Unsafe at Any Speed

Unsafe at Any Speed PDF

Author: Ralph Nader

Publisher: New York : Grossman

Published: 1965

Total Pages: 392

ISBN-13:

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Account of how and why cars kill, and why the automobile manufacturers have failed to make cars safe.

The Ralph Nader and Family Cookbook: Classic Recipes from Lebanon and Beyond

The Ralph Nader and Family Cookbook: Classic Recipes from Lebanon and Beyond PDF

Author: Ralph Nader

Publisher: Akashic Books

Published: 2020-04-07

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 1617758280

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Ralph Nader and his family share recipes inspired by his parents’ commitment to the healthy diet of their homeland of Lebanon. “More than just a collection of recipes, though, this is a window on a culture and a family. Nader’s description of his mother convincing 8-year-old Ralph to eat radishes speaks volumes about this persuasive matriarch and the tireless activist she raised.” —Washington Post Book Club Ralph Nader is best-known for his social critiques and his efforts to increase government and corporate accountability, but what some might not know about him is his lifelong commitment to healthy eating. Born in Connecticut to Lebanese parents, Nader’s appreciation of food began at an early age, when his parents, Rose and Nathra, owned an eatery, bakery, and delicatessen called the Highland Arms Restaurant. The family eschewed processed foods and ate only a moderate amount of lean red meat. Nowadays, the Mediterranean diet is considered one of the healthiest on the planet, but in the 1930s and ’40s of Nader’s youth it was considered by many Americans as simply strange. Luckily for Nader and his siblings, this didn’t prevent their mother, Rose, from serving the family homemade, healthy meals—dishes from her homeland of Lebanon. Rose didn’t simply encourage her children to eat well, she took time to discuss and explain her approach to food; she used the family meals to connect all of her children to the traditions of their ancestors. The Ralph Nader and Family Cookbook shares the cuisine of Nader’s upbringing, presenting Lebanese dishes inspired by Rose’s recipes that will be both known to many, including hummus and baba ghanoush, as well as others that may be lesser known, such as kibbe, the extremely versatile national dish of Lebanon, and sheikh al-mahshi—”the ‘king’ of stuffed foods.” The cookbook includes an introduction by Nader and anecdotes throughout. The Ralph Nader and Family Cookbook will entice one’s taste buds, while sharing a side of Ralph Nader that may not be commonly known, though will not surprise anyone familiar with his decades of activism and involvement in consumer protection advocacy.

Right of Way

Right of Way PDF

Author: Angie Schmitt

Publisher: Island Press

Published: 2020-08-27

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 1642830836

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The face of the pedestrian safety crisis looks a lot like Ignacio Duarte-Rodriguez. The 77-year old grandfather was struck in a hit-and-run crash while trying to cross a high-speed, six-lane road without crosswalks near his son’s home in Phoenix, Arizona. He was one of the more than 6,000 people killed while walking in America in 2018. In the last ten years, there has been a 50 percent increase in pedestrian deaths. The tragedy of traffic violence has barely registered with the media and wider culture. Disproportionately the victims are like Duarte-Rodriguez—immigrants, the poor, and people of color. They have largely been blamed and forgotten. In Right of Way, journalist Angie Schmitt shows us that deaths like Duarte-Rodriguez’s are not unavoidable “accidents.” They don’t happen because of jaywalking or distracted walking. They are predictable, occurring in stark geographic patterns that tell a story about systemic inequality. These deaths are the forgotten faces of an increasingly urgent public-health crisis that we have the tools, but not the will, to solve. Schmitt examines the possible causes of the increase in pedestrian deaths as well as programs and movements that are beginning to respond to the epidemic. Her investigation unveils why pedestrians are dying—and she demands action. Right of Way is a call to reframe the problem, acknowledge the role of racism and classism in the public response to these deaths, and energize advocacy around road safety. Ultimately, Schmitt argues that we need improvements in infrastructure and changes to policy to save lives. Right of Way unveils a crisis that is rooted in both inequality and the undeterred reign of the automobile in our cities. It challenges us to imagine and demand safer and more equitable cities, where no one is expendable.

Car Safety Wars

Car Safety Wars PDF

Author: Michael R. Lemov

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2015-03-19

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 1611477468

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Car Safety Wars is a gripping history of the hundred-year struggle to improve the safety of American automobiles and save lives on the highways. Described as the “equivalent of war” by the Supreme Court, the battle involved the automobile industry, unsung and long-forgotten safety heroes, at least six US Presidents, a reluctant Congress, new auto technologies, and, most of all, the mindset of the American public: would they demand and be willing to pay for safer cars? The “Car Safety Wars” were at first won by consumers and safety advocates. The major victory was the enactment in 1966 of a ground breaking federal safety law. The safety act was pushed through Congress over the bitter objections of car manufacturers by a major scandal involving General Motors, its private detectives, Ralph Nader, and a gutty cigar-chomping old politician. The act is a success story for government safety regulation. It has cut highway death and injury rates by over seventy percent in the years since its enactment, saving more than two million lives and billions of taxpayer dollars. But the car safety wars have never ended. GM has recently been charged with covering up deadly defects resulting in multiple ignition switch shut offs. Toyota has been fined for not reporting fatal unintended acceleration in many models. Honda and other companies have—for years—sold cars incorporating defective air bags. These current events, suggesting a failure of safety regulation, may serve to warn us that safety laws and agencies created with good intentions can be corrupted and strangled over time. This book suggests ways to avoid this result, but shows that safer cars and highways are a hard road to travel. We are only part of the way home.

