Breaking the Poverty Cycle

Despite minimal unemployment in the state, the prevalence of families having to get by with even full-time minimum wage earnings allows poverty to persist, especially for the youngest Texans ("New Report Indicates One In Five Texas Children Lives in Poverty," Texas Standard, November 15, 2018). In the recently released 2018 State of Texas Children report, the Center for Public Policy Priorities, one of the recommendations is to increase the minimum wage and access to paid sick leave.

Review selected hard copy/online library books related to poverty at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a listed item, select the "Place Hold" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to request for pick up at the library.

Use these subject words and phrases to find more information in the library catalog:

• child welfare United States
• income distribution United States
• living wage movement
• poor children United States
• poverty United States
• public welfare United States
• working class United States
• working poor

Winning the War on Poverty: Applying the Lessons of History to the Present by Brian L. Fife
Praeger, 2018
call number: 339.4 Fif

"Applying lessons from history to the reality of poverty today in the United States--the most affluent country in the world--this book analyzes contributing factors to poverty and proposes steps to relieve people affected by it." - publisher's summary excerpt

"We Are All Fast-Food Workers Now": The Global Uprising Against Poverty Wages by Annelise Orleck
Beacon, 2018
call number: 331.5 Orl

"An urgent, illuminating look at globalization as seen through the eyes of workers-activists- small farmers, fast-food servers, retail workers, hotel housekeepers, home-healthcare aides, airport workers, and adjunct professors who are fighting for respect, safety, and a living wage." - publisher's summary excerpt

Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth by Sarah Smarsh
Scribner, 2018
call number: 305.562 Sma

"An eye-opening memoir of working-class poverty in America that will deepen our understanding of the ways in which class shapes our country." - publisher's summary excerpt

Digital Currency and Blockchains Provide Banking Services for Even Those with Flip Phones

Local currency in Kenya is transitioning "from multicolored paper notes to a digital token based on blockchain" supported by a Swiss company, Bancor ("Closing the Cash Gap with Cryptocurrency," Bloomberg Businessweek, November 3, 2018). This project is noteworthy because the use of digital currency is going beyond "speculation or illicit trade" to becoming the "basis for financial inclusion and economic stimulus for the poorest."

Review selected hard copy/online library books related to cryptocurrency and blockchains at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a listed item, select the "Place Hold" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to request for pick up at the library.

Use these subject words and phrases to find more information in the library catalog:

• Bitcoin
• blockchains
• electronic commerce
• electronic funds transfers
• electronic commerce
• mobile commerce

The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking by Saifedean Ammous
Wiley, 2018
call number: 332.1 Amm (note: in processing - can place a hold to request it)

"When a pseudonymous programmer introduced "a new electronic cash system that's fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party" to a small online mailing list in 2008, very few paid attention. Ten years later, and against all odds, this upstart autonomous decentralized software offers an unstoppable and globally-accessible hard money alternative to modern central banks. The Bitcoin Standard analyzes the historical context to the rise of Bitcoin, the economic properties that have allowed it to grow quickly, and its likely economic, political, and social implications." - publisher's summary excerpt

Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies Is Changing the World by Don Tapscott and Alex Tapscott
Portfolio, 2018
call number: 332.1 Tap (note: in processing - can place a hold to request it)

"Blockchain is the ingeniously simple technology behind Bitcoin. But it is much more than that. It is a public ledger to which everyone has access, but which no single person controls. It enables companies and individuals to collaborate with an unprecedented degree of trust and transparency. It is cryptographically secure, but fundamentally open. And soon it will be everywhere...Don and Alex Tapscott reveal how this game-changing technology will shape the future of the world economy, dramatically improving everything from healthcare records to online voting, and from insurance claims to royalty payments." - publisher's summary excerpt

The Truth Machine: The Blockchain and the Future of Everything by Michael J. Casey and Paul Vigna
St. Martin's Press, 2018
call number: 332.1 Cas

"Michael J. Casey and Paul Vigna demystify the blockchain and explain why it can restore personal control over our data, assets, and identities; grant billions of excluded people access to the global economy; and shift the balance of power to revive society's faith in itself. They reveal the disruption it promises for industries including finance, tech, legal, and shipping." - publisher's summary excerpt

Killer Flu: Get a Shot to Save Your Life and Others

After a devastating flu season in 2017-18 where 80,000 people died, government health officials are urging the public to get vaccinated ("Return of U.S. Flu Season Brings Worries About a Virulent Replay," Bloomberg/Quint, September 27, 2018). Of the children who died from the flu, around 80 percent did not get the shot. Learn about the historic epidemic of 1918 and how public health officials are trying to prevent deaths one hundred years later.

