Book Description
A revealing-and chilling-exposé on the hidden side of global wealth and power
A revealing-and chilling-exposé on the hidden side of global wealth and power Offshore is an unprecedented exploration of perhaps the most mysterious aspect of global society today-and one of the most provocative books about money and business to appear in the decade since the age of globalization began.
The world of offshore finance is one of dummy companies, shadow bank accounts, post office boxes, foreign registries, and the like, which allow giant corporations--such as Wal-Mart, British Petroleum, and Citigroup--to keep huge profits out of sight of investors, regulators, and the public.
Whether in the Cayman Islands or the shadowy redoubts of the Islamic financial center of Labuan, Malaysia, "offshore" is where the game of profit and loss is played. A third of the world's wealth is held offshore. Eighty percent of international banking transactions take place there. Half the capital in the world's stock exchanges is "parked" offshore at some point.
Trained as a reporter and a private investigator, William Brittain-Catlin brings both skills to this gripping book. He tells the story of how tax havens have become central to global finance today; in so doing, he takes us into the secret networks of Enron and Parmalat, behind international trade disputes, and into organized crime and terror networks, giving disquieting evidence that, through offshore practices, the key value of capitalism and civilization alike-freedom-is being put in grave danger.
Customer Reviews:
Some Good Information, but Too Long and Divergent.......2005-12-26
Brittain-Catlin begins by observing that the Cayman Islands are the 5th largest banking center in the world, with over $700 billion in assets.
These assets, however, are largely not physically held on the island - simply notations in accounting books for the purposes of reducing or eliminating taxes. Corporations taking advantage of this include GM, ExxonMobil, Ford, IBM, Wal-Mart, G.E. (reduced its 27% '99 tax rate to 16% in '03), Citigroup (saved $778 million in '03 taxes), Apple, Enron, Halliburton, Tyco, Global Crossing, Long Term Capital Management, Global Crossing, and Enron.
"Transfer-pricing" manipulation is the main tax-avoidance mechanism afforded by offshoring. This involves corporations maximizing overseas production profits in a non-taxable offshore subsidiary.
Unfortunately, Brittain-Catlin seeming dwells forever on his basic facts, and even spends considerable time exploring the philosophy of Kant. (I tried reading Kant long ago - Brittain-Catlin's version was no more interesting.)
A flawed gem.......2005-10-03
Offshore is a solid attempt to explain the fact that modern capitalism has become dependant upon the offshore, largely unregulated, international financial system. The cost of making tax-rate shopping a profit center in a corporation's strategic plan when revenues land back 'onshore' is paid by all of us. Essentially multi-nationals are competing to see who can pay the least tax. In the end, this behavior is to an economy what eating your seed corn is to farming. Brittain-Catlin is sounding an alarm hoping public policy makers and the public will heed.
The author's prose is sometimes purple and his discursions into tangental topics is somewhat distracting, but on the whole, the book is worth reading for the very approachable manner in which it explains the history of offshore banking and how it ties into subjects such as BCCI, terrorism finance, drug money laundering, the 'private' bail out of the hedge fund LTCM, the capital flight that hammered Indonesia and other developing nations, and the collapse or corruption of companies such as Eron, Tyco, and Global Crossing.
After reading this book, the business news achormen chattering about the 'mood' of international capital will begin to make some sense to you.
Offshore: The Dark Side of The Global Economy.......2005-09-07
This is one of the most poorly written books I have ever read. It seems to be a compilation of news clips, some history, with pages and pages of endless, obstruse, mind-numbing attempts to tie corporations, offshore banking centers and governments into some sort of socialogical, philosophical analysis. Totally boring, informationally just about useless, wordy, diffuse, and a true waste of money and time....even a one star rating is too much....if you want to learn about offshore...don't try it here.....
An important glimpse in to the world of Money and Power.......2005-09-06
"Offshore" is a compelling and disturbing glimpse into the dark underworld of global money and power. It is extremely well-researched and comprehensive, covering international dirty-dealing and capital from Enron to Parmalat to LTCM. Very illustrative and thought-provoking.
A first-rate primer on International Capital and also a great read. Pay special attention to the segments on "the secret realm," where capital is free of all national identity and boundaries.
In addition the writing is very fluid, clever and witty. An important book.
A Primer on Offshore Banking.......2005-08-31
This is kind of two books in one.
