The Oversight of Outsourcing Us Intelligence After 9/11
This book is a story about Private Intelligence Contractors (PICs) and their relationship with the United States executive and legislative principals in the War on Terror when the line between the public and private sectors has been increasingly blurred. PICs have challenged the traditional approach which assumes that sensitive intelligence tasks should be performed by government officials because of their importance for national security. So this book examines the principal-agent relationship and the oversight problem between PICs, the US Intelligence Community (IC), the president and Congress after the 9/11 attacks. The book demonstrates that by exploiting information asymmetry, adversely selected PICs can violate legislative rules and goals such as by performing inherently governmental tasks, colluding with the IC, capturing the control of the task and contractual process, abuse, waste and fraud. In addition, to get around congressional oversight and achieve his or her hidden agenda, the executive principal can also mismanage contractors through the IC or delegate contractors to perform inherently governmental tasks.
Democracy and Solidarity
From "the nation's leading cultural historian" (David Brooks, New York Times), the long-developing cultural divisions beneath our present political crisis Liberal democracy in America has always contained contradictions--most notably, a noble but abstract commitment to freedom, justice, and equality that, tragically, has seldom been realized in practice. While these contradictions have caused dissent and even violence, there was always an underlying and evolving solidarity drawn from the cultural resources of America's "hybrid Enlightenment." James Davison Hunter, who introduced the concept of "culture wars" thirty years ago, tells us in this new book that those historic sources of national solidarity have now largely dissolved. While a deepening political polarization is the most obvious sign of this, the true problem is not polarization per se but the absence of cultural resources to work through what divides us. The destructive logic that has filled the void only makes bridging our differences more challenging. In the end, all political regimes require some level of unity. If it cannot be generated organically, it will be imposed by force. Can America's political crisis be fixed? Can an Enlightenment-era institution--liberal democracy--survive and thrive in a post-Enlightenment world? If, for some, salvaging the older sources of national solidarity is neither possible sociologically, nor desirable politically or ethically, what cultural resources will support liberal democracy in the future?
Doing Democracy in Third Places
Resulting from a collaborative approach, Doing Democracy in "Third Places" presents the results of multi-site ethnographic research in seven Quebec civil society organizations. It reports on observations, analyses and comparisons of a diversity of innovative citizenship education practices aimed at young people in these "third places", i.e. socialization spaces different from school and family. Focusing on the presentation of case studies, the book reveals the diversity of formative experiences offered to young Quebecers. The pooling of case analyses leads to a fruitful reflection on education for democratic citizenship through a plurality of citizen experimentation practices rooted in the defense of children's rights, feminist social action, the community movement, alterglobalism and municipal and school public action. With its original conceptual vocabulary and qualitative methodological approach, this book will help to push back the geolinguistic and disciplinary boundaries that often separate research currents closely or remotely related to the social and political engagement and participation of young people. Written in an accessible style, it is aimed at a wide audience, including youth organization staff, graduate students, the youth policy sector and anyone interested in the issues surrounding youth citizenship in the 21st century.
13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (But Probably Haven’t Read)
A discussion of 13 works of literary fiction in the context of their relevance to conservative beliefs. Great novels are a remarkable confluence of complex characters, powerful storytelling, and beautiful language. They ask important questions and explore major ideas that can reflect a culture--and shape it. Yet if you talk to right-of-center readers about literary fiction that considers ideas of particular interest to conservatives, they tend to mention the same handful of books. They neglect greatness from across the centuries--hardly a conservative thing to do! Christopher J. Scalia's 13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (but Probably Haven't Read) helps anyone interested in conservatism both restock their fiction shelves and better understand a great intellectual tradition. A former English professor and a widely published critic and opinion writer, Scalia discusses outstanding works of fiction by anglophone writers from Samuel Johnson to Zora Neale Hurston, Nathaniel Hawthorne to P. D. James, Willa Cather to Walter Scott. These novels explore topics like national identity, tradition, religion, human nature, and many more--without descending into simplistic propaganda. Scalia connects the themes of great works spanning four centuries to the insights of such thinkers as Edmund Burke, William F. Buckley, Roger Scruton, Michael Oakeshott, Gertrude Himmelfarb, and Russell Kirk. Engaging, insightful, and funny, 13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (but Probably Haven't Read) introduces readers to great literature and teaches them about principles central to conservativism.
Challenging Lies
Challenging Lies' is a book arguing that Africa's plight is external in origin-the result of the imperialism of Western countries whose survival depends on the systematic plundering of Africa. Massocki so powerfully argues that western imperialism and neocolonialism are the very forces at the root of Africa's political, economic, security and health crises and the dangers hovering over humanity. Massocki writes: 'The African's misfortune began when the first White imperialist set foot in Africa. That day must be cursed.' REVIEWS"Challenging Lies" is an eye-opener on the origin of the plight of Africa. A well-researched and brilliant expository presentation of all forms of imperialism on the black continent. Massocki left no stone unturned. If there were one book to read on Western imperialism in Africa, it would be this one. This book is set to become a classic in black revolutionary literature against white supremacy'. - Pierced Rock Press'Massocki describes the plight of African people with no holds barred. "Challenging Lies" dismantles Western narratives and historical misrepresentations of the African experience. It's a book that offers a powerful counterpoint to mainstream discourse, and allows you to see Africa through a different lens - one that is beyond colonial bias' . - Jericka Orellano, Published Editor
Investigation of Communist Activities in Seattle, Wash., Area
Confessions of a Conspiracy Theorist
Hollywood actor by day-conspiracy theorist by night. After twelve years of hiding in the shadows of online forums and going down rabbit holes of the taboo, author Luke Jackson steps into the light. Confessions of a Conspiracy Theorist is a tell-all chronicle of transformation from a normie chasing a dream of Hollywood stardom to a full-blown conspiracy theorist stepping away from pursuit of the limelight and into a world of mystery. This confessional takes the skeptical reader on the journey of fringe information that completely altered Jackson's worldview starting with his very first red pill: 9/11. As Jackson weaves through conspiracies, he leads the reader on a trail of shocking information; connecting each breadcrumb of evidence culminates in a dark and illuminating revelation. Confessions of a Conspiracy shifts the reader into a new paradigm of understanding and helps make sense of the seemingly senseless world of 2024. This heartfelt contribution to the Truther movement is dedicated to all the missing children victimized by human trafficking. "For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy." -John F Kennedy
