For example, the matter that comprises all stars, planets, and living things turns out to be just a fraction of what actually exists. Moreover, we think that we control our actions, but data analytics can predict, with astonishing accuracy, when we will wake up, what we will buy, and even whom we will marry.The quest to pin down what's real and what's illusory is both philosophical and scientific, a metaphysical search for ultimate reality that goes back to the ancient Greeks. For the last 400 years, this search has been increasingly guided by scientists, who create theories and test them in order to define and redefine reality. And we have developed the power to alter our own reality in major ways - to defeat diseases, compensate for disabilities, and augment our intellect with computers. Where is that trend going?Experience the thrill of this exciting quest in 36 wide-ranging lectures that touch on many aspects of the ceaseless search for reality. From the birth of the universe to brain science, discover that separating the real from the illusory is an exhilarating intellectual adventure.Scientists and philosophers are not alone in grappling, at an intellectual level, with reality. Some of the most accessible interpretations are by painters, novelists, filmmakers, and other artists whose works not only draw on the latest discoveries but also sometimes inspire them. Explore examples such as Alice in Wonderland, pointillism, cubism, surrealism, and reality TV.And since dealing with reality is an experience we all share, this course is designed for people of all backgrounds.

    For the first time ever, these 48 invaluable answers have all been compiled into one handy reference – no stone is left unturned. Amongst other things, you’ll finally know how to: Market, sell, and keep clients (pg 33) Get your career started right (pg 13) Deal with all possible objections (pg 65) Deal with difficult client types (pg 79) Become more organized and efficient every day (pg 91) Turn your job into a career by making more money both in-training, and beyond (pg 139). With the Personal Trainer Pocketbook by your side, you’ll never be alone again.

    During the summer of his senior year at college, while earning a B.A. in Economics and Political Science, David P. Spears spent eighty hours undercover as a panhandler. Systematically recording every transaction at the exit ramp, Spears captured a rarely seen picture of how modern urban charity works.This book is the record of his adventures, part economic research, part investigative journalism. Both the numbers and the stories behind the numbers provide answers to the questions we’ve all been wondering: Who gives more to panhandlers—men or women? What percentage of drivers roll down their windows to donate? And most important of all, how much can a panhandler earn per hour?Get out your bi-weekly pay stub—by the end of this book you’ll know if you make more or less than the guy with the cardboard sign.

    Arrested for fraud in 2008--during the depths of the global financial crisis--the 70-year-old market maker, investment advisor, and former chairman of the NASDAQ had orchestrated the largest Ponzi scheme in world history, fleecing thousands of investors across the globe to the tune of $65 billion. To this day, questions remain: Why did he do it? How did he get away with it for so long? What did his family know? Who is the elusive Bernie Madoff?In Madoff Talks, author Jim Campbell presents the most comprehensive, insider account of the Madoff saga to date. Based on exclusive interviews with all the players--the Madoff family and their associates, the Wall Street wheelers and dealers, the army of lawyers, analysts, and investigators, the victims of the scheme, and Bernie Madoff himself--the book reveals: what motivated a respected financier to commit such a massive fraud--and why he thought he could get away with ithow Madoff managed to keep the scheme hidden in plain sight--despite numerous SEC investigationsthe shocking failures of Wall Street oversight--and how it could happen againthe true scale of the investment losses―and the victims' ongoing fight for justicewhat Ruth Madoff and the rest of the family knew--and how it shattered their livesMadoff Talks features the first, and likely only, interviews with Ruth Madoff and defense attorney Ira Sorkin, for which Bernie waived attorney-client privilege, as well as never-before-published details from the author's personal communications with Bernie Madoff in prison. A vivid, powerful piece of investigative reporting, the book takes us behind the headlines to show the full human cost of Madoff's crimes, and offers a cogent analysis of the reforms necessary to prevent it from happening again.Meticulously researched and relentlessly riveting, Madoff Talks is the full story of an American tragedy.

    This makes economic history - the study of how civilizations structured their environments to provide food, shelter, and material goods - a vital lens through which to think about how we arrived at our present, globalized moment.Designed to fill a long-empty gap in how we think about modern history, these 48 lectures are a comprehensive journey through more than 600 years of economic history, from the medieval world to the 21st century. Aimed at the layperson with only a cursory understanding of the field, An Economic History of the World since 1400 reveals how economics has influenced (and been influenced by) historical events and trends, including the Black Death, the Age of Exploration, the Industrial Revolution, the European colonization of Africa, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the birth of personal computing. Professor Harreld has crafted a riveting, centuries-long story of power, glory, and ideology that reveals how, in step with history, economic ideas emerged, evolved, and thrived or died.Along the way, you'll strengthen your understanding of a range of economic concepts, philosophies, trends, treaties, and organizations, including the mercantile system, Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, Marxist economics, African independence movements, and the formation of economic organizations including the European Union. You'll also consider provocative questions about the intersection of history and economics. What did the economies of Roosevelt's America and Hitler's Germany have in common? What does history tell us about how nations should dictate economic policy? Can we say that free trade is truly free?Marvel at just how much we still have to learn about the economic forces that have dictated our past - and that will dictate our future.Listening Length: 24 hours and 29 minutes

