How does a country dismantle a century’s worth of its industrial heritage? To answer that question, Paul Clemens investigates the 2006 closing of one of America’s most potent symbols: a Detroit auto plant. Prior to its closing, the Budd Company stamping plant on Detroit’s East Side, built in 1919, was one of the oldest active auto plants in America’s foremost industrial city—one whose history includes the nation’s proudest moments and those of its working class. Its closing also reflects the character of the country in a new era—the sad, brutal process of picking it apart and sending it, piece by piece, to the countries that now have use for its machines. Punching Out is an up-close report, at once tender and angry, from the meanest, sharpest edge of America’s deindustrializa­tion, and a lament for a working-class culture that once defined a prosperous America—and that is now on the verge of eco­nomic extinction.

    Even modern neuroscience has tended, until recently, to concentrate on the cognitive aspects of brain function, disregarding emotions. This attitude began to change with the publication of Descartes’ Error in 1995. Antonio Damasio—"one of the world’s leading neurologists" (The New York Times)—challenged traditional ideas about the connection between emotions and rationality. In this wondrously engaging book, Damasio takes the reader on a journey of scientific discovery through a series of case studies, demonstrating what many of us have long suspected: emotions are not a luxury, they are essential to rational thinking and to normal social behavior.

    As a traditional psychotherapist, Dr. Brian Weiss was astonished and skeptical when one of his patients began recalling past-life traumas that seemed to hold the key to her recurring nightmares and anxiety attacks. His skepticism was eroded, however, when she began to channel messages from the "space between lives," which contained remarkable revelations about Dr. Weiss' family and his dead son. Using past-life therapy, he was able to cure the patient and embark on a new, more meaningful phase of his own career.

    A brilliant exploration into the soiled heart of the American trash can.Into our trash cans go dead batteries, dirty diapers, bygone burritos, broken toys, tattered socks, eight-track cassettes, scratched CDs, banana peels … But where do these things go next? In a country that consumes and then casts off more and more, what actually happens to the things we throw away?

    This massive spike drove an unprecedented global gold-mining and exploration boom, much bigger than the Gold Rush of the 1800s. In Gold, acclaimed author Matthew Hart takes you on an unforgettable journey around the world and through history to tell the extraordinary story of how gold became the world’s most precious commodity.Beginning with a page-turning dispatch from the crime-ridden inferno of the world’s deepest mine, Hart pulls back to survey gold’s tempestuous past. From the earliest civilizations, 6,000 years ago, when gold was an icon of sacred and kingly power, Hart tracks its evolution, through conquest, murder, and international mayhem, into the speculative casino-chip that the metal has become. Hart describes each boom and bust in gold’s long story, culminating in the swift and startling emergence of China as the world’s new gold titan. In writing that Publishers Weekly calls “polished and fiery,” Hart weaves together history and cutthroat economics to reveal the human dramas that have driven our lust for a precious yellow metal.

    To its detractors, L. Ron Hubbard's space-age mysticism is a moneymaking scam and sinister brainwashing cult. But to its adherents, it is humanity's brightest hope. Few religious movements have been subject to public scrutiny like Scientology, yet much of what is written about the church is sensationalist and inaccurate. Here for the first time is the story of Scientology's protracted and turbulent journey to recognition as a religion in the postwar American landscape.Hugh Urban tells the real story of Scientology from its cold war-era beginnings in the 1950s to its prominence today as the religion of Hollywood's celebrity elite. Urban paints a vivid portrait of Hubbard, the enigmatic founder who once commanded his own private fleet and an intelligence apparatus rivaling that of the U.S. government. One FBI agent described him as a mental case, but to his followers he is the man who solved the riddle of the human mind. Urban details Scientology's decades-long war with the IRS, which ended with the church winning tax-exempt status as a religion; the rancorous cult wars of the 1970s and 1980s; as well as the latest challenges confronting Scientology, from attacks by the Internet group Anonymous to the church's efforts to suppress the online dissemination of its esoteric teachings.The Church of Scientology demonstrates how Scientology has reflected the broader anxieties and obsessions of postwar America, and raises profound questions about how religion is defined and who gets to define it.

    The Weary Blues announced the arrival of a rare voice in American poetry. A literary descendant of Walt Whitman ("I, too, sing America," Hughes wrote), he chanted the joys and sorrows of black America in unprecedented language. A gifted lyricist, he offered rhythms and cadences that epitomized the particularities of African American creativity, especially jazz and the blues. His second volume, steeped in the blues and controversial because of its frankness, confirmed Hughes as a poet of uncompromising integrity. Then in the 1930s came Dear Lovely Death (1931) and the radical A New Song (1938). Poems such as "Good Morning Revolution" and "Let America Be America Again" made his pen one of the most forceful in America during the Great Depression.

