Just as people schedule regular check-ups with physicians, our planet needs regular check-ups to catch issues as early as possible, before they become more serious and harder to heal. That is the much-needed service provided on a global scale by the Worldwatch Institute in this new book, Vital Signs 2012. By taking stock of global consumption, Vital Signs 2012 offers the facts that need to guide our stewardship of the Earth's resources-and some of these facts are shocking. The report covers topics from obesity to ecosystem services, from grain production to nuclear power. Taken as a whole, it paints a picture of skyrocketing population, disappearing forests, and increasing consumption peppered with bright spots like growing investment in high-speed trains and other efficient transportation systems. Vital Signs 2012 is based on Worldwatch's online project of the same name, which provides up-to-date figures on important global concerns, as well as the Institute's own additional research. The book compiles the most important of these into an accessible, informative resource for policymakers and anyone who wants a realistic look at the state of our planet.

Alongside Greil Marcus, Nick Kent, and Lester Bangs, Ian Penman is one of the most important cultural critics of his generation. Long the star writer for Britain's NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS, Penman achieved something few music writers even dream of--he changed the way the subject was written about. VITAL SIGNS is the first collection of his writing.

Archival snapshot of entire looseleaf Code of Massachusetts Regulations held by the Social Law Library of Massachusetts as of January 2020.

This book is a compilation of cases of best work in community indicators research. The cases describe communities that have launched their own community indicators programs. Elements that are included in the descriptions are the history of the community indicators work within the target region, the planning of community indicators, the actual indicators that were selected, the data collection process, the reporting of the results, and the use of the indicators to guide community development decisions and public policy. Community planners, community indicators researchers and urban planning specialists will find this book very helpful in learning from communities that have done community indicators work and have done it well.

Two decades ago a groundbreaking book called "The Frog in the Kettle" changed what we believe about the evangelical Church and its influence in America. Subsequent books by George Barna have become must-reading for church leaders and concerned Christians everywhere. Now Barna takes a fresh look at the Church--where we stand and where we are headed--at the dawn of the new millennium. With revealing statistics from cutting-edge research that illustrate the changing beliefs and attitudes in our society today, this book clearly shows the Church is at a crucial juncture in history--a time of rapid change in which we must begin to anticipate the world's needs in order to meet them.