  | Book Details Title: Analysis and Design of Next-Generation Software Architectures: 5G, IoT, Blockchain, and Quantum Computing |
Book DescriptionFrom the Back Cover This book provides a detailed “how-to” guide, addressing aspects ranging from analysis and design to the implementation of applications, which need to be integrated within legacy applications and databases.The analysis and design of the next generation of software architectures must address the new requirements to accommodate the Internet of things (IoT), cybersecurity, blockchain networks, cloud, and quantum computer technologies. As 5G wireless increasingly establishes itself over the next few years, moving legacy applications into these new architectures will be critical for companies to compete in a consumer-driven and social media-based economy. Few organizations, however, understand the challenges and complexities of moving from a central database legacy architecture to a ledger and networked environment.The challenge is not limited to just designing new software applications. Indeed, the next generation needs to function more independently on various devices, and on more diverse and wireless-centric networks. Furthermore, databases must be broken down into linked list-based blockchain architectures, which will involve analytic decisions regarding which portions of data and metadata will be processed within the chain, and which ones will be dependent on cloud systems. Finally, the collection of all data throughout these vast networks will need to be aggregated and used for predictive analysis across a variety of competitive business applications in a secured environment. Certainly not an easy task for any analyst/designer!Many organizations will continue to use packaged products and open-source applications. These third-party products will need to be integrated into the new architecture paradigms and have seamless data aggregation capabilities, while maintaining the necessary cyber compliances.The book also clearly defines the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders involved, including the IT departments, users, executive sponsors, and third-party vendors. The book’s structure also provides a step-by-step method to help ensure a higher rate of success in the context of re-engineering existing applications and databases, as well as selecting third-party products, conversion methods and cybercontrols. It was written for use by a broad audience, including IT developers, software engineers, application vendors, business line managers, and executives. Read more About the Author Dr. Arthur M. Langer is the Director of the Center for Technology Management and Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia University, New York, NY, USA, where he also serves as the Academic Director of Technology Management Programs at the School of Professional Studies, and as a Professor of Practice at the Department of Organization and Leadership at the Graduate School of Education (Teachers College). Dr. Langer is also the Chairman and Founder of Workforce Opportunity Services (WOS), a non-profit NGO dedicated to assisting socially excluded youth and veterans with their education and professional careers. His other publications include the Springer titles Guide to Software Development, Analysis and Design of Information Systems, and The Art of Analysis. Read more Customers Review:I’ve just started reading my copy of Analysis and Design of Next-Generation Software Architectures and can immediately see the book’s important contribution to Analysis and Design literature. The book helps you uncover what is being asked for – in respect to your specific business needs – when adopting new technologies like IoT, Blockchain, 5G, and Quantum Computing. It not only builds on Dr. Langer’s legacy of Analysis and Design writing, but moves current discussions on new technologies beyond mere buzzwords to alignment and purpose. In short – a great read. | |
Jumat, 29 Mei 2020
[PDF] Download Analysis and Design of Next-Generation Software Architectures: 5G, IoT, Blockchain, and Quantum Computing by Arthur M. Langer | Free EBOOK PDF English
1 reviews [PDF] Download STACK: An Introduction to the Highest Levels of Investing (1) by Jeremiah Brown | Free EBOOK PDF English
 | Book Details Title: STACK: An Introduction to the Highest Levels of Investing (1) |
Book DescriptionReview In the book, ‘Stack’, the author offers financial advice aimed at revealing the investment secrets of the wealthy. He outlines the history of paper money, gold, and Bitcoin; he demonstrates the need to diversify investments and to build wealth with audacity. The author urges the reader to have willpower against immediate spending in favor of long-term gain; he gives specific investment hints and tips, includes advice concerning different types of real estate investments; and he explains ways in which the reader might decrease the taxable portion of investments. – The Washington Post Read more Customers Review: This book has been a great read so far! I believe that this book can aid anyone on their journey of financial literacy. I took a strong liking to the stock market investing portion since that is my main interest and pulled a lot of great value from it. Overall. the content in this is something that can change the dynamics of a generation if applied correctly. I would strongly recommend it for those wanting to gain control of their financial freedom and future. | |
[PDF] Download Everyday Ubuntu: Living Better Together, the African Way by Mungi Ngomane | Free EBOOK PDF English
 | Book Details Title: Everyday Ubuntu: Living Better Together, the African Way |