On the one hand there is an explanation of how corporations basically avoid taxes by setting up perfectly legal tax shelters around the world.
The second part of the book is rather philosophical in tone, emphasizing the point of view that somehow these corporations shouldn't be doing this.
Way back when the Beatles were popular, I remember being surprised when I heard that they were really employees of a corporation set up offshore somewhere. The taxes in England at the time were something like 90%. Hey, it made good sense.
As I grew older I learned more about taxes, usually by having to pay them. But I also learned that there are limits to taxes at which it is more beneficial to find a way to not pay them than it is to make more money. Of course you want to stay on the legal side of the boundry, because jail is not a good thing -- ask Martha Stewart. Of course if she had done her stock trading with an account in Vanuatu or some place like that she almost certainly wouldn't have done jail time.
This book talks about what companies do to reduce their tax burden. And it's a pretty good primer on how to do it. His philosophical point of view is another matter. He seems to feel that there is something basically imporal about this. Be assured though, that the politicians and the tax authorities know all about this. Knowing that this will happen, they simply raise taxes a few percent.
Average customer rating:
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Cayman Islands Business Law Handbook
Manufacturer: International Business Publications, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Business Law
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ASIN: 0739793063 |
Average customer rating:
- Very helpful solid information
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Cayman Islands Business Laws
Adam Starchild
Manufacturer: International Law and Taxation Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
International
| Taxes
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ASIN: 1893713024 |
Book Description
The Cayman Islands, a British Crown Colony, have no taxes whatsoever on income, profits, wealth or capital gains. The revenues of the Islands are derived from indirect taxes such as import duties and stamp duty. There never have been any taxes, so the absence of income tax is not an artificial absence created by legislation, but a natural one. Companies and trusts in the Cayman Islands enjoy the same tax-free status as individuals regardless of nationality of ownership. This absence of taxes, together with political and racial stability, has attracted the attention of investors seeking tax-free base for their operations. The Government of the Cayman Islands is aware it attractiveness to outsiders and actively encourages investment through the passage of legislation and development of the financial sector. In late 2000 the Caymans government reports that the world's fifth largest financial center (after New York, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong), saw a 51% increase in company registrations in the past year, with a total of 57,900 on file. 17 new banks were also registered, for a total of 465.
This book contains the full text of the following laws:
The Companies Law
The Companies Management Law
The Partnership Law
Limited Partnership Law
Exempted Limited Partnership Law
Contracts Law
The Trust Law
The Trusts (Foreign Element) Law
The Special Trusts (Alternative Regime) Law
The Perpetuities Law
The Banks and Trust Companies Law
Professional advisors outside of the Cayman Islands find it especially useful to have access to the actual statutes, in order to research all of the structuring possibilities before retaining a Cayman firm to implement their instructions.
Customer Reviews:
Very helpful solid information.......2000-11-03
It was very useful to finally have access to the current Cayman company and trust legislation. There are lots of summaries of the law available, but the full text of the actual statutes has not been generally available until this book. Now a tax planner can make his own decisions as to what is the best structure, and what legal options exist, and then ask a Cayman firm to implement the decision, instead of relying on high-priced advice from local firms, who often don't convey all of the details that a tax planner prefers to read for himself.
Average customer rating:
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Martindale-Hubbell Law Digest: Cayman Islands
Revision by Walkers, Attorneys-at-Law in the Cayman Islands.
Manufacturer: LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Business Law
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ASIN: 156160884X
Release Date: 2006-04-19 |
Product Description
The Martindale-Hubbell Law Digest summarizes and describes the laws of a given jurisdiction. These jurisdictions include: the United States; U.S. States and Possessions; U.S. Codes (Copyright, Patent, Trademark); Canada; Canadian Provinces; the European Union; and other countries. Each digest is revised annually by a law firm or academic researcher which is, in most cases, based in that jurisdiction. Digest content follows a hierarchical classification plan of: categories; topics; sub headings; catch lines; and cross references. The digest makes extensive use of statutory citations and presents many legal forms in facsimile.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from National Underwriter Property & Casualty-Risk & Benefits Management, published by The National Underwriter Company on July 23, 2001. The length of the article is 821 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Captives Question Cayman 'Blacklist' Policies.(Cayman government announces anti-money laundering legislation)(Brief Article)
Author: Caroline McDonald
Publication:
National Underwriter Property & Casualty-Risk & Benefits Management (Magazine/Journal)
Date: July 23, 2001
Publisher: The National Underwriter Company
Volume: 105
Issue: 30
Page: 42
Article Type: Brief Article
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from National Underwriter Property & Casualty-Risk & Benefits Management, published by The National Underwriter Company on April 10, 2000. The length of the article is 1247 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Protected Cells Ease Access To Capital Mkts.
