Put simply, Think Straight is an owner’s manual for the human brain. Drawing from the vast history of scientific and cognitive research, this book is a tour de force through the science and philosophy of the human mind, and what it means to think as a rational human being in the 21st century. Our world is awash in mis- and disinformation, baseless conspiracy theories, New Age ideology, anti-science propaganda, and all manner of magical thinking. Pseudo-experts fill the airwaves with false and bogus claims, news media twist and spin information to suit their ends, celebrities and corporations push evidence-free beliefs on their followers, and politicians continue to mislead the masses with false promises and bad thinking. In careful detail, author Jon Guy investigates the art of thinking critically, offering readers the ability to empower themselves and our society at large. In order to think critically, we must also learn what it means to know, what knowledge is, how to investigate, how to question, and how everything from computer algorithms written by geniuses to psychological traits embedded in us from our evolutionary origins conspire to construct a model of reality that we have much reason to doubt. The human mind is not only the most powerful and complex structure ever discovered, it is also riddled with a host of flaws, shortcomings, errors, and limitations, most of which none of us are ever made aware of. Critical thinking is the ability to both capitalize on the strengths and power of human cognition, as well as understand and combat the error-prone nature of our brains. Think Straight encourages us to accept that not everything we think is true and explores how we can compensate for the many errors of our minds. Backed by the best available research and data, and written in clear and decisive language, Think Straight provides readers with the proper guidance and tools to improve your thinking, inform your decisions, avoid fraud and deceit, and make the world a better place to live and prosper.
Jon Hart is not a professional athlete. His one major sports victory is a world championship in roller basketball, which is basketball on in-line skates. More than ten years ago, he started pursuing his own bucket list and embarked on a hilarious and insightful journey into the furthest reaches of the sports world.
Decision-making is at the heart of governing and governance, and is a more challenging task compared to just a few decades ago as a result of increasing social complexity and globalization. In this book, B. Guy Peters and Jon Pierre propose a new framework for the comparative analysis of governance, arguing that government remains a central actor in governance. By articulating the functionalist dimension of governance they show how goal setting, resource mobilization, decision-making, implementation and feedback can be performed by a combination of different types of actors. Even so, effective governance requires a leading role for government. The framework is also applied to a taxonomy of governance arrangements and national styles of governing. Comparative Governance advances our knowledge about governance failure and how forms of governance may change. It also significantly strengthens the theory of governance, showing how governance can be studied conceptually as well as empirically.
Jon Stolpe is just an ordinary guy with a wife, two kids, a black Labrador, and a job in corporate America. He was doing his best to make sure everything in his life went smoothly until God used a young youth pastor to wreck his world. In Rooftop Reflections, Jon takes readers an a fantastic journey to an extraordinary place, as he shares his thoughts and experiences from the rooftop of a house in Santo Domingo Xenacoj, Guatemala. As you join him you'll meet the special people who have transformed Jon's life and be challenged to look for ways to find the extraordinary in your own life.
A body on the tracks A teenage terrorist A mysterious wish-granting machine The world’s worst private detective The second volume in the Guys Read Library of Great Reading is chock-full of mystery, intrigue, and nefarious activity. Featuring some of the best writers around, and compiled by certified guy Jon Scieszka, Guys Read: Thriller is a pulse-pounding collection of brand-new short stories, each one guaranteed to keep you riveted until the final page.
Funny Business, the first volume in Jon Scieszka's Guys Read Library of Great Reading, features ten short stories guaranteed to delight, amuse, and possibly make you spit your milk in your friend's face. There's something for everyone in this collection of short stories from some of the funniest writers around. This hilarious, offbeat first installment in the Guys Read Library is 100% grade-A humor, guaranteed to have kids of all ages asking for more. Authors include Mac Barnett, Eoin Colfer, Christopher Paul Curtis, Kate DiCamillo & Jon Scieszka, Paul Feig, Jack Gantos, Jeff Kinney, David Lubar, Adam Rex, and David Yoo, with illustrations by Adam Rex.