The Sack of Detroit

The Sack of Detroit PDF

Author: Kenneth Whyte

Publisher: Knopf

Published: 2021-06-01

Total Pages: 432

ISBN-13: 0525521682

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"Vigorous, provocative... The Sack of Detroit is compelling, bold and stylishly written." —Barbara Spindel, The Wall Street Journal A provocative, revelatory history of the epic rise—and unnecessary fall—of the U.S. automotive industry, uncovering the vivid story of innovation, politics, and business that led to a sudden, seismic shift in American priorities that is still felt today, from the acclaimed author of Hoover In the 1950s, America enjoyed massive growth and affluence, and no companies contributed more to its success than automakers. They were the biggest and best businesses in the world, their leadership revered, their methods imitated, and their brands synonymous with the nation's aspirations. But by the end of the 1960s, Detroit's profits had evaporated and its famed executives had become symbols of greed, arrogance, and incompetence. And no company suffered this reversal more than General Motors, which found itself the main target of a Senate hearing on auto safety that publicly humiliated its leadership and shattered its reputation. In The Sack of Detroit, Kenneth Whyte recounts the epic rise and unnecessary fall of America's most important industry. At the center of his absorbing narrative are the titans of the automotive world but also the crusaders of safety, including Ralph Nader and a group of senators including Bobby Kennedy. Their collision left Detroit in a ditch, launched a new era of consumer advocacy and government regulation, and contributed significantly to the decline of American enterprise. This is a vivid story of politics, business, and a sudden, seismic shift in American priorities that is still felt today.

Lifemobile

Lifemobile PDF

Author: Jonathan Rintels

Publisher: Easton Studio Press, LLC

Published: 2012-05-15

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 1935212915

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Lifemobile tells the story of Benjy Bennett, an honor student with Asperger’s Syndrome, who upon graduation from high school hopelessly despairs that “there’s no place in this world” for someone as different as him. But then his widowed father brings home a “Deathmobile” – an old Corvair, famously characterized by Ralph Nader as “unsafe at any speed.” When Benjy learns that the U.S. government ultimately found Nader's sensational charges untrue, he decides that the Corvair is “not disabled, just different,” as he is, and has been unfairly stigmatized by a world that does not understand it, just as he has. The different boy becomes the different car's champion, determined to prove to the world how wrong it is about both of them. Taking Benjy and his father on a wild and emotional ride full of colorful characters and comic adventures, the Deathmobile becomes their “Lifemobile,” ultimately helping them both discover Benjy’s own uniquely satisfying place in this world.

There Are No Accidents

There Are No Accidents PDF

Author: Jessie Singer

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2023-02-28

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 1982129689

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A journalist recounts the surprising history of accidents and reveals how they’ve come to define all that’s wrong with America. We hear it all the time: “Sorry, it was just an accident.” And we’ve been deeply conditioned to just accept that explanation and move on. But as Jessie Singer argues convincingly: There are no such things as accidents. The vast majority of mishaps are not random but predictable and preventable. Singer uncovers just how the term “accident” itself protects those in power and leaves the most vulnerable in harm’s way, preventing investigations, pushing off debts, blaming the victims, diluting anger, and even sparking empathy for the perpetrators. As the rate of accidental death skyrockets in America, the poor and people of color end up bearing the brunt of the violence and blame, while the powerful use the excuse of the “accident” to avoid consequences for their actions. Born of the death of her best friend, and the killer who insisted it was an accident, this book is a moving investigation of the sort of tragedies that are all too common, and all too commonly ignored. In this revelatory book, Singer tracks accidental death in America from turn of the century factories and coal mines to today’s urban highways, rural hospitals, and Superfund sites. Drawing connections between traffic accidents, accidental opioid overdoses, and accidental oil spills, Singer proves that what we call accidents are hardly random. Rather, who lives and dies by an accident in America is defined by money and power. She also presents a variety of actions we can take as individuals and as a society to stem the tide of “accidents”—saving lives and holding the guilty to account.

Told You So

Told You So PDF

Author: Ralph Nader

Publisher: Seven Stories Press

Published: 2013-05-28

Total Pages: 545

ISBN-13: 1609804759

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“What sets Ralph Nader apart is that he has moved beyond social criticism to effective political action.” —The New York Times The column is the most natural literary form for a citizen’s advocate, and Ralph Nader may be its most robust and forceful practitioner. The Big Book of Ralph Nader Columns presents a panoramic portrait of the problems confronting our society and provides examples of the many actions an organized citizenry could and should take to create a more just and environmentally sustainable world. Drawing on decades of experience, Nader's columns document the consequences of concentrated corporate power; threats to our food, water and air; the corrosive effect of commercialism on our children; the dismantling of worker rights; and the attacks on our civil rights and civil liberties. Nader also offers concrete suggestions to spark citizen action and achieve social change.