Author: Lisa S. Howard
Publication:
National Underwriter Property & Casualty-Risk & Benefits Management (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 10, 2000
Publisher: The National Underwriter Company
Volume: 104
Issue: 15
Page: 3
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from National Underwriter Property & Casualty-Risk & Benefits Management, published by The National Underwriter Company on March 23, 1998. The length of the article is 963 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Rent-a-captive laws set up secure 'cells.'
Author: David M. Katz
Publication:
National Underwriter Property & Casualty-Risk & Benefits Management (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 23, 1998
Publisher: The National Underwriter Company
Volume: v102
Issue: n12
Page: p17(1)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
Cayman Islands has recently come to the attention to global strategic planners. This report puts these executives on the fast track. Ten chapters provide: an overview of how to strategically access this important market, a discussion on economic fundamentals, marketing & distribution options, export and direct investment options, and full risk assessments (political, cultural, legal, human resources). Ample statistical benchmarks and comparative graphs are given.
Average customer rating:
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Cayman Islands Offshore Investment & Business Guide (World Business Law Handbook Library)
Manufacturer: Intl Business Pubns USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Exports & Imports
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ASIN: 0739739077 |
Average customer rating:
- I Love It
- You've Still Got It, Charles M. Schulz
|
You're Not Alone, Charlie Brown
Charles M. Schulz
Manufacturer: Fawcett
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Similar Items:
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Lead On, Snoopy
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My Anxieties Have Anxieties (Peanuts Classics)
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You've Come A Long Way, Charlie Brown (Peanuts Classics)
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Nice Shot, Snoopy
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It's Great to Be a Superstar (Peanuts Classics)
ASIN: 0449220222
Release Date: 1992-08-23 |
Book Description
More collected cartoons featuring America's favorite and funniest kids: Peanuts!
Customer Reviews:
I Love It.......2001-07-05
More great comics. These are treasures and I just love them. When it seems like the world has got you down pull this volume out and just smile. That's something they can't take away from you. We have many thoughts we want to keep forever. This book in some way in some how never lets those memories die.
You've Still Got It, Charles M. Schulz.......2000-07-24
As one of the last books in this popular series (that ran for five decades), You're Not Alone, Charlie Brown has all of the profound wit and general silliness generations have come to expect from the late Mr. Schulz. For anyone who grew up reading this wonderful line of Fawcett paperbacks, this one will not disappoint and is a fine way to remember the life and accomplishment of a great man. Over the years, the books in this series have become collectable but it's impossible to put a value on the Peanuts gang. Don't get this one because it's a collectable. Don't buy it for Mr. Schulz. But it and enjoy it for yourself and your remembered youth. "Good Grief", you're still the greatest Charlie Brown!
Book Description
The purpose of this book is to survey a selection of jokes—classics as well as those making the rounds today—and to provide suggestions on how to tell them effectively. Note: Some of the material is 'salty' because sex is an important part of life and lends itself to humor. Those who wish to develop as raconteurs must have a good stock of stories of different types at hand, in order to contribute to a social gathering, no matter who is present. This collection contains a variety of stories, from the ribald to the most sophisticated, such as 'Beethoven's Ninth' and 'Bohr.' Some—Three Women at the Gates of Heaven—are double-barreled, with two punch lines. I find them all quite amusing.
Average customer rating:
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Why the French Love Jerry Lewis: From Cabaret to Early Cinema
Rae Gordon
Manufacturer: Stanford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0804738939
Release Date: 2001-04-12 |
Book Description
Vividly bringing to light the tradition of physical comedy in the French cabaret, café-concert, and early French film comedy, this book answers the perplexing question, “Why do the French love Jerry Lewis?” The extraordinary emphasis on nervous pathology in the Parisian café-concert, where the genres of the Epileptic Singer and the Idiot Comic took center stage, and where popular comic monologues and songs included “Man with a Tic” and “I’m Neurasthenic,” points to a fascinating intersection between medicine and popular culture. The French tradition of comic performance style between 1870 and 1910 nearly exactly duplicates the movements, gestures, tics, grimaces, and speech anomalies found in nineteenth-century hysteria; the characteristics of hysteria became a new aesthetics.