Book DescriptionAbout the Author Mungi Ngomane is the granddaughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and patron of the Tutu Foundation UK. Mungi has never felt that her family forced her to follow in their footsteps but that their hope for justice and human dignity for all was passed down through her genes. She has worked in Middle East conflict resolution and for the advancement of women and girls for some of the world’s foremost advocacy organizations and initiatives. She was recently campaign coordinator for a new national and bipartisan campaign, Millions of Conversations, aimed at tackling Islamophobia and discrimination in the U.S. After she has brought Everyday Ubuntu into the world, she plans to return to NGO advocacy and program management. She is passionate about human rights, specifically the advancement of women and girls, the protection of refugees and the liberation of the Palestinian people. She hopes one day all girls will have FUNdamental human rights. She has a Master’s in International Studies and Diplomacy from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London. Read more Customers Review: It was such a joy to read Everyday Ubuntu, written by Mungi Ngomane, granddaughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. In it, she offers 14 lessons to be gleaned from the African concept of Ubuntu, which essentially is a way of living that recognizes that we are all human and we are all connected, and that when we recognize that fact, we are then able to both be fuller and kinder versions of ourselves and to more clearly see and value others’ humanity and humanness, too. In living this way, we are more compassionate, kind, forgiving, generous people who make life better for ourselves and those around us.This book is clear and well organized, full of both personal and globally inspiring stories of ways that folks all over the world put the concept of Ubuntu into action on a daily basis.Each section grounds itself with both the opportunities and challenges of each facet of Ubuntu: respect for self and others, choosing hope, forgiving others and ourselves, embracing diversity, and active and meaningful listening, to name just a few. The author then extends our understanding by offering concrete ideas for putting these concepts into play in our own lives, making Ubuntu not an abstract concept, but a truly accessible one deeply connected to everyday living. Everyday Ubuntu is also a beautiful book, with bright and colorful artwork throughout inspired by Ms. Ngomane’s South African heritage.Ubuntu is an inspiring idea, one that can have a great and positive impact on the lives we lead and the ways we move through the world. In Ngomane’s book, Everyday Ubuntu, we are offered a beautiful roadmap for putting that idea into action, and through it, the opportunity to live a life that is more authentically connected to ourselves, our humanity, and our fellow humans.Highly recommend!!!! | |
[PDF] Download Wicked Bite: A Night Rebel Novel by Jeaniene Frost | Free EBOOK PDF English
 | Book Details Title: Wicked Bite: A Night Rebel Novel |
Book DescriptionReview “Frost’s second Night Rebel title is a fierce and satisfying sequel, brilliantly fleshing out two vibrant characters in ways that feature their surface power and irreverent attitudes but also spotlight the internal courage and nobility which make them perfect for each other. The hurtling plot and outstanding worldbuilding frame a poignant, character-driven romance that explores unconditional love and self-acceptance… A breathtaking paranormal romance.” (Kirkus Reviews (starred review))”Frost’s utterly enjoyable second Night Rebel novel delivers all the sizzle, sass, and suspense that make this paranormal world such a thrill… Amid fierce battles of wits, weapons, and magic, Frost highlights her characters’ courage, growing self-acceptance, and unshakable love for one another… This pulse-quickening romance succeeds on every level.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review)) Read more About the Author Jeaniene Frost is the New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of the Night Huntress series and the Night Huntress World novels. To date, foreign rights for her novels have sold to nineteen different countries. Jeaniene lives in North Carolina with her husband Matthew, who long ago accepted that she rarely cooks and always sleeps in on the weekends. Aside from writing, Jeaniene enjoys reading, poetry, watching movies with her husband, exploring old cemeteries, spelunking and traveling—by car. Airplanes, children, and cookbooks frighten her. Read more Customers Review: This book started with a bang and ended with a kaboom! If you loved it like I did, you will have to wait impatiently for the next book. Not too many spoiler-y things I can say on this review but I will leave you with a couple of thoughts.1) When did Ian become so charming and delicious? He is sex on stick with a side of smart ass. More please!2) I’m dying to know more about Veritas/Ariel’s past. How about a prequel? Yes please!3) I can see future books on Ashael and Yohan. Excited!!4) I got a smexy tingle when I read about Phanes. Need a book with him stat!Other than that, read this book today. Play hooky if you need to or call in sick. Do it. Give yourself a day to enjoy this book. In fact, I’m about to re-read it again. 384 pages were too short when Jeanine Frost is the author! | |
[PDF] Download The Longing for Less: Living with Minimalism by Kyle Chayka | Free EBOOK PDF English
 | Book Details Title: The Longing for Less: Living with Minimalism |