    Next, he explores different ways to move and play that are known to positively influence physical and mental health. There are ideas on how to relax your body and mind, including massage and meditation, as well as the best strategies for restorative sleep. Finally, Pete explores activities that promote creativity, self-awareness and connection with other people, which are all essential to emotional wellbeing.With ideas to inspire everyone to make a change in their lives - no matter how big or small - Heal will help you to find the path to your healthiest self.

    Schott's Original Miscellany

     The Program: THE MERIDIAN FLEXIBILITY SYSTEM® provides stretches for 16 unique muscle groups with physiological and psychological benefits.

    Convinced that there is "a finite number of excuses" for violence and that some excuses "are more valid than others," Vollmann spent two decades consulting hundreds of sources, scrutinizing the thinking of philosophers, theologians, tyrants, warlords, military strategists, activists and pacifists. He also visited more than a dozen countries and war zones to witness violence firsthand -- sometimes barely escaping with his life.Vollmann makes deft use of these tools and experiences to create his Moral Calculus, a structured decision-making system designed to help the reader decide when violence is justifiable and when it is not.

    Budgeting, saving, and getting debt paid off are explained in an easy to understand way.

    I know how well they worked for me in regaining my life, and now I want to share them with you.' Katie Piper. Start your Day with Katie is a page-a-day book of Katie Piper's most powerful inspirational thoughts, plus quotes and mantras that helped give her courage and hope after her rape and acid attack. With Katie's guiding messages, you can begin every day on the right track. Let these affirmations help you find happiness and inner strength. They are one of the tools that Katie Piper used to rebuild her life. Keep this book with you or by your bedside table to turn to any time you need a little help in finding peace or inspiration.

    These poor reading habits hold us back, and it’s why so many people don’t enjoy reading. You see, your brain is a lot like Goldilocks. When you read too slow, your mind wanders, you get distracted, and reading feels like a chore. When you try to read too fast, you can't comprehend what you're reading. The key is to read at the right speed using the best reading strategies for your learning type. In this short read, you’ll discover proven strategies to read faster without having to: Practice speed-reading techniques for hours and hours Skim text and risk missing crucial information Read cliff notes or shortened versions of a book This book combines the best lessons from speed reading techniques, neuroscience, and modern technology to allow you to read faster and comprehend more than you ever thought possible—and you can start to see the results today! Say Goodbye to Slow Reading Forever! I was always a slow reader. I could never focus long enough to read an entire book. I often forgot what I had just read, and had to re-read sentences over and over again. Reading was a frustrating, slow, and painful experience, so I tried to make up for my poor reading skills by studying more and working harder. But studying hard will only get you so far when you're using the wrong strategies. I wanted to be able to read more, learn more, and, most importantly, remember more of what I was reading. If you’ve quit reading more books than you can remember because of boredom or frustration, this book will change your life—and every book from now on will be a “quick read” for you. Everything changed when I developed a better way to read entire books very fast… Incredible Reading Results in 7 Days I was able to read four large books in my first week of using these methods. In Read Better Faster: How to Triple Your Reading Speed and Comprehension Without Speed Reading, Skimming, or Skipping you will discover: The exact methods anyone can use to read books faster than you ever imagined Never again struggle to finish a book, no matter how big or complex it is Start reading (and finishing) more books your friends and colleagues recommend to you How to guarantee laser-focused reading so you never have to re-read or forget what you just read How to comprehend and retain everything you read using a method that forces your brain to turn what you read into long-term memory storage How to accelerate your ability to learn more by reading faster and remembering more information than ever before This book is perfect for you if: You need to study for an exam, improve your grades, or do better in school You need to learn new business skills to improve your career or company You want to easily breeze through your favorite fiction books so you can enjoy reading even more You’ve always wanted to read more books but just can’t find the time or struggle to get through a book I encourage you to in

    So you want to know how to compose the winning arguent? How to prepare it? Deliver it? Spense believes that argument begins with the person, and that to argue successfully one must accomplish more than mere teechnique. He maintains that success in arguments, as in life, is a derivative of personal growth, of discoverring who we are, and embracing the uniqueness that is individual to each of us. The Laws of Arguing According to Gerry Spence1. Everyone is capable of making the winning aargument.2. Winning is getting what we want, which also means helping "others" get what they want.3. Learn that words are a weapon, and can be used hostilely in combat.4. Know that there is always a "biological advantage" of delivering the TRUTH.5. Assault is not argument.6. Use fear as an ally in pubic speaking or in argument. Learn to convert its energy.7. Let emotions show and don't discourage passion.8. Don't be blinded by brilliance.9. Learn to speak with the body. The body sometimes speaks more powerfully than words. 10 Know that the enemy is not the person with whom we are engaged in a failing argument, but the vision within ourselves