Dirt.Oh, the bomb thought. And then its courage, determination and nobility-of-spirit subroutines cut in, overriding everything else, adrenalizing its command functions and bypassing its cyberphrenetic nodes. Here goes, said the bomb to itself. Calibrate navigational pod. Engage primary thrusters. Ready auxiliary drive. It knew, in that moment, that its own doom was near; because it was giving itself orders, and it wasn’t putting in any ‘the’s. That was what you did, apparently, when the moment came. You could also turn on a flashing red beacon and a siren, but mercifully these were optional.Oh #//+! thought the bomb, and surged on towards Dirt like an avenging angel.

    When Robert Gordon started covering Memphis music, the golden ages of his hometown had passed. But the links were there if you looked for them. Starting as a teenager, Gordon sought out old legends Furry Lewis and Mose Vinson, spent time at Jr. Kimbrough’s house parties, went into the grooves of records by Leadbelly and Robert Johnson, and picked up the threads in the new sounds that were developing around him, becoming the official chronicler of the Memphis scene. Memphis Rent Party compiles the best of these short pieces from the first three decades of Gordon’s career, many previously unpublished. The focus is on Memphis, but, like mint seeping into bourbon, Gordon gets into the wider world. In addition to homegrown renegades Alex Chilton (Box Tops, Big Star) and producer Jim Dickinson (Replacements, Rolling Stones), he spends time with those whom Memphis has inspired, like Cat Power, Jeff Buckley and Townes Van Zandt. A rent party is when friends come together to hear music, dance, and help a pal through hard times. With this stellar collection, Gordon—a deep listener, passionate cultural commentator, and unparelleled scribe of Southern sound—throws a rent party that will keep readers reading, music lovers listening, and culture hounds howling for more.

    More than two centuries in the development of modern forensic procedures come to vivid life as everything from handwriting analyses and voiceprints to ballistics, DNA testing, and psychological profiles reveal whodunit (and, in some startling cases, who didn't do it)."Pithy, concise, and remarkably accurate." -Science Books & Films"Contains ample material to hold the attention and foster interest in science." -Science Teacher

    In response he and lobbyist Sunny McCarthy convince an Arkansas congressman to introduce federal legislation mandating that every American must own a firearm. Events soon escalate. Asabogue’s Mayor Lois Leibowitz passes an ordinance to ban guns in the town—right in Otis Cogsworth’s backyard. Otis retaliates by orchestrating a recall election against Lois and Jack Steele, a rich town resident, runs against her. Even though the election is for the mayor of a village on Long Island, Steele brings in the big guns of American politics to defeat Lois: political consultants, Super PACs, and celebrities. Soon, thousands of pro-gun and anti-gun partisans descend on Asabogue, along with an assortment of heavily armed rightwing militias and the national news media. Bucolic Asabogue becomes a tinderbox. Meanwhile, Washington politicians in both parties are caught between a mighty gun lobby whose support they need for reelection and the absurdity of requiring that every American with waivers for children under age four carry a gun. What ensues is a discomfiting, hilarious indictment of the state of American politics. Former Long Island Congressman, Steve Israel has firsthand knowledge of the cynicism and corruption at the heart of our political system. Big Guns will make you laugh, will make you angry, and will make you think as you flip the pages faster and faster to find out what happens next.

    population will be confined in their lifetimes. Despite these disturbing numbers, little is known about life inside beyond the mythology of popular culture.Michael G. Santos, a federal prisoner nearing the end of his second decade of continuous confinement, has dedicated the last eighteen years to shedding light on the lives of the men warehoused in the American prison system. Inside: Life Behind Bars in America, his first book for the general public, takes us behind those bars and into the chaos of the cellblock.  Capturing the voices of his fellow prisoners with perfect pitch, Santos makes the tragic--- and at times inspiring---stories of men from the toughest gang leaders to the richest Wall Street criminals come alive. From drug schemes, murders for hire, and even a prostitution ring that trades on the flesh of female prison guards, this book contains the never-before-seen details of prison life that at last illuminate the varied ways in which men experience life behind bars in America.

    John Oldale has logged half a million miles visiting more than ninety nations. Now, he celebrates our weird and wonderful world in a cornucopia of fascinating facts brought vividly to life through the unexpected stories behind them. Touching on history, travel, politics, natural history and more, he paints a unique portrait of each country from the mightiest to the most miniscule. You won't find the following in your average travel guide: ·        Why is kissing on trains banned in France?·        In what country are litigants expected to present their case at court in the form of a poem?·        Which war did women win in 1929 just by sitting down?·        If Panama hats aren’t from Panama, where are they from?·        Who eat fresh camel dung as a cure for dysentery (and why does it work)?·        Why were US disk jockeys once told they could play birthday requests on any day except the one requested?·        Which modern dictator banned old age, libraries and gold teeth, and was later replaced by his dentist?·         And 2,000 more funny, trivial, poignant, and telling facts  A must for active and armchair globe-trotters alike, A World of Curiosities will engross anyone who is at all curious about the world beyond their door. Explore and enjoy.

