Friday, April 30, 2010

Arizona Immigration Law Seeks to Limit Racial Profiling

After the Arizona governor signed the immigration law last week that seemed to sanction "legalized racial profiling," lawmakers revised the measure "to require scrutiny only of people who police stop, detain, or arrest." ("Arizona Lawmakers Modify Immigration Law" - Los Angeles Times, April 30, 2010). Legislators also prohibited race from the being the only reason to suspect someone was an illegal alien.

Review selected library titles related to immigration and illegal aliens at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a listed item, select the "Request" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to reserve for pick up at the library. Call the library at 281-290-3219 to check your PIN if you do not remember it. Use these subject words and phrases to find more in the library catalog:
  • illegal aliens
  • immigration
  • immigration enforcement
  • Mexican-American border region
  • border patrols
Immigration book coverImmigration edited by Debra A. Miller - Greenhaven/Gale Cengage, 2010.
call number: 325.73 Imm (in processing)
The book covers such topics as "Are Illegal Immigrants Treated Fairly?" and "How Should U.S. Immigration Policy Be Reformed?" - table of contents excerpt

Imaginary Lines book coverImaginary lines: Border Enforcement and the Origins of Undocumented Immigration, 1882-1930 by Patrick Ettinger - University of Texas, 2009.
call number: 325.73 Ett
"Historian Patrick Ettinger offers the first comprehensive historical study of evolving border enforcement efforts on American land borders at the turn of the twentieth century. He traces the origins of widespread immigrant smuggling and illicit entry on the northern and southern United States borders at a time when English, Irish, Chinese, Italian, Russian, Lebanese, Japanese, Greek, and, later, Mexican migrants created various "backdoors" into the United States." - book summary excerpt

Border Games book coverBorder Games: Policing the U.S.-Mexico Divide by Peter Andreas - Cornell University, 2009.
call number: 363.45 And
"The book covers such topics as "Creating the Clandestine Side of the Border Economy and The Escalation of Immigration Control." - table of contents excerpt

Illegal People book coverIllegal People: How Globalization Creates Migration and Criminalizes Immigrants by David Bacon - Beacon, 2008.
call number: 331.62 Bac
"The whole process that creates migrants is scarcely considered in the U.S. immigration debate, argues Bacon, who posits that displacement and migration are two perennially necessary ingredients of capitalist growth. In mapping the political economy of migration, with an unwavering eye on the rights and dignity of working people, Bacon offers an invaluable corrective to America's hobbled discourse on immigration and a spur to genuine, creative action." - Publishers Weekly review excerpt

Underground America book coverUnderground America: Narratives of Undocumented Lives edited by Peter Orner - McSweeney's Books, 2008.
call number: 304.873 Und
"McSweeney's Voices of Witness series continues (following Voices of the Storm and Surviving Justice) with this collection of oral histories from undocumented immigrants . . .Culled from new interviews, the book's 24 subjects come from around the world (Mexico, China, South Africa, Colombia, Cameroon and others), each offering a vivid, personal, often wrenching and occasionally enraging first-person look into the immigrant experience." - Publishers Weekly review excerpt

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Tibet Continues to Experience Oppression by Chinese Government

Today marks the commemoration of the Tibetan "abortive 1959 uprising against Chinese rule" and the latest show of force by Chinese police on the streets of Lhasa was meant to prevent any uprising by locals ("Hundreds Held in Pre-Emptive Tibet Crackdown" - Times Online (UK), March 10, 2010). The police made a point to ask for identification from Tibetans and not ethnic Chinese minority residents. An estimated 500 Tibetans were detained by Chinese police in this latest incident. The exiled Dalai Lama stated that he recognizes "those Tibetans still enduring fear and oppression."

