System States

From the bestselling and critically acclaimed author of The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace comes “an eye-opening, fully humanizing, deeply affecting look at the often-misunderstood juvenile justice system and its inhabitants—young people of earnestness, disappointment, hope, and resilience” (Booklist, starred review).

Jeff Alt takes you along every step of his 2,160-mile Appalachian Trail adventure. This entertaining journey includes bears, bugs, blisters, captivating characters, skunk bedmates, and hilarious food cravings. Alt walked more than five million steps in tribute to his brother, who has cerebral palsy and lives in a home called Sunshine. This trail adventure has inspired an annual event that has raised more than $200,000 for Sunshine. It includes hiking tips for the whole family.

What if the most dangerous expansion of federal power wasn’t led by soldiers or spies—but by spreadsheet? The Cold State is a searing investigation into how ICE—the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency—transformed from a post-9/11 panic response into a sprawling, largely unaccountable machinery of surveillance, detention, and deportation. This is not just about immigration. This is about infrastructure: how a system built under the guise of national security evolved into a permanent domestic force operating far beyond its original mandate. Through blistering analysis and ...

One of the most unique aspects of anarchism as a political philosophy is that it seeks to abolish the state. But what exactly is “the state”? The State is like a vast operating system for ordering and controlling relations among human society, the economy, and the natural world, analogous to a digital operating system. Anyone concerned with entrenched power, income inequality, lack of digital privacy, climate change, the response to COVID-19, or military-style policing will find eye-opening insights into how states operate and build more power for themselves—at our expense.

The America Party is a scathing, unflinching manifesto for those who’ve outgrown the binary politics of fear and nostalgia. In a political environment calcified by two failing parties, The America Party offers a third pole—not a compromise, but a post-ideological overhaul. With biting clarity and sardonic realism, it dismantles the false choice between freedom and compassion, skewers corporate feudalism masquerading as capitalism, and outlines a new civic framework grounded in autonomy, localism, and technological transparency. This is a handbook for politically homeless Millennials and...

If the confusion following the last presidential election is any indication, the average citizen knows precious little about the democratic system and the laws that affect their daily lives. The Everything American Government Book unravels the complexities of our democracy and provides listeners with the knowledge necessary to make the right decisions and take an active role in the management of their country. This thoroughly researched work is ideal for anyone brushing up on civics, as well as students of all ages.

A significant element of the justice system is dedicated to finding those on the run, and the most-wanted posters and true-crime television shows have made fugitives seemingly ubiquitous figures of fear and fascination for the public. In On the Lam, Jerry Clark and Ed Palattella trace the history of fugitives in the United States by looking at the characters - real and fictional - who have played the roles of the hunter and the hunted. They also examine the origins of the bail system and other legal tools, such as most-wanted programs, that are designed to guard against flight.

She was trained to find errors. Now she's become one. In the perfect society of the Mandate, Adjudicator Lyra Cassel maintains order by processing the final reputational accounts of the deceased, transforming messy human lives into clean, quantifiable legacies. Her world is one of absolute certainty, where benevolent AIs ensure justice and the Kudos system rewards virtue with mathematical precision. But when Lyra discovers a single, impossible data point in the file of celebrated sculptor Joric Orlan (a man who supposedly died of despair while his brain scans show pure terror), she uncovers...

"The deck, that is the floor of their rooms, was so covered with the blood and mucus which had proceeded from them in consequence of the flux, that it resembled a slaughter-house. It is not in the power of the human imagination to picture a situation more dreadful or disgusting. Numbers of the slaves having fainted, they were carried upon deck where several of them died and the rest with great difficulty were restored. It had nearly proved fatal to me also." - Dr. Alexander Falconbridge, an 18th century British surgeon

"Conquer the GED Social Studies Exam: Your Essential Guide to History, Civics, Economics, and Geography" is designed to equip learners with the foundational knowledge and critical thinking skills needed to excel in the GED Social Studies section. Covering essential topics such as U.S. and world history, civics and government, economics, and geography, this guide provides in-depth explanations and real-world applications. Each chapter emphasizes understanding key concepts, from the Constitution and the principles of democracy to economic systems and the structure of the U.S. government. ...

