Defying the Gods
Defying the Gods

Author: Scott McCartney

Publisher: Scribner

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 9780025828209

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In Defying the Gods, Scott McCartney takes the reader inside the world of organ transplants, focusing on four patients at the Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. Baylor is home to one of the top three leading transplant teams in the country - a pair of "Top Gun" cutters who have stretched the boundaries of science to save lives. Defying the Gods shows not only what goes on inside the operating room, but also details the circumstances that brought the patients and the organs to the operating table - because for every triumphant successful transplant, there is the death of the person who donated the organ. McCartney follows the four patients on this difficult journey, from the weeks or even months of anguished waiting on the list of potential recipients, to the stressful recovery period when both doctors and patients watch tensely to see if the organ will be rejected by the patient's body - which in some cases means death. McCartney also profiles the transplant surgeons, who consider themselves on the cutting edge of medicine as they constantly push back the borders of death, and explains and critiques the transplant system: Who decides who gets one of the small number of available organs, and how is that decision made? Are doctors' and hospitals' hands tied by the laws regulating the collection and allocation of organs, or do they manipulate those laws? How important is it for patients to pass what doctors call the "wallet biopsy"? What can we do to assure an adequate supply of organs in the future? Defying the Gods is the definitive account of the history, science, and ethics that make transplants possible, covering the terrible choices transplantation presents for families, themoral dilemmas facing doctors, and the ongoing debate over how best to allocate the limited organs to those who need them. It is both suspenseful and moving, addressing important medical issues on a most human level.

Accidental Gods
Accidental Gods

Author: Anna Della Subin

Publisher: Metropolitan Books

Published: 2021-12-07

Total Pages: 435

ISBN-13: 1250296889

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NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY ESQUIRE, THE IRISH TIMES AND THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT A provocative history of men who were worshipped as gods that illuminates the connection between power and religion and the role of divinity in a secular age Ever since 1492, when Christopher Columbus made landfall in the New World and was hailed as a heavenly being, the accidental god has haunted the modern age. From Haile Selassie, acclaimed as the Living God in Jamaica, to Britain’s Prince Philip, who became the unlikely center of a new religion on a South Pacific island, men made divine—always men—have appeared on every continent. And because these deifications always emerge at moments of turbulence—civil wars, imperial conquest, revolutions—they have much to teach us. In a revelatory history spanning five centuries, a cast of surprising deities helps to shed light on the thorny questions of how our modern concept of “religion” was invented; why religion and politics are perpetually entangled in our supposedly secular age; and how the power to call someone divine has been used and abused by both oppressors and the oppressed. From nationalist uprisings in India to Nigerien spirit possession cults, Anna Della Subin explores how deification has been a means of defiance for colonized peoples. Conversely, we see how Columbus, Cortés, and other white explorers amplified stories of their godhood to justify their dominion over native peoples, setting into motion the currents of racism and exclusion that have plagued the New World ever since they touched its shores. At once deeply learned and delightfully antic, Accidental Gods offers an unusual keyhole through which to observe the creation of our modern world. It is that rare thing: a lyrical, entertaining work of ideas, one that marks the debut of a remarkable literary career.

Against the Gods
Against the Gods

Author: Peter L. Bernstein

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2012-09-11

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 0470534532

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A Business Week, New York Times Business, and USA Today Bestseller "Ambitious and readable . . . an engaging introduction to the oddsmakers, whom Bernstein regards as true humanists helping to release mankind from the choke holds of superstition and fatalism." —The New York Times "An extraordinarily entertaining and informative book." —The Wall Street Journal "A lively panoramic book . . . Against the Gods sets up an ambitious premise and then delivers on it." —Business Week "Deserves to be, and surely will be, widely read." —The Economist "[A] challenging book, one that may change forever the way people think about the world." —Worth "No one else could have written a book of such central importance with so much charm and excitement." —Robert Heilbroner author, The Worldly Philosophers "With his wonderful knowledge of the history and current manifestations of risk, Peter Bernstein brings us Against the Gods. Nothing like it will come out of the financial world this year or ever. I speak carefully: no one should miss it." —John Kenneth Galbraith Professor of Economics Emeritus, Harvard University In this unique exploration of the role of risk in our society, Peter Bernstein argues that the notion of bringing risk under control is one of the central ideas that distinguishes modern times from the distant past. Against the Gods chronicles the remarkable intellectual adventure that liberated humanity from oracles and soothsayers by means of the powerful tools of risk management that are available to us today. "An extremely readable history of risk." —Barron's "Fascinating . . . this challenging volume will help you understand the uncertainties that every investor must face." —Money "A singular achievement." —Times Literary Supplement "There's a growing market for savants who can render the recondite intelligibly-witness Stephen Jay Gould (natural history), Oliver Sacks (disease), Richard Dawkins (heredity), James Gleick (physics), Paul Krugman (economics)-and Bernstein would mingle well in their company." —The Australian

The Crimson Gods
The Crimson Gods

Author: Chris M. Christian

Publisher: Lochmoor Productions

Published: 2021-10-18

Total Pages: 299

ISBN-13: 1737343002

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When powerful siblings discover a terrifying truth, will they embrace a new destiny or turn to darkness? Ashaya Blacksun has had a weight lifted from her shoulders. Freed by her father's abdication of his crown, the former princess's delight over choosing her own path is barely dimmed by her strange and haunting dreams. But when her beloved twin brother doesn't return home from a ranging expedition, the unconventional young woman fears something has gone terribly wrong. Born into royalty, Sirich Blacksun quietly seethes that he's no longer heir to the throne. Still determined to maintain a position of leadership, he sets out to investigate the disturbing news of carnage in the south. But when he crosses paths with a powerful figure straight out of lore, the temptation to ignore his beloved father's bold vision in favor of his own ambition becomes increasingly difficult to resist. Defying tradition by sneaking off to find her missing twin, Ashaya's travels over deadly terrain are plagued by intensifying visions that point to a dark fate. And as Sirich's strange new companion shows him a new way forward, the frustrated would-be king faces a frightening choice. As these scions of nobility grapple with a new reality, will their quest for truth end in tragedy? The Crimson Gods is the first book in the sweeping Crimson Gods medieval fantasy series. If you like fierce characters, ancient fables, and stunning twists, then you'll love Chris M. Christian's breathtaking epic. Buy The Crimson Gods to taste the blood of deities today!

