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Showing 1 - 20 of 4399 items
By Tsering Namgyal Khortsa. 2013
A fascinating and riveting life sketch of one of the most respected spiritual leaders of our times which also…
delves deep into the various facets of Buddhism The seventeenth Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje is the leader of the Karma Kagyu School one of the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism Born in 1985 in eastern Tibet to nomadic parents he was recognized as the reincarnation of the sixteenth Karmapa who passed away in the US in 1981 He became the first Tibetan reincarnation to be recognized by both the Dalai Lama and the Chinese Government The 15-year-old monk made headlines when he escaped to India in 2000 Currently living near Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh India the Karmapa is widely seen as an important spiritual leader of the twenty-first century Over the past decade and a half he has grown up into a formidable leader and an impressive orator Behind the fa ade of scandals and controversies surrounding the Karmapa is an extraordinary young man full of charisma and intelligence Yet few know who the Karmapa is and what he believes in What are his teachings and what is his vision for the world How is he restoring his 900-year-old Tibetan Buddhist institution of which he is the head In a unique mixture of biography travelogue and reportage the author brings alive the life of the Karmapa who is grappling with immense challenges to modernize spirituality while keeping its essence alive Here is a timely volume that is highly relevant today given the worldwide attention on the developments in Tibet and its impact on BeijingBy Xiaonan Liu. 2015
This book introduces the theory and practice of Chinese public budget reform, including the manner and implications of public budget…
reform, the role and status of central government and local governments in budget reform, as well as the latest achievements of China's local government public budget reform. The authors of this book are all researchers who have witnessed Chinese public budget reform.By Montgomery Van Wart, Anna Ni. 2016
This book introduces business-government relations in the institutional context of the United States from a practitioner’s perspective. It provides the…
historical, descriptive, and comparative accounts of the public and private sectors, the different roles government plays with business, including several conceptual models to understand the social interactions between the two sectors, and various economic policies associated with business. Business-government relations are framed into three different social economic contexts: The sociopolitical arena, in which government’s role as agent of business, interest groups, and government’s limited role as social architect, are introduced. The local economic development, in which government acts as a promoter of, partner with, and buyer from, business. The global market, where government mainly plays a role as promoter of domestic business. In the course of discussion, a set of skills, such as searching government jobs, starting a business, analyzing stakeholders, ethical reasoning, advancing a business agenda, leveraging public resources, contracting with government, interpreting global trends, doing business abroad, and leveraging international resources, are introduced and exercised.By Trevor Brown. 2016
This Brief discusses the current policy environment in which the United States space program operates and proposes an industry-government partnership…
as a long-term policy solution. Since the Reagan administration, American space policy has increasingly sought to involve private sector operators for space. The culmination of this trend has been the Obama administration's policy of private sector transportation of crew and cargo to the International Space Station on behalf of NASA. This book proposes that future administrations extend this policy to other areas of space, including energy, in orbit manufacturing, asteroid mining, and the exploration of the Moon and Mars. The book further demonstrates how these activities can stabilize the global political system and lead to a dramatic increase in global economic growth. Finally, the book addresses one of the most important and critical issues currently facing humanity--the need for a viable, baseload, and unlimited supply of totally clean energy. An extremely cogent analysis of the interrelationship between space activity and the terrestrial economy, this book showcases the political and economic potential of the medium of space and adds greatly to the existing literature in the field. This book will be of interest to students of political science and strategic studies as well as members of the military, government space agencies, and the international aerospace industry.By Nina Rosoff. 2011
Leaders’ actions can have consequences opposite to those they intend. These unintentional results are difficult to detect, understand, and change.…
Consequently, leaders’ actions tend to persist resulting in further unexpected outcomes. This can create a vicious cycle of leadership failure. With all their best efforts, strategic, financial, scenario, human capital and operational plans in place, they fail. Unaware, they self-sabotage and sabotage others; again, the result is unintended consequences, no matter how hard they try. This book gives a glimpse into why and how this happens, and what to do about it. Understanding the Power of Paradox can empower leaders in uncertain times. Paradox reveals uncertainty giving leaders room to breathe and time to think, better able to deal with ambiguity and manage complexity, no longer stymied. Learning to think differently and behave with capabilities, you already have, more resilient, adaptive and flexible leaders execute conscious actions effectively, inspire and empower others, creating the consequences they intend, successful Protean Leaders.By Alan Jacobson. 2005
