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Dishonorable
by INDIACinematically written and now a TUBI movie exclusive, a young woman&’s plans for revenge and survival mode mentality forces her to make desperate decisions that might flip friends into foes and leave her at the mercy of her enemies. Perfect for diehard fans of urban street literature and women&’s crime thrillers. Markita &“Kita&” Jones is a young woman with the world at her fingertips. A high school student with beauty and brains to match, she&’s well on her way to Howard University. However, on her eighteenth birthday, she watches her dreams die during a drive-by shooting that claims the life of her brother, Marlowe. Overnight, Kita transforms from a naïve schoolgirl into a savvy street hustler on a mission to find her brother&’s killer. With the help of her best friends, Kenya and Alexis, Kita quickly begins making more money and more enemies than she ever could&’ve imagined. As these young hustlers learn to navigate the dope game, the police start to close in on them, and the stakes are raised higher than ever. Loyalty is questioned, love is tested, and someone&’s actions prove to be dishonorable. They came into the game together, but will they leave the same way? &“This is that gritty street heat where women are king! Wahida Clark and Nikki Turner fans will reunite with street lit&’s first love.&” —BOSS MAGNET MEDIA
Show Thyself a Man: Georgia State Troops, Colored, 1865-1905 (Southern Dissent)
by Gregory MixonGeorgia Historical Records Advisory Council award for Excellence in Research in Using the Holdings of Archives The history of Black militias in Georgia after the Civil War and their importance in defining citizenshipIn Show Thyself a Man, Gregory Mixon explores the ways in which African Americans in postbellum Georgia used militia service after the Civil War to define freedom and citizenship. Independent militias empowered them to get involved in politics, secure their own financial independence, and mobilize for self-defense.As whites and blacks competed for state sponsorship of their militia companies, African Americans sought to establish their roles as citizens of their country and their state. They proved their efficiency as militiamen and publicly commemorated black freedom and progress with celebrations such as Emancipation Day and the anniversaries of the Civil War Amendments.White Georgians, however, used the militia as a different symbol of freedom—to ensure not only the postwar white right to rule but to assert states’ rights. This social, political, and military history examines how Black militias were integral to the process of liberation, Reconstruction, and nation-building that defined the latter half of the nineteenth century South. A volume in the series Southern Dissent, edited by Stanley Harrold and Randall M. Miller
The Florida Vegetarian Cookbook
by Dalia ColónDelicious recipes that celebrate the seasonal harvests of the Sunshine State With year-round harvests and incredible seasonal variety of crops, Florida offers a wealth of homegrown foods that make it easy to cook local and fresh. Food journalist Dalia Colón is your guide to discovering flavorful dishes that showcase Florida’s bounty of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and grains.The Florida Vegetarian Cookbook includes more than 100 recipes using local ingredients as distinctive as oranges, tomatoes, and watermelon and as interesting as sugarcane, peanuts, cabbage, squash, and cantaloupe. Colón inspires readers to try new twists on classic recipes such as her Spanakopita, a satisfying entrée that pays homage to the Greek restaurants of Tarpon Springs; her sweet-and-spicy Game Day Buffalo Cauliflower that will win over any potluck party; and her Chocolate-Dipped Avocado Paletas that combine creamy avocado, zesty lime, and sweet dark chocolate for a refreshing treat in the summer heat.Colón’s recipes are accompanied by 12 essays that offer the stories behind some of Florida’s most cherished food traditions. Topics include the origins of the Florida Strawberry Festival, the rise and decline of Florida’s citrus industry, the importance of corn for Florida’s First Peoples, and more. Crafted for home cooks seeking to lean into a plant-based lifestyle, this cookbook includes tips on how to plan meals around seasonal fruits and vegetables, using local farmers markets for fresh produce, and exploring the cuisines of different cultures.Colorfully illustrated with simple step-by-step instructions, this book will take you on a delectable journey through the many ways that vegetarian and vegan foods are woven into Florida’s history and culture.
