Flawed Prophets


Book Description

Humans love making predictions: We bet on the outcomes of sporting events; we try to pick optimal career paths; we forecast stock prices; we do it all the time! Why are we so fascinated by the future? Why have we created for ourselves a society where predictive abilities are needed for everyday functioning? More importantly, if we must be prophets, how do we at least become better ones, devoid of biases and fatal cognitive flaws that hold us back from clearly seeing ahead? To see our future, we must first take a look at our past.




The Emperor of All Maladies


Book Description

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a documentary from Ken Burns on PBS, this New York Times bestseller is “an extraordinary achievement” (The New Yorker)—a magnificent, profoundly humane “biography” of cancer—from its first documented appearances thousands of years ago through the epic battles in the twentieth century to cure, control, and conquer it to a radical new understanding of its essence. Physician, researcher, and award-winning science writer, Siddhartha Mukherjee examines cancer with a cellular biologist’s precision, a historian’s perspective, and a biographer’s passion. The result is an astonishingly lucid and eloquent chronicle of a disease humans have lived with—and perished from—for more than five thousand years. The story of cancer is a story of human ingenuity, resilience, and perseverance, but also of hubris, paternalism, and misperception. Mukherjee recounts centuries of discoveries, setbacks, victories, and deaths, told through the eyes of his predecessors and peers, training their wits against an infinitely resourceful adversary that, just three decades ago, was thought to be easily vanquished in an all-out “war against cancer.” The book reads like a literary thriller with cancer as the protagonist. Riveting, urgent, and surprising, The Emperor of All Maladies provides a fascinating glimpse into the future of cancer treatments. It is an illuminating book that provides hope and clarity to those seeking to demystify cancer.




Southeast Asia on a Shoestring


Book Description

Hit the Southeast Asia hippy trail in a rickety bus packed with chickens. You'll find your nirvana at a Buddhist temple, on a perfect beach or in a bowl of noodle soup. Written for backpackers by backpackers, this guide to 11 countries lets you go further, stay longer and pay less for an adventure of a lifetime.This original and longest-running travel guide to Southeast Asia covers Myanmar, East Timor, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.There are suggested itineraries by expert authors with over 20 years combined travel experience in Southeast Asia. A "Getting Started" chapter provides insider tips on getting the most out of travel in this popular travel destination-including how to eat, sleep and travel without blowing the budget. Included are dedicated sections on studying, working and volunteering, as well as responsible travel.




Homebound


Book Description

Homebound is a collection of poems inspired by her revisit to the holy lands and her life journey which she has written and compiled over the years. During her Umrah trip in 2016, she revisited Mecca and Medina where time unspooled to twenty years ago - a young girl, a sacred mosque under construction, a circumambulation of different skins, and a faith she's yet to fully know how to carry. It felt like a homecoming and a bag of longings with no place to go.




Channel Kindness: Stories of Kindness and Community


Book Description

A New York Times Bestseller For Lady Gaga, kindness is the driving force behind everything she says and does. The quiet power of kindness can change the way we view one another, our communities, and even ourselves. She embodies this mission, and through her work, brings more kindness into our world every single day. Lady Gaga has always believed in the importance of being yourself, being kind to yourself, and being kind to others, no matter who they are or where they come from. With that sentiment in mind, she and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, founded Born This Way Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to making the world a kinder and braver place. Through the years, they've collected stories of kindness, bravery and resilience from young people all over the world, proving that kindness truly is the universal language. And now, we invite you to read these stories and follow along as each and every young author finds their voice just as Lady Gaga has found hers. Within these pages, you’ll meet young changemakers who found their inner strength, who prevailed in the face of bullies, who started their own social movements, who decided to break through the mental health stigma and share how they felt, who created safe spaces for LGBTQ+ youth, and who have embraced kindness with every fiber of their being by helping others without the expectation of anything in return. In one story, you’ll read about a young person with an autoimmune disease, who after being bullied at school, learned how to practice self-love and started an organization with the mission of educating others about the importance of self-love, too; and in another story, you’ll meet a young person who decided to start a movement to help eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health and encouraged others to talk about their feelings openly and honestly, a reminder that kindness and mental wellness go hand in hand. Not only were we moved by these individual acts of kindness, but we were also touched by the many stories of organizations, neighborhoods, and entire communities that fully dedicated themselves to helping those in need and found new, innovative ways to make our world a kinder and braver place. Individually and collectively, these stories prove that kindness not only saves lives but builds community. Kindness is inclusion, it is pride, it is empathy, it is compassion, it is self-respect and it is the guiding light to love. Kindness is always transformational, and its never-ending ripples result in even more kind acts that can change our lives, our communities, and our world.