Early French film comedy carried on this tradition of frenetic gesture and gait, as most film performers came from these entertainments and from the circus. Even before Chaplin’s films triumphed in France, film comics were instantly recognizable from their pathological gait, just as Jacques Tati would be a half-century later. Comedy, a genre that dominated French cinema until World War I, has often been linked to a mass public for film; the author elucidates this link by proposing a broadly generalized cultural-medical phenomenon as the explanation for the dominance of the comic genre. Comic performance style drew from a group of nervous disorders characterized by the psychological automatism emanating from the “lower faculties”: nervous reflex, motor impulses, sensation, and instinct.
Building on her previous work on hysteria, the cabaret, and pathologies of movement in the films of Georges Méliès, and drawing on over 400 French films made between 1896 and 1915, the author contributes to a new theory of spectatorship at work in the cabaret, in shows of magnetizers, and in early French film comedy. Jerry Lewis touches a nerve in French cultural memory because, more than any other film comic, he incarnates this tradition of performance style.
Average customer rating:
- Excellent reading for an array of scholars
|
A Rhyme Is a Terrible Thing to Waste: Hip Hop and the Creation of A Political Philosophy
Carlton A. Usher
Manufacturer: Africa World Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1592213189 |
Book Description
This book examines the political philosophy of Hip Hop culture, which the author asserts, has its roots in the religious and political worldviews of Black Theology and African -American variants of Islam. This political philosophy is considered as clearly visible within Hip Hop. However, its historical source, influence on the music and artists, and contemporary impact are rarely examined. Hence, a concurrent focus of the author is to examine the void between content and exposure. The void is a symptom of the historical argument debating the functional utility of art. In its contemporary form, this historical argument is clearly reflected in the data gathered on Black radio's negative impact and its inability to spread Hip Hop's formidable political ideology.
This book demonstrates that Black media, specifically radio, often presents elements of Hip Hop deemed nihilistic and materialistic and void of a progressive worldview. Subsequently, Hip Hop culture's political philosophy is scarcely and infrequently broadcast to a wide audience. A specific case study of Atlanta's radio stations concurrent with a general study of Black radio nationally supports these findings. The data reveals that Black radio in Atlanta as well as the nation is subversive to the politicized ideals of Hip Hop Culture. This is especially true of commercial Black Radio. Competition for market shares, control formats, ambivalence toward politicized music and artists, and the blatant commodification of opprobrious aspects of HC, incapacitates and distorts HC's political value.
In addition, this book explores a subculture commonly termed "the underground" to determine whether it is a source of Hip Hop culture's political philosophy. A survey of college students at four of the nations Black colleges was conducted. These include Spelman College, Morehouse College, Morris Brown College, and Clark Atlanta University. The data determined the political ideas of participants and whether they adhered to, or disregarded its political philosophy. Lastly, the model of a political system was applied to Hip Hop to access the nature of the interactions between both.
In summary, this book is an empirical examination of Hip Hop's political philosophy, the artists who produced such materials, the institutions who control access and exposure to such materials, and participants' ability to distinguish between political and non-political material. It is an answer to all the untested claims that Hip Hop culture is a political institution equipped with a political philosophy.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent reading for an array of scholars.......2007-05-12
As an instructor of undergradaute Religion courses, I found Professor Usher's work insightful. His research and findings have proven useful in promoting dialogue in the classroom. The Introduction of his book sets up the framework for an intelligent discussion and it poses the question: Is Hip Hop a viable political instrument that can be used to influence the political behavior of its adherents in some desired direction. We may all have an answer; but few of us have a disciplined approach to analyze the question.
The author's approach takes him into a discussion on the elements of the theology of Black Nationalism (e.g., Nation of Islam and its several offshoots), which have informed the Hip Hop Culture. His discussion is compelling. The same can be said for his discussions on what he calls "didactic nihilism." Beside their compelling nature, these discussions are also informative for those too young to have seen the birth and development of Hip Hop Culture.