Words and Silences: Nenets Reindeer Herders and Russian Evangelical Missionaries in the Post-Soviet Arctic
by Laur VallikiviWords and Silences tells the story of an extraordinary group of independent Nenets reindeer herders in the northwest Russian Arctic. Under socialism these nomads managed to avoid the Soviet state and its institutions of collectivization, but soon after the atheist regime collapsed, while some staunchly resisted, many of them became fervent fundamentalist Christians. By exploring differing concepts of how traditional and convert Nenets use and define words and of the meanings they ascribe to the withholding of speech, Laur Vallikivi shows how a local form of global Christianity has emerged through intricate negotiations of self, sociality, and cosmology. Moving beyond studies of modernization and globalization that have all-too-predictable outcomes for indigenous peoples, Words and Silences invites us to view not only religious devotees, but words themselves, as agents of a complex and ongoing transformation.
Strangers Within: The Rise and Fall of the New Christian Trading Elite
by Francisco BethencourtA comprehensive study of the New Christian elite of Jewish origin—prominent traders, merchants, bankers and men of letters—between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuriesIn Strangers Within, Francisco Bethencourt provides the first comprehensive history of New Christians, the descendants of Jews forced to convert to Catholicism in late medieval Spain and Portugal. Bethencourt estimates that there were around 260,000 New Christians by 1500—more than half of Iberia&’s urban population. The majority stayed in Iberia but a significant number moved throughout Europe, Africa, the Middle East, coastal Asia and the New World. They established Sephardic communities in North Africa, the Ottoman Empire, Italy, Amsterdam, Hamburg and London. Bethencourt focuses on the elite of bankers, financiers and merchants from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries and the crucial role of this group in global trade and financial services. He analyses their impact on religion (for example, Teresa de Ávila), legal and political thought (Las Casas), science (Amatus Lusitanus), philosophy (Spinoza) and literature (Enríquez Gomez).Drawing on groundbreaking research in eighteen archives and library manuscript departments in six different countries, Bethencourt argues that the liminal position in which the New Christians found themselves explains their rise, economic prowess and cultural innovation. The New Christians created the first coherent legal case against the discrimination of a minority singled out for systematic judicial inquiry. Cumulative inquisitorial prosecution, coupled with structural changes in international trade, led to their decline and disappearance as a recognizable ethnicity by the mid-eighteenth century. Strangers Within tells an epic story of persecution, resistance and the making of Iberia through the oppression of one of the most powerful minorities in world history. Packed with genealogical information about families, their intercontinental networks, their power and their suffering, it is a landmark study.
Counterrevolution: Extravagance and Austerity in Public Finance
by Melinda CooperA thorough investigation of the current combination of austerity and extravagance that characterizes government spending and central bank monetary policyAt the close of the 1970s, government treasuries and central banks took a vow of perpetual self-restraint. To this day, fiscal authorities fret over soaring public debt burdens, while central bankers wring their hands at the slightest sign of rising wages. As the brief reprieve of coronavirus spending made clear, no departure from government austerity will be tolerated without a corresponding act of penance.Yet we misunderstand the scope of neoliberal public finance if we assume austerity to be its sole setting. Beyond the zero-sum game of direct claims on state budgets lies a realm of indirect government spending that escapes the naked eye. Capital gains are multiply subsidized by a tax system that reserves its greatest rewards for financial asset holders. And for all its airs of haughty asceticism, the Federal Reserve has become adept at facilitating the inflation of asset values while ruthlessly suppressing wages. Neoliberalism is as extravagant as it is austere, and this paradox needs to be grasped if we are to challenge its core modus operandi.Melinda Cooper examines the major schools of thought that have shaped neoliberal common sense around public finance. Focusing, in particular, on Virginia school public choice theory and supply-side economics, she shows how these currents produced distinct but ultimately complementary responses to the capitalist crisis of the 1970s. With its intellectual roots in the conservative Southern Democratic tradition, Virginia school public choice theory espoused an austere doctrine of budget balance. The supply-side movement, by contrast, advocated tax cuts without spending restraint and debt issuance without guilt, in an apparent repudiation of austerity. Yet, for all their differences, the two schools converged around the need to rein in the redistributive uses of public spending. Together, they drove a counterrevolution in public finance that deepened the divide between rich and poor and revived the fortunes of dynastic wealth.Far-reaching as the neoliberal counterrevolution has been, Cooper still identifies a counterfactual history of unrealized possibilities in the capitalist crisis of the 1970s. She concludes by inviting us to rethink the concept of revolution and raises the question: Is another politics of extravagance possible?