    The former CEO of Medtronic draws from his own in-the-trenches experience and lessons from leaders (representing an array of companies) who have weathered tough economic storms. With straight talk and clear directions, George shows leaders specifically what they must do to become strong leaders and survive any crisis. His seven lessons include: Face Reality, Starting with Yourself; Never Waste a Good Crisis; and Be Aggressive: This is Your Best Chance to Win in the Market. Seven Lesson for Leading in Crisis is a survival kit for anyone in a leadership position.A concise handbook for applying proven leadership lessons in tough times Written by Bill George one of America's most trusted business leaders and author of True North and Authentic LeadershipOffers realistic actions leaders can take to put their companies on the right long-term path Seven Lesson for Leading in Crisis gives leaders a solid strategy for staying the course.

    From shopping sprees to pension plans, ISAs to investments, money plays a crucial role in our present and future comfort. We may not like to admit it, but diamonds – or cold, hard cash – really can be a girl's best friend.So why, when women have much to celebrate, are we reluctant to talk about it? Why, when we have more wealth in our own names than ever before, do women take less interest in money than men? And why do we still feel that demonstrating an interest in finance is somehow…unfeminine? Because let's face it – for most of us, Prince Charming and his bank balance just aren't coming. If we want to secure our futures we're going to have to do it ourselves.The good news is that it's not hard to do. Dealing with our personal finances is much, much easier than the financial industry would have us believe. Women tend to make better investors than men too – our instincts, so to speak, are on the money. All we need is a bit of know-how and the confidence to put it into practice.Combining years of financial expertise with a healthy dose of scepticism and an easy sense of humour, Merryn Somerset Webb's sharp, witty and appealing guide to personal wealth for sassy women provides the answers. Whether you're drowning in debt, negotiating a higher salary or tackling the thorny issue of a pre-nup, just one read through and you'll be in a position to sort your finances out for good, transforming them from a constant worry into a source of peace of mind.

    "Storming the Court" takes readers inside this modern-day atrocity to tell the tale of Yvonne Pascal -- a young, charismatic activist -- and other Haitian refugees who had fled their violent homeland only to end up prisoners at Guantanamo. They had no lawyers, no contact with the outside world, and no hope...except for a band of students at Yale Law School fifteen hundred miles away.Led by Harold Koh, a gifted but untested law professor, these remarkable twentysomethings waged a legal war against two U.S. presidents to defend the Constitution and the principles symbolized by the Statue of Liberty. It was an education in law unlike any other. With the refugees' lives at stake, the students threw aside classes and career plans to fight an army of government attorneys in a case so politically volatile that the White House itself intervened in the legal strategy.Featuring a real-life cast that includes Kenneth Starr and other top Justice Department officials, U.S. marines, radical human-rights lawyers, and Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, "Storming the Court" follows the students from the classrooms at Yale to the prison camp at Guantanamo to the federal courts in NewYork and Washington as they struggle to save Yvonne Pascal and her fellow Haitian refugees.At a time when the treatment of post-9/11 Guantanamo detainees has been challenged in the public arena and the courts, this book traces the origins of the legal battle over America's use of the naval base as a prison and illuminates the troubling ways that politics can influence legal decisions. Above all, though, "Storming the Court" is the David-and-Goliath story of a group of passionate law students who took on their government in the name of the greatest of American values: freedom.

    It took the police a decade to curtail the violence and bring down criminal kingpins Carl Williams, Tony Mokbel and their accomplices. When the police finally closed the case file, just how they really won the war, with the help of an unlikely police informer, would become a closely guarded secret and its exposure, the biggest legal scandal of our time.Lawyer X is the scandalous, true story of how a promising defence barrister from a privileged background broke all the rules - becoming both police informer and her client's lover - sharing their secrets and shaping the gangland war that led to sensational arrests and convictions. The story of how Nicola Gobbo became Lawyer X, and why, is a compelling study in desperation and determination.Lawyer X is the definitive story of Melbourne's gangland wars and its most glamorous and compelling central character, based on the ground-breaking work of investigative journalists Anthony Dowsley and Patrick Carlyon, who broke the story for the Herald Sun in 2014, and their five-year struggle to reveal the truth about the identity of Lawyer X.

