This book discusses the socioeconomic effects of Right-to-Work (RTW) laws on state populations. RTW laws forbid requiring union membership even at union-represented worksites. The core of the 22 long-term RTW states was the Confederacy, cultural descendants of rigidly hierarchical agrarian feudal England. RTW laws buttress hierarchy and power imbalance which unions minimize at the worksite and by encouraging higher educational attainment, social mobility, and individual empowerment through group validation. Contrary to claims of RTW proponents, RTW and non-RTW states do not differ significantly in unemployment rates. RTW states have higher poverty rates, lower median household incomes, and lower educational attainment on average and median than non-RTW states. RTW states on average and median have lower life expectancy, higher obesity prevalence, and higher rates of all-cause mortality, early mortality from chronic conditions, child mortality, and risk behaviors than non-RTW states. The higher mortality rates result in startlingly higher annual numbers of years of life lost before age 75. Stroke mortality at age 55-64 in RTW states results in nearly 10,000 years annually lost in excess of what it would be if the mortality rate were that of non-RTW states. A review of respected publications describes the physiological mechanisms and epidemiology of accelerated aging due to socioeconomic stress. Unions challenge hierarchy directly at work-sites and indirectly through encouraging college education, social mobility, and community and political engagement. How startling that feudal hierarchy lives in 21st century America, shaping vast differences between states in macro- and micro-economics, educational attainment, innovation, life expectancy, obesity prevalence, chronic disease mortality, infant and child mortality, risk behaviors, and other public health markers! Readers will gain insight about the coming clash between feudal individualism and adaptive collectivism, and, in the last chapter, on ways to win the clash by “missionary” work for collectivism.

INTERNET PIRACY: a battle that pits indies against corporations, free spirits against the money-grubbing Scrooge McDucks of the world. Right? Sort of. Sometimes. Maybe not. Internet piracy goes by many names — copyright infringement, file sharing, peer-to-peer lending — but in this lively narrative nonfiction account, author Chris Ruen argues that the practice of using unlicensed digital content should be called what it is: freeloading. In this comprehensive investigation, Ruen examines the near pervasive problem of internet piracy, and the moral and monetary dilemmas to which it gives rise. The phenomenon, which today affects almost everyone who taps a keyboard, is creating unlikely alliances — between artists and corporations, and between consumers and technology geeks in the hacker tradition — and it is changing how society views and values artistic production. Ruen, himself a former freeloader, came to understand how illegal downloads can threaten the artistic community after he spent time with successful Brooklyn bands who had yet to make a real profit from their music. Through original research and extensive interviews with musicians and artists, Freeloading dissects this battle. This provocative account is also a reminder of the truism that for every action there are consequences — a call to embrace practical, sensible solutions that protect artists and consumers alike.

The exotic French Riviera forms the backdrop for this tale for four American expats, scraping by and often slipping over the edge to criminal mischief, just to survive. A great read by one of the masters of hardboiled mystery—though this one is decidedly not hardboiled.

We're all familiar with the stereotypical freeloading relative. He's usually depicted in the movies as an able-bodied but unkempt bum, who lives with mom or a more responsible sibling, refuses to get a job, and spends his days lying on the sofa, drinking beer, getting potato chips all over the carpet, and watching cartoon marathons. But in real life, few family freeloaders are so obvious. OUR freeloaders are professionals. They're subtle. They're versatile. They run complicated scams and convoluted cons on us. They always have their antennae up for any little clue they might find useful. Like the predators they are, they're constantly sizing us up to see what they can get out of us. They're looking for personality traits they can use against us, like gullibility, kindness, a trusting nature, or a soft heart. Even our pride is useful to them-because then they can employ flattery, or "gratitude," to get what they want. If you're susceptible to guilt, it makes you an easy target. If you're a sympathetic person, quick to feel sorry for those who are going through tough times, or if you easily empathize with others, then you're an even better target. If you're concerned about other people's opinions and want everybody to think you're nice, that's like a flashing neon "Sucker" sign over your head. To a con man, if you have trouble saying "No," that's a sign of weakness which he can exploit. If we're efficient, or pride ourselves on being "problem-solvers," then the freeloader will give us a problem to solve for him. If we have a "rescuer" mentality, our freeloader will help us satisfy those urges. Freeloaders and con men are looking for "people pleasers." Is it important to you to give others the impression that you're a "good Christian?" Or to prove to YOURSELF that you're a good Christian? We presume that "good" Christians give to charity, but how do you define "charity?" Do you think you have to give to every hard luck case who asks? Does your chronically unemployed cousin qualify as a legitimate charity cause in your mind? Would it make you a "bad" Christian to say "No" to the sister-in-law who constantly imposes on you? If you equate agreeing to every request anybody ever asks of you, or giving money to every person who seems to need it, with being a "good" Christian, then once a freeloader gets a hold of you, you're in for a long night........ Written with humor, wisdom, and a healthy dose of common sense, The Family Freeloader teaches us 21 Ways To Spot A Con, the various ploys that freeloaders use to scam money or favors out of us, how they observe and test us, and which personality traits make us seem like easy prey. We will systematically debunk their most common sob stories and surprisingly sneaky tactics, study what the Bible REALLY says about giving to the poor vs. supporting a bum, and learn step-by-step effective strategies for letting go of the guilt and saying "No" to our family freeloaders. This book is an invaluable lesson for all kind-hearted, generous folks who love their families, on how to avoid being taken advantage of by the unscrupulous among us.

Nearly four decades ago Richard Dawkins published The Selfish Gene, famously reducing humans to “survival machines” whose sole purpose was to preserve “the selfish molecules known as genes.” How these selfish genes work together to construct the organism, however, remained a mystery. Standing atop a wealth of new research, The Society of Genes now provides a vision of how genes cooperate and compete in the struggle for life. Pioneers in the nascent field of systems biology, Itai Yanai and Martin Lercher present a compelling new framework to understand how the human genome evolved and why understanding the interactions among our genes shifts the basic paradigm of modern biology. Contrary to what Dawkins’s popular metaphor seems to imply, the genome is not made of individual genes that focus solely on their own survival. Instead, our genomes comprise a society of genes which, like human societies, is composed of members that form alliances and rivalries. In language accessible to lay readers, The Society of Genes uncovers genetic strategies of cooperation and competition at biological scales ranging from individual cells to entire species. It captures the way the genome works in cancer cells and Neanderthals, in sexual reproduction and the origin of life, always underscoring one critical point: that only by putting the interactions among genes at center stage can we appreciate the logic of life.