Book DescriptionReview “Delving into art, architecture, music and philosophy, [Chayka] wants to learn why the idea of ‘less is more’ keeps resurfacing … For Chayka, Kondo’s method clearly doesn’t spark joy. More generative for him are the examples of artists who became known as Minimalists even as they disavowed the term. Experiencing their work sharpens his senses; in place of the dull hum of overstimulation, Chayka gains a heightened existential awareness . . . The minimalism that Chayka seeks encourages not an escape from the world but a deeper engagement with it.” – Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times”The Longing for Less arrives not as an addition to the minimalist canon but as a corrective to it … Writing in search of the things that popular minimalism sweeps out of the frame―the void, transience, messiness, uncertainty―[Chayka] surveys minimalist figures in art, music, and philosophy … Along the way, he offers sharp critiques of thing-oriented minimalism … Underneath the vision of ‘less’ as an optimized life style lies the path to something stranger and more profound: a mode of living that strips away protective barriers and heightens the miracle of human presence, and the urgency, today, of what that miracle entails.” – Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker”Chayka suspects, astutely, that minimalism can be used not just to make complex experiences simpler, but the other way around. Whether it is deployed as an ethical practice or as an aesthetic device (or as both at once), the minimalist mode can unlock truths lying dormant in one’s own mind . . . Chayka’s odyssey through the modern minimalist tradition is worthy of a stand-alone text. His study of the ‘blank spaces’ explored by the painter Agnes Martin, the architect Philip Johnson, the composer Julius Eastman, and many others is an exercise in grace and fidelity.” – Los Angeles Review of Books”Kyle Chayka’s fascinating new book explores not only how one might live in a minimalist fashion, but in fact where the idea comes from and how it’s changed and adapted over the ages.” – Town & Country”The Longing for Less tries to understand the current obsession with minimalism in all its complexity: the influence of Silicon Valley, yes, but also capitalism, the economy in the early 2000s, Stoic philosophy, Marie Kondo . . . Chayka takes the reader through history and around the world, giving equal consideration to minimalists like Steve Jobs (who lived in a giant house that remained entirely empty) as he does to Cicero.” – Wired.com”[A] wide-ranging synthesis of a fascinating and perplexing impulse … Persuasively argues for the power of works associated with the minimalism movement.” – Slate”[A] sharp debut . . . Chayka is in tune with the spirit of the movement.” – Washington City Paper”With impressive breadth and depth of knowledge, Mr Chayka deftly skewers the shallowest, consumerist form of minimalism while being sensitive to the impulse for a simpler life, historically a response to decadence or chaos, and how the truest expression strips away artifice, challenging us to see things as they really are.” – MR PORTER, The Daily”Beautiful . . . Whatever name we’re giving to this genre of books that first diagnose our mostly depressing modern condition, then deliver the medicine that make us feel more fully alive, count The Longing For Less in as a brilliant new addition.” – Delia Cai, Deez Links”A powerful meditation on the origins of minimalism, its recent commodification, and how it all went awry.” – Hazlitt”[Minimalism] has become a catchall for any product or idea that promises to simplify or ease our lives, but, in the process, mostly encourages us to accumulate more stuff. In The Longing for Less, Kyle Chayka draws on his experience as a cultural critic to look past this consumerist ethos at the philosophers, artists, and writers who pioneered the concepts underlying minimalism, from Jun’ichiro Tanizaki to Donald Judd and John Cage, as well as the ways their ideas surround us in our everyday lives.” – LitHub”An intriguing deep dive into the many manifestations of minimalism . . . Lively . . . Thoughtful and absorbing . . . A superb outing from a gifted young critic that will spark joy in many readers.” – Kirkus Reviews, starred review”Alluringly titled, Chayka’s insightful book connects a wide array of thought-provoking approaches to the concept of less is more.” – Booklist”More than just a story of an abiding cultural preoccupation, The Longing For Less peels back the commodified husk of minimalism to reveal something surprising and thoroughly alive.” – Jenny Odell, author of HOW TO DO NOTHING”In its lightly worn learning and serious grace, The Longing for Less functions both as a corrective to our shallow form of minimalism and as a guide to a deeper form that still has a great deal to teach us.” – Brian Phillips, bestselling author of IMPOSSIBLE OWLS”Kyle Chayka nimbly weaves Zen Buddhism and Marxism with Donald Judd and Uniqlo in this lively and sophisticated cultural history of minimalism. He balances a critical view of the mass-market forces churning the minimalist-goods industry with a tender consideration of the emotions underlying it, showing how the urge for emptiness is part of a timeless, tireless human need to reinvent the spaces we inhabit and maximize our feeling of being alive.” – Rachel Corbett, author of YOU MUST CHANGE YOUR LIFE”I’m no minimalist, but I am not immune to Kyle Chayka’s searching, subtle, and finally quite moving exploration of the beauty of less.” – Luc Sante”Don’t let the title fool you: The Longing for Less overflows. It’s a parade of