Current events, politics and economics point toward dangerous instability for our Republic. We need to look forward in the world's new conditions, rather than hold on to failed ideas and policies.The existing finance/tax code rule set is wrecking our long-term real wealth in favor of evanescent paper profits, and worse yet, stripping the poor to profit the rich. In parallel, a calamitous policy that repeats the error of failed alcohol prohibition, our War on Drugs is a hundred billion dollar subsidy for the terrorists, and debases our society with a criminal money culture. These economic structures...the finance/tax/corporate globalizations, and unregulated dope billions...combine to make heartless greed ascendant. Legal or not, inhuman values permeate too much.Any democracy is far more vulnerable than most of us realize, and carries within the seeds of its own destruction. Even the original Greek version of 2500 years ago was felled by excesses of demagoguery and populism. People are easily manipulated to vote against their own interests, something Hitler proved so notoriously, but the mechanisms are active in American politics. Psychopaths, PACs, media, fanaticism, fears, ignorance and more can combine in new ways to grasp power for its own sake. Today,America's population is triple the whole world's in 500BC, a fact that should give us perspective on the accelerating complexities. But this is a country that can turn on a dime, throw off outdated habits and remake itself in a shining new image. We must change direction or fall.

Thus, the rise and growth of economic fundamentalism has been, from historical standards, rather rapid taking hardly a few centuries. The think-tank of the world of economic fundamentalism has taken innumerable steps to strengthen their hold; they have paralysed the law, manoeuvred politics and administration, mar­ginalised religion, captured the media, remodelled social values, commercialised sThus, the rise and growth of economic fundamentalism has been, from historical standards, rather rapid taking hardly a few centuries. The think-tank of the world of economic fundamentalism has taken innumerable steps to strengthen their hold; they have paralysed the law, manoeuvred politics and administration, mar­ginalised religion, captured the media, remodelled social values, commercialised sex, hijacked educational set-up, restructured the foundations of economics, misappropriated science and technology, masterminded popular movements, dehumanised the civilisation and colonised the globe. In the coming pages, each of these steps will be briefly ana­lysed.

*The Pilgrimage* recounts the spectacular trials of Paulo Coelho and his mysterious mentor, Petrus, as they journey across Spain in search of a miraculous sword. *The Pilgrimage* paved the way to Paulo Coelho's international bestselling novel *The Alchemist*. In many ways, these two volumes are companions—to truly comprehend one, you must read the other. Step inside this captivating account of Paulo Coelho's pilgrimage along the road to Santiago. This fascinating parable explores the need to find one's own path. In the end, we discover that the extraordinary is always found in the ordinary and simple ways of everyday people. Part adventure story, part guide to self-discovery, this compelling tale delivers the perfect combination of enchantment and insight.

Luca Minaldi is powerful, rich and mesmerizing. But he is also a reclusive enigma. He lives in Malta, a fairytale-like place filled with sunshine and sea, beauty and secrets. And Luca’s darkest of secrets is the best kept of them all. Eva Talbot is spending the summer in Malta to finish up her doctoral dissertation. When she meets Luca, a mysterious and handsome shipping magnate, there is an instant attraction. He has a disturbing and beautiful energy that she has never felt before. But she senses the darkness that lives within him. Eva is hired to care for his mother, a woman who suffers from dementia, but it is Luca who Eva will eventually risk everything to save. She desperately wants to reach inside of him and fix what is broken, while at the same time, she knows that she is falling for him. Her life becomes a swirling chaos of darkness and romance, of secrets and mystery. And the question that emerges will become the most important answer of all. Can she save Luca from the darkness that plagues him without losing herself? The answer is a matter of life or death.

George Eliot’s final novel and her most ambitious work, Daniel Deronda contrasts the moral laxity of the British aristocracy with the dedicated fervor of Jewish nationalists. Crushed by a loveless marriage to the cruel and arrogant Grandcourt, Gwendolen Harleth seeks salvation in the deeply spiritual and altruistic Daniel Deronda. But Deronda, profoundly affected by the discovery of his Jewish ancestry, is ultimately too committed to his own cultural awakening to save Gwendolen from despair. This Modern Library Paperback Classic is set from the 1878 Cabinet Edition.

Alessandra Cecchi is not quite fifteen when her father, a prosperous cloth merchant, brings a young painter back from northern Europe to decorate the chapel walls in the family’s Florentine palazzo. A child of the Renaissance, with a precocious mind and a talent for drawing, Alessandra is intoxicated by the painter’s abilities. But their burgeoning relationship is interrupted when Alessandra’s parents arrange her marriage to a wealthy, much older man. Meanwhile, Florence is changing, increasingly subject to the growing suppression imposed by the fundamentalist monk Savonarola, who is seizing religious and political control. Alessandra and her native city are caught between the Medici state, with its love of luxury, learning, and dazzling art, and the hellfire preaching and increasing violence of Savonarola’s reactionary followers. Played out against this turbulent backdrop, Alessandra’s married life is a misery, except for the surprising freedom it allows her to pursue her powerful attraction to the young painter and his art. The Birth of Venus is a tour de force, the first historical novel from one of Britain’s most innovative writers of literary suspense. It brings alive the history of Florence at its most dramatic period, telling a compulsively absorbing story of love, art, religion, and power through the passionate voice of Alessandra, a heroine with the same vibrancy of spirit as her beloved city.