Review selected hard copy/online library books related to the flu at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a listed item, select the "Place Hold" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to request for pick up at the library.

Use these subject words and phrases to find more information in the library catalog:

• communicable diseases
• epidemics
• influenza

Pandemics, Pills, and Politics: Governing Global Health Security by Stefan Elbe
Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018
call number: 362.1 Elb

"Taken by millions of people around the planet in the fight against pandemic flu, Tamiflu has provoked suspicions about undue commercial influence in government decision-making about stockpiles. It even found itself at the center of a prolonged political battle over who should have access to the data about the safety and effectiveness of medicines." - publisher's summary excerpt

More Deadly Than War: The Hidden History of the Spanish Flu and the First World War by Kenneth C. Davis
Henry Holt, 2018
call number: 614.518 Dav

"This book explores how this vast, global epidemic was intertwined with the horrors of World War I and how it could happen again. Complete with photographs, period documents, modern research, and firsthand reports by medical professionals and survivors, this book provides captivating insight into a catastrophe that transformed America in the early twentieth century." - publisher's summary excerpt

Pandemic 1918: Eyewitness Accounts from the Greatest Medical Holocaust in Modern History by Catharine Arnold
St. Martin's Press, 2018
call number: 614.518 Arn

"In January 1918, as World War I raged on, a new and terrifying virus began to spread across the globe. In three successive waves, from 1918 to 1919, influenza killed more than 50 million people...Nowhere on earth escaped: the United States recorded 550,000 deaths (five times its total military fatalities in the war) while European deaths totaled over two million...Through primary and archival sources, historian Catharine Arnold gives readers the first truly global account of the terrible epidemic." - publisher's summary excerpt

Solving the World Water Crisis with Icebergs?

An idea to tow icebergs to parts of world that need clean drinking water has surfaced some forty years ago after it was originally conceived ("How Hauling Icebergs Could Help Sustain the World's Thirstiest Regions," NBC News, August 7, 2018). An United Arab Emirates-based company will attempt a test of this technique employing "satellite imagery to scour the Southern Ocean for a suitable iceberg, lasso it with nets and chains, and then use a small flotilla of boats to tow it" later this year.

Review selected hard copy/online library books related to the world's fresh water supply at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a listed item, select the "Place Hold" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to request for pick up at the library.

Use these subject words and phrases to find more information in the library catalog:

• droughts
• groundwater
• water conservation
• water use
• water supply
• water consumption
• water resources development

A Thirsty Land: The Making of an American Water Crisis by Seamus McGraw
University of Texas Press, 2018
call number: 333.91 MacG

"As a changing climate threatens the whole country with deeper droughts and more furious floods that put ever more people and property at risk, Texas has become a bellwether state for water debates. Will there be enough water for everyone? Is there the will to take the steps necessary to defend ourselves against the sea? Is it in the nature of Americans to adapt to nature in flux? The most comprehensive--and comprehensible--book on contemporary water issues, A Thirsty Land delves deep into the challenges faced not just by Texas but by the nation as a whole, as we struggle to find a way to balance the changing forces of nature with our own ever-expanding needs." - publisher's summary excerpt

Replenish: The Virtuous Cycle of Water and Prosperity by Sandra Postel
Island Press, 2017
call number: 551.48 Pos

"We have disrupted the natural water cycle for centuries in an effort to control water for our own prosperity. Yet every year, recovery from droughts and floods costs billions of dollars, and we spend billions more on dams, diversions, levees, and other feats of engineering. These massive projects not only are risky financially and environmentally, they often threaten social and political stability. What if the answer was not further control of the water cycle, but repair and replenishment? Sandra Postel takes readers around the world to explore water projects that work with, rather than against, nature's rhythms. In New Mexico, forest rehabilitation is safeguarding drinking water; along the Mississippi River, farmers are planting cover crops to reduce polluted runoff; and in China, "sponge cities" are capturing rainwater to curb urban flooding." - publisher's summary excerpt