artists, architects, musicians, and philosophers, most of them new to me, all of them fascinating. This book is generous and wide-ranging, a genuine adventure; it’s thrilling to ride along with Kyle Chayka as he explores this terrain.” – Robin Sloan, author of MR. PENUMBRA’S 24-HOUR BOOKSTORE”Kyle Chayka gently urges us to reconsider our inheritance of the minimalist legacy while offering nuanced, profound, and then outright dazzling angles on a subject as loved as it is overexposed. With sophistication and subtlety, his new book champions the necessity of critical self-examination amidst our current cultural obsession.” – Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator, Department of Architecture & Design, Museum of Modern Art, New York City”Awake to the paradoxes in our search for peace and simplicity, The Longing for Less quietly observes, with open eyes, heart, and mind, the spirit of iconic places and times when less has been enough.” – Kay Larson, author of WHERE THE HEART BEATS”In a country fueled by commodification, the act of rearranging your dresser drawer can be billed as the beginning of a shinier, more fulfilling life. Kyle Chayka’s impeccably built and consistently fascinating book examines the roots of this movement, which emerges on a loop during times of chaos, bearing aesthetic concepts as quick-fix mantras when the world feels increasingly out of control. Through all Chayka’s biting observations about the soothing contours of Instagram or the platitudes of design blogs, The Longing for Less also tenderly deconstructs the universal ache to build a life that matters.” – Kristen Radtke, author of IMAGINE WANTING ONLY THIS Read more About the Author Kyle Chayka is a freelance writer and critic whose work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, New York Magazine, the New Republic, Rolling Stone, n+1, Vox, the Paris Review, and other publications. He has contributed chapters to Reading Pop Culture: A Portable Anthology and A Companion to Digital Art. Chayka is cofounder of Study Hall, a newsletter and digital community for journalists. He began his career as a visual art critic for Hyperallergic in Brooklyn, and now lives in Washington, D.C. Read more Customers Review: I am not a minimalist and I don’t even play one on TV. But ever since minimalism became a thing, I have been obsessed with the topic and its promises of meaning and Instagram worthy aesthetics. I have read all the books that Chayka references in his very great book on this topic. But I am totally a voyeur. By which I mean I am also a huge skeptic and when things that are somewhat common sense — STOP BUYING SO MUCH **** BECAUSE IT’S RUINING THE PLANET AND YOUR LIFE — become an internet cult and Reddit forum, I think the topic is oversold and everyone is susceptible and dumb. But I will admit that I think about every purchase, am obsessed with clean, empty space and buy a lot less than I used to. BUT DON’T CALL ME A MINIMALIST, DARN IT.Kyle Chayka is a very gifted writer, and not just because he weaves together a lot of threads — blending topics and themes together that might seem disparate — in a completely organic, thought-provoking way; it’s also because his sense of humor is subtly on every page — by which I mean his acerbic wit. This book was a lot more fun/ny to read than I expected.I also think this book has broader appeal than those like myself who find the minimalist movement compelling / addictive / gross / fascinating. Also, this book is a thousand times more interesting and well-written than the books on minimalism that inspired it (understatement).tldr: Highly recommend. | |
Kamis, 28 Mei 2020
[PDF] Download The Wild One (A Peter Ash Novel) by Nick Petrie | Free EBOOK PDF English
 | Book Details Title: The Wild One (A Peter Ash Novel) |
Book DescriptionReview “If you’re not already on the #PeterAsh train, jump aboard now. #TheWildOne is a beautifully written novel, rich with deep, complex characters, full-throttle action, and a superbly realized setting. @_NickPetrie_ is doing headliner work.”—Robert Crais, author of A Dangerous Man”Nick Petrie’s exceptional writing has earned him comparisons to many of the thriller-genre greats, but The Wild One announces that period has come to an end: Petrie is setting the bar, not reaching for it.”—Michael Koryta, New York Times-bestselling author of Those Who Wish Me Dead“Thrilling….A powerfully wrought addition to the series.”—Shelf Awareness (starred review)“This kinetic, breathless masterpiece illustrates why Petrie is here to stay.”—Publishers Weekly“Lots of authors want to be the next Lee Child, but only Petrie has a real shot at that title. His Peter Ash series is every bit as good as the Jack Reacher books, and his latest—the first set outside of the United States—is his finest work to date. I read this one in one sitting and was hooked from the very first page.”—The Real Book Spy”Novelist Lee Child has blessed Ash as a character who merits comparison to his own Jack Reacher. What further distinguishes Petrie’s novels is the depth of care he brings to writing about Ash’s significant PTSD…The Wild One is also a love letter to Iceland and its people…Petrie’s novel characterizes it as a beautiful and civilized country. If Ash must have a dark night of the soul somewhere, he couldn’t have picked a better place.”—The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel“Nick Petrie once again proves himself to be a maestro, wielding his keyboard with all the deftness of a master conductor’s baton, in The Wild One…This seems to be the month for terrific action thrillers, and Petrie is on comfortable, familiar ground there. The Wild One is one wild ride that races along at breakneck speed toward a shattering conclusion.”