Wonderstruck: How Wonder and Awe Shape the Way We Think
by Helen De CruzA philosopher explores the transformative role of wonder and awe in an uncertain worldWonder and awe lie at the heart of life&’s most profound questions. Wonderstruck shows how these emotions respond to our fundamental need to make sense of ourselves and everything around us, and how they enable us to engage with the world as if we are experiencing it for the first time.Drawing on the latest psychological insights on emotions, Helen De Cruz argues that wonder and awe are emotional drives that motivate us to inquire and discover new things, and that humanity has deliberately nurtured these emotions in cultural domains such as religion, science, and magic. Tracing how wonder and awe unify philosophy, the humanities, and the sciences, De Cruz provides new perspectives on figures such as Plato, Aristotle, Adam Smith, William James, Rachel Carson, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Abraham Heschel. Along the way, she explains how these singular emotions empower us to be open-minded, to experience joy and hope, and to be resilient in the face of personal troubles and global challenges.Taking inspiration from Descartes&’s portrayal of wonder as &“that sudden surprise of the soul,&” this illuminating book reveals how wonder and awe are catalysts that can help us reclaim what makes life worth living and preserve the things we find wonderful and valuable in our lives.
The Insiders’ Game: How Elites Make War and Peace (Princeton Studies in International History and Politics #208)
by Elizabeth N. SaundersHow elites shape the use of force in American foreign policyOne of the most widely held views of democratic leaders is that they are cautious about using military force because voters can hold them accountable, ultimately making democracies more peaceful. How, then, are leaders able to wage war in the face of popular opposition, or end conflicts when the public still supports them? The Insiders&’ Game sheds light on this enduring puzzle, arguing that the primary constraints on decisions about war and peace come from elites, not the public.Elizabeth Saunders focuses on three groups of elites—presidential advisers, legislators, and military officials—to show how the dynamics of this insiders&’ game are key to understanding the use of force in American foreign policy. She explores how elite preferences differ from those of ordinary voters, and how leaders must bargain with elites to secure their support for war. Saunders provides insights into why leaders start and prolong conflicts the public does not want, but also demonstrates how elites can force leaders to change course and end wars.Tracing presidential decisions about the use of force from the Cold War through the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Saunders reveals how the elite politics of war are a central feature of democracy. The Insiders&’ Game shifts the focus of democratic accountability from the voting booth to the halls of power.
Devotion to the Administrative State: Religion and Social Order in Egypt
by Mona OrabyWhy the pursuit of state recognition by seemingly marginal religious groups in Egypt and elsewhere is a devotional practiceOver the past decade alone, religious communities around the world have demanded state recognition, exemption, accommodation, or protection. They make these appeals both in states with a declared religious identity and in states officially neutral toward religion. In this book, Mona Oraby argues that the pursuit of official recognition by religious minorities amounts to a devotional practice. Countering the prevailing views on secularism, Oraby contends that demands by seemingly marginal groups to have their religious differences recognized by the state in fact assure communal integrity and coherence over time. Making her case, she analyzes more than fifty years of administrative judicial trends, theological discourse, and minority claims-making practices, focusing on the activities of Coptic Orthodox Christians and Baháʼí in modern and contemporary Egypt.Oraby documents the ways that devotion is expressed across a range of sites and sources, including in lawyers&’ offices, administrative judicial verdicts, televised media and film, and invitation-only study sessions. She shows how Egypt&’s religious minorities navigated the political and legal upheavals of the 2011 uprising and now persevere amid authoritarian repression. In a Muslim-majority state, they assert their status as Islam&’s others, finding belonging by affirming their difference; and difference, Oraby argues, is the necessary foundation for collective life. Considering these activities in light of the global history of civil administration and adjudication, Oraby shows that the lengths to which these marginalized groups go to secure their status can help us to reimagine the relationship between law and religion.