High and Dry: Meeting the Challenges of the World’s Growing Dependence on Groundwater by William M. Alley and Rosemarie Alley
Yale University Press, 2017
call number: 628.1 All

"Groundwater is essential for drinking water and food security. . .But a growing global population, widespread use of industrial chemicals, and climate change threaten this vital resource. Groundwater depletion and contamination has spread from isolated areas to many countries throughout the world. . .Drawing on examples from around the world, including case studies in the United States, Canada, Australia, India, and Sub-Saharan Africa, the authors examine groundwater from key scientific and socioeconomic perspectives. While addressing the serious nature of groundwater problems, the book includes stories of people who are making a difference in protecting this critical resource." - publisher's summary excerpt

Study Suggests More Stalled Hurricanes and Massive Flooding Coming

After examining the traveling (or translation) speed of tropical cyclones from 1949 and 2016, a climate science concluded that storms slowed ten percent during that time suggesting more hurricanes similar to 2017's Harvey are inevitable ("Hurricanes Are Lingering Longer. That Makes Them More Dangerous." The New York Times, June 6, 2018). The complete study published in the journal Nature and the news article mention that global warming may have some part to play in storm stagnation.

Review selected hard copy/online library books related to hurricanes at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a listed item, select the "Place Hold" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to request for pick up at the library.

Use these subject words and phrases to find more information in the library catalog:

• hurricane damage
• Hurricane Harvey
• hurricanes
• severe storms

Extreme Weather Events edited by Marcia Amidon Lüsted
Greenhaven, 2017
call number: 363.34 Ext

"In the wake of every killer hurricane, devastating wild fire, severe drought, or once-in-a-century flooding event, it has become commonplace for scientists, politicians, and ordinary citizens to debate whether or not these severe weather events can be tied directly to climate change and global warming. The scientific consensus generally indicates that we are beginning to see upticks in extreme weather due to warming and the resulting shift in weather patterns. . .This anthology collects the strongest viewpoints from across the ideological spectrum and the globe and allows readers to evaluate the arguments and evidence for themselves before forming an educated opinion." - publisher's summary excerpt

Killer Hurricanes
WGBH/PBS, 2017
call number: DVD Nonfiction 551.552 Kil

"The program compares the 2017 hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria to the Great Hurricane of 1780. That typhoon devastated the island of Barbados and other locations throughout the Atlantic, causing close to 22,000 fatalities. Using historic documents and sediment core samples taken from the ocean, scientists attempt to find patterns to help them predict the severity of hurricanes." - School Library Journal review excerpt

Hurricane Harvey by the Houston Chronicle
Pediment Publishing, 2017
call number: 976.414 Hur

"Hurricane Harvey, from the staff of the Houston Chronicle, tells the story of this unprecedented storm. In 200 pages of breathtaking photos and compelling narratives, we document everything from severe flooding to rescues and evacuations, damage, and volunteer and recovery efforts." - publisher's summary

Teacher Strikes Expose Major Education Crisis

While all states but Vermont have some balanced budget process and tax cuts that are promised to boost state economies, education finance is getting major cuts ("We Don't Need No Education," The New York Times, April 23, 2018). The article goes on to state that "earnings of public-school teachers have fallen behind inflation since the mid-1990s." And so teacher protests are in the news.

Review selected hard copy/online library books related to teaching, public schools, and education finance at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a listed item, select the "Place Hold" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to request for pick up at the library.

Use these subject words and phrases to find more information in the library catalog:

• educational change United States
• education finance United States

Education Reform

H.W. Wilson, 2017
call number: 370.973 Usn

"Articles will discuss different strategies in reforming primary and secondary education in the US. American students do not rank well compared to their peers in other countries. Every administration aims to improve education through a variety of means--increased regulation, funding, standards review and teacher professional development…This volume will cover all the current issues in the debate on education reform including teacher training and pay, class size, flexible scheduling and standardized testing." - publisher's summary excerpt

