In 1960s Czechoslovakia, Patrik participates in and rebels against the communist regime, knowing that anyone could become an enemy in the blink of an eye. Fourteen-year-old Patrik rebels against the communist regime in small ways whenever he gets the chance: spray-painting slogans, listening to contraband Beatles records, even urinating on a statue of Lenin under cover of night. But anti-Party sentiment is risky, and when party interference cuts a little too close to home, Patrik and his family find themselves faced with a decision — and a grave secret — that will change everything. As the moments tick toward too late, Patrik takes his family’s fate in hand, risking everything for a chance at freedom. Examining the psychological toll of living under an authoritarian regime, Carolyn Marsden allows readers to experience both Patrik’s persistent worry and his hope for better things. >
Feminine traits that were once disparaged as weaknesses -- such as sensitivity, intuition, and feeling emotional -- are reclaimed as powerful strengths that can be embraced as the keys to a happier life for everyone Challenging old and outdated perceptions that feminine traits are weaknesses, The Feminine Revolution revisits those characteristics to show how they are powerful assets that should be embraced rather than maligned. It argues that feminine traits have been mischaracterized as weak, fragile, diminutive, and embittered for too long, and offers a call to arms to redeem them as the superpowers and gifts that they are. The authors, Amy Stanton and Catherine Connors, begin with a brief history of when-and-why these traits were defined as weaknesses, sharing opinions from iconic females including Marianne Williamson and Cindy Crawford. Then they offer a set of feminine principles that challenge current perceptions of feminine traits, while providing women new mindsets to reclaim those traits with confidence. The principles include counterintuitive messages, including: Take things hard. Women feel things deeply, especially the hard stuff -- and that's a good thing. Enjoy glamour. Peacocks' bright coloring and garish feathers are part of their survival strategy -- similar tactics are part of our happiness strategy. Chit-chat. Women have been derogated for "gossip" for centuries. But what others call gossip, we call social connection. Emote. Never let anyone tell you to not be emotional. Express your enthusiasm, love, affection and warmth. Embrace your domestic side. Don't be ashamed to cultivate the beauty of your home and wrap your arms around friends and family. With an upbeat blend of self-help and fresh analysis, The Feminine Revolution reboots femininity for the modern woman and provides her with the tools to accept and embrace her own authentic nature.
Disrupt your industry, boost profitability, and grow your business with a powerful A.I. strategy.Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) is on the verge of disrupting every domain of human existence. What does that mean for your business? Everything. Building on the power of A.I. is the factor that will determine success or failure in the very near future—and this in-depth guide from the man who designed the A.I. system that famously won Jeopardy provides everything you need to be a leader in this revolution.Own the A.I. Revolution provides a future-forward look at A.I.—how it will look in the coming years, the countless business opportunities it will offer, the risks that come with it—and delivers the knowledge you need to navigate it all in real and practical ways. You’ll learn how to:•Find the right off-the-shelf A.I. solutions for your needs•Perform a cost/benefit analysis of implementing A.I. into your business strategy•Train and test A.I. before fully committing•Assemble superior teams to steer your A.I. future•Ensure you remain current and ahead of the curveYou’ll also find interviews with today’s top experts and A.I. thought leaders on the exciting ways organizations are already transforming themselves through this revolutionary technology.A.I. sounds scary to some, but the best business leaders see it as an opportunity—as a way not only to drive profits and outpace the competition, but to build value for customers and make the world a better place. It’s time to face our brave new A.I.-driven world—and make sure you Own the A.I. Revolution!
The Revolutionary War encompassed at least two struggles: one for freedom from British rule, and another, quieter but no less significant fight for the liberty of African Americans, thousands of whom fought in the Continental Army. Because these veterans left few letters or diaries, their story has remained largely untold, and the significance of their service largely unappreciated. Standing in Their Own Light restores these African American patriots to their rightful place in the historical struggle for independence and the end of racial oppression. Revolutionary era African Americans began their lives in a world that hardly questioned slavery; they finished their days in a world that increasingly contested the existence of the institution. Judith L. Van Buskirk traces this shift to the wartime experiences of African Americans. Mining firsthand sources that include black veterans’ pension files, Van Buskirk examines how the struggle for independence moved from the battlefield to the courthouse—and how personal conflicts contributed to the larger struggle against slavery and legal inequality. Black veterans claimed an American identity based on their willing sacrifice on behalf of American independence. And abolitionists, citing the contributions of black soldiers, adopted the tactics and rhetoric of revolution, personal autonomy, and freedom. Van Buskirk deftly places her findings in the changing context of the time. She notes the varied conditions of slavery before the war, the different degrees of racial integration across the Continental Army, and the war’s divergent effects on both northern and southern states. Her efforts retrieve black patriots’ experiences from historical obscurity and reveal their importance in the fight for equal rights—even though it would take another war to end slavery in the United States.