Write like a Man: Jewish Masculinity and the New York Intellectuals
by Ronnie GrinbergHow virility and Jewishness became hallmarks of postwar New York&’s combative intellectual sceneIn the years following World War II, the New York intellectuals became some of the most renowned critics and writers in the country. Although mostly male and Jewish, this prominent group also included women and non-Jews. Yet all of its members embraced a secular Jewish machismo that became a defining characteristic of the contemporary experience. Write like a Man examines how the New York intellectuals shared a uniquely American conception of Jewish masculinity that prized verbal confrontation, polemical aggression, and an unflinching style of argumentation.Ronnie Grinberg paints illuminating portraits of figures such as Norman Mailer, Hannah Arendt, Lionel and Diana Trilling, Mary McCarthy, Norman Podhoretz, Midge Decter, and Irving Howe. She describes how their construction of Jewish masculinity helped to propel the American Jew from outsider to insider even as they clashed over its meaning in a deeply anxious project of self-definition. Along the way, Grinberg sheds light on their fraught encounters with the most contentious issues and ideas of the day, from student radicalism and the civil rights movement to feminism, Freudianism, and neoconservatism.A spellbinding chronicle of mid-century America, Write like a Man shows how a combative and intellectually grounded vision of Jewish manhood contributed to the masculinization of intellectual life and shaped some of the most important political and cultural debates of the postwar era.
The Making of the Modern Muslim State: Islam and Governance in the Middle East and North Africa (Princeton Studies in Muslim Politics #90)
by Malika ZeghalAn innovative analysis that traces the continuity of the state&’s custodianship of Islam as the preferred religion in the Middle East and North Africa In The Making of the Modern Muslim State, Malika Zeghal reframes the role of Islam in modern Middle East governance. Challenging other accounts that claim that Middle Eastern states turned secular in modern times, Zeghal shows instead the continuity of the state&’s custodianship of Islam as the preferred religion. Drawing on intellectual, political, and economic history, she traces this custodianship from early forms of constitutional governance in the nineteenth century through post–Arab Spring experiments in democracy. Zeghal argues that the intense debates around the implementation and meaning of state support for Islam led to a political cleavage between conservatives and their opponents that long predated the polarization of the twentieth century that accompanied the emergence of mass politics and Islamist movements.Examining constitutional projects, public spending, school enrollments, and curricula, Zeghal shows that although modern Muslim-majority polities have imported Western techniques of governance, the state has continued to protect and support the religion, community, and institutions of Islam. She finds that even as Middle Eastern states have expanded their nonreligious undertakings, they have dramatically increased their per capita supply of public religious provisions, especially Islamic education—further feeding the political schism between Islamists and their adversaries. Zeghal illuminates the tensions inherent in the partnerships between states and the body of Muslim scholars known as the ulama, whose normative power has endured through a variety of political regimes. Her detailed and groundbreaking analysis, which spans Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon, makes clear the deep historical roots of current political divisions over Islam in governance.
Escaping Nature: How to Survive Global Climate Change
by Orrin H. Pilkey Charles O. Pilkey Linda P. Pilkey-Jarvis Norma J. Longo Keith C. Pilkey Fred B. Dodson Hannah L. HayesIndustrial and agricultural greenhouse gas emissions are rapidly warming Earth’s climate, unleashing rising seas, ocean acidification, melting permafrost, powerful storms, wildfires, floods, deadly heat waves, droughts, tsunamis, food shortages, and armed conflict over shrinking water supplies while reducing nutritional levels in crops. Billions of people will become climate refugees. Hotter temperatures will allow tropical diseases to spread into temperate regions. Higher levels of CO2, allergens, dust, and other particulate matter will impair our physical and mental health and even reduce our cognitive abilities. Climate change disproportionately affects the world’s poor. It also harms Nature, and could ultimately trigger a sixth mass extinction. In Escaping Nature, Orrin H. Pilkey and his coauthors offer concrete suggestions for how to respond to the threats posed by global climate change. They argue that while we wait for the world’s governments to get serious about mitigating climate change we can adapt to a hotter world through technological innovations, behavioral changes, nature-based solutions, political changes, and education.