Addicted to Reform: A 12-Step Program to Rescue Public Education by John Merrow

New Press, 2017
call number: 371.01 Mer

"During his four-decade career at NPR and PBS, John Merrow reported from every state in the union, as well as from dozens of countries, on topics including America's obsession with standardized testing, the low standards of many teacher-training institutions, how corporate greed created an epidemic of attention deficit disorder, and Michelle Rhee's indifference to cheating in Washington, D.C....Chapters in this book include"Measure What Matters," "Ask the Right Question," and "Change Teaching." - publisher's summary excerpt

What School Could Be: Insights and Inspiration from Teachers across America by Ted Dintersmith

Princeton University Press, 2018
call number: on order

"Innovation expert Ted Dintersmith took an unprecedented trip across America, visiting all fifty states in a single school year. He originally set out to raise awareness about the urgent need to re-imagine education to prepare students for a world marked by innovation--but America's teachers one-upped him. All across the country, he met teachers in ordinary settings doing extraordinary things, creating innovative classrooms where children learn deeply and joyously as they gain purpose, agency, essential skill sets and mindsets, and real knowledge. Together, these new ways of teaching and learning offer a vision of what school could be—and a model for transforming schools throughout the United States and beyond. Better yet, teachers and parents don't have to wait for the revolution to come from above. They can readily implement small changes that can make a big difference." - publisher's summary excerpt

Syrians Hit by Yet Another Chemical Weapons Attack

Syrian President President Bashar al-Assad continues to use chemical weapons in his country's seven-year civil war ("Burning Eyes, Foaming Mouths: Years of Suspected Chemical Attacks in Syria," The New York Times, April 8, 2018). The latest attack this month in a Douma suburb, almost fifty died and over 500 experienced symptoms attributed to a "suspected chemical attack."

Review selected hard copy/online library books related to Syria or chemical weapons at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a listed item, select the "Place Hold" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to request for pick up at the library.

Use these subject words and phrases to find more information in the library catalog:

• Syria atrocities
• Syria civil war 2011
• Syria human rights

No Turning Back: Life, Loss, and Hope in Wartime Syria by Rania Abouzeid

Norton, 2018
call number: 956.91 Abo

"Extending back to the first demonstrations of 2011, No Turning Back dissects the tangle of ideologies and allegiances that make up the Syrian conflict . . . Rania Abouzeid brings readers deep inside Assad's prisons, to covert meetings where foreign states and organizations manipulated the rebels, and to the highest levels of Islamic militancy and the formation of ISIS." - publisher's summary excerpt

City of Ghosts produced and directed by Matthew Heineman

Broad Green, 2017
call number: 323.156 Cit (DVD Collection)

"A documentary that follows the efforts of "Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently," a handful of anonymous activists who banded together after their homeland was taken over by ISIS in 2014. With deeply personal access, this is the story of a brave group of citizen journalists as they face the realities of life undercover, on the run, and in exile, risking their lives to stand up against one of the greatest evils in the world today." - publisher's summary excerpt

We Are Syrians: Three Generations, Three Dissidents edited by Adam Braver and Abby DeVeuve

University of New Orleans Press, 2017
call number: 956.91 Wea

"Three generations of Syrian citizens who became dissidents under the Assad family's rule, forced to flee Syria by a government that wanted to silence them. In We Are Syrians First, Naila Al-Atrash, Radwan Ziadeh, and Sana Mustafa tell how they confronted each of those questions in their commitment to protect freedom of expression under an authoritarian government. While these are individual stories of courage and defiance, together they tell the larger story of the Syrian conflict and the conditions that brought about the worst humanitarian crisis in recent history." - publisher's summary excerpt

Why Misinformation and Fake News Can Persist

The ability of your mind to clear "discredited" news stories from your "working memory" is affected by education and also age ("Cognitive Ability and Vulnerability to Fake News," Scientific American, February 6, 2018). In addition, individuals displayed a tendency to believe false statements more if they were repeated over time. Links to the research studies that discuss these results are in the above article so you can see the details and judge their conclusions for yourself.

Review selected hard copy/online library books related to fake news and misinformation at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a listed item, select the "Place Hold" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to request for pick up at the library.