Overthrowing the Old Gods
Overthrowing the Old Gods

Author: Don Webb

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2013-11-02

Total Pages: 316

ISBN-13: 162055190X

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New commentaries on Aleister Crowley’s Book of the Law reveal how it is connected to both Right- and Left-Hand Paths • Examines each line of the Book of the Law in the light of modern psychology, Egyptology, Gurdjieff’s teachings, and contemporary Left-Hand Path thought • Explores Crowley’s identification with the First Beast of Revelations as well as his adoption of the Loki archetype for becoming a vessel of love for all humanity • Recasts the Cairo Working as a text of personal sovereignty and a relevant tool for personal transformation • Includes commentary on the Book of the Law by Dr. Michael A. Aquino, who served as High Priest of the Temple of Set from 1975 to 1996 Received by Aleister Crowley in April 1904 in Cairo, Egypt, the Book of the Law is the most provocative record of magical working in several hundred years, affecting not only organizations directly associated with Crowley such as the Ordo Templi Orientis but also modern Wicca, Chaos Magic, and the Temple of Set. Boldly defying Crowley’s warning not to comment on the Book of the Law, Ipsissimus Don Webb provides in-depth interpretation from both Black and White Magical perspectives, including commentary from Dr. Michael A. Aquino, who served as High Priest of the Temple of Set from 1975 to 1996. Webb examines each line of the Book in the light of modern psychology, Egyptology, existentialism, and competing occult systems such as the teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff and contemporary Left-Hand Path thought. Discarding the common image of Crowley formulated in a spiritually unsophisticated time when the devotee of the Left-Hand Path was dismissed as a selfish evil doer, Webb unveils a new side of Crowley based on his adoption of the Loki archetype and his aim to become a vessel of love for all humanity. In so doing, he shows how the Book of the Law is connected to both Right- and Left-Hand Paths and reveals how Crowley’s magical path of mastery over the self and Cosmos overthrew the gods of old religion, which had kept humanity asleep to dream the nightmare of history. Providing in-depth analysis of Crowley’s sources and his self-identification with the First Beast of Revelation from a profound esoteric perspective, Webb takes his views out of the Golden Dawn matrix within which he received the Book of the Law and radically recasts the Cairo Working as a text of personal sovereignty and a relevant tool for personal transformation.

Defying Destiny
Defying Destiny

Author: Andrew Rowe

Publisher: Independently Published

Published: 2019-09-10

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781692331269

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It's been almost a year since the Trials of Unyielding Steel.When Lydia gets a lead on the whereabouts of Jonathan Sterling, she concludes her training with a legendary immortal sorcerer and puts a plan in motion for his capture.Near Selyr, Taelien reunites with an old friend - Wrynn Jaden, the legendary Witch of a Thousand Shadows - and meets with Jonan to make a deal.Jonan, of course, has other concerns. His master, the legendary Lady of Thieves herself, has given him a new assignment - one that hints at world-shaping events, if he can survive the mission. He'll partner with Velas, but she has her own problems to deal with, including a revelation that will test where her loyalties truly lie.

Stranger's of Fate
Stranger's of Fate

Author: Sarah Hoad

Publisher: AuthorHouse

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 145209361X

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'Stranger's of Fate' is the third novel in the chilling Scripted Destiny series. Varela lives in New York with her family, working for one of the wealthiest families in the city. The day before her seventeenth birthday she awakens to the news that the ones closest to her have been killed in a boating accident. With a new master coming into her life, everything is thrown into turmoil. Varela starts to see images from the past, creatures presently living in her home and beyond all that, she is faced with a demon slowly casting his darkness around her. She is left with no choice but to run and in doing so she is faced with her strangers of fate, revealing a enchanting prophesy that could end it all.

The Covenant
The Covenant

Author: Riaan Engelbrecht

Publisher: Riaan Engelbrecht

Published: 2024-04-10

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13:

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As the children of God we have a covenant in place with God. A covenant is similar to an agreement, or a binding contract. By the Covenant of Grace, we are redeemed and liberated from our sins and former life of carnality. Yet we also have a part to play, even though we may not always think so. Our part is to love God, to obey Him, to follow His Word, to have no other ‘gods’, to lead holy and pure lives and to fulfil the Great Commission. It is in simplicity also to uphold the Ten Commandments. Jesus gave all His Blood for the Covenant, which ensures our eternal life, provision and protection. How often do we truly stand still and contemplate the Covenant? We often think of Jesus’ death and ascension solely in light of redeeming us from sin, yet His Blood was shed to ratify (sign or give formal consent to a treaty, contract, or agreement, therefore making it officially valid) the Covenant. By our spiritual covenant, we are betrothed unto God, and we will one day celebrate the marriage with the feast in heaven. In this series of works, we look at the importance of the Covenant, and the absolute necessity to honour and uphold it. God is not one to be mocked and trifled with. He is holy, mighty and glorious. As His creation, we need to pay attention to Him, to His order, and to truth. May we worship Him and may we walk in His holiness as Covenant-keeping servants of the Most High.