    Henry first lived a checkered life as a cowhand, bank teller, reporter, embezzler, and convict. Then, in a last-minute reversal worthy of one of his own stories, he turned to fiction, and became a celebrated author of ironic miniatures. "The Gift of the Magi" is perhaps his most famous creation. And while this exploration of love and gift-giving doesn't exactly plumb the depths of human behavior, it does leave us with the final picture of Jim (sans watch) and Della (sans hair, or most of it), which has induced even the crankiest readers to shed a tear since it first appeared in 1906. Get out your handkerchiefs!

    It is home to the greatest miracle a man could imagine: a doorway to Heaven itself. the town’s name is Wormwood, and it is due to appear on the 21st September 1889, somewhere in the American Midwest. There are many who hope to be there: travelling preacher obeisance Hicks and his simple messiah, Soldier Joe;Henry and Harmonium Jones and their freak show pack of outlaws; the Brothers of the order of Ruth and theirsponsor Lord Forset (inventor of the Forset thunderpack and other incendiary modes of personal transport); and finally, an aging gunslinger with a dark history. They will face dangers both strange and terrible: monstrous animals, predatory towns, armies of mechanical natives,and other things besides. Wormwood defends its secrets, and only the brave and resourceful will survive...

    She is a forensic commercial real estate appraiser specializing in eminent domain valuation. Her nearly 30 years of experience analyzing land use and property value enabled her to recognize the planning revolution sweeping the country. While fighting to stop a huge redevelopment project in her city she researched the corporate, political, and financial interests behind it and found UN Agenda 21. Impacting every aspect of our lives, UN Agenda 21/Sustainable Development is a corporate manipulation using the Green Mask of environmental concern to forward a globalist plan.

    Sweeping from the blood-soaked castles of medieval Wales to the landmark expedition of Lewis and Clark, from the hushed beauty of virgin wilderness to Mandan villages of domed earthen lodges, THE CHILDREN OF FIRST MAN is a triumph of the storyteller's art.

     She is famous throughout the world, but how many know her name? You can admire her figure in Washington, Paris, London, New York, Dresden, or Copenhagen, but where is her grave? We know only her age, fourteen, and the work that she did--because it was already grueling work, at an age when children today are sent to school. In the 1880s, she danced as a "little rat" at the Paris Opera, and what is often a dream for young girls now wasn't a dream for her. She was fired after several years of intense labor; the director had had enough of her repeated absences. She had been working another job, even two, because the few pennies the Opera paid weren't enough to keep her and her family fed. She was a model, posing for painters or sculptors--among them Edgar Degas.Drawing on a wealth of historical material as well as her own love of ballet and personal experiences of loss, Camille Laurens presents a compelling, compassionate portrait of Marie van Goethem and the world she inhabited that shows the importance of those who have traditionally been overlooked in the study of art.

    Such essential forces as Revolution, Romanticism, Marxism, Anarchy, Utilitarianism, Theology, Idealism, and Nationalism are examined in detail and expounded by their leading exponents. Professor Curtis has written running commentary that places the extracts and their authors in the sequence of modern history.And newly added for this edition are studies of selected works by, John Stuart Mill, Alexander Herzen, Antonio Gramsci, Sebastian de Grazia, and John Rawls. Also new are a table of contents and an updated, comprehensive bibliography -- each clear and concise for easy reference.Together with the first volume, also available in a Discus edition, which covers political thought from Plato and Aristotle to Locke and Montesquieu, The Great Political Theories offers an unparalleled view of political thought in Western civilization.

    Cook, and Tim Johnston, In Wilderness is a suspenseful and literary love story hailed by New York Times bestselling author Joshilyn Jackson as “heartbreaking, bold, relentless” and “the work of a true original.”  In the winter of 1966, Katherine Reid moves to an isolated cabin deep in Georgia’s Appalachian Mountains. There, with little more than a sleeping bag, a tin plate, and a loaded gun, she plans to spend her time in peaceful solitude. But one day, Katherine realizes the woods are not empty, and she is not alone. Someone else is near, observing  her every move.   Twenty-year-old Vietnam veteran Danny lives not far from Katherine’s cabin, in a once-grand mansion he has dubbed “Gatsby’s house.” Haunted by war and enclosed by walls of moldering books, he becomes fixated on Katherine. What starts as cautious observation grows to obsession. When these two souls collide, the passion that ignites between them is all-consuming—and increasingly dangerous.   Suffused with a stunning sense of character and atmosphere, Diane Thomas’s intimate voice creates an unforgettable depiction of the transformative power of love, how we grieve and hope, and the perilous ways in which we heed and test our hearts.