—Providence Journal Read more About the Author Nick Petrie is the author of four novels in the Peter Ash series, most recently Tear it Down. His debut The Drifter won both the ITW Thriller award and the Barry Award for Best First Novel, and was a finalist for the Edgar and the Hammett awards. A husband and father, he lives in Milwaukee. Read more Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. 1 Twelve Months Earlierîskar wakes them both by jumping into their bed, a warm and wiggly bundle of excitement. Erik groans, and Sarah buries her head under the covers. It’s barely dawn, and the Air and Space Museum doesn’t open until ten, but îskar doesn’t care. He wraps himself around his father’s neck. “Happy Sunday,” îskar whispers loudly, seven years old and unable to contain himself. “Happy Family Day!”Sunday is Family Day, when îskar gets to choose an activity they will all do together. For more Sundays than Erik cares to think about, the Air and Space Museum, with a food truck lunch on the Mall, has been îskar’s choice. But Erik is still mixing batter for Family Day pancakes when Sarah’s phone rings with a work emergency. She gives Erik an apologetic look and runs upstairs to put on work clothes.Erik can’t face yet another Sunday fighting the tourists for a glimpse of the moon lander without her. Instead, he drops to his knees on the dirty kitchen floor. “îskar,” he says, “I have an idea. What would you say to a Viking adventure in Rock Creek Park?” They have been reading Neil Gaiman’s book on Norse mythology together, and the big park has plenty of wild sections and epic landscapes.îskar cheers and jumps around the house, climbing the furniture while Erik stuffs a backpack with sandwiches and extra clothes and a thermos full of hot chocolate, knowing that îskar will happily wander all day if he’s warm and fed. December weather in Washington, D.C., is nothing for a pair of real Vikings.After a long and muddy day of exploration, they arrive back home at the last unrestored town house in Adams Morgan. îskar sprawls on the floor amid a chaos of Lego and buttery crusts of toast, while Erik stands at the open refrigerator, waiting for Sarah to text him back.It is unlike Sarah to ignore her phone. Erik reminds himself that his wife runs her own small cybersecurity company, and a client emergency could well be a very serious thing. She might not be home until midnight or later, and dinner won’t wait with a hungry boy in the house.Erik is the one who likes the predictable pleasures of domestic life. Sarah, on the other hand, thrives on emergencies. She still loves late nights dancing in clubs where the floors are sticky and the music is loud enough to lose yourself until daybreak. Erik is happy to be her designated driver because his pleasure comes from watching his brilliant, buttoned-down wife slam around the dance floor in ripped Levi’s and an ancient biker jacket, alarming the bartenders. On the wildest nights, she pulls him into the back of their minivan, where she frees him from the confines of his pants, then wiggles her tight and sweaty jeans down to her ankles to get him inside her with delicious and slightly alarming efficiency.His family, of course, loves Sarah’s wild side.Erik has chicken thighs braising and a green salad coming together when, to his surprise, Sarah bangs through the back door, her scuffed leather bag slung over one shoulder.As usual, Sarah’s crisp, professional look has come undone during the course of her workday. Her sandy hair falls free from its ponytail, wisps hovering around her forehead like stray thoughts. Her good wool coat is unbuttoned and the weight of her bag pulls her starched shirt askew and up the lush curve of her hips, making visible a crescent of pale skin at her waist.Erik always finds this aspect of his wife profoundly sexy. His plan is to put îskar to sleep as soon as possible, pour her a drink to vanquish the day, and then do his utmost to kiss his wife out of her clothing. The calendar says she’s ovulating. Erik wants nothing more than another child.Yet when he steps in to press his lips to hers, she holds him back with a hand on his chest. Her eyes remain dark and he knows she has not yet resolved her emergency.”I need to show you something.” She slips her bag off her shoulder. “Where’s îskar?””Busy.” Erik tilts his head toward the tinkle of Lego and îskar’s voice mumbling numbers in the living room. “What’s up?”Sarah sets her laptop on the counter and types in her long and complicated password, automatically positioning her body to shield her keystrokes from prying eyes. Nothing personal, Erik knows, just long habit and sensitive client materials. She doesn’t even use their home Wi-Fi, preferring a dedicated secure cell modem.Then she steps sideways to make room for him at the counter, but keeps her torso angled to block the view from the door to the dining room. The door îskar would come through. She hits a key and a paused video frame comes up on the screen.It shows a dim room, two pale bodies entangled on a dark leather couch.She presses Play. The bodies begin to move. There is nothing remotely sexy about it. Erik can tell immediately that something is profoundly wrong.It takes him several moments, however, to realize exactly how wrong. The body on top is significantly larger than the body on the bottom. One is a grown man, his pants down to his knees. The other is just a girl. And she fights to get free.Erik turns from the screen. “Sarah, what is this?””Wait.” She checks over her shoulder for their son. “Keep