Towards a Just Society: The Personal Journeys of Human Rights Educators


Book Description

Towards a Just Society: The Personal Journeys of Human Rights Educators Edited by Abraham Magendzo K., Claudia Duenas, Nancy Flowers, and Natela Jordan Topic Book 8, Human Rights Education Series, 2015 In TOWARDS A JUST SOCIETY twenty-five educators from around the world respond to the question: How and why did you commit yourself to human rights education? Their highly personal narratives recount the diverse ideological perspectives and life experiences that have shaped their work in this growing field."




Golden Gulag


Book Description

Since 1980, the number of people in U.S. prisons has increased more than 450%. Despite a crime rate that has been falling steadily for decades, California has led the way in this explosion, with what a state analyst called "the biggest prison building project in the history of the world." Golden Gulag provides the first detailed explanation for that buildup by looking at how political and economic forces, ranging from global to local, conjoined to produce the prison boom. In an informed and impassioned account, Ruth Wilson Gilmore examines this issue through statewide, rural, and urban perspectives to explain how the expansion developed from surpluses of finance capital, labor, land, and state capacity. Detailing crises that hit California’s economy with particular ferocity, she argues that defeats of radical struggles, weakening of labor, and shifting patterns of capital investment have been key conditions for prison growth. The results—a vast and expensive prison system, a huge number of incarcerated young people of color, and the increase in punitive justice such as the "three strikes" law—pose profound and troubling questions for the future of California, the United States, and the world. Golden Gulag provides a rich context for this complex dilemma, and at the same time challenges many cherished assumptions about who benefits and who suffers from the state’s commitment to prison expansion.




Talk Like TED


Book Description

Ideas are the currency of the twenty-first century. In order to succeed, you need to be able to sell your ideas persuasively. This ability is the single greatest skill that will help you accomplish your dreams. Many people have a fear of public speaking or are insecure about their ability to give a successful presentation. Now public speaking coach and bestselling author Carmine Gallo explores what makes a great presentation by examining the widely acclaimed TED Talks, which have redefined the elements of a successful presentation and become the gold standard for public speaking. TED ? which stands for technology, entertainment, and design ? brings together the world's leading thinkers. These are the presentations that set the world on fire, and the techniques that top TED speakers use will make any presentation more dynamic, fire up any team, and give anyone the confidence to overcome their fear of public speaking. In his book, Carmine Gallo has broken down hundreds of TED talks and interviewed the most popular TED presenters, as well as the top researchers in the fields of psychology, communications, and neuroscience to reveal the nine secrets of all successful TED presentations. Gallo's step-by-step method makes it possible for anyone to deliver a presentation that is engaging, persuasive, and memorable. Carmine Gallo's top 10 Wall Street Journal Bestseller Talk Like TED will give anyone who is insecure about their public speaking abilities the tools to communicate the ideas that matter most to them, the skill to win over hearts and minds, and the confidence to deliver the talk of their lives. The opinions expressed by Carmine Gallo in TALK LIKE TED are his own. His book is not endorsed, sponsored or authorized by TED Conferences, LLC or its affiliates.




Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marshall Flippo


Book Description

Just Another Square Dance Caller is more than a biography filled with the remembrances and stories of a 90-year-old man with 64 years' experience in the world of square dance. It's a unique and colorful retelling of the life and times of Marshall "Flip" Flippo; a legend in the world of square dance callers. Flippo was a Navy veteran, father, husband, and proud Texan who lived a life of passion and zest until his passing in 2018. With chapter titles like Three More Ships & Baseball, Burma Shave Jingles, North and Then East, South, & Home for Christmas, Four Special "Once Mores," and Callers Flippo Called With & Slept With, this biography will give readers an entertaining look at the long life and career of a man who claimed to have acquired his first big career break in a chicken coop. Flippo may have been considered a Renaissance man by many, but those who knew him best recognized him as a humble man who insisted that he was lucky and oftentimes "at the right place at the right time." He also maintained until his passing that he was "just another square dance caller" who had been blessed with the opportunity to turn his passion into a career. Just Another Square Dance Caller is truly a legacy to his body of work, humor, wisdom, and love of life.




The Crest of the Peacock


Book Description