dear elia: Letters from the Asian American Abyss
by Mimi KhúcIn dear elia Mimi Khúc revolutionizes how we understand mental health. Khúc traces the contemporary Asian American mental health crisis from the university into the maw of the COVID-19 pandemic, reenvisioning mental health through a pedagogy of unwellness—the recognition that we are all differentially unwell. In an intimate series of letters, she bears witness to Asian American unwellness up close and invites readers to recognize in it the shapes and sources of their own unwellness. Khúc draws linkages between student experience, the Asian immigrant family, the adjunctification of the university, and teaching methods pre- and post-COVID-19 to illuminate hidden roots of our collective unwellness: shared investments in compulsory wellness and meritocracy. She reveals the university as a central node and engine of unwellness and argues that we can no longer do Asian American studies without Asian American mental health—and vice versa. Interspersed throughout the book are reflective activities, including original tarot cards, that enact the very pedagogy Khúc advances, offering readers alternative ways of being that divest from structures of unwellness and open new possibilities for collective care.
The Fairy Godmother's Growth Guide: Whimsical Poems and Radical Prose for Self-Exploration
by McGrady McGradySocial media sensation Marisa McGrady is the Fairy Godmother with a self-help guide that isn't one-size-fits-all. . .Modern media makes self-love seem simple. Buy a bath bomb, apply a face mask, and voila! You&’ve got self-love, commodified and canned for your convenience. But self-love cannot be bought. There is no &“one-size-fits-all&” approach to self-care. What happens once our bubble baths drain and feelings of self-loathing, doubt, or despair creep back in? How do our bodies, resource availability (including free time), and physical and emotional needs impact our ability to care for ourselves? Are our bodies &“bad&” just because certain industries, organizations, or people deem them so? Social media sensation Marisa McGrady, also known as @ris.writes or the Fairy Godmother online, explores these questions and more in her debut self-help book, The Fairy Godmother&’s Growth Guide: Whimsical Poems and Radical Prose for Self-Exploration. The bite-sized poems in Part I propose new perspectives about our bodies that inspire us to see ourselves in different lights. The prose in Part II explains accommodating, sustainable approaches to self-care while addressing the harms of industrialized self-love and exploring the internal concepts and external factors that impact self-worth. The Fairy Godmother&’s Growth Guide will redefine your relationship with yourself and help you make your life more magical.
Rainmaker: Superagent Hughes Norton and the Money-Grab Explosion of Golf from Tiger to LIV and Beyond
by Hughes Norton George PeperA rollicking tell-all from golf super-agent, Hughes Norton, detailing everything from his life-changing work with Tiger Woods and Greg Norman to his thoughts on golf&’s current money-grab era. The ultimate read for fans of Alan Shipnuck, Bob Harig, and Michael Bamberger.When twenty-one-year-old Tiger Woods stunned the world by winning The Masters by a mind-blowing twelve strokes, the first thing he did was embrace the three most important people in his life: his father, his mother, and Hughes Norton. At the peak of his career, agent Norton earned a million-dollar salary, flew to all corners of the world in first class, and enjoyed a lifestyle nearly as lavish as his A-list clients. That dizzying success, however, came at a high price. The seventy-hour work weeks, constant travel, and intense pressure—both from his players and their corporate partners—took Norton away from his family and ultimately led to divorce. At the same time, in an effort to protect his players and his career, he found himself making ethical and moral choices he would later regret. Soon, he realized he had made as many enemies as friends. Now, in Rainmaker, Norton draws back the curtain on his meteoric rise and abrupt fall. With never-before-told stories and exclusive insights, he discusses what it was like being Tiger&’s first agent, his time representing the narcissistic Greg Norman, and shining a bright light on his sudden—and controversial—ouster as the head of IMG&’s Golf Division—a juggernaut he helped build. This is an engaging and unforgettable memoir that explores golf as never before.