Training Camp is an inspirational story filled with invaluable lessons and insights on bringing out the best in yourself and your team. The story follows Martin, an un-drafted rookie trying to make it in the NFL. He’s spent his entire life proving to the critics that a small guy with a big heart can succeed against all odds. After spraining his ankle in the pre-season, Martin thinks his dream is lost when he happens to meet a very special coach who shares eleven life-changing lessons that keep his dream alive—and might even make him the best of the best. If you want to be your best—Training Camp offers an inspirational story and real-world wisdom on what it takes to reach true excellence and how you and your team (your work team, school team, church team and family team) can achieve it.
New York Times–bestselling author of The Psychopath Test Jon Ronson writes about the dark, uncanny sides of humanity with clarity and humor. Lost at Sea—now with new material—reveals how deep our collective craziness lies, even in the most mundane circumstances. Ronson investigates the strange things we’re willing to believe in, from robots programmed with our loved ones’ personalities to indigo children to the Insane Clown Posse’s juggalo fans. He looks at ordinary lives that take on extraordinary perspectives. Among them: a pop singer whose greatest passion is the coming alien invasion, assisted-suicide practitioners, and an Alaskan town’s Christmas-induced high school mass-murder plot. He explores all these tales with a sense of higher purpose and universality, yet they are stories not about the fringe of society. They are about all of us. Incisive and hilarious, poignant and maddening, revealing and disturbing—Ronson writes about our modern world, and reveals how deep our collective craziness lies, and the chaos stirring at the edge of our daily lives.
Having started out as a new and alternative way of thinking about policy making and governing more broadly, governance is now established as a dominant paradigm in understanding national, subnational and global politics. The long-awaited second edition of this textbook takes into account the significant growth and proliferation of the field in recent years and offers a state of the art introduction to how governance is being theorised and studied today. Written by two leading political scientists, Governance, Politics and the State considers how societies are being, and can be, steered in a complex world where states must increasingly interact with and influence other actors and institutions to achieve results. It is a valuable book for all students of governance. New to this Edition: - A fully updated and revised set of chapters, including four new chapters – on multilevel governance, global governance, metagovernance and populism and governance. - A postscript on how to study governance
This Research Handbook offers a comprehensive study of existing and emerging general principles of EU law by scholars from a wide range of expertise in EU law, international law, legal theory and different areas of substantive law. It explores the theory, content, role and function of general principles in EU law to better understand general principles as a mechanism for the substantive openness of the EU legal order as well as for cross-fertilization and coherence of legal orders. Their potential as a tool to manage the interaction of legal regimes and orders is a particular focal point and will make this Handbook a must-read for scholars of EU Law.
Simultaneously frightening and hilarious' - The Times The Men Who Stare at Goats reveals the extraordinary – and completely nutty – national secrets at the core of Bush’s government. Often funny, sometimes chilling and with first-hand access to the leading players, Jon Ronson’s Sunday Times bestseller is a story so unbelievable it has to be true. In 1979, a secret unit was established by the most gifted minds within the US Army. Defying all known accepted military practice – and indeed, the laws of physics – they believed that a soldier could adopt a cloak of invisibility, pass cleanly through walls and, perhaps most chillingly, kill goats just by staring at them. Entrusted with defending America from all known adversaries, they were the First Earth Battalion. And they really weren’t joking. What’s more, in the early 2000s, they’re back and fighting George W. Bush’s War on Terror. But why are they blasting Iraqi prisoners-of-war with the theme tune to the Barney the Purple Dinosaur show? Why have one hundred de-bleated goats been secretly placed inside the Special Forces command centre at Fort Bragg, North Carolina? And how was the US military associated with the mysterious mass-suicide of a strange cult from San Diego? Now a feature film starring George Clooney and Ewan McGregor. Part of the Picador Collection, a series celebrating fifty years of Picador books and showcasing the best of modern literature.