Review selected library titles related to Tibet and the Dalai Lama at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a listed item, select the "Request" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to reserve for pick up at the library. Call the library at 281-290-3219 to check your PIN if you do not remember it. Use these subject words and phrases to find more in the library catalog:
  • Tibet
  • Dalai Lama
  • China Tibet relations
Tibet book coverTibet edited by Clare Hanrahan - Greenhaven, 2009.
call number: 951.505 Tib
The book covers such topics as "Chinese rule threatens Tibetan Buddhism" and "Tibetan quality of life has improved under Chinese Rule" - table of contents excerpt

Why the Dalai Lama Matters book coverWhy the Dalai Lama Matters: His Act of Truth as the Solution for China, Tibet, and the World by Robert Thurman - Atria Books/Beyond Words, 2008.
call number: 294.392 Thu
"Tibetan scholar Thurman paints a splendid portrait of the Dalai Lama and masterfully elucidates the 50-year-old conflict between Tibet and China in this timely analysis." - Publishers Weekly review excerpt

China's Tibet book coverChina's Tibet?: Autonomy or Assimilation by Warren W. Smith, Jr. - Rowman & Littlefield, 2008.
call number: 951.506 Smi
"Smith (Tibetan service, Radio Free Asia) provides a thorough and specialized study of relations between the two entities over the last century. He argues that assimilation is China's goal for Tibet: Tibet is becoming more Chinese and less Tibetan, as demonstrated by the recent mass immigration of Chinese into Tibet and China's dominance of both the government and the economy." - Library Journal review excerpt

10 Questions for the Dalai Lama DVD cover10 Questions for the Dalai Lama [videorecording]: One Man's Journey through the Northern Himalayas produced by Rick Ray and Sharon Ray; written, directed and filmed by Rick Ray - Monterey Video, 2007.
call number: DVD Nonfiction 294.365 Ten
"If you had only one hour, what would you ask the Dalai Lama? This is the question that Rick Ray asks, and answers, in this excellent film." - Library Journal review excerpt

Friday, January 22, 2010

Bernanke's 2nd Term Awaiting Senate Vote

Populist backlash from the Senate election in Massachusetts on Tuesday put the current Fed Chairman's prospects for a second term on hold ("Bernanke Confirmation Draws Opposition from Two Democratic Senators" - Washington Post, January 22, 2010). Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) now wants to wait on the vote to keep Bernanke in the job until he can shore up filibuster-proof support among Democrats and Republicans.

Review selected library titles related to the Federal Reserve System and Ben Bernanke at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a listed item, select the "Request" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to reserve for pick up at the library. Call the library at 281-290-3219 to check your PIN if you do not remember it. Use these subject words and phrases to find more in the library catalog:
  • Ben Bernanke
  • Alan Greenspan
  • Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
  • United States central banks
  • United States monetary policy
Bernanke's Test book coverBernanke's Test: Ben Bernanke, Alan Greenspan, and the Drama of the Central Banker by Johan Van Overtveldt - Agate, 2009.
call number: 332.11 Ove
"Overtveldt's serious examination of how we got into this mess and what the Federal Reserve can do to get us out brings clarity to this period of financial chaos. Highly recommended for all interested readers." - Library Journal review excerpt

End the Fed book coverEnd the Fed by Ron Paul - Grand Central, 2009.
call number: 332.11 Pau
"An engaging response to big-government solutions for the financial crisis, this knowledgeable and opinionated look at U.S. economics, from a firebrand public servant, should provoke much thought." - Publishers Weekly review excerpt

Ben Bernanke's Fed book coverBen Bernanke's Fed: The Federal Reserve after Greenspan by Ethan S. Harris - Harvard Business Press, 2008.
call number: 332.11 Har
"Harris (managing director and chief US economist, Lehman Brothers) is more concerned in assessing the likely performance of the Fed under Bernanke. His discussion of Bernanke's role in the formation of monetary policy theory and practice thus discusses Bernanke's economic views and his early policy activities and assesses their likely impacts. Harris's volume also serves as an introduction to the Federal Reserve System and its role in many facets of the US economy." - Book News, Inc. summary excerpt