For almost fifty years, Joel P. Smith served as editor and publisher of the Eufaula Tribune, the newspaper of record in Eufaula in southeast Alabama. For much of that time, week after week, he wrote his "Candid Comments" column, which traced the often-intersecting history of Eufaula and Smith's own life. In the selections from "Candid Comments" collected in this volume, Smith ranges from Eufaula's "top ten characters" to the history of the Chattahoochee River, from the Tribune's initial support of Governor George Wallace until it ceased to endorse him, and from marriage and fatherhood to press junkets in Egypt and Cuba.
Inspired by the website that the New York Times hailed as "redefining mourning," this book is a fresh and irreverent examination into navigating grief and resilience in the age of social media, offering comfort and community for coping with the mess of loss through candid original essays from a variety of voices, accompanied by gorgeous two-color illustrations and wry infographics. At a time when we mourn public figures and national tragedies with hashtags, where intimate posts about loss go viral and we receive automated birthday reminders for dead friends, it’s clear we are navigating new terrain without a road map. Let’s face it: most of us have always had a difficult time talking about death and sharing our grief. We’re awkward and uncertain; we avoid, ignore, or even deny feelings of sadness; we offer platitudes; we send sympathy bouquets whittled out of fruit. Enter Rebecca Soffer and Gabrielle Birkner, who can help us do better. Each having lost parents as young adults, they co-founded Modern Loss, responding to a need to change the dialogue around the messy experience of grief. Now, in this wise and often funny book, they offer the insights of the Modern Loss community to help us cry, laugh, grieve, identify, and—above all—empathize. Soffer and Birkner, along with forty guest contributors including Lucy Kalanithi, singer Amanda Palmer, and CNN’s Brian Stelter, reveal their own stories on a wide range of topics including triggers, sex, secrets, and inheritance. Accompanied by beautiful hand-drawn illustrations and witty "how to" cartoons, each contribution provides a unique perspective on loss as well as a remarkable life-affirming message. Brutally honest and inspiring, Modern Loss invites us to talk intimately and humorously about grief, helping us confront the humanity (and mortality) we all share. Beginners welcome.
In this critique of rational choice theory, Emily Hauptmann explores the idea central to the theory, namely, that democracy can best be explained in terms of an economic conception of choice. Her argument turns on the claims that the choices we face as citizens are not reducible to the choices we face as consumers and that democracy cannot be reduced to a series of choices, economic or otherwise.
Discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity is forbidden in contemporary international human rights law, yet in many interpretations of Islamic law, this is seen to contradict the tenets of Islam. Vanja Hamzic here offers a path-breaking historical and anthropological analysis of the discourses on sexual and gender diversity in the Muslim world. The first of its kind, the book sheds new light on the understanding of diversity and resistance to hegemonic visions of the self in Muslim societies. Combining first-hand ethnographic accounts of Muslims in contemporary Pakistan including the hijra community whose pluralist sexual and gender experience defy the disciplinary gaze of both international and state law with new archival research, this book provides a unique mapping of Islamic jurisprudence, court practice and social developments in the Muslim world. Hamzic provides a comprehensive look at the ways in which sexually diverse and gender-variant Muslims are seen, and see themselves, within the context of the Islamic legal tradition.
Vocation Fr. Jim Nolen became a priest to bring God to man and man up to God. He is an idealist. He is brought to reality when he is exposed to a grave moral disorder practiced by the hierarchy. Thus Fr. Nolen takes a moral position against the church, breaking his vow of obedience. His life is never the same. This is a rare look into an ever-so-human Catholic Church.
This complete guide to physical-layer security presents the theoretical foundations, practical implementation, challenges and benefits of a groundbreaking new model for secure communication. Using a bottom-up approach from the link level all the way to end-to-end architectures, it provides essential practical tools that enable graduate students, industry professionals and researchers to build more secure systems by exploiting the noise inherent to communications channels. The book begins with a self-contained explanation of the information-theoretic limits of secure communications at the physical layer. It then goes on to develop practical coding schemes, building on the theoretical insights and enabling readers to understand the challenges and opportunities related to the design of physical layer security schemes. Finally, applications to multi-user communications and network coding are also included.
A meticulously researched chronicle of five generations of the Kennedy dynasty explains how their Irish-Catholic roots informed their lives and political beliefs and reveals how the immigrant experience shaped both their remarkable success and many tragedies. 100,000 first printing.
Broad-ranging and comprehensive, this completely revised and updated textbook is a critical guide to issues and theories of ‘race’ and ethnicity. It shows how these concepts came into being during colonial domination and how they became central – and until recently, unquestioned – aspects of social identity and division. This book provides students with a detailed understanding of colonial and post-colonial constructions, changes and challenges to race as a source of social division and inequality. Drawing upon rich international case studies from Australia, Guyana, Canada, Malaysia, the Caribbean, Mexico, Ireland and the UK, the book clearly explains the different strands of theory which have been used to explain the dynamics of race. These are critically scrutinised, from biological-based ideas to those of critical race theory. This key text includes new material on changing multiculturalism, immigration and fears about terrorism, all of which are critically assessed. Incorporating summaries, chapter-by-chapter questions, illustrations, exercises and a glossary of terms, this student-friendly text also puts forward suggestions for further project work. Broad in scope, interactive and accessible, this book is a key resource for undergraduate students of 'race' and ethnicity across the social sciences.
Real Letters. Real People. Real Issues.God is raising up the simple, organic, house church movement. And this book gives you, for the first time, a real-life inside look at the controversies, struggles, victories, and personalities emerging from within this revolution. This book is a collection of real letters to real people facing real issues. These letters challenge, persuade, and encourage. They address theological issues and practical problems. They were sent to friends, acquaintances, strangers, radicals, and critics. This book will not just satisfy your curiosity about today's house church movement, but it will propel you to complete the task to which Jesus Christ has called you."Rad is one of those that has taken the time to... give us all a sort of house church FAQ that unzips and unpacks the current revolution and makes it more tangible than ever."Wolfgang SimsonAuthor of Houses that Change the World"Rad Zdero has labored to usher in a new/old paradigm in church life... a courageous, candid, and vulnerable publication of the letters that have chronicled his journey... an important work..."David Garrison, Ph.D.Author of Church Planting Movements"I am thrilled that Rad Zdero has released this series of insightful letters into book form... a timely, biblical, poignant yet gracious response to real-life concerns... Highly recommended!"Andrew JonesBlogger and founder, Boaz ProjectRAD ZDERO has a Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering. He has been involved in the house church and small group movement since 1985. Rad is the author of The Global House Church Movement. He is also the editor of Nexus: The World House Church Movement Reader and The Starfish Files house church magazine. Rad lives just outside Toronto, Canada.