watching.””I’d rather not.” Erik puts out a hand to block his view.”Watch,” she commands, and pulls his hand out of the way. The camera zooms in. The girl’s face is a mask of pain and terror. She looks very young. The man’s face is rapt, mesmerized by his own pleasure and power. He holds the girl down with a practiced grip on the back of her neck.Erik stabs out a finger and the video vanishes.Sarah touches a key and the video returns. Her voice is calm. “Look at him, Erik. Do you recognize him?”Erik blinks. He looks. He does recognize the man. He fumbles for the remote and turns on the small television in the corner of the kitchen. And there the man stands, as he does so often, on a futuristic set with his crisp haircut and a fresh shave and a microphone on his lapel, wearing a midnight suit and a blood-red tie.The same man in the video with the girl.That same face. Mouth moving, always talking, charming his viewers. Right now his topic is regional stability and the protection of American interests overseas, but Erik doesn’t hear a word. He can’t stand it. He feels sick to his stomach. He unplugs the TV and looks at Sarah.”Where on earth did this come from?”2Present DayPeter Ash woke, gasping for breath, from a dream of gunfire. He could still feel the desert heat on his skin, and the memory of spent powder lingered in his nose.Beside him, his elderly seatmate strained upward, one finger stabbing the call button overhead.Peter blinked away the nightmare, wondering what he’d said or done in his sleep. He was a tall, bony man with shaggy black hair, a tired face, and the thoughtful eyes of a werewolf five minutes before the change. His green hiking pants were frayed at the seams, his Counterbalance Brewing T-shirt ghosted with old stains.A beefy male flight attendant advanced up the aisle, broad face expressionless, hands open and ready. Watching him approach, Peter could tell the man had some physical training, and was probably tasked with controlling unruly passengers on this packed transatlantic flight.Peter raised a hand and caught the other man’s eye. “Sorry.” It was hard to get the words out, his throat choked with the panic raised by the memories still burned into his brain. His T-shirt was damp with sweat and his mouth was dry as a dust storm. “Just a bad dream. Give me a minute, I’ll be fine.”He bent to his bag stuffed under the seat and fumbled the flap as he dug for his pills. His seatmate had shrunk himself against the window, minimizing any contact. Passengers across the aisle were looking anywhere but at him.”Sir.” The flight attendant was almost on him. Peter’s chest was tight, his lungs fighting for air. The cabin of the wide-body jet closed in hard. His fingers closed on the prescription bottle and he straightened up.”I’m all right.” He tried to believe it. “I just need my meds.”He fumbled the top off and shook four of the small pink circles into his hand. Then he found the last intact mini bottle of Reyka vodka in his seat pocket, twisted it open, and swallowed hard, pushing the pills down.The dreams were new.He’d come back from Iraq with claustrophobia bad enough to make living outside seem like a good idea. For more than a year, he’d slept alone under the stars or under a rain fly, high above the tree line of one mountain range or another, barely able to manage resupply in small-town grocery stores.The post-traumatic stress came from kicking in doors in Fallujah, he figured. All those weeks of fighting house to house, room to room, clearing insurgents one doorway at a time.Along with everything else he’d done.He called it the white static, that feeling of electric overdrive that sparked up his brainstem, calculating firing angles, searching for exits. Nerves jangling like bare electrodes under the skin, his chest so tight he couldn’t breathe, his fight-or-flight reflex gone into overdrive. When he first mustered out, he could only handle twenty minutes inside before the static turned into a full-blown panic attack.In the time since then, he’d found a way forward. He’d made friends with the static, in a way, and a start at a new life. He’d found a veterans’ group. He’d met a woman he didn’t deserve, a woman named June Cassidy.But he’d never had dreams, not like this. Not until after Memphis.Something had broken loose inside him there. Something he’d thought he’d had under control. Now it was roaming around in his head, knocking pictures off the walls, breaking the goddamn furniture.In retrospect, this trip was a bad idea. He’d been in a hurry, had booked his tickets for same-day travel. Seats were limited and the schedule was brutal. He’d started in Portland, Oregon, changed planes and airlines in Minneapolis, then done it again in New York.Long hours spent in the stale fluorescent clatter of airports, televisions blaring CNN and the Senate hearings at every turn.More long hours with his oversized frame jammed into undersized seats, trapped in a cigar tube at thirty-five thousand feet.His only exercise was pacing the aisles, his only sleep a few fitful naps. He’d hoped the Valium would help keep the white static at bay, but he’d been stuck inside for too long.The static was losing patience.The werewolf was coming.He touched the little screen on the seatback. The plane icon was over Greenland now. Only ninety minutes to Reykjav’k, Iceland, in late December. Where it snowed or rained for days at a time and the sun never truly rose, only brightening the sky for a few hours at midday.He got up and went to the tiny restroom and splashed his face with water. He didn’t look at himself in the mirror. He knew he wouldn’t like what he saw there. On his way back