By Patwant Singh, Jyoti M. Rai. 1925
Ranjit Singh has been largely written out of accounts of India's past by British historians, yet he was one of…
the most powerful and charismatic figures in Indian history. He unified the warring chiefdoms of the Punjab into an extraordinary northern empire, built up a formidable army, kept the British in check to the south of his realm, and closed the Khyber Pass through which plunderers had poured into India for centuries. His consummate humanity was unique among empire-builders. He gave employment to defeated foes, honored faiths other than his own, and included Hindus and Muslims among his ministers. A colorful character, he was inspired by the principles of peaceful coexistence uniquely articulated by the Sikh Gurus, firm in upholding the rights of others, and unabashed in exercising his own. The authors of this first full-length biography in English make use of a variety of eyewitness accounts, from reports by Maratha spies at the Lahore Durbar to British parliamentary papers and travel accounts. The story ends with the controversial Anglo-Sikh Wars following Ranjit's death, which saw the fall of his empire in the hands of his successors whose internecine conflict was exploited by the British. Coinciding with the 300th anniversary of the consecration of the Sikh holy scriptures, this book honors a vital figure in Sikh history.Despite the enormous diversity and complexity of financial instruments, the current taxation of hybrid financial instruments and the remuneration derived…
therefrom are characterized by a neat division into dividend-generating equity and interest-generating debt as well as by a coexistence of source- and residence-based taxation. This book provides a comparative analysis of the classification of hybrid financial instruments in the national tax rules currently applied by Australia, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands as well as in the relevant tax treaties and EU Directives. Moreover, based on selected hybrid financial instruments, mismatches in these tax classifications, which lead to tax planning opportunities and risks and thus are in conflict with the single tax principle, are identified. To address these issues, the author provides reform options that are in line with the dichotomous debt-equity framework, as he/she suggests the coordination of either tax classifications or tax treatments.By Peter Emerson. 2012
Defining Democracy looks both at the theory of why and the history of how different voting procedures have come to…
be used - or not, as the case may be - in the three fields of democratic structures: firstly, in decision-making, both in society at large and in the elected chamber; secondly, in elections to and within those chambers; and thirdly, in the various forms of governance, from no-party to multi-party and all-party, which have emerged as a result.By Gerard Magill. 2015
This book is a systematic study of religious morality in the works of John Henry Newman (1801-1890). The work considers…
Newman's widely discussed views on conscience and assent, analyzing his understanding of moral law and its relation to the development of moral doctrine in Church tradition. By integrating Newman's religious epistemology and theological method, the author explores the hermeneutics of the imagination in moral decision-making: the imagination enables us to interpret complex reality in a practical manner, to relate belief with action. The analysis bridges philosophical and religious discourse, discussing three related categories. The first deals with Newman's commitment to truth and holiness whereby he connects the realm of doctrine with the realm of salvation. The second category considers theoretical foundations of religious morality, and the third category explores Newman's hermeneutics of the imagination to clarify his view of moral law, moral conscience, and Church tradition as practical foundations of religious morality. The author explains how secular reason in moral discernment can elicit religious significance. As a result, Church tradition should develop doctrine and foster holiness by being receptive to emerging experiences and cultural change. John Henry Newman was a highly controversial figure and his insightful writings continue to challenge and influence scholarship today. This book is a significant contribution to that scholarship and the analysis and literature comprise a detailed research guide for graduates and scholars.By Pengcheng Song. 2014
By retrieving entries from the financial-data vendor Wind and collecting relevant data from private placement statements, the author builds a…
proprietary database and studies five aspects of private placement in China. He examines which listed firms are more likely to choose private placement over SEO in refinancing; he looks into the controlling shareholder's decision on whether or not to purchase privately placed shares; he investigates how the offer discount is determined; he calculates announcement periods for abnormal returns on private placements. Where the abnormal return is significantly positive, he documents positive long-run abnormal return on private offerings and evidence supporting the under-reaction hypothesis. Finally, he concludes that the largest shareholders tunnel by means of excess discounts from which they benefit but which is harmful to other shareholders.By Michael Grant. 1999
A study of the life of Jesus by one of the great scholars of the ancient world. Examining the Gospels…
