Congressman Pombo (Rep., Calif.) and Farah (former editor of the Sacramento Union) mount a spirited, effective defense against what they argue is a determined assault on the very concept of private property in America by an alliance of elitist environmental groups, high-handed bureaucrats, and complicit lawmakers. Marveling that ``a society increasingly obsessed with rights, real and imagined,'' has become perilously casual in its approach to a prerogative free people have deemed inalienable, the authors assess the guarantees afforded by the US Constitution, notably the Fifth Amendment, which asserts that private property cannot ``be taken for public use, without just compensation.'' The authors go on to show how perverse judicial and legislative interpretations of the Constitution's Commerce Clause have undermined, if not erased, this guarantee. They also cite a wealth of outrageous instances in which federal agencies (the Army's Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Land Management, EPA, et al.) have run roughshod over the rights of property owners in the name of conservation or some other greater good, invariably at the behest of affluent, tax-favored organizations like the Audubon Society and the Sierra Club. In the meantime, Pombo and Farah assert, news-gathering enterprises that jealously guard press freedoms remain singularly uncritical of the eco-federal coalition's arguably dubious ends and means. On the plus side of their ledger, the authors discern a network of grassroots organizations emerging to resist further encroachment on property rights. In a concluding chapter, Pombo and Farah offer down-to-earth proposals for putting people first while ensuring appropriate levels of protection for creatures and habitats truly at risk. A manifesto that could prove the opening statement in an overdue debate on property rights and the ties that bind them to personal liberties.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-312-14747-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1996
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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