to his seat, he plucked two more mini vodkas from the flight crew’s service area and tossed them down in one go.Maybe the dreams came from the Valium, fucking with him. It wasn’t supposed to be a long-term solution. He’d read up on the side effects, and they weren’t good. He sure as hell wasn’t supposed to be chasing it with vodka, although the pills alone had stopped working months ago.Maybe it was simply the price to be paid for getting back to some kind of meaningful work.Or maybe he was just running away.He told himself he’d quit the Valium once he got off the plane. He’d pick up his rental, find a place to park outside the city, and sleep it off, all of it. He had plenty of practice sleeping in a vehicle.For now, he closed his eyes and drifted.The airportÕs long, narrow halls were packed with people. Peter walked with the crowd to get his heavy pack and duffel, trying not to run, jumping out of his skin with the need to stand under the open sky and feel the wind on his face. Eight in the morning, and still dark outside. Daylight wouldnÕt come for hours.At customs, the female agent behind the glass ran Peter’s passport under the scanner. He heard a beep and her cool eyes flickered up at him. “Please wait a moment.”In less than a minute, two uniformed agents appeared as if from thin air, a man and a woman. The man collected Peter’s passport from the scanner. “Sir, please come with us.”His English had just a trace of an accent. Sir became not quite shir, us became not quite ush, with a slight whistle to the sibilants. He was older than Peter, early fifties but slim in a crisp black uniform and fresh shave. His uniform had two tags, one in Icelandic on the right breast, lšgreglan, and one on the left that read police. There were no other markings of rank that Peter could see.The woman was younger than Peter, but not by much. Her tag read customs.Peter took a deep breath and let it out. The white static crackled higher up his brainstem, vaporizing the haze of Valium and vodka. His nerves twanged like a dropped piano and sweat gathered between his shoulder blades. He wanted nothing more than to get outside. “What’s this about?”The man saw Peter’s rising tension and eased away from the woman, opening up the angles, giving himself room. He moved well enough, but he seemed unconcerned. There were a half-dozen other officers within view.If he’d known what Peter was capable of, the things Peter had done, the things Peter was contemplating at that very moment, he would have been worried as hell.The woman smiled with professional warmth. “Your name is Peter, right? I’m Sigrid. This is Hj‡lmar. Come with us for a moment, we’ll explain everything. Would you like a coffee?”Peter pulled in another long breath, then bent to pick up his duffel. He already wore the big pack slung over one shoulder. “Sure,” he said. “Coffee would be good.” Or a double bourbon, neat. Then another, washing down four more Valium.He needed to get the fuck out of there. Read more Customers Review: If you read book one in the series, you read this one. Very good read. One negative: There is way too much “dreaming” and way too much “static.” I appreciate bad dreams and PTSD. You cannot spend pages and pages and pages of bad dreams and the anxiety that Peter Ash feels when he is indoors. It’s like spending 50 pages of how great bacon and eggs are. We get it. Christ, move on. | |
[PDF] Download A Time to Build: From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How Recommitting to Our Institutions Can Revive the American Dream by Yuval Levin | Free EBOOK PDF English
 | Book Details Title: A Time to Build: From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How Recommitting to Our Institutions Can Revive the American Dream |
Book DescriptionReview “As Yuval Levin writes in his profound forthcoming book, A Time to Build, Trump is an example of a person who wasn’t formed by an institution. He is self-created and self-enclosed. He governs as a perpetual outsider, tweeting insults to members of his own cabinet. At its best, the impeachment process is an attempt to protect our institutions from his inability to obey the rules.”―David Brooks, New York Times“A Time to Build is exactly what America needs right now. A moving call to recommit to the great project of our common life. And from Yuval Levin, one of the most thoughtful and pertinent of our public intellectuals, who writes like a dream if dreams were always clear. What an encouraging book this is, and what an important one.”―Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal“A provocative, inspiring look at the underlying cause of our polarization and dysfunction.”―Kirkus“In his excellent forthcoming book A Time to Build, Yuval Levin discusses how we’ve degraded our institutions by not letting them shape and constrain us, but instead using them as mere platforms.”―Rich Lowry, National Review“A Time to Build diagnoses the decline of institutions as the source of many social ills, including loneliness and despair, that have been attributed to other causes.”―Mona Charen, National Review“Crisply written and characteristically thoughtful…”―Commentary“Mainstream Republicans dismayed by the current state of their party…will savor this well-reasoned and hopeful study.”―Publishers Weekly“In a political moment focused only on tearing down, Yuval Levin shows the necessity and the promise of institution-building. This book is an essential starting point toward an American renewal.”―Senator Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska)“Yuval Levin stands athwart the wrecking ball of anger that is smashing a democracy in desperate need of rebuilding and repair. A Time to Build sets forth an ambitious blueprint for how Americans can work together to strengthen broken institutions we cannot live without.”