Honest businessman or con-artist? Loyal friend or "selective sociopath"? This was Jim Atwood, a colorful Savannah native who, like a Rembrandt chiaroscuro painting, was a study in light and dark, moving from bon vivant to Bad Boy effortlessly.In a fascinating narrative, the author tells of a lovable rogue who barely avoided a military stockade yet still become a Lieutenant Colonel in a high-profile Army intelligence post. A man who prospered working alongside rogue CIA agents, generals, criminals, and at least one agent from the "other side." He could enthrall Senators or laborers and dazzle the ladies while at the same time being a man's man. Everyone who thought they knew him rarely saw the complete Jim. It remained for a few confidants to assemble the scattered pieces of the puzzle this James Bond-like man left behind at his demise.

In today's society the government seems to have control over our lives no matter which way we turn. The rules and reglations regarding what we can or cannot do seem to have no end. It wasn't that many years ago that a person could live a life free to do pretty much whatever they wanted as long as they didn't hurt anyone or interfere with someone else's freedoms. The courts are out of control and put people in jail for minor infractions. Prosecutors want convictions and don't care whether you are guilty or not, they just want a high conviction rate because they think it looks good on their record. People are tired of the endless laws and want a simpler life free of all the restrictions making us a slave to our government, the courts and the police who watch over us constantly. Occasionally in all government offices, in the courts and in the police departments you will encounter an individual without scruples, or common sense who is not qualified to hold his/her position. The end result is, that person is going to perpetrate unjustifiable actions against innocent individuals or deny them access to their rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness according to what our country was founded upon. Money seems to be the law of the land now. You've got it they want it!

Jetzt in neuer Auflage: Das erfolgreiche Lehrwerk über Kinetik und Mechanismen anorganischer und organometallischer Reaktionen für fortgeschrittene Studenten! Hervorragend geeignet als Begleiter eines Vorlesungssemesters. Mit zahlreichen Übungsaufgaben; für eine bessere Übersicht sorgen Zusammenfassungen am Ende jedes Kapitels.

James Atwood contends that the thirty thousand gun deaths America suffers every year cannot be understood apart from our national myth that God has appointed America as "the trustee of the civilization of the world" and even "Christ's light to the nations." Because these purposes are noble, and we are supposedly a good and trustworthy people, violence is sometimes "required" and gives license to individuals to carry open or concealed weapons, which "save lives" and can even be "redemptive." Atwood, an avid hunter, cautions that an absolute trust in guns and violence morphs easily into idolatry. Having spent thirty-six years as a Presbyterian pastor fighting against the easy access to firearms, one of which took the life of a friend, he uses his unique experience and his biblical and theological understanding to graphically portray the impact guns have on our society. He documents how Americans have been deceived into believing that the tools of violence, whether they take the form of advanced military technology or a handgun in the bedside stand, will provide security. He closes with a wake-up call to the faith community, which he says is America's best hope to unmask the extremism of the Gun Empire.

Humanity's first contact with alien life is no less than a nightmare, as the Ahimsa take control of Earth and force humanity to do their bidding. Soon, Earth's most skilled strike force, composed of Russian, American, and Israeli experts in the art of war and espionage, find themselves aboard the Ahimsa vessel, training for an offensive attack against a distant space station. And as they struggle to overcome their own prejudices while preparing to face an enemy of unknown capabilities, none of them realize that the greatest danger to humanity's future is right in their midst....

In offering explanations for the US's enormous post-Cold War military budget—nearly $280 billion for the year 2000—most defense critics point to the influence of weapon makers pork-barrel politics. Those are certainly factors. But in this eye-opening book, Ken Silverstein looks at another, all but unexamined force: private warriors, the generals, gunrunners and national security staffers who were cast adrift by the end of the Cold War and are now continuing business in the private sector. Private Warriors moves from an arms dealer's estate in Vienna to a weapons show in Rio de Janeiro to a Soldier of Fortune convention in Las Vegas. It introduces little known figures such as Ernst Werner Glatt, a right-wing German who for many years was the Pentagon's preferred gunrunner, and Andrew Marshall, an aging but still sprightly Cold Warrior who ardently promotes the development of needless new weapons systems. Other encounters are with more recognizable names such as General Alexander Haig, the former Secretary of State who now lobbies for China and sells weapons to Turkey, and Frank Gaffney, an ex-Pentagon official who has grown rich by promoting the biggest boondoggle of them all, Star Wars. Today's private warriors have one thing in common: a financial interest in war, and the connections to push for a continuation of Cold War military policy.

What’s a country to do when it has more guns than people? An avid hunter and leader in the faith-based movement against gun violence examines the collateral damage in a country with 350 million firearms.