In this personal narrative, author Jon P. Van Deinse explores a variety of topics relating to his life and his thoughts on some contemporary topics. He lost his innocence at a Catholic school at the hands of an abusive priest, an event that would inform much of the rest of his life. Jon didn't tell anyone about the abuse until twenty years later, and many of his struggles may be related to that early trauma. He has been diagnosed with a wide range of mental illnesses, from depression to borderline personality disorder. In this candid narrative, he explores his life as a child, adolescent, and adult, including the joys and challenges of being a parent. He examines his suicide attempt, his shock treatment for depression, and the racing thoughts that constantly go through his brain. He follows up each of his experiences with life lessons and questions to consider so you can learn from your own challenges, improving your understanding of yourself and others.
This volume is the first concentrated effort to offer a philosophical critique of relational and intersubjective perspectives in contemporary psychoanalytic thought. The distinguished group of scholars and clinicians assembled here trace the theoretical underpinnings of relational psychoanalysis, its divergence from traditional psychoanalytic paradigms, and the broader implications for clinical reform and therapeutic practice.
Jeff Kinney is pretty much the nicest guy you can hope to meet. Except when it comes to his brother, Patrick. The two of them have been locked in a battle for supremacy since they were young—a war that continues to this day. A short story from the acclaimed collection Guys Read: Funny Business, edited by Jon Scieszka.
Jon Pierre and Guy Peters expertly guide the reader through governance – one of the most widely used terms in political science – and its differing interpretations, with comprehensive discussion of the key issues covering global as well as local level governance. A detailed look into what constitutes ‘good governance’, whether produced by a government or by more informal means, is also explored.
In his follow-up book to Reluctant Warriors, author Jon Stafford traces the impact of World War II on regular American men and women swept up by events thousands of miles away from home, and ponders how the continent that gave birth to Renaissance Humanism could descend into murderous chaos. This historical fiction is a story about soldiers who went to the other side of the world to fight for their country and the women who remained home to fend for themselves and their families with few resources and no one to turn to for support. World War II left no lives unchanged. After the battles had been won and the fallen buried, the war continued to reverberate for decades in the lives of the men and women who fought and survived, lost the people most precious to them, became disillusioned, and found a way to go on. From Guadalcanal to the island fortress of Formosa, and from Tulsa to Sacramento, these stories show men and women finding redemption from the turmoil and chaos of war.
New York Times Bestseller and Wall Street Journal Bestseller! Bar Rescue's Jon Taffer presents a new guide to getting what you want in life and business--to stop making excuses so you can get back to winning. During his many years as an entrepreneur, consultant, and star of the Paramount Network's hit show Bar Rescue, Jon Taffer has witnessed the destruction that results when people bullsh*t themselves. Excuses are the root cause of nearly every business and personal problem, but fortunately, Jon knows how to fix your excuse habit for good. This book is almost as good as having Jon in your face on Bar Rescue, telling you the hard truths you've been avoiding. Don't Bullsh*t Yourself! is Jon Taffer's brutally honest, no-nonsense guide to help you kick those excuses to the curb. If you can stop bullsh*tting yourself and address your real issues, you will gain the power to turn your life around completely. Taffer breaks excuses down into six major categories, illustrating them with real-life examples such as Marcus Luttrell, the lone survivor of a SEAL team mission in Afghanistan who barely escaped Taliban territory, and Christine King, founder and CEO of Your Best Fit, who, despite being paralyzed in a horrific boating accident, went on to build a successful fitness company. These inspiring stories, combined with Taffer's own experiences, will give you the confidence to identify and face your own excuses head-on. It's Taffer Time! Time to stop bullsh*tting yourself and start crushing it!
