The bestselling author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy" offers a globetrotting Sam Spade-style investigation that blows the lid off the oil industry the banking industry & the governmental agencies that arent regulating either. This is the story of the corporate vultures that feed on the weak & ruin our planet in the process
- a story that spans the globe & decades. For " Vultures Picnic" investigative journalist Greg Palast has spent his career uncovering the connection between the world of energy (read: oil) & finance. Hes built a team that reads like a casting call for a Hollywood thriller
- a Swiss multilingual investigator a punk journalist & a gonzo cameraman
- to reveal how environmental disasters like the Gulf oil spill the Exxon Valdez & lesser-known tragedies such as Tatitlek & Torrey Canyon are caused by corporate corruption failed legislation & most interestingly veiled connections between the financial industry & energy titans. Palast shows how the International Monetary Fund World Bank World Trade Organization & Central Banks act as puppets for Big Oil. With Palast at the center of an investigation that takes us from the Arctic to Africa to the Amazon " Vultures Picnic" shows how the big powers in the money & oil game slip the bonds of regulation over & over again & simply destroy the rules that they themselves cant write
- & take advantage of nations & everyday people in the process."



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Since its introduction in 1950 the Volkswagen Transporter has become legendary for its versatility & adaptability to many commercial uses. Known originally as Sonderausfuhrungen abbreviated to SO these Special Models were usually converted by specialists companies & coachbuilders approved by VW. ...

One of the main attractions of the VW Bus apart from its iconic looks & rugged reliability is the way owners take the bus to heart & into their family & set about personalizing them through both exterior & interior design & styling. Over the years most campers have seen extensive use & unless you are lucky to find a complete original-condition camper then some work will need to be done to bring the interior to the standard you want. ...

It was invented immediately after the war in the factory a far-sighted English military man had set up to turn the German economy from making machines of warfare to more pacific products. By the seventies that dream had been amply fulfilled as the VW Campervan became the conveyance of choice for West Coast hippies Australian surf bums & Europeans taking the overland route to find enlightenment & good karma in India. It had also become
- indeed still is
- the first choice for any couple or family seeking a cheap camping holiday with wheels attached. So never mind the oddly off-centre driving wheel the vagaries of the aircooled rear engine
- the VW Campervan had become more than a vehicle
- it had truly become a way of life. Mike Harding's first ride in a Volkswagen Camper Van was back in 1961 when it was the carrying around the gear & bandmembers of his rock band the Manchester Rainmakers. Finally in 2009 he could wait no longer & bought his own a 2001 Type 2 bay window Brazilian import Danbury conversion in hot orange & off white. Add in the endless curiosity of the author of eight monographs on church architecture & the hilarious sense of humour of one of Britain's best st&-up comics & you have a wonderful social history of the postwar years through the prism of a single transport icon.



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This lavish volume celebrates in words & pictures the 60th anniversary of the launch of Volkswagen's ubiquitous Transporter. Making full use of Volkswagen's archive material & wonderfully staged brochure pictures the author creates an authentic period feel as he traces the development of the Transporter through the decades. Produced in a large & extensive format & with a superb design this book is a treasured memento of a landmark in production & an authoritative point of reference thereafter. ...

High in the crumbling Palace of Statues oily Vox Verlix
- nominally the Most High Academe but no more than a prisoner in reality
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The Quest for V. sweeps us through sixty years & a panorama of Alexandria Paris Malta Florence Africa & New York. But who where or what is V.? Bawdy sometimes sad & frequently hilarious V. as become a modern classic. This is the first novel by the author of Gravity's Rainbow & a profoundly impressive & original work in its own right. ...

Las Vegas 1986. A young college graduate is murdered when he is unable to pay back a loan funded by notorious criminal Lorenzo Dante. Two years later private investigator Kinsey Millhone finds herself assisting to apprehend a shoplifter
- Audrey Vance
- in a shopping centre. Events take a much darker turn when Audrey's body is discovered beneath the Cold Spring Bridge a local suicide spot. Unable to believe she took her own life Audrey's fiance Marvin Striker hires Kinsey to investigate. It soon emerges that the shoplifter had become caught up in a much larger operation. Meanwhile Lorenzo Dante has begun to grow weary of his life in organised crime & frustrated with his violent & impulsive younger brother Cappi. While the police net begins to close in on him Dante meets the beautiful Nora who exerts a powerful pull over the gangster. As Kinsey's enquiries reach a dramatic head it becomes clear that she & Dante have one thing in common -- they must be careful who they trust.. .

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Las Vegas 1986. A young college graduate is murdered when he is unable to pay back a loan funded by notorious criminal Lorenzo Dante. Two years later private investigator Kinsey Millhone finds herself assisting to apprehend a shoplifter
- Audrey Vance
- in a shopping centre. Events take a much darker turn when Audreys body is discovered beneath the Cold Spring Bridge a local suicide spot. Unable to believe she took her own life Audreys fiance Marvin Striker hires Kinsey to investigate. It soon emerges that the shoplifter had become caught up in a much larger operation. Meanwhile Lorenzo Dante has begun to grow weary of his life in organised crime & frustrated with his violent & impulsive younger brother Cappi. While the police net begins to close in on him Dante meets the beautiful Nora who exerts a powerful pull over the gangster. As Kinseys enquiries reach a dramatic head it becomes clear that she & Dante have one thing in common -- they must be careful who they trust.. .

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Spanning four centuries the V&A's Fashion Collection is the most comprehensive in the world housing unrivalled collections of dress accessories shoes & hats from the seventeenth century to the present day. This concise volume perfectly encapsulates the collection from rare eighteenth-century gowns & exquisite eighteenth-century bodices to 1930s evening wear post-war couture & show-stopping ensembles by contemporary designers. Fashion designers represented include Charles Frederick Worth Madeleine Vionnet Cristobal Balenciaga Coco Chanel Christian Dior Mary Quant Stephen Jones Vivienne Westwood & Alexander Mc Queen. ...