Set in Appalachian coal country, this “superb” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) legal drama follows one determined lawyer as he faces a coal industry giant in a seven-year battle over clean drinking water for a West Virginia community. For two decades, the water in the taps and wells of Mingo County didn’t look, smell, or taste right. Could the water be the root of the health problems—from kidney stones to cancer—in this Appalachian community? Environmental lawyer Kevin Thompson certainly thought so. For seven years, Thompson waged an epic legal battle against Massey Energy, West Virginia’s most powerful coal company, helmed by CEO Don Blankenship. While Massey’s lawyers worked out of a gray glass office tower in Charleston known as “the Death Star,” Thompson set up shop in a ramshackle hotel in the fading coal town of Williamson. Working with fellow lawyers and a crew of young activists, Thompson would eventually uncover the ruthless shortcuts that put the community’s drinking water at risk. Retired coal miners, women whose families had lived in the area’s coal camps for generations, a respected preacher and his brother, all put their trust in Thompson when they had nowhere else to turn. Desperate is a masterful work of investigative reporting about greed and denial, “both a case study in exploitation of the little guy and a playbook for confronting it” (Kirkus Reviews). Maher crafts a revealing portrait of a town besieged by hardship and heartbreak, and an inspiring account of one tenacious environmental lawyer’s mission to expose the truth and demand justice.
Set in Appalachian coal country, this “superb” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) legal drama follows one determined lawyer as he faces a coal industry giant in a seven-year battle over clean drinking water for a West Virginia community. For two decades, the water in the taps and wells of Mingo County didn’t look, smell, or taste right. Could the water be the root of the health problems—from kidney stones to cancer—in this Appalachian community? Environmental lawyer Kevin Thompson certainly thought so. For seven years, Thompson waged an epic legal battle against Massey Energy, West Virginia’s most powerful coal company, helmed by CEO Don Blankenship. While Massey’s lawyers worked out of a gray glass office tower in Charleston known as “the Death Star,” Thompson set up shop in a ramshackle hotel in the fading coal town of Williamson. Working with fellow lawyers and a crew of young activists, Thompson would eventually uncover the ruthless shortcuts that put the community’s drinking water at risk. Retired coal miners, women whose families had lived in the area’s coal camps for generations, a respected preacher and his brother, all put their trust in Thompson when they had nowhere else to turn. Desperate is a masterful work of investigative reporting about greed and denial, “both a case study in exploitation of the little guy and a playbook for confronting it” (Kirkus Reviews). Maher crafts a revealing portrait of a town besieged by hardship and heartbreak, and an inspiring account of one tenacious environmental lawyer’s mission to expose the truth and demand justice.
Winner, 2022 Nicolás Cristóbal Guillén Batista Outstanding Book Award Creolizing the Nation identifies the nation-form as a powerful resource for political struggles against colonialism, racism, and other manifestations of Western hegemony in the Global South even as it acknowledges the homogenizing effects of the politics of nationalism. Drawing on Caribbean, decolonial, and Latina feminist resources, Kris F. Sealey argues that creolization provides a rich theoretical ground for rethinking the nation and deploying its political and cultural apparatus to imagine more just, humane communities. Analyzing the work of thinkers such as Édouard Glissant, Frantz Fanon, Gloria Anzaldúa, María Lugones, and Mariana Ortega, Sealey shows that a properly creolizing account of the nation provides an alternative imaginary out of which collective political life might be understood. Creolizing practices are always constitutive of anticolonial resistance, and their ongoing negotiations with power should be understood as everyday acts of sabotage. Sealey demonstrates that the conceptual frame of the nation is not fated to re-create colonial instantiations of nationalism but rather can support new possibilities for liberation and justice.
This monograph provides an introduction to field-theoretic simulations in classical soft matter and Bose quantum fluids. The method represents a new class of molecular computer simulation in which continuous fields, rather than particle coordinates, are sampled and evolved. Field-theoretic simulations are capable of analysing the properties of systems that are challenging for traditional simulation techniques, including dense phases of high molecular weight polymers, self-assembling fluids, and quantum fluids at finite temperature. The monograph details analytical methods for converting classical and quantum many-body problems to equilibrium field theory models with a molecular basis. Numerical methods are described that enable efficient, accurate, and scalable simulations of such models on modern computer hardware, including graphics processing units (GPUs). Extensions to non-equilibrium systems are discussed, along with an introduction to advanced field-theoretic simulation techniques including free energy estimation, alternative ensembles, coarse-graining, and variable cell methods.
Come journey with me into the world of the homeless. It began with blankets that led me to a park bench and an incredible man who stole my heart. Sit with me as I visit with a registered sex offender who became changed by grace. Listen as I visit with a man who took a blade to his body, and to a young man who used tattoos to hide his pain. Meet the lady whose abusive father broke all of her fingers, and a young lady whose father beat her with a two-by-four. Meet these and others, and discover the sweet souls buried beneath their outer self. God provided me a glimpse of what He sees. At times, it was overwhelming, and at times inspirational. Whether from under the bridge or the downtown park, so many forgotten people shared their lives with me. From those others have shunned, I experienced love. In places I could not have imagined, I witnessed beauty, grace, and strength. Join me as I introduce you to my homeless friends and stand ready for your heart to change when you see them through the eyes of Jesus.
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