    Introducing Argumentation and Rhetoric History of Argumentation Studies Formal and Informal Argument The Emergence of Controversy Resolutions and Issues Stasis The Focal Point of Dispute Presumption and Burden of Proof Argument Analysis and Diagramming Claims and Evidence Reasoning from Parts to Whole Moving from Cause to Effect Establishing Correlations Analogy, Narrative, and Form What Makes a Sound Argument? Fallacies in Reasoning Validity and Fallacies Reconsidered Assembling a Case Attack and Defense I Attack and Defense II Language and Style in Argumentation Arguments between Friends Arguments among Experts Public Argument and Democratic Life The Ends of Argumentation

    Miller shared his painful and joyful lessons about the many facets of his life and legacy and candidly spoke about the people and circumstances that influenced him. In Behind the Drive, the tables are turned as we hear firsthand from both famous and obscure people whose lives were influenced, inspired, and even transformed by the compassion, generosity, and leadership of Larry. More than 100 individuals share personal stories about the man who they came to know and love as a philanthropist, a Good Samaritan, an angel in disguise. Quite frankly, Larry H. Miller was addicted to helping people. It didn't matter who they were. It didn't matter what he was doing at the time. When Larry heard the call for help, he unassumingly went about to make things better. The marvel of Miller isn't what he did to shape a community or touch a life, it's how he did it—one person at a time. Readers might ask how did Larry H. Miller have the time to personally impact so many lives? The answer—Larry chose to use his time a little bit differently than most. Behind the Drive pulls back the curtain and shows us the difference one person can make when he's driven to serve.

    After much consideration, we determined that it actually would be more beneficial to create a course that compares and contrasts the two major global economic theories, examining them in ways that move past the polemics many of us are used to and looking at these systems as they relate to one another and the world at large.Politics and economics are inextricable, so it can be difficult to find the right person to tackle such a complex and often polarizing subject as objectively as possible. Luckily, we found Professor Edward Stuart, an economist and teacher who specializes in comparative economics. Professor Stuart brings not only economic expertise, but personal experience gleaned from teaching, traveling, and consulting all over the world, and it is this wide lens of experience that helps make Capitalism vs. Socialism such an engaging new entry in our library of courses.

    Whether you are looking to rev up your real estate business, deciding whether to specialize in commercial or residential real estate, or just interested in refining specific skills, this book is for you. This no-nonsense guide shows you the fun and easy way to become a successful real estate agent. It provides expert advice on acquiring the skills needed to excel and the respect and recognition you'll gain through making sales and generating profit. Soon you'll have all the tools you need to:Prospect your way to listings and sales Build a referral-based clientele Work with expired and FSBO listings Plan and host a successful open house Present and close listing contracts Market yourself and your properties online and in print Negotiate contracts and avoid derailment Stake your competitive position Achieve excellent relationships with clients Spend less time to earn more money This guide features tips and tricks for working with buyers, must-haves for a successful real estate agent, and common pitfalls that can be avoided. Also included is a list of Web sites for real estate agents that are valuable resources for success. With Success as a Real Estate Agent For Dummies, you'll discover how to acquire key skills and get on track for a successful career!

    Leading cycling writer Richard Moore's profile of Dave Brailsford, the head of Team Sky and the man who masterminded the British Cycling revolution, gives a unique insight into the psychology of one of the most fascinating figures in world sport.

    Robinson, Ph.D., Oxford UniversityThe Great CoursesPhilosophy & Intellectual HistoryThe Teaching CompanyLecture Series60 lectures, 30 minutes/lecture Taught by Daniel N. Robinson Philosophy Faculty, Oxford University; Distinguished Professor, Emeritus, Georgetown University Ph.D., City University of New York Humanity left childhood and entered the troubled but productive world when it started to criticize its own certainties and weigh the worthiness of its most secure beliefs. Thus began that "Long Debate" on the nature of truth, the scale of real values, the life one should aspire to live, the character of justice, the sources of law, the terms of civic and political life-the good, the better, the best. The debate continues, and one remains aloof to it at a very heavy price, for "the unexamined life is not worth living." This course of 60 lectures gives the student a sure guide and interpreter as the major themes within the Long Debate are presented and considered. The persistent themes are understood as problems: * The problem of knowledge, arising from concerns as to how or whether we come to know anything, and are justified in our belief that this knowledge is valid and sound * The problem of conduct, arising from the recognition that our actions, too, require some sort of justification in light of our moral and ethical sensibilities-or lack of them * The problem of governance, which includes an understanding of sources of law and its binding nature. The great speculators of history have exhausted themselves on these problems and have bequeathed to us a storehouse of insights, some so utterly persuasive as to have shaped thought itself. In these coherent and beautifully articulated lectures you will hear Plato and Aristotle, the Stoics and Epicureans, the Scholastic philosophers and the leaders of Renaissance thought. In addition, you will learn about the architects of the Age of Newton and the Enlightenment that followed in its wake-all this, as well as Romanticism and Continental thought, Nietzsche and Darwin, Freud and William James. This course is a veritable banquet of enriching reflection on mental life and the acts of humanity that proceed from it: the plans and purposes, the values and beliefs, the possibilities and vulnerabilities.