Since the Supreme Court's 1984 decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, this judicial review has been highly deferential: courts must uphold agency interpretations of unclear laws as long as these interpretations are "reasonable." But the Chevron doctrine faces backlash from constitutional scholars and, now, from Supreme Court justices who insist that courts, not administrative agencies, have the authority to say what the law is. Recognizing that Congress cannot help relying on agencies to carry out laws, Merrill rejects the notion of discarding the administrative state.

"Conquer the Building Inspector Exam: Your Guide to Structural, Architectural, and Safety Inspections" is a comprehensive study guide designed to help candidates excel in the building inspector exam. The book is divided into meticulously structured chapters that cover a wide range of topics, ensuring a thorough understanding of the key areas required for the exam. The guide begins with an introduction to the role of a building inspector, emphasizing the importance of building codes, standards, and key skills necessary for the job. It then delves into specific codes and regulations, ...

The state of education in the USA has been a pressing concern. American students consistently score lower than their international peers in key subjects like reading, science, and math. This book explores the contrasting approaches to education in Finland and the United States, with Finland consistently ranking high in international assessments until recently, when the rankings started declining, while American students struggle to keep pace. By examining the similarities and differences between these two countries, this timely analysis sheds light on the challenges facing the US education ...

They were the political odd couple - the two most powerful men in the country, a pair who "couldn't be more different or more the same." For six years, Matthews was on the inside, watching the evolving relationship between President Reagan and Speaker of the House O’Neill. Drawing not only on his own remarkable knowledge but on extensive interviews with those closest to his subjects, Matthews brings this unlikely friendship to life in his unique voice.

For thirty years, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Linda Greenhouse chronicled the activities of the U.S. Supreme Court and its justices as a correspondent for the New York Times. In this Very Short Introduction, she draws on her deep knowledge of the court's history and of its written and unwritten rules to show listeners how the Supreme Court really works.

Blackout Wars is about the historically unprecedented threat to our electronic civilization from its dependence on the electric power grid. In a nationwide blackout lasting months or years, the entire population of the US could be at risk. There would be no food. No water. Communications, transportation, industry, business, and finance - all of the critical infrastructures that support modern civilization would be paralyzed. Threats to the electric power grid are posed by cyber-attack, sabotage, a geomagnetic super-storm, and electromagnetic pulse (EMP) from the high-altitude detonation of a nuclear weapon.

In a time where attention spans are shrinking and distractions dominate every corner of life, Break the Loop emerges as a compelling call to urgently reclaim control over your mind. Written for thinkers, doers, creatives, and leaders alike, this book is a transformative deep dive into why modern life feels so scattered—and what you can do about it, inspiring you to take action and make a change. The book begins by uncovering the roots of the "attention trap." In Part I: The Attention Trap, readers explore how dopamine-driven apps, the myth of multitasking, and overstimulated environments ...

For the average/ordinary person, being abandoned by your parents at birth, separated from your one and only sibling as a child, and hurled into the uncertainty of the Child Foster Care System without any warning, would lead to utter depression at best and a homeless runaway at the very worst. Such trials and tribulations could and would break the best of us. But, not James Rosebaum. Nothing was going to break him. Whenever life threw him a curve ball, James smacked it out of the ballpark. Whether it be a fatal automobile accident, dispassionate Foster Parents, a deadly typhoon, an even ...

Patti Davis, the daughter of Ronald and Nancy Reagan, writes about losing her father to Alzheimer's disease, saying goodbye in stages, and watching the progression of a disease that steals what is most precious: a person's memory. Past and present come together in this illuminating portrait of grief, of a man, a disease, and a girl and her father.

For over 100 years, thousands of Aboriginal children passed through the Canadian residential school system. Begun in the 1870s, it was intended, in the words of government officials, to bring these children into the “circle of civilization,” the results, however, were far different. More often, the schools provided an inferior education in an atmosphere of neglect, disease, and often abuse. Using previously unreleased government documents, historian John S. Milloy provides a full picture of the history and reality of the residential school system.