as he would any other historical document, Grant presents a picture of Jesus that is, in some respects, an unfamiliar one. He argues that Jesus was neither meek and mild, nor a political revolutionary, but rather consumed with the goal of the realisation of the Kingdom of God.This book provides unique insights into the politics of finance and the socio-political relations which drive financial policymaking in Hong…
kong Singapore and Shanghai While the existing literature in the field focuses mainly on economic explanations for financial centre development this book fills a gap by focusing on the socio-political relations which underpin the financial policy-making process Drawing on extensive interviews with senior policy-makers and financial sector professionals the book describes how state-industry relations drive financial policy-making in three major financial hubs Insights and policy recommendations drawn from these interviews will be particularly useful for policy-makers and financial sector professionals hoping to draw lessons from the successful development of the three leading Asian financial centres Business and Politics in Asia s Key Financial Centres draws on public policy theoretical frameworks for its analytical basis The three chapters focusing on the historical development of Hong Kong Singapore and Shanghai also provide a consolidated narrative with regard to the development of these three cities as leading financial centres while also serving as independent case studies Scholars focusing on policy processes and political factors that underpin financial sector development as well as instructors and students of public policy international political economy and financial sector policy will find this book useful for their researchBy Amnon Lehavi. 2016
This book offers an interdisciplinary and comparative study of the complex interplay between private versus public forms of organization and…
governance in urban residential developments. Bringing together top experts from numerous disciplines, including law, economics, geography, political science, sociology, and planning, this book identifies the current trends in constructing the physical, economic, and social infrastructure of residential communities across the world. It challenges much of the conventional wisdom about the division of labor between market-driven private action and public policy in regulating residential developments and the urban space, and offers a new research agenda for dealing with the future of cities in the twenty-first century. It represents a unique ongoing academic dialogue between the members of an exceptional group of scholars, underscoring the essentially of an interdisciplinary and comparative approach to the study of private communities and urban governance. As such, the book will appeal to a broad audience consisting of policy-makers, practitioners, scholars, and students across the world, especially in developing countries and transitional and emerging economies.The nineteenth-century eccentric Ida C. Craddock was by turns a secular freethinker, a religious visionary, a civil-liberties advocate, and a…
resolute defender of belly-dancing. Arrested and tried repeatedly on obscenity charges, she was deemed a danger to public morality for her candor about sexuality. By the end of her life Craddock, the nemesis of the notorious vice crusader Anthony Comstock, had become a favorite of free-speech defenders and women's rights activists. She soon became as well the case-history darling of one of America's earliest and most determined Freudians.In Heaven's Bride, prize-winning historian Leigh Eric Schmidt offers a rich biography of this forgotten mystic, who occupied the seemingly incongruous roles of yoga priestess, suppressed sexologist, and suspected madwoman. In Schmidt's evocative telling, Craddock's story reveals the beginning of the end of Christian America, a harbinger of spiritual variety and sexual revolution.By Robert W. Mcgee. 1997
Why do people evade paying taxes? This is the central question addressed in this volume by Robert McGee and a…
multidisciplinary group of contributors from around the world. Applying insights from economics, public finance, political science, law, philosophy, theology and sociology, the authors consider the complex motivations for not paying taxes and the conditions under which this behavior might be rationalized. Applying theoretical approaches as well as empirical research, The Ethics of Tax Evasion considers three general arguments for tax evasion: (1) in cases where the government is corrupt or engaged in human rights abuses; (2) where citizens claim inability to pay, unfairness in the tax system, paying for things that do not benefit the taxpayer, excessively high tax rates, or where taxes are used to support an unpopular war; and (3) through philosophical, moral, or religious opposition. The authors further explore these issues by asking whether attitudes toward tax evasion differ by country or other demographic variables such as gender, age, ethnicity, income level, marital status, education or religion. The result is a multi-faceted analysis of tax evasion in cultural and institutional context, and, more generally, a study in ethical dilemmas and rational decision making.By Marie Duhamel. 2016
Desde el momento en que fue elegido para el papado, el papa Francisco ha captado la atención del mundo con…