Usher also boldly delves into the tensions between Christian values and Hip Hop Culture on the one hand, and Christian Hip Hop on the other hand; Christian Hip Hop, of course, is a vehicle to attract youth back to church. He even questions whether Christian Hip Hop is more commercial than it is an effort to invite such youth and he re-invigorates Essence's concern with the misogynistic themes that bleed into (at least allusively) in Christian Hip Hop. Of course, these discussions about this relationship between Black Theology and Hip Hop Culture only further his compelling argument separating the relationship between politics, and he breaks down analysis of the mechanisms for dissemination of politicized Hip Hop. This analysis provides thought provoking ideas for the political consultant who wants to employ it to spread his message. This said, Usher presents strong empirical data supporting his conclusion that while many young Black recognize Hip Hop has a political message, they do not listen for it and seem unaware of the political messages in Hip Hop.
In the end, I think the book is a bold starting point for the question of whether Hip Hop and its relationship with Black Theology is a viable political instrument that can be used to influence political behavior of its adherents in some desired direction. It is recommended reading for many, including instructors of modern religions and political advisors for candidates and political leaders with large populations of Hip Hop adherents.
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Odori: Japanese Dance
Kasyo Matida
Manufacturer: Kegan Paul
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Dance
| Performing Arts
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ASIN: 0710310196 |
Book Description
A complete introduction to traditional Japanese dance, this text will delight readers with its lively descriptions and beautiful illustrations. This book discusses Kabuki dance, modern dance movements based on Kabuki dance and the influence of Western dance.
Average customer rating:
- A really engaging story
- A truly inspiring book for children and adults!
- A lovely book for all children!
- Nice book
- Where was THIS obon?
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Bon Odori Dancer
Karen Kawamoto McCoy
Manufacturer: Polychrome Publishing Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Fiction
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ASIN: 187996516X |
Book Description
Poor Keiko! She wanted to perform the traditional Japanese dances at the Obon festival but learning the dances is harder than she thought. Try as she might, Keiko is the clumsiest girl in her dance class, but when the other girls stop laughing at her and start helping her, they all perform well at the festival. This is a warm and funny story about patience, perserverance, and teamwork that reminds us about the importance of trying one's best, even if its not perfect. 32 pages hardcover with paper jacket. Full color illustrations and a diagram of dance steps to learn at home.
Customer Reviews:
A really engaging story.......2000-04-21
This book really took me back to my own childhood. I loved the fact that this little girl was not very adept at dancing. It reminded me of how much I admired the dances performed at Obon in Hawaii but wasn't very good at it myself. Even the red kimono looked like the one I had as a child. I thought the story had a very good message and I would have like to have had such a book when I was growing up but I guess I will just have to buy it for my nieces and nephews. I want them to learn how important it is to try even if you aren't very good at something.
A truly inspiring book for children and adults!.......2000-02-01
My daughters (ages 6 and 8) loved this book. They found it truly inspiring. I did, too. My younger daughter, who is often trying to copy her older sister and just as often feels less capable, really related to Keiko. I was glad that this story encouraged both my girls not to give up just bcause they found something hard or weren't the best at it. We parents need more books like this. My children can't wait to attend Obon this summer.
A lovely book for all children!.......2000-01-24
I came online to order a second copy of this book and while I normally do not bother to write reviews of books, the first review struck me as so misguided, I wondered if this person had read the same book.
First, I am a retired Japanese American teacher in L.A. I have been participating in Obon festivals in Japan, Hawaii, California, and elsewhere for well over 50 years. I think the first reviewer was very unfair. While the presentation of Obon in the book may not be exactly the same as in Los Angeles, the reviewer may not realize that it is not too different from Obon in other parts of the United States, such as Northern California. Also, the distinction between yukata and kimono made me laugh. A yukata is a certain type of kimono, a lightweight, cotton one. It is like distinguishing between fruit and apples or underwear and underpants.
The reason I was purchasing a second copy of this book is because it is a good story that my grandchildren enjoyed. They (and I) liked the idea that Keiko wasn't perfect. I was glad to see a story addressing the problems of children who may not show a great deal of aptitude for something and the need for perseverance rather than quitting. I would like to see more such stories.
Nice book.......2000-01-22
I'm not an expert on Japanese traditions, but got the book for my two kids and they just loved it. They enjoyed the colorful and upbeat illustrations and I like the fact that there's a message behind the story about tolerance and patience. I recommend it.
