Showing results by narrator "Michael Butler" in All Categories

When it was first published in 2005, The Essentials of Risk Management became an instant classic in risk management. Now, the authors provide a comprehensively updated and revised edition to help you succeed in a world rocked by unprecedented changes.

Country music has long been a marker of American identity; from our popular culture to our politics, it has provided a soundtrack to our national life. While traditionally associated with the working class, country's appeal is far broader than any other popular music style. While this music rose from the people, it is also a product of the popular music industry, and the way the music has been marketed to its audience is a key part of its story.

The presidential election of 1968 forever changed American politics. In this character-driven narrative history, Aram Goudsouzian portrays the key transformations that played out over that dramatic year. It was the last "Old Politics" campaign, where political machines and party bosses determined the major nominees, even as the "New Politics" of grassroots participation powered primary elections. It was an election that showed how candidates from both the Left and Right could seize on "hot-button" issues to alter the larger political dynamic.

There has never been a show business book quite like The Show Won't Go On, the first comprehensive study of a bizarre phenomenon: performers who died onstage. From the comedy magician who dropped dead on live television to the amateur thespian who expired during a play called The Art of Murder, the book is a celebration of lives both famous and obscure, as well as a dramatic and accurate recounting of events leading to the moments they died "doing what they loved."

Steely Dan's songs are exercises in fictional world-building. No one else in the classic-rock canon has conjured a more vivid cast of rogues and heroes, creeps and schmucks, lovers and dreamers and cold-blooded operators-or imbued their characters with so much humanity.

On Monday, August 30, 1920, the S-Five, the newest member of the U.S. Navy's fleet of submarines, departs Boston on her first cruise. Two days later, as part of a routine test of the submarine's ability to crash dive, her crew's failure to close a faulty valve sends 75 tons of seawater blasting in. Before the valve can be jury-rigged shut, the S-Five sits precariously on the ocean floor under 180 feet of water. They have little air, no water, and only the dimmest of light by which to plan their escape.

From retailers to growers, producers, and suppliers, there's a seemingly never-ending list of startup opportunities in this emerging market. In Start Your Own Cannabis Business, cannabis, biotech, and entrepreneurship reporter Javier Hasse introduces forward-thinking entrepreneurs like you to the industry and shares hard-earned tips and success stories from pioneers and visionaries in the marijuana industry.

Light begins at Stonehenge, where crowds cheer a solstice sunrise. After sampling myths explaining First Light, the story moves on to early philosophers' queries, then through the centuries, from Buddhist temples to Biblical scripture, when light was the soul of the divine. Battling darkness and despair, Gothic architects crafted radiant cathedrals while Dante dreamed a 'heaven of pure light.' Later, following Leonardo's advice, Renaissance artists learned to capture light on canvas.

A pioneering exploration of four cities where East meets West and past becomes future: St. Petersburg, Shanghai, Mumbai, and Dubai. Every month, five million people move from the past to the future. Pouring into developing-world “instant cities” like Dubai and Shenzhen, these urban newcomers confront a modern world cobbled together from fragments of a West they have never seen. Do these fantastical boomtowns, where blueprints spring to life overnight on virgin land, represent the dawning of a brave new world? Or is their vaunted newness a mirage?

The scene is the children's ward of a great hospital, and the story of a profoundly moving account of a young doctor's involvement in the life of Mary Berquam, an enchanting 11 year old girl affected with leukemia. He learns how to be a better, more compassionate doctor from this child.

A significant event occurred in Jim's life when his son was born. His son, Michael, was born weighing 3 pounds, 14 ounces. He also had several health issues that were eventually diagnosed as a growth disorder. The growth disorder had many characteristics. Most significantly, the disorder made Michael, throughout his life, smaller and slighter than most children or adults. These characteristics led to Michael looking "different." Throughout Michael's life, there were many experiences where he was judged, teased, and bullied because he was small.

This reimagining of the mega-selling Action Bible explores 230 stories of biblical heroes across seven dynamic attributes of God’s story.

The wealth management industry has undergone a major transformation over the last decade, including increased concerns and skepticism from investors, the growth of robo-advisors, product evolution, and an evolving value proposition - in addition to geopolitical risks, increased correlation across asset classes, changing demographics, and social tensions. Concepts like "Modern Portfolio Theory" aren't modern anymore, and even Post-Modern Portfolio Theory has become passe.

Bob Muglia helps us understand how innovation in data and information technology have led us to AI—and how this technology must shape our future. The long-time Microsoft executive, former CEO of Snowflake, and current tech investor maps the evolution of the modern data stack and how it has helped build today's economy and society. And he explains how humanity must create a new social contract for the artificial general intelligence (AGI)—autonomous machines intelligent as people-that he expects to arrive in less than a decade.

In Teach for Climate Justice, accomplished educator and social and emotional learning expert Tom Roderick proposes a visionary interdisciplinary and intersectional approach to PreK-12 climate education. He argues that meaningful instruction on this urgent issue of our time must focus on climate justice—the convergence of climate change and social justice—in a way that is emotionally safe, developmentally appropriate, and ultimately empowering.

Based on the bestselling book, The Action Bible, this one-year children’s devotional is packed with spiritual lessons and adventures to help kids stay engaged with God’s Word every day. With a week’s worth of activities for each Bible story, The Action Bible Devotional covers important biblical themes such as friendship, temptation, sibling rivalry, self-esteem, and materialism.

After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, millions of young American men were eager to join up and defend their country. William Swanson was among them. The View from My Foxhole tells William Swanson's story of fighting in the jungles of Bougainville and Guam and the ash heap of Iwo Jima. Through it he maintains his sense of humor and thanks his lucky stars for every day he survives.

In Full Upright and Locked Position, former FAA chief counsel and senior aviation policy official Mark Gerchick unravels the unseen forces and little-known facts that have reshaped our air travel experience since September 11, 2001. With wry humor and unique insight, Gerchick takes us past the jargon, technicalities, and all-is-well platitudes to expose the new normal of air travel: from the packed planes and myriad hassles of everyday flying to the alchemy of air fares, the airlines' endless nickel-and-diming, and the elusive hope of escape from steerage.

Incorporating his own thoughts along with those of noted academics, philosophers, and theologians, Loftus is able to properly define "miracle" and then show why there's no reason to believe such a thing even exists.

Before you perform spells and rituals, you need to develop your mind's muscles. Without mental preparation, you'll just go through the motions without any results. Everyone, regardless of experience or traditions, can learn from these exercises and gain the mental focus to make your magic much more effective. Donald Tyson provides twelve chapters that each cover a different topic or type of occult skill—such as concentration, meditation, scrying, astral travel, and aura manipulation—and why it is necessary for better magic.