Glimpsing an elderly man leading his blind daughter on a pilgrimage, Junoshin Kakiri, a ‘ronin’ or freelance samurai, swiftly kills him with a sword. Asked why he murdered such an innocent, Junoshin shares his concerns about the growing ‘Harahuhi Tou’ (Belly-shaking Party) cult to which the man was devoted, a fear which rapidly spreads through the Kuroae clan. Shuzen Oura, the warlike leader of half this kingdom, soon hires Junoshin to destroy the cult but his studious power rival, Tatewaki Naito, cunningly pays the mercenary samurai to usurp Oura on his behalf. Set in Edo-period Japan, ‘Punk Samurai Slash Down’ follows the power struggles which entangle Junoshin within the Kuroae clan, polarizing the kingdom between an academic leader unable to fight and an unlearned martial arts expert.

Glimpsing an elderly man leading his blind daughter on a pilgrimage, Junoshin Kakiri, a ‘ronin’ or freelance samurai, swiftly kills him with a sword. Asked why he murdered such an innocent, Junoshin shares his concerns about the growing ‘Harahuhi Tou’ (Belly-shaking Party) cult to which the man was devoted, a fear which rapidly spreads through the Kuroae clan. Shuzen Oura, the warlike leader of half this kingdom, soon hires Junoshin to destroy the cult but his studious power rival, Tatewaki Naito, cunningly pays the mercenary samurai to usurp Oura on his behalf. Set in Edo-period Japan, ‘Punk Samurai Slash Down’ follows the power struggles which entangle Junoshin within the Kuroae clan, polarizing the kingdom between an academic leader unable to fight and an unlearned martial arts expert.

Read the remarkable true story of a young boy's journey from civil war in east Africa to a refugee camp in Sudan, to a childhood on welfare in an affluent American suburb, and eventually to a full-tuition scholarship at Harvard University. Following his father's advice to "treat all people-even the most unsightly beetles-as though they were angels sent from heaven," Mawi overcomes the challenges of language barriers, cultural differences, racial prejudice, and financial disadvantage to build a fulfilling, successful life for himself in his new home. Of Beetles and Angels is at once a harrowing survival story and a compelling examination of the refugee experience. With hundreds of thousands of copies sold since its initial publication, and as a frequent selection as one book/one school/one community reads, this unforgettable memoir continues to touch and inspire readers. This special expanded fifteenth anniversary edition includes a new introduction and afterword from the author, a discussion guide, and more.

Sarah and her brother have grown up next to the world’s largest garbage dump on Staten Island in New York City. Little do they know, thousands of rodents at the dump have mutated into gruesome, killer rats and one of the workers there has just been badly mauled. Without mercy, the rats wreak havoc and devistation upon the once-peaceful neighborhood, entering homes through kitchen sinks and toilets. Now the entire city stands on the brink of total infestation. Can the kids save millions of innocent people from the approaching and unrelenting rat horde?

YouTube is one of the most well-known and widely discussed sites of participatory media in the contemporary online environment, and it is the first genuinely mass-popular platform for user-created video. In this timely and comprehensive introduction to how YouTube is being used and why it matters, Burgess and Green discuss the ways that it relates to wider transformations in culture, society and the economy. The book critically examines the public debates surrounding the site, demonstrating how it is central to struggles for authority and control in the new media environment. Drawing on a range of theoretical sources and empirical research, the authors discuss how YouTube is being used by the media industries, by audiences and amateur producers, and by particular communities of interest, and the ways in which these uses challenge existing ideas about cultural ‘production’ and ‘consumption’. Rich with both concrete examples and featuring specially commissioned chapters by Henry Jenkins and John Hartley, the book is essential reading for anyone interested in the contemporary and future implications of online media. It will be particularly valuable for students and scholars in media, communication and cultural studies.

Thirteen stories are linked by the daily life of a husband and wife and their three children

"Palast is astonishing, he gets the real evidence no one else has the guts to dig up." Vincent Bugliosi, author of None Dare Call it Treason and Helter Skelter Award-winning investigative journalist Greg Palast digs deep to unearth the ugly facts that few reporters working anywhere in the world today have the courage or ability to cover. From East Timor to Waco, he has exposed some of the most egregious cases of political corruption, corporate fraud, and financial manipulation in the US and abroad. His uncanny investigative skills as well as his no-holds-barred style have made him an anathema among magnates on four continents and a living legend among his colleagues and his devoted readership. This exciting collection, now revised and updated, brings together some of Palast's most powerful writing of the past decade. Included here are his celebrated Washington Post exposé on Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris's stealing of the presidential election in Florida, and recent stories on George W. Bush's payoffs to corporate cronies, the payola behind Hillary Clinton, and the faux energy crisis. Also included in this volume are new and previously unpublished material, television transcripts, photographs, and letters.