―Bruce Reed, chief of staff to former Vice President Joe Biden“There is a great deal of ruin in our society. Yuval Levin does not shrink from taking the full measure of our woes. But his counsel is not despair. This perceptive and important book sets an agenda for renewing the institutions we need in order to live and flourish together as Americans.”―R.R. Reno, editor of First Thing Read more About the Author Yuval Levin is director of social, cultural, and constitutional studies at the American Enterprise Institute and the editor of National Affairs. A former member of the White House domestic policy staff under George W. Bush, he has written for the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal, among many other publications. His previous books include The Fractured Republic and The Great Debate. He lives in Maryland. Read more Customers Review: Good analysis, but buries the lead.Levin concludes that (1) we are led, and we will always be led, by an “elite;” and (2) to become better men and women, and, therefore, better leaders, the “elite” must decide to value more highly the moral and social contributions of “institutions.”Levin announces, at the outset, his conservative viewpoint: “The argument of this book is a conservative one of a particular sort. It begins from the premise that human beings are born as crooked creatures prone to waywardness and sin, that we therefore always require moral and social formation, and that such formation is what our institutions are for.”Describing the need for “institutions,” and his understanding of one difference between “liberal” and “conservative,” Levin writes: “The liberal ideal of freedom, which has often been at the core of our political imagination, is rooted in the premise that the choosing individual is the foundation of our social order. Liberating that person—whether from oppression, necessity, coercion, or constraint—has frequently been understood to be the foremost purpose of our politics. Our parties have argued about how to do it and about what kind of liberation the individual most desires or requires. But they have agreed, at least implicitly, that once properly liberated, that person could be free. There is of course a deeper, older idea of freedom that contends that, in order to be free, we need more than just to be liberated. We need to be formed for freedom—given the tools of judgment and character and habit to use our freedom responsibly and effectively. Such formation for freedom is a key part of what our institutions are for, starting with the family and spreading outward to the institutions through which we work, learn, worship, govern, and otherwise organize ourselves. But the idea that this should be required for freedom has never quite sat well with us, and so the idea that we need institutions never quite has either.”After reviewing the current institutional shortcomings of: all three branches of our government; the professions; the academy; the culture; the family; the religions and the communities, Levin synthesizes the most significant civilizational benefits formerly provided by institutions. These “might be broken down into just a few categories: they constrain and structure our activities; they embody our ideals in practice; they offer us an edifying path to belonging, social status, and recognition; and they help to legitimate authority.”It is this institutional benefit of legitimizing authority that addresses the demands of today’s populism: “populists are not anarchists. They demand liberation from oppressive authority because they want legitimate authority.”Today’s elites are more dangerous with authority because they believe they have won their authority through merit, rather than luck: “this new aristocracy is in some important respects less reticent about its own legitimacy than the old. Because each of its members must work to prove his or her merit—to pass the key tests and clear the key hurdles—today’s elite is more likely to believe it has earned its power and possesses it by right more than privilege. Because our elite as a whole has inclined to this view, it tends to impose fewer restraints on its use of authority and generally doesn’t identify itself with the sort of code of conduct that past aristocracies have at least claimed to uphold. Even when today’s elites devote themselves to public service, as many do, they tend not to see it as the fulfillment of an obligation to give back but rather as a demonstration of their own high-mindedness and merit.”Levin’s solution to this dilemma of illegitimate authority is to have the elite begin to think differently about the social and moral value of institutions, and expand and strengthen institutions, but Levin does not provide a compelling argument as to why the elite should do so.Levin also provides an interesting discussion of social media’s contribution to the decline of institutions.Finally, I thought it outrageous of Levin to include “journalists” within the category of “professionals” particularly after describing the professions as “characterized by some combination of formal training (often through professional schools or certifications), a set of institutional structures of which the profession is the guardian (like courts, hospitals, schools, churches, or labs), specialized knowledge, some degree of self-regulation, and an important social purpose that the profession exists to serve—which tends to yield a strong internal ethos among practitioners.” | |