Footprints on the Journey: One Year Following the Path of Dzogchen Master Khenpo Sodargye
by Khenpo SodargyeInspiring diary entries from a challenging year in the life of the renowned Dzogchen master Khenpo Sodargye demonstrate right conduct for the path to liberation.This personal diary that the renowned Dzogchen master Khenpo Sodargye kept for one year gives serious Dharma practitioners a lifetime of inspiring, wise guidance for practicing right conduct on the path. The backdrop is the Tibetan plateau, from which Khenpo invites us to see the world—from native people to a spider, from vast galaxies to a water droplet—as he does, with candor and humor, and with a Dzogchen master&’s sharp analysis. He shares with us his perceptions of this world, describing his ups and downs in a way that we can relate to and be inspired by, even if we do not have the fortitude to stand up to the oppression of crustaceans or to ransom yaks from the slaughterhouse. Spontaneous and lively, the entries play out the vicissitudes of his life throughout a challenging year, tracking the passage of his thoughts and actions, leaving footprints for whoever is able to follow.
Mothership: A Memoir of Wonder and Crisis
by Greg WrennA dazzling, evidence-based account of one man&’s quest to heal from complex PTSD by turning to endangered coral reefs and psychedelic plants after traditional therapies failed—and his awakening to the need for us to heal the planet as well.Professor Greg Wrenn likes to tell his nature-writing students, &“The ecological is personal, and the personal is ecological.&” What he&’s never told them is how he&’s lived out those correspondences to heal from childhood abuse at the hands of his mother. Weaving together memoir and cutting-edge science, Mothership is not just a queer coming-of-age story. It&’s a deeply researched account of how coral reefs and a psychedelic tea called ayahuasca helped Greg heal from complex PTSD—a disorder of trust, which makes the very act of bonding with someone else panic-inducing. From the tide pools in Florida where he grew up, to Indonesia&’s Raja Ampat archipelago and the Amazon rainforest, this is his search for wholeness when talk therapy and pharmaceuticals did little to help. Along the way, as his ecological conscience wakes up, he takes readers underwater to the last pristine reefs on earth, and into the psyche.Written with prophetic urgency, Mothership ultimately asks if doses of nature will be enough to save us before it&’s too late.
Lost Man's Lane: A Novel
by Scott CarsonA teenager explores the darkness hidden within his hometown in this spellbinding supernatural thriller from bestselling author Scott Carson.For a sixteen-year-old, a summer internship working for a private investigator seems like a dream come true—particularly since the PI is investigating the most shocking crime to hit Bloomington, Indiana, in decades. A local woman has vanished, and the last time anyone saw her, she was in the backseat of a police car driven by a man impersonating an officer. Marshall Miller&’s internship puts him at the center of the action, a position he relishes until a terrifying moment that turns public praise for his sharp observations and uncanny memory into accusations of lying and imperiling the case. His detective mentor withdraws, friends and family worry and whisper, and Marshall alone understands that the darkness visiting his town this summer goes far beyond a single crime. Now his task is to explain it—and himself. Lost Man's Lane is a coming-of-age tale of terror that proves why its author has been hailed as &“a master&” by Stephen King and one who consistently offers &“eerie, gripping storytelling&” by Dean Koontz.