Where was THIS obon?.......1999-11-30
I was hoping to find a nice children's book based on an annual event that I've attended for 30 years, and all I found was a book of inaccuracies. I have never attended an obon like this in the United States, let alone in Japan. For one thing, dancers wear "yukata" not "kimono" to obon. Also, the entire layout of how obon is portrayed in the book is one I have never seen before. The feel of obon just wasn't there. I think more research or attending at least one obon might have contributed in a more accurate portrayl of obon. I would like children to know what obon is really like.
Average customer rating:
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Odori
Darcy Tamayose
Manufacturer: Cormorant Books Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Contemporary
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ASIN: 1897151098 |
Book Description
In the Spring of 1999, Mai Yoshimoto-Lanier falls into a coma after her husband loses control of the old Ford and drives over the side of a bridge and into the Belly River. Eddie dies. But Mai falls into the world of her great-grandmother on the island of Hamahiga, somewhere between heaven and earth. Odori is a novel that navigates through the glorious Ryukyuan Kingdom and the Golden Era of the Sho Dynasty, though bloody World War II Okinawa, and over the parched prairies of Southern Alberta's Rainmaker Hills -- all the while exposing human sorrows, indignities, idiosyncrasies, failed faiths, splintered spirits, and an island culture so resilient, so embedded, that it becomes mythical.
Average customer rating:
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Odori (Japanese dance) (Tourist library:)
Kasyo Matida
Manufacturer: Board of Tourist Industry, Japanese Government Railways
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
General
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ASIN: B0006AOGGS |
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Odori Japanese Dance
Kasyo Matida
Manufacturer: Board of Tourist Industry Japanese Government Railways
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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The spirit of Bon (Times for celebration)
Audrey Oi
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ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
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Amazon.com
Computing hardware would have no value without software; software tells hardware what to do. Software therefore must have special authority within computing systems. All computer security problems stem from that fact, and Exploiting Software: How to Break Code shows you how to design your software so it's as resistant as possible to attack. Sure, everything's phrased in offensive terms (as instructions for the attacker, that is), but this book has at least as much value in showing designers what sorts of attacks their software will face (the book could serve as a checklist for part of a pre-release testing regimen). Plus, the clever reverse-engineering strategies that Greg Hoglund and Gary McGraw teach will be useful in many legitimate software projects. Consider this a recipe book for mayhem, or a compendium of lessons learned by others. It depends on your situation.
PHP programmers will take issue with the authors' blanket assessment of their language ("PHP is a study in bad security"), much of which seems based on older versions of the language that had some risky default behaviors--but those programmers will also double-check their servers' register_globals settings. Users of insufficiently patched Microsoft and Oracle products will worry about the detailed attack instructions this book contains. Responsible programmers and administrators will appreciate what amounts to documentation of attackers' rootkits for various operating systems, and will raise their eyebrows at the techniques for writing malicious code to unused EEPROM chips in target systems. --David Wall
Topics covered: How to make software fail, either by doing something it wasn't designed to do, or by denying its use to its rightful users. Techniques--including reverse engineering, buffer overflow, and particularly provision of unexpected input--are covered along with the tools needed to carry them out. A section on hardware viruses is detailed and frightening.
Customer Reviews:
Not as good as other works by these great authors, but still valuable.......2007-07-04
I read Exploiting Software (ES) last year but realized I hadn't reviewed it yet. Having read other books by these authors, like McGraw's Software Security and Hoglund's Rootkits, I realized ES was not as good as those newer books. At the time ES was published (2004) it continued to define the software exploitation genre begun in Building Secure Software. However, I don't think it's necessary to pay close attention to ES when newer books by McGraw and Hoglund are now available.
On the positive side, I appreciate three aspects of ES. First, I like the attention paid to attack patterns. This concept makes sense and should be used by other authors who want to describe a means to exploit a target. Second, I am impressed that ES features a whole chapter (5) on attacking client software. When ES was published, client-side attacks were just becoming popular. Discussing this problem shows great insights on the part of the authors. Third, several of the examples in ES are great case studies on exploiting software. When explained in sufficient detail they make for educational reading.