su humildad, carisma y espíritu reformistaEsta biografía ilustrada única del primer Papa jesuita ofrece más de 250 fotografías e incluye 50 documentos de la vida de Francisco que se pueden extraer del libro. Escrita por la reportera de Radio Vaticano, Marie Duhamel, este retrato íntimo incluye la emigración de sus padres desde Italia, su nacimiento como Jorge Mario Bergoglio en 1936, su amor por el fútbol y la ópera cuando era niño, la neumonía que casi le costó la vida cuando era un adulto joven, su llamado al sacerdocio, y su primer encuentro con la pobreza cuando era misionero en Chile que cambió su vida. Duhamel hace una crónica del ascenso de Francisco de sacerdote a obispo, de cardenal al papado, y cómo, a lo largo del camino, impresionó a muchas personas, y alejó a algunas, con su valentía para hacer frente a la autoridad y su dedicación a ayudar a los pobres. Los documentos adjuntos, como su certificado de bautismo, fotografías de su niñez, páginas de un cuaderno escolar, notas manuscritas como Papa, e incluso una tarjeta de seguidor de su querido club de fútbol del San Lorenzo, ilustran más aún su vida y crean un recuerdo duradero de este Papa para el pueblo.---From the moment he was elected into the papacy, Pope Francis has captured the attention of the world with his humility, charisma, and reformist spirit. This one-of-a-kind, illustrated biography of the first Jesuit pope offers more than 250 photographs and 50 documents from Francis's life. Written by Vatican Radio reporter Marie Duhamel, this intimate portrait includes his parents emigration from Italy, his birth as Jorge Mario Bergoglio in 1936, his love of soccer and opera as a child, the pneumonia that nearly cost him his life as a young adult, his calling to the priesthood, and his first encounter with poverty as a missionary in Chile that would change his life. Duhamel chronicles Francis's rise from priest to bishop to cardinal to the papacy and how, along the way, he impressed many people-and alienated some-with his courage to stand up to authority and his dedication to helping the poor. Enclosed documents such as his baptism certificate, photographs from his childhood, pages from a school notebook, handwritten notes as pope, and even a support card for his beloved San Lorenzosoccer club, further illuminate his life and create a lasting keepsake of this pope of the people.By Marie Duhamel. 2016
From the moment he was elected into the papacy, Pope Francis has captured the attention of the world with his…
humility, charisma, and reformist spirit.This one-of-a-kind, illustrated biography of the first Jesuit pope offers more than 250 photographs and 50 removable documents from Francis's life. Written by Vatican Radio reporter Marie Duhamel, this intimate portrait includes his parents emigration from Italy, his birth as Jorge Mario Bergoglio in 1936, his love of soccer and opera as a child, the pneumonia that nearly cost him his life as a young adult, his calling to the priesthood, and his first encounter with poverty as a missionary in Chile that would change his life. Duhamel chronicles Francis's rise from priest to bishop to cardinal to the papacy and how, along the way, he impressed many people-and alienated some-with his courage to stand up to authority and his dedication to helping the poor.Enclosed documents such as his baptism certificate, photographs from his childhood, pages from a school notebook, handwritten notes as pope, and even a support card for his beloved San Lorenzosoccer club, further illuminate his life and create a lasting keepsake of this pope of the people.By Jerry Dewitt. 2013
Atheism's leading lights have long been intellectuals raised in the secular and academic worlds: Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and the…
late Christopher Hitchens. By contrast, Jerry DeWitt was born and bred into the church and was in fact a Pentecostal preacher before arriving at atheism through an extraordinary dialogue with faith that spanned more than a quarter of a century. Hope After Faith is his account of that journey. DeWitt was a pastor in the town of DeRidder, Louisiana, and was a fixture of the community. In private, however, he'd begun to question his faith. Late one night in May 2011, a member of his flock called seeking prayer for her brother who had been in a serious accident. As DeWitt searched for the right words to console her, speech failed him, and he found that the faith which once had formed the cornerstone of his life had finally crumbled to dust. When it became public knowledge that DeWitt was now an atheist, he found himself shunned by much of DeRidder's highly religious community, losing nearly everything he'd known. DeWitt's struggle for identity and meaning mirrors the one currently facing millions of people around the world. With both agnosticism and atheism entering the mainstream-one in five Americans now claim no religious affiliation, according to a recent study-the moment has arrived for a new atheist voice, one that is respectful of faith and religious traditions yet warmly embraces a life free of religion, finding not skepticism and cold doubt but rather profound meaning and hope. Hope After Faith is the story of one man's evolution toward a committed and considered atheism, one driven by humanism, a profound moral dimension, and a happiness and self-confidence obtained through living free of fear.By Tommy Bengtsson. 2010
This book is the first to take a comprehensive view of the challenges that population ageing present in the near…
future taking Sweden as the case. Can the increasing number of retirees per worker be stopped by immigration or increasing fertility or will we need to increase pension age instead? Cost for the social-care system is readily increasing; even more is the costs for health care. Can the galloping costs be funded by an increase in taxes or do we need to make reforms, similar to the ones already made in the pension system, which has been used as a model for many other countries. The fact that it is difficult to make health care dependent on personal contributions, as is the case of the pension system, funding of health care is a true test of solidarity across generations. The book ends with a discussion on whether the demographic challenge to the welfare system is also a threat to the welfare state as such.