST Tuesday. The IMF convenes with G20 leaders to discuss a solution to the paralyzed markets. They realize the only way to unfreeze the markets is to do a total restructure of all westernized debt in one fell swoop. This will require a complete realignment of currencies as it will likely include massive work-outs by debtor nations. The work outs will mandate that all countries submit to terms set out by a new global authority that is quickly being formed.
6 a.m. EST Tuesday. A spokeswoman for the IMF/G20 coalition holds a news conference before the New York Exchange opens. The conference is simulcast around the world in multiple languages. She assures viewers that everything is under control and that the IMF/G20 coalition will be overseeing an economic reset that will transpire in an orderly manner. She encourages people to remain calm, adding that while the temporary halt in exchange trading is awkward, everybody’s money is safe and there is no need to panic.
3:15 p.m. EST Tuesday. Around the country, panic spreads. Bank runs are reported. Looting spreads from banks and guns shops to grocery stores and supply stores. Riot squads are deployed. The National Guard is called in. Police start recording fatalities. People start firing back at the police.
Hourly updates are broadcast from the White House. The President holds a daily live news conference for selected media representatives, but takes no questions.
6:09 a.m. EST Tuesday. The IMF/G20 coalition holds a news conference that is simultaneously webcast in multiple languages. As a panel, the IMF/G20 coalition members outline the plan to restructure the global economy. They announce the establishment of a new Global Unification Exchange System (GUES) and mandate that all nations cease printing national currencies. It’s a global town hall.
11:10 a.m. EST Wednesday. The newly formed grassroots Coalition for Political Reform/USA (CPR/USA) launches a coordinated internet campaign to demand changes in America political system, specifically the elimination the Electoral College and the creation of a secure online voting system which will ensure one person, one vote and be run by volunteers across the nation.

Pretty scary stuff. Obviously, this is all conjecture. Still, it contains some possibilities that need to be considered as the U.S. dollar continues to weaken.

Pages: 85
 
Binding: Hardcover
 
Publisher: Wiley Year: 2011

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