More than a book, more than a non-fiction read, more than a memoir, CONFESSIONS OF A SURVIVING ALIEN will engage the reader like most have never experienced. It will take them through a maze of lifes pathos, and elicit the emotions of sadness, joy, pain, regret, guilt, remorse, pride, fear, revenge, happiness, forgiveness, evil, good, and much uniquely intertwined with humor, often times outrageously so. Although defined by the premise of Vietnam, it is much more than another war account, to the contrary. It is more often the dredge of a neophyte Marine trying to get more into the war and action, than out of it. It is more about his disillusionment in practically every aspect of that officially declared police action, but not in ways one might expect. It is more about his evolution and regression as a human being and inner torment, including feelings of alienation. The book starts at the end, and ends with the start, with a chronological account in between, covering four parts: Before Vietnam (BV), During Vietnam (DV), After Vietnam (AV), and finally, After Marines (AM). The story covers the life of a young American, and follows his incredible journey through the decades to find himself, to explore every possibility of livingand nearly dyingand reach some hopeful level of success, however that is defined. From having a unique tour in Vietnam, to escorting deceased Marines to their families and final resting place, to his life threatened by a mob guy, to learning about a deeply held family secret concerning his father, to experiencing a profound spiritual experience in the unlikely locale of Beverly Hills, California, and much more, author Jon Meades biggest challenge may be getting readers to believe his surreal story. He merely shrugs and says, I am just a very ordinary guy, with an extraordinary life to convey. It is nothing less, nor more than that. Maybe, he admits, in the end analysis, success in life is merely surviving life, failures and all. With that admission and a very personal and engaging approach and writing style, the genre of Memoirs may never be the same.
Everyone’s favorite time-travelers are changing their styles! The Time Warp Trio series now features a brand-new, eye-catching design, sure to appeal to longtime fans, and those new to Jon Scieszka’s wacky brand of humor.
Bestselling author Jon Ronson walks the mean streets of America where he finds real life, modern day superheroes. Fighting crime, saving old ladies, and chasing away drug dealers – all while wearing a mask and a cape. Phoenix Jones patrols Seattle, masked, muscles rippling, while corner boys scatter and teenage runaways are helped, whether they want it or not. He might still see his pediatrician when superhero-ing gets a little too intense, but he’ll be back out there with his ass-kicking comrades as soon as he’s bandaged up. These do-gooding citizens talk the talk, and walk the walk of mythical superheroes – the only thing they're missing is actual supernatural powers. The Amazing Adventures of Phoenix Jones is an inside, intimate look at the world of amateur superheroes and a front row seat to their adventures.
Everyone’s favorite time-travelers are changing their styles! The Time Warp Trio series now features a brand-new, eye-catching design, sure to appeal to longtime fans, and those new to Jon Scieszka’s wacky brand of humor.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A "gripping book about this extraordinary man who lived passionately and died unnecessarily" (USA Today) in post-9/11 Afghanistan, from the bestselling author of Into the Wild and Into Thin Air. In 2002, Pat Tillman walked away from a multimillion-dollar NFL contract to join the Army and became an icon of American patriotism. When he was killed in Afghanistan two years later, a legend was born. But the real Pat Tillman was much more remarkable, and considerably more complicated than the public knew. Sent first to Iraq—a war he would openly declare was “illegal as hell” —and eventually to Afghanistan, Tillman was driven by emotionally charged, sometimes contradictory notions of duty, honor, justice, and masculine pride, and he was determined to serve his entire three-year commitment. But on April 22, 2004, his life would end in a barrage of bullets fired by his fellow soldiers. Though obvious to most of the two dozen soldiers on the scene that a ranger in Tillman’s own platoon had fired the fatal shots, the Army aggressively maneuvered to keep this information from Tillman’s family and the American public for five weeks following his death. During this time, President Bush used Tillman’s