Executives and managers hear or read headlines about recent economic data nearly every business day. Most important economic statistics are the products of programs designed to collect and analyze data to report summary results at regular intervals. Properly interpreted, these economic indicators provide useful barometers for different aspects of the economy and identify trends that aid better planning decisions. Economic indicators are available at the national level, state level, and even the regional and municipal levels. This text focuses on economic indicators for the overall U.S. economy, identifying major categories of economic indicators and describing the key indicators in each of the categories. Most key economic indicators are reported promptly on the Internet and are provided as formatted time series that can be readily downloaded and analyzed. This text will include links to the sources for key economic indicators, as well as websites that maintain calendars of upcoming announcements and consensus forecasts of the indicators shortly prior to a formal announcement.

A frank and honest memoir by Britain's former ambassador to Kabul which provides a unique, high-level insight into Western policy in Afghanistan. -- From publisher description.

"A unique and revealing portrait of Saddam Hussein's Iraq which was every bit as authoritarian and brutal as Stalin's Russia or Mao's China"-- "The Ba'th Party came to power in 1968 and remained for thirty-five years, until the 2003 U.S. invasion. Under the leadership of Saddam Hussein, who became president of Iraq in 1979, a powerful authoritarian regime was created based on a system of violence and an extraordinary surveillance network, as well as reward schemes and incentives for supporters of the party. The true horrors of this regime have been exposed for the first time through a massive archive of government documents captured by the United States after the fall of Saddam Hussein. It is these documents that form the basis of this extraordinarily revealing book and that have been translated and analyzed by Joseph Sassoon, an Iraqi-born scholar and seasoned commentator on the Middle East. They uncover the secrets of the innermost workings of Hussein's Revolutionary Command Council, how the party was structured, how it operated via its network of informers, and how the system of rewards functioned. Saddam Hussein's authority was dominant. His decision was final, whether arbitrating the promotion of a junior official or the death of a rival or a member of his family. As this gripping portrayal of Saddam Hussein's Iraq demonstrates, the regime was every bit as authoritarian and brutal as Stalin's Soviet Union or Mao's China and some of the regimes in the Arab world who are witnessing upheavals, are not not dissimilar from the Ba'th regime"--

The paintings of Eric Puybaret illustrate the words of the song from Walt Disney's film, Pinocchio.

A comprehensive understanding of food and agriculture security is best wrought through multidisciplinary analysis. Indeed, multiple academic disciplines provide lenses through which the multiple dimensions of food and agriculture security may be comprehensively examined. Food and agriculture security-- a stated priority research area of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-- concerns the safety, security, and ongoing operation of the agricultural and food system in a global society that values both trade and security. Any attempt to understand the food system must involve multidisciplinary, multidimensional study. This book offers a bona fide multidisciplinary as well as historical approach to help students appreciate such a complex and multifaceted subject. Authored by scholars within the Frontier program for the historical studies of border security, food security, and trade policy, the book reviews some of the most salient and trade-related food and agriculture security concerns of the 19th century, describes the modern-day policy and industry contexts in which food and agriculture security issues arise, provides historical and contemporary illustrations of the vulnerability in the food and agriculture sector, identifies modern-day domestic (United States) as well as international (e.g., China) challenges, and highlights the role that public-private partnerships and cross-border cooperation must play in ensuring food and agriculture security in a globalized world.

Warduff the cat helps the animals of Corncob Farm outwit a wily fox.

A little boy with a big imagination pretends to be many different things over the course of his busy day.

When a child reports having seen a dinosaur everyone comes to the beach, from the butcher, the baker, and the priest to the newsmen and the navy.

Highlights the life and accomplishments of the actress known for her role in "Twilight."