Sacred Geometry in Ancient Goddess Cultures: The Divine Science of the Female Priesthood
by Richard HeathExamines the ancient cosmic science of the female megalithic astronomers• Describes the shared sacred geometry and astronomy knowledge in the megalithic monuments, temples, and secret calendars of the matrilineal cultures of Malta, Gobekli Tepe, and the Minoans of Crete • Shows how early Christians helped preserve ancient science by encoding it in the rock-cut churches of the Cappadocia region of Turkey • Explains how Greek myths reveal the transition from matriarchy to patriarchy Long before Pythagoras and Plato, before arithmetic and Christianity, there existed matrilineal societies around the Mediterranean, led by women with a sophisticated understanding of astronomy and sacred science. In this detailed exploration, Richard Heath decodes the cosmological secrets hidden by ancient goddess-centered cultures on the island of Malta, at Gobekli Tepe in Turkey, and on the Greek island of Crete. Heath reveals how the female astronomers of Malta built megaliths to study the sun, moon, and planets, counting time as lengths and comparing lengths using geometry. He shows how they encoded their cosmological and astronomical discoveries, their &“astronomy of the goddesses,&” in the geometries of their temples and monuments. Examining Maltese and Cretan artifacts, including secret calendars, he details how the Minoans of Crete transformed Maltese astronomy into a matriarchal religion based upon a Saturnian calendar of 364 days. He also reveals evidence of the precursors of Maltese astronomical knowledge in the monuments of Gobekli Tepe. Looking at the shift from sacred geometry to arithmetic in ancient Mediterranean cultures, the author parallels this change in mindset with the transition from matriarchal to patriarchal cultures. He reveals how Greek myths present a way to see the matriarchal past through patriarchal eyes, detailing how Saturn&’s replacement by Jupiter-Zeus symbolizes the transition from matriarchy to patriarchy. The author examines how the early Christians helped preserve the ancient astronomy of the goddesses, due to its connections to Christ&’s cosmological teachings, by encoding it in the artwork of the rock-cut churches and monasteries of the Cappadocia region of Turkey. Revealing how our planet, with its specific harmonics and geometries within our star system, is uniquely designed to support intelligent life, the author shows how this divine spiritual truth was known to the ancient astronomers.
The Next Draft: Inspiring Craft Talks from the Rainier Writing Workshop (Writers On Writing)
by Brenda MillerThe Next Draft: Inspiring Craft Talks from the Rainier Writing Workshop brings together a selection of the “morning talks” delivered by the renowned authors who teach at the prestigious Rainier Writing Workshop MFA program. These morning talks are a highlight of the residencies at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, featuring inspiring, innovative approaches to writing and literature across genres. For this collection, Brenda Miller has selected essays that feature diverse and illustrious writers such as Geffrey Davis, Marjorie Sandor, Barrie Jean Borich, Jenny Johnson, Oliver de la Paz, Lia Purpura, Kent Myers, Rebecca McClanahan, and others. Ranging from reading and writing in the Jewish tradition of midrash to the role of the writer as cultural critic in the 21st century, The Next Draft brings to life the kind of intellectual and creative excitement that underlies the intensive MFA experience at Pacific Lutheran University. Not only do these talks show innovative approaches to writing and literature across genres, they inspire the reader to think about how to read differently and thus bring their own work to a new level.
Modern C for Absolute Beginners: A Friendly Introduction to the C Programming Language
by Slobodan DmitrovićLearn the basics of C, the C standard library, and modern C standards. Complete with modern, up-to-date examples and screenshots, this new edition is fully updated and reworked with the latest C23 standards and features. C is a language that is as popular today as it was decades ago. It can be used to program a microcontroller or to develop an entire operating system. Author Slobodan Dmitrović takes you on a journey through the C programming language, the standard library, and the C standards basics. Each chapter is the right balance of theory and code examples. Written in a concise and easy-to-follow manner, this book will provide you all the essentials needed to start programming in modern C. What You Will LearnUnderstand C programming language and C standard library fundamentalsWork with new C standards featuresStudy the basics of types, operators, statements, arrays, functions, and structsReview the fundamentals of pointers, memory allocation, and memory manipulationTake advantage of best practices in CWho This Book Is For Beginner or novice programmers who wish to learn the C programming language. No prior programming experience is required.