name to promote his administration’ s foreign policy. Long after Tillman’s nationally televised memorial service, the Army grudgingly notified his closest relatives that he had “probably” been killed by friendly fire while it continued to dissemble about the details of his death and who was responsible. Drawing on Tillman’s journals and letters and countless interviews with those who knew him and extensive research in Afghanistan, Jon Krakauer chronicles Tillman’s riveting, tragic odyssey in engrossing detail highlighting his remarkable character and personality while closely examining the murky, heartbreaking circumstances of his death. Infused with the power and authenticity readers have come to expect from Krakauer’s storytelling, Where Men Win Glory exposes shattering truths about men and war. This edition has been updated to reflect new developments and includes new material obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
The King of Novelty is Jon Goodmans revisionist epic for posterity of his father, legendary novelty record producer and music sampling pioneer Dickie Goodman, a man contending with internal conflict and familial obligations while entertaining the world; foreword by Dr. Demento, and epigraph from "Weird Al" Yankovic. Chuck Miller, Goldmine. Visit The Official Dickie Goodman Web Site: www.dickiegoodman.com/ At www.dickiegoodman.com you can also get signed by his original record label to publish your own music or almost any other type of audio recording as well as music video all over the world! Special Bulletin: Pick your favorite online music download store and do a search under the Artist category for Dickie Goodman; he is there on all of them; here is one popular site listed: www.itunes.com/dickiegoodman Its a great way to get any one of your favorite Dickie Goodman recordings, or all of them! Plus Ringtones and an App! Amazon.com is a great place to get all the digital release albums on CD with the CD on demand feature! You can email the Dickie Goodman fan club at: dickiegoodman@comcast.net NOW! Larson Lane Entertainment has announced the option for movie rights to The King of Novelty Dickie Goodman! THE GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS certified Dickie Goodman for the most charted novelty/comedy records! (17) And they used this book in their research! Varese Sarabande released a CD dedicated to Dickie Goodman. And it has liner notes by Jon Goodman! The title is 25 All Time Novelty Hits and you can get it in stores or go right to the Varese Sarabande web site. For the fist time ever, a Dickie Goodman record is on a GRAMMY winning CD! RHINOs, BRAIN IN A BOX-The Science Fiction Collection was nominated for a GRAMMY at the 44th annual GRAMMY Awards; and it won. This fabulous CD box set contains Dickie Goodmans original hit record from 1956, THE FLYING SAUCER (parts 1 and 2).The reasons for this achievement being so significant cannot be emphasized enough... in 1956 there was no NARAS, hence no GRAMMY for Dickie Goodman. Nearly twenty years later (1975) when Dickie Goodmans MR. JAWS went gold, there was no qualifying category, hence once again no GRAMMY for Dickie Goodman. Yet now, decades later, this international icon of American creativity took a ride on a RHINOs back and for the first time ever got his foot in the back door of the prestigious GRAMMY Awards. The folks at NARAS have also awarded Dickie Goodman with a posthumous GRAMMY Award certification! Profound, is the only word to describe THE KING OF NOVELTY, because the manuscript is symbolic of the life it represents. Not just a biography, but a metaphor. The King of Novelty is about a famous record producer whose esoteric comedy created more than a genre; Dickie Goodman created an entire subculture. Dickie Goodman, THE KING OF NOVELTY, invented the break-in record; a comedy recording that used samples of previously published hit songs to satirize and make parody of current events. In other words Dickie Goodman began what is now known as mixing and sampling by summarizing an era in two hysterical minutes. Today, sampling is the music industrys largest source of reinvention, and Dickie Goodmans novelty/comedy records started it all. THE KING OF NOVELTY describes the impact these eclectic records had on shaping American pop culture. Dickie Goodman is listed by Billboard as the #1 novelty/comedy recording artist of all time. Over four decades he sold millions of copies of a multitude of charted hits worldwide. To this day Dickie Goodman sells over 100,000 tracks a year in the US alone! THE KING OF NOVELTY is the biography of Dickie Goodman.