I have always been broken. I could have died. And maybe it would have been better if i had. It is a day like any other when seventeen-year-old Melinda hits the road for San Francisco, leaving behind her fractured home life and a constant assault on her self-esteem. Henry is the handsome, charismatic man who comes upon her, collapsed on a park bench, and offers love, a bright new consciousness, and—best of all—a family. One that will embrace her and give her love. Because family is what Mel has never really had. And this new family, Henry's family, shares everything. They share the chores, their bodies, and their beliefs. And if Mel truly wants to belong, she will share in everything they do. No matter what the family does, or how far they go. Told in episodic verse, Family is a fictionalized exploration of cult dynamics, loosely based on the Manson Family murders of 1969. It is an unflinching look at people who are born broken, and the lengths they'll go to to make themselves "whole" again.
Since My Life was first published it has been regarded as a unique political, literary and human document. Written in the first year of Trotsky's exile in Turkey, it contains the earliest authoritative account of the rise of Stalinism and the expulsion of the Left Opposition, who heroically fought for the ideas and traditions of Lenin. Trotsky's exile is the culmination of a narrative which moves from his childhood, his education in the "universities" of Tsarist prisons, Siberia and then foreign exile - to his involvement in the European revolutionary movement and his central role in the tempestuous 1905 revolution and the Bolshevik victory in October 1917 and the civil war which followed. The work concludes with his deportation and exile. With an introduction by Alan Woods and a preface by Trotsky's grandson, Vsievolod Volkov.
In 1970, nine members of a Japanese New Left group called the Red Army Faction hijacked a domestic airliner to North Korea with dreams of acquiring the military training to bring about a revolution in Japan. The North Korean government accepted the hijackers—who became known in the media as the Yodogō group, based on the name of the hijacked plane—and two years later they announced their conversion to juche, North Korea’s new political ideology. Little was heard from the exiles until 1988, when a member of Yodogō was unexpectedly arrested in Japan, and communications with the group opened up in the context of his trial. As a former Red Army Faction member, journalist Kōji Takazawa made several trips to North Korea, re-established his ties to the group’s leader Takamaro Tamiya, and helped to publish the group’s writings in Japan. After Kim Il Sung revealed that Yodogō members had Japanese wives, Takazawa published a book of interviews with the women, but in the process became suspicious about the romantic stories they told. He also wondered about the members who were missing, and learned more details in long, private conversations with Tamiya. After Tamiya’s sudden death in 1995, Takazawa launched his own investigation of what the group had actually been doing for two decades, even traveling to Europe to follow traces there. An example of superb investigative journalism, Destiny: The Secret Operations of the Yodogō Exiles offers Kōji Takazawa's powerful story of how he exposed the Yodogō group’s involvement in the kidnapping and luring of several young Japanese to North Korea, as well as the truth behind their Japanese wives’ presence in the country. Takazawa's careful research was validated in 2002, when the North Korean government publicly acknowledged it had kidnapped thirteen Japanese citizens during the 1970s and 1980s, including three people whom Takazawa had connected to the Yodogō hijackers. Embedded in his pursuit toward what truly happened to the Yodogō members is Takazawa’s personal reflection of the 1970s, a decade when radical student activism swept Japan, and what it meant to those whose lives were forever changed.
I Am is a practical manual for the peaceful worldwide revolution underway. It mandates the end of corporate personhood, and the "for profit before people" Federal Reserve System. It calls for the establishment of a Federal Department of Integrity, the revamping of our foreign relations and its "foreign aid for profit" machine and doing away with the "clearly unconstitutional income tax." Bob co-founded several non-profit organizations including Colorado's San Luis Valley Solar Energy Association and Alamosa Children's School during the 1980's. As co-director of the San Luis Valley Energy Center, he traveled nationwide and internationally promoting hands-on, low-cost and no-cost do-it-yourself solar energy and energy conservation technologies. He has worked as a community development specialist in twenty countries. I Am grounds the reader in an autobiographical journey of empowerment, inspiring the reader to move beyond fear and beyond belief to undertake the great challenges of our times. Bob presents ideas for reversing global warming within a matter of months, for convoking a constitutional assembly, for retooling our factories, creating millions of jobs and creating a sustainable future for the Earth
In this collection of essays, Michael Walzer discusses how obligations are incurred, sustained, and (sometimes) abandoned by citizens of the modern state and members of political parties and movements as they respond to and participate in the most crucial and controversial aspects of citizenship: resistance, dissent, civil disobedience, war, and revolution. Walzer approaches these issues with insight and historical perspective, exhibiting an extraordinary understanding for rebels, radicals, and rational revolutionaries. The reader will not always agree with Walzer but he cannot help being stimulated, excited, challenged, and moved to thoughtful analysis.