Scalable AI and Design Patterns: Design, Develop, and Deploy Scalable AI Solutions
by Abhishek MishraUnderstand and apply the design patterns outlined in this book to design, develop, and deploy scalable AI solutions that meet your organization's needs and drive innovation in the era of intelligent automation.This book begins with an overview of scalable AI systems and the importance of design patterns in creating robust intelligent solutions. It covers fundamental concepts and techniques for achieving scalability in AI systems, including data engineering practices and strategies. The book also addresses scalable algorithms, models, infrastructure, and architecture considerations. Additionally, it discusses deployment, productionization, real-time and streaming data, edge computing, governance, and ethics in scalable AI. Real-world case studies and best practices are presented, along with insights into future trends and emerging technologies.The book focuses on scalable AI and design patterns, providing an understanding of the challenges involved in developing AI systems that can handle large amounts of data, complex algorithms, and real-time processing. By exploring scalability, you will be empowered to design and implement AI solutions that can adapt to changing data requirements.What You Will LearnDevelop scalable AI systems that can handle large volumes of data, complex algorithms, and real-time processingKnow the significance of design patterns in creating robust intelligent solutionsUnderstand scalable algorithms and models to handle extensive data and computing requirements and build scalable AI systemsBe aware of the ethical implications of scalable AI systemsWho This Book Is ForAI practitioners, data scientists, and software engineers with intermediate-level AI knowledge and experience
Pastoralist Resilience to Environmental Collapse in East Africa since 1500
by Gufu ObaThis book explores pastoralist/ farmers' approaches to environmental disaster management in East Africa, charting their responses and adaptations to famine, pandemics, natural disasters, and historical events. Using a dynamic adaptive cycle theoretical framework, it uses social memory to reconstruct an 'event history calendar', thus combining social memory and written historical records to reconstruct the adaptive strategies of pastoralists. It explores the climate history of the southern Ethiopian and northern Kenyan frontier, considering, in particular, the impact of the colonial period and independence thereafter, providing a significant contribution to debates in African environmental history.
Noise and Vibration Mitigation for Rail Transportation Systems: Proceedings of the 14th International Workshop on Railway Noise, 07–09 December 2022, Shanghai, China (Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering)
by Xiaozhen Sheng David Thompson Geert Degrande Jens C. O. Nielsen Pierre-Etienne Gautier Kiyoshi Nagakura Ard Kuijpers James Tuman Nelson David A. Towers David Anderson Thorsten TielkesThis book collects original peer-reviewed papers describing the latest developments in railway noise and vibration from the 14th International Workshop on Railway Noise (IWRN14), held on 7–9 December 2022, in Shanghai, China. It covers a broad range of railway noise and vibration topics, including high-speed rail and aerodynamic noise, wheel and rail noise, curving squeal noise, bridge noise, vehicle interior noise, structure-borne noise, and ground-borne vibration. Further topics such as resilient track forms, wheel out-of-round and polygonalization, rail roughness, corrugation and grinding, etc. are also covered. With the extensive and timely information offered, this book helps scientists and engineers in their daily efforts to identify, understand, and solve problems related to railway noise and vibration and to achieve the ultimate goal of minimizing the environmental impact of railway systems.
Conservativism: A Cultural-Psychological Exploration (SpringerBriefs in Psychology)
by Enno Freiherr von FircksThe present work discusses the phenomenon of conservativism from a qualitative, cultural-psychological perspective. As such, the text breaks with current mainstream research about political ideologies wanting to assess a political culture within the simple administration of a questionnaire. The SpringerBrief will oppose such a perspective trying to assess how the conservative-minded person will structure space and time in peculiar ways. In the first part of the study, participants were invited to reflect about how they preserve or conserve meaning in various activities whereas the second part of the study tried to shed light onto how something preservable or conservable comes into being and what it actually makes it preservable. Here, an autoethnographic study revealed that something becomes meaningfully preservable when it satisfies multiple demands of the Self as well as of the environment. Readers will realize the insufficiency of the positivistic attitude analyzing conservativism from a simple quantitative perspective, and researchers are shown how political ideologies or cultures can be assessed ecologically – something that has not yet been undertaken. This leads to an appeal for scientists to study the phenomenon of conservativism more wholistically.