You probably know that Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa. Didyou know that he also invented an early version of a helicopter and a tank, and that he planned to execute the Time Warp Trio for spying on his inventions? Sam's bright idea to look for the inventor of the Book takes the guys to 15th century Italy to meet up with Leonardo. But it's going to take at least three more bright ideas, two magic tricks, and one great invention to get them out of trouble and safely back home. If not, it could be a lifetime of Italian army toilet-cleaning detail for Joe, Sam, and Fred.
The Time Warp Trio is staying home for once, and Joe's got a perfect way to keep The Book from getting lost. But when the guys find themselves stuck on top of the half-finished Brooklyn Bridge, they realize that Joe's foolproof Book Tracker wasn't so foolproof after all. Now the guys have to make their way through 1877 Brooklyn and find The Book before they un-invent the lightbulb, the phonograph and&150oh, no!&150baseball!
Now a major film, starring George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, and Jeff Bridges, this New York Times bestseller is a disturbing and often hilarious look at the U.S. military's long flirtation with the paranormal—and the psy-op soldiers that are still fighting the battle. Bizarre military history: In 1979, a crack commando unit was established by the most gifted minds within the U.S. Army. Defying all known laws of physics and accepted military practice, they believed that a soldier could adopt the cloak of invisibility, pass cleanly through walls, and—perhaps most chillingly—kill goats just by staring at them. They were the First Earth Battalion, entrusted with defending America from all known adversaries. And they really weren’t joking. What’s more, they’re back—and they’re fighting the War on Terror. An uproarious exploration of American military paranoia: With investigations ranging from the mysterious “Goat Lab,” to Uri Geller’s covert psychic work with the CIA, to the increasingly bizarre role played by a succession of U.S. presidents, this might just be the funniest, most unsettling book you will ever read—if only because it is all true and is still happening today.
From Fling to Ring By: Jon Steele, J. D. It is no secret that dating isn’t easy—for men and women. Author and bachelor Jon Steele, J. D. offers a new, unique approach—he aims to help women take the first step and take action on the playing field. From Fling to Ring, an analytical, informative, and funny approach to dating, presents a fresh perspective and divulges secrets of the single man, including what approaches work with him as a 20-, 30-, and 40-year-old.
“Miret’s captivating and harrowing, no-holds-barred account of a life lived in the trenches . . . You don’t have to be a major Agnostic Front fan to get maximum enjoyment out of this book. . . . A compelling read.” ―Classic Rock Revisited "Miret’s memorable, affecting stories capture an important time in the hardcore music scene. . . . Equal parts music memoir and gritty coming-of-age story, it’s an eminently readable and fast-paced look at life during hardcore’s heyday. . . . Not just for music fans, My Riot is a valuable snapshot of an important time." ―Foreword Reviews “My Riot is a powerful and riveting read. A brutal look into the life of a man that did what he had to do to survive.” ―Scott Ian, Anthrax Born in Cuba, Roger Miret fled with his family to the US to escape the Castro regime. Through vivid language and graphic details, he recounts growing up in a strange new land with a tyrannical stepfather and the roles that poverty and violence played in shaping the grit that became critical to his survival. In his teen years, he finds himself squatting in abandoned buildings with unforgettably eccentric runaways and victims of similar childhood trauma. With like-minded misfits he helps pioneer a new musical genre, but with money scarce and commercial success impossible, he turns to running drugs to support his family and winds up in prison. It’s the ultimate test of his toughness and perseverance that eventually sets him on a path towards redemption. My Riot is both an unflinching portrait of downtown New York in the 1980s and a testament to the perils of growing up too fast. “It's a great read, tracing the roots of New York Hardcore via lots of crazy stories about potentially deadly situations. . . . Pick up this book and take a walk back in time through the Lower East Side when it was still a hair-raising adventure.” ―D. Randall Blythe, Lamb of God
A mafia insider and former head smuggler for the Medellin cartel describes his violent relationships with criminal powers, his alliance with the U.S. government, and his role in reshaping the nation's war on drugs.
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