In early 2000 the bottom dropped out of the life of writer David Denby when his wife decided to leave him. Propelled to make some money quickly, and seized by the 'irrational exuberance' of the stock market, then approaching its peak, Denby enthusiastically joined the investment frenzy. Over the next few months he listened raptly to bullish stock analysts, dreamy hi-tech gurus and boastful heads of companies. He plunged into a season of mania and was swept forward on currents of hope, greed and hucksterism - with cataclysmic results. American Sucker is a mesmerising account of those years of madness. What begins as a money chase and an engagement with rampant capitalism soon becomes an encounter with such timeless issues as love, envy, true value - and life and death itself. This is a classic tale of the bubble related not by a market guru or an investment professional but by a witty, perceptive and eloquent outsider.
For Dennis Covington, what began as a journalistic assignment - covering the trial of an Alabama preacher convicted of attempting to murder his wife with poisonous snakes - would evolve into a headlong plunge into a bizarre, mysterious, and ultimately irresistible world of unshakable faith: the world of holiness snake handling, where people drink strychnine, speak in tongues, lay hands on the sick, and, some claim, raise the dead. Set in the heart of Appalachia, Salvation on Sand Mountain is Covington's unsurpassed and chillingly captivating exploration of the nature, power, and extremity of faith - an exploration that gradually turns inward, until Covington finds himself taking up the snakes. University.
Together with the Olympics, world's fairs are one of the few regular international events of sufficient scale to showcase a spectrum of sights, wonders, learning opportunities, technological advances, and new (or renewed) urban districts, and to present them all to a mass audience. Meet Me at the Fair: A World's Fair Reader breaks new ground in scholarship on world's fairs by incorporating a number of short new texts that investigate world's fairs in their multiple aspects: political, urban/architectural, anthropological/ sociological, technological, commercial, popular, and representational. Contributors come from eight different countries and represent affiliations in academia, museums and libraries, professional and architectural firms, non-profit organizations, and government regulatory agencies. In taking the measure of both the material artifacts and the larger cultural production of world's fairs, the volume presents its own phantasmagoria of disciplinary perspectives, historical periods, geographical locales, media, and messages, mirroring the microcosmic form of the world's fair itself.
Coining the term, The Book of Mindkind is a philosophy of hope in a time of despair, a wakeup call in a time of danger, and an engaging quick read for the curious-minded. The theory of Mindkind is an entirely original philosophy, likely the first to be conceived in the past century, certainly the first of the new millennium. People are looking for new ways to think about the human society rapidly evolving around them, and they are searching for answers and solutions to the age-old questions of existence. The world may not be spinning out of control, but it can no longer be held together by the beliefs of the past. Now, more so than ever, with political extremism-driven by corporationalism and religious fundamentalism-shutting down democratic processes and suppressing rationalism, there is a critical need for social, spiritual, and political alternatives. The Book of Mindkind is not a new-age philosophy-rather it presents a logical foundation for a practical worldwide solution for the social, economic, and environmental crises facing human existence. The book brings together the scientific elements of time, Earth, and humanity in exploring the evolution of the brain and the mind it produces, and it examines religion and culture in developing the thesis that humans are members of a Universal Mindkind. Essentially, the philosophy theorizes that humans, as the Children of Mindkind, are on the verge of flying from their earthly nest, as soon as the diseases of deception, hatred, and violence are cured and every child is provided with equal access to nutrition, health care, and education. Collectively, these concepts are brought to focus on the future of human existence. Mindkind projects a vision of a bright unlimited and creative future, but necessarily considers a darker and more destructive alternative in which humanity continues to organize as warrior societies. It concludes with thoughts about the physical nature of the soul and the aura of mind. Mindkind has an appeal to thinking people of every culture and every language, who are seeking purpose in their lives. It especially speaks to young people, who are questioning ancient religions and current governments, and to women, who are weary of the discrimination they suffer in male-dominated societies.
Englishman Robert Livermore jumped ship in Southern California in 1822, yet just 15 years later became the respected owner of the 40,000-acre Las Positas land grant. Here he built his new Californio wife an adobe house in 1839. The wealth that flowed into California during the gold rush allowed Livermore to import a two-story house around the Horn, but entrepreneurs and squatters flowed in as well. Nathaniel Patterson opened the first hotel in the old Livermore adobe, frequented by miners on their way from the South Bay to the Sierra gold mines. Laddsville, a village built where the roads to Stockton and Dublin met, was also a going concern until the Central Pacific pushed over the Altamont Pass. On this line grew the town founded by William Mendenhall in 1869, named for pioneer Livermore, who had died more than a decade earlier. Soon Livermore became the valley's commercial center for hay, wheat, barley, wine grapes, and ranching.
This title describes the interwoven fates of Luftwaffe fighter aces Hermann Graf and Alfred Grislawski on the Eastern Front between 1941-1943 and 1944-45. It asks whether Graf was identical to the Major von Graf who was shot down, and whether he co-operated with the Soviets in captivity.
Norman speaks of life in Boone, Iowa, and his Spartan beginning. He also shares the gripping story of combat on 32 B-17 missions over Nazi Germany. Then on to private life as a lawyer, Governor of Iowa and a Federal staff member. To order a book, please call 1-800-750-6997 (in Iowa) or 1-800-453-3960 (Outside Iowa) and ask for McMillen Publishing. To fax an order, dial 1-515-232-8820, To mail order, send to: McMillen Publishing, 413 Northwestern, Ames, IA, 50010, to order online: [email protected]. or [email protected].