On the down side, I agree with several other reviewers that the book seems somewhat erratic. Attack patterns that are two sentences long are probably candidates for inclusion in a chart, not listed in the main text. I don't think the predictions found in ch 1 were necessary, and I think some of the criticism of detection methods in ch 6 border on the ignorant. I agree that perfect detection is impossible, but there are plenty of methods that work in the real world. They may not be real-time, but no intruder is perfectly stealthy in all aspects of an attack.
Regarding chapters 7 and 8, on buffer overflows and rootkits -- at 170 pages, those could almost have been their own book. The material doesn't seem to match the rest of the book, and it's obviously Hoglund's work. Add in a like-minded chapter on reverse engineering (3) at 74 pages and you definitely have a stand-alone book!
It's probably sufficient to read Building Secure Software, Software Security, and Rookits if you like the McGraw/Hoglund approach to attacking and defending software. Take a quick look at the attack pattern material to get a feel for that concept.
Want to fix things instead of break them?.......2006-03-03
One of the authors here.
Thinking carefully about how things break is a good idea. You should read this book and you should also read the Shellcoder's Handbook" by Litchfield et al. Pretend security nonsense crumbles under the weight of real attacks.
However, if you're interested in fixing the problem, get "Software Security: Building Security In". It's time to DO software security!
On the other hand, if you're looking for the ultimate weapon in the attacker's toolkit, go get "Rootkits."
In the end, the only smart move is a combo package of "think like and attacker" and "build like a pro." For your best all around bargain, get "The Software Security Library."
Why we use it for a graduate class.......2005-08-19
The one major strength of this book, from a computer science viewpoint, is its emphasis on "attack patterns". This systemization of these issues really differentiates this book from many of its competitors (which tend to be either the latest 500 hacks or descriptions of standards). Put simply CS is the study of algorithms, and this book fits nicely into that tradition.
great book.......2005-06-29
I am a relative novice to programming and exploitation however this book was truly a mind exciting experience. I found all of it's content to be useful, although I would say that this text is definately for an advanced user or someone quite motivated to understand the ideas presented as it delves into quite a bit of detail demanding advanced knowledge of several languages. Although there is a lot of info in this book, I would say that if you do not already know how to exploit a system in a basic form, you will be lost immediately as a step by step proceedure is not given but assumed to be known.
Fires up the hacker in me!.......2005-04-20
Anyone who's been in network security long enough will tell you that the current state of products and `solutions' to security problems are woefully inadequate.
Firewalls, intrusion detection systems, content filters and anti-virus solutions are all reactive technologies, and as a result, they fail to address the primary cause of security vulnerabilities.
This root cause is bad software. Viruses, worms and hackers exploit vulnerabilities in the design and logic of software applications to compromise, destroy and otherwise take control of important information. Once you accept this fact, you'll realize that the only path to good security is to write better code.
`Exploiting Software - How to Break Code' is a book that fires up the hacker in me. It does not aim to teach you about the latest scanning tool, instead, it teaches you how to find and exploit vulnerabilities in systems. While many of the ideas in the book (such as the omnipresent buffer overflow) are not new, there is simply no literary comparison to the treatment given to them in this book.
Application security is one of the highest regarded and specialized technical services in the security industry, and thus, finding people (let alone books) that delve in-depth into the topic is rare and refreshing. The first day I used this book, I was on an application security project. The target application was a distributed database application running on SQL server with a web front-end.
I happened to have this book along with me, and while reading through it, the section on equivalent requests was something I hadn't tried - sure enough, 20 minutes later I had full control of the application and a very good impression of this book.
I particularly like the conceptual sections of this book, especially their idea of `attack patterns' - generic scenarios that often lead to compromise in systems. A thorough study of all these attack patterns will leave you a much better analyst than when you started out, and it definitely pays off when it comes to testing.
The book is also chock-a-block full of code, something that other books don't have the guts to do. Better yet, we're not talking about `hello world' stuff here, while reading the excellent chapter on root kits I finally realized that the device driver code I was trying out was way over my head. That's something you like to find, because it gives you something to learn.
The art of reverse engineering, disassembly, writing IDA-Pro plugins, black / white and grey-box techniques, advanced payload creation on multiple architectures - this book has it all. The only thing I can possibly say against it is that this it caters to a niche audience.
If you're not a coder or seriously into security however, large parts of the book may be inaccessible to you. However if you're a hacker, security tester or application developer and you don't own a copy of this book, you're not reaching your full potential.
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