Use these subject words and phrases to find more information in the library catalog:

• attribution of news
• communication in politics
• fake news
• internet research handbooks
• journalism corrupt practices
• mass media political
• mass media public opinion
• politics and culture
• research handbooks

The Smear: How Shady Political Operatives and Fake News Control What You See, What You Think, and How You Vote by Sharyl Attkisson

Harper, 2017
call number: 070.4 Att

"Behind most major political stories in the modern era, there is an agenda; an effort by opposition researchers, spin doctors, and outside interests to destroy an idea or a person. The tactic they use is the Smear. Every day, Americans are influenced by the Smear without knowing it. Paid forces cleverly shape virtually every image you cross. . . The trick of the Smear is that it is often based on some shred of truth, but these media-driven "hit pieces" are designed to obscure the truth. Success hinges on the Smear artist's ability to remain invisible; to make it seem as if their work is neither calculated nor scripted. It must appear to be precisely what it is not." - publisher's summary excerpt

The Chicago Guide to Fact-Checking by Brooke Borel

University of Chicago Press, 2016
call number: 001.42 Bor

"An accessible, one-stop guide to the why, what, and how of contemporary fact-checking, Borel, an experienced fact-checker, draws on the expertise of more than 200 writers, editors, and fellow checkers." - publisher's summary excerpt

The Truth Matters: A Citizen's Guide to Separating Facts from Lies and Stopping Fake News in Its Tracks by Bruce Bartlett

Ten Speed Press, 2017
call number: in processing

"Today's media and political landscapes are littered with untrustworthy sources and the dangerous concept of  'fake news.' This accessible guide helps you fight this deeply troubling trend and ensure that truth is not a permanent casualty. Written by Bruce Bartlett, a former Senior Policy Analyst in the Reagan administration and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the Treasury Department in the Bush 41 White House, this book presents actionable tips and tricks for reading critically, judging sources, using fact-checking sites, avoiding confirmation bias, identifying trustworthy experts, and more." - publisher's summary excerpt

News Literacy: Helping Students and Teachers Decode Fake News by Robert W. Janke and Bruce S. Cooper
Rowman and Littlefield, 2017
call number: in processing

"Our society faces international challenges from cyber attacks and dissemination of fake news with a goal to destabilize our society. Fake news can be used as a weapon with destructive effects as powerful as any military attack. Fake news can spread as fast as a wildfire carried on the winds of social media. Students and all citizens need to be prepared and informed of ways to quickly understand and distinguish real and fake news." - publisher's summary excerpt

Drug-Related Crime Surges in Mexico

Drug cartel violence plagues several areas in Mexico causing an unprecedented homicide rate. Visitors are warned to avoid these parts of the country due to warring gangs ("Why the State Department Said These 5 Mexican States Were Unsafe for Travel," Los Angeles Times, January 11, 2018).

Review selected hard copy/online library books related to drug wars in Mexico at LSC-CyFair Branch Library. Click the title of a listed item, select the "Place Hold" button in the listing, and enter your library card number and PIN for each title you want to request for pick up at the library.

Use these subject words and phrases to find more information in the library catalog:

• assassins Mexico
• cartels Mexico
• drug dealers Mexico
• drug traffic Mexico
• drugs Mexico
• fugitives from justice Mexico
• narco-terrorism Mexico
• organized crime Mexico

Confessions of a Cartel Hit Man by Martin Corona with Tony Rafael

Dutton, 2017
call number: 364.152 Cor

"The true confession of an assassin, a sicario, who rose through the ranks of the southern California gang world to become the leader of an elite, cruelly efficient crew of hit men for Mexico's 'most vicious drug cartel,' and eventually found a way out." - publisher's summary excerpt

Wolf Boys: Two American Teenagers and Mexico's Most Dangerous Drug Cartel by Dan Slater
Simon and Schuster, 2016
call number: 364.106 Sla

"The story of two American teens recruited as killers for a Mexican cartel, and their pursuit by a Mexican-American detective who realizes the War on Drugs is unwinnable." - publisher's summary excerpt

Cartel Land by Matthew Heineman

Paramount Home Video, 2016
call number: 363.45 Car (nonfiction DVD)

"In the Mexican state of Michoacán Dr. José Mireles, a small-town physician known as "El Doctor," leads the Autodefensas, a citizen uprising against the violent Knights Templar drug cartel. Meanwhile, in Arizona's Altar Valley, Tim "Nailer" Foley, an American veteran, heads a small paramilitary group called Arizona Border Recon, whose goal is to stop Mexico's drug wars from seeping across our border." - studio summary