A Richard Sharpe short story, featuring scenes of action and adventure at Christmas.'You'll like Irati,' Colonel Hogan said. 'It's a nothing place, Richard. Hovels and misery, that's all it is and all it ever will be, but that's where you're going for Christmas.'Sharpe was sent to Irati because maybe the French were going there. The garrison planned to march at Christmas in the hope that their enemies would be too bloated with beef and wine to fight, but Hogan had got wind of their plans and was now setting his snares on the only two routes that the escaping French could use. One, the eastern road, was by far the easier route, for it entered France through a low pass, and Hogan guessed it was that route that the French would choose. But there was a second road, a tight, hard, steep road, and that had to be blocked as well and so the Prince of Wales's Own Volunteers, Sharpe's regiment, would climb into the hills and spend their Christmas at a place of hovels...

In his final years, Egyptian Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz distilled his storyteller's art to its most essential level. Written with the compression and power of dreams, these poetic vignettes, originally collected in two books, The Dreams and Dreams of Departure, here combined in one volume for the first time. These stories telescope epic tales into tersely haunting miniatures. A man finds his neighborhood has turned into a circus, but his joy turns to anger when he cannot escape it. An obscure writer finally achieves fame-through the epitaph on his grave. A group of friends telling jokes in an alley face the murderous revenge of an ancient Egyptian queen. Figures from Mahfouz's past-women he loved, men who inspired him, even fictional characters from his own novels-float through tales dreamed by a mind too fertile ever to rest, even in sleep. Translated by Raymond Stock From the Trade Paperback edition.

Everyone loves a wedding... Nothing lifts our hearts like the joyous peal of wedding bells. Or the sight of a happy couple being showered with confetti and good wishes. Now the most exciting new names in romantic fiction and the bestselling author who started it all -escort you down the aisle to a place of honor at four glorious celebrations of everlasting love: KATHLEEN E. WOODIWISS reintroduces us to the beloved characters from THE FLAME AND THE FLOWER including Jeff Birmingham, who seals an impetuous proposal with one brief, precious and passionate kiss. CATHERINE ANDERSON calls us to meet a tempestuous pair of wild western hearts, in a tale of a frontier revenge that backfires. LORETTA CHASE melts our hearts with a story of an unconventional young woman's offer of marriage to a "mad" and presumed dying earl. LISA KLEYPAS shows us how true love will always win in a romance about one stubborn lady -and the persistent suitor who opens her heart. So come join the celebration and experience THREE WEDDINGS AND A KISS Love for now...and always.

A sexy category romance from Entangled's Brazen imprint... Never challenge a cowboy in the courtroom… Surveying the proposed site for a high-end golf course should have been a breeze for spunky landscape architect Sophie Smith. But when this born-and-bred city girl is literally swept off her feet by a sexy cowboy on horseback, she realizes country life has some serious (and seriously steamy) possibilities. That is, until she finds out exactly who her smoking hot wrangler really is. Tribal lawyer Jake Lodge is desperately trying to block the development. And if that means playing hardball, so be it. But Sophie is a distraction he didn’t expect. A distraction that makes his blood burn. Two different worlds. Two opposing sides. And when they finally give into temptation, the consequences will shake the foundations of both of their lives…

Paul, a religious teen living in a small conservative town, finds his world turned upside down when he meets Manuel—a young man who says he’s both Christian and gay, two things that Paul didn’t think could coexist in one person. Doesn’t the Bible forbid homosexuality? As Paul struggles with Manuel’s interpretation of the Bible, thoughts that Paul has long tried to bury begin to surface, and he finds himself re-examining his whole life. This is an unforgettable book on an extremely timely topic that strives to open minds on both ends of the spectrum.

Stuck spending the summer with his screwed up family, Gabriel Walker is bored out of his mind and looking for an adventure. And he seems to find it with the hot girl who lives next door. The attraction between them is instant. Electric. Soon they’re spending every stolen minute together. Talk about the perfect summer fling… Lucy isn’t what she seems. She doesn’t live next door—she’s the girl who’s been hired to house sit for the summer while the family goes on a worldwide vacation. If Gabe wants to believe she’s a spoiled rich girl looking for some fun, she can go along with that. After the summer, she’ll never see him again. They don’t count on running into each other at college. Now Lucy must keep up the pretense of being a rich girl—and it’s exhausting. She knows she’s falling in love with Gabe and she’s scared he feels the same. Will he still care about her when he discovers the truth?

This is the story of a great wild stallion, Thowra the Silver Brumby. Brumbies are the wild horses of Australia, hunted by man to be tamed for their use.Pursued relentlessly by hunters, only Thowra’s speed and mighty strength save him from capture. This is the first in a series of four books about Silver Brumby.‘I am certain, absolutely certain, that those of you who like horses will think — as my children did — that this is the best book you have ever read’PENELOPE MORTIMER B.B.C. CHILDREN’S HOUR

During a lunch of mushroom soup, ham sandwiches and chocolate ice cream, a family discusses a woman in a family way, a barroom and a race track.This is the third poem in the series of "Dreams As I..." The "Dream" series provides the reader the opportunity to dream those secret dreams with the writer, and discover what can lie just up ahead in life.

A series of poems inspired by life and dreams. Some poems are word play and other pure theme.Inspired by everything from quantum psychics to the sun above, Whisper of Hypnos is a collection of poems influenced by the dreams that wake you up at night and the days where ego and entropy make themselves known."Under Synesthesia" was originally published by The Bitter Oleander Press and "Withering depths/dried" was published by Pens on Fire. An author's mind manifests in the architecture of their work and this collection is no different. It shows a mind preoccupied with the transient nature of reality and the conflicts that consciousness brings.