Academic

The world-famous Miracle Mile in Los Angeles was shaped into a great commercial and cultural district by the city's tremendous urban expansion in the early twentieth century. Its origins along Wilshire Boulevard are directly related to the twin LA booms in auto travel and real estate ventures. Once the home of such famous stores as the May Company, Silverwood's, Coulter's and Desmond's, as well as Streamline Moderne and Art Deco architecture, Miracle Mile has boasted the La Brea Tar Pits and Farmer's Market, Gilmore Field and CBS Television City, as well as Pan Pacific Park and Museum Row. Join author Ruth Wallach, head of the University of Southern California's Architecture and Fine Arts Library, for this tour through the most emblematic neighborhood of twentieth-century Los Angeles development.

Earthbag construction - building with polypropylene bags usually filled with earthen materials - is a versatile, easy-to-master, low-impact, and highly durable form of building, suitable for structures from houses to root cellars. Containing over 75 photos and illustrations, Essential Earthbag Construction is a practical guide to this affordable method of building. Going well beyond the scope of other sources, this indispensable manual is packed with all the information you need to determine if it's the right choice for your project, and to start building. Distilling decades of experience, research, and best practices, it covers: Material specifications, performance, and when and where to use it Pros and cons of different fills from gravel, to earth and clay, to insulative perlite, rice hulls, and volcanic stone Illustrated, step-by-step guidance for efficient bag filling and installation Details for various designs, including domes and arches Foundation options and seismic and stability considerations Finishing and maintenance techniques Tools and materials Additional resources. Essential Earthbag Construction presents the practical guidance and best practices for both the DIYer and professional to design and build high-quality earthbag structures.

From Vitruvius in the 1st century BCE on, there has been an attempt to understand how architecture works, especially in its poetic aspect but also in its basic functions. Design can encourage us to walk, to experience community, to imagine new ways of being, and can affect countless other choices we make that shape our health and happiness. Using the ideas of rational choice theory and behavioral economics, Choice Architecture shows how behavior, design, and wellness are deeply interconnected. As active agents, we choose our responses to the architectural meanings we encounter based on our perception of our individual contexts. The book offers a way to approach the design of spaces for human flourishing and explains in rich detail how the potential of the built environment to influence our well-being can be realized.

In this Very Short Introduction, Jon Balserak explores major ideas associated with the Calvinist system of thought. Beginning during the Protestant Reformation in cities like Zurich, Geneva, and Basel, Calvinism - also known as Reformed Theology - spread rapidly throughout Europe and the New World, eventually making its way to the African Continent and the East. Balserak examines how Calvinist thought and practice spread and took root, helping shape church and society. Much of contemporary thought, especially western thought, on everything from theology to civil government, economics, the arts, work and leisure, education, and the family has been influenced by Calvinism. Balserak explores this influence. He also examines common misconceptions and objections to Calvinism, and sets forth a Calvinist understanding of God, the world, humankind, and the meaning of life. The work concludes with a chronology of important events and an extensive bibliography for further reading.

For centuries, the ceremonial evocation of spiritual beings has been Magic's darkest corner. Reputed to fulfill the Magician's material desires, evocation has been the topic of the most famous Grimoires---the Grammars of Magic. From the Sworn Book of Honorius the Magician, to the Greater Key of Solomon and the Goetia; from the Grand Grimoire, to the complete treatise of the Lemegeton, all give direct, yet difficult, directions to the individual desiring to have the 'good life' in the here-and-now. But the simplest of Grimoires, the Heptameron of Peter de Abano, has escaped the attention of modern Ceremonialists. Its simplicity and power in summoning the Aerial Spirits is second to none. Ceremonial Magic lays bare the operation of the Heptameron. Its Magical Axioms, extensive Commentaries, copious notes, and personal instructions to the reader---all gained from Dr. Lisiewski's forty-years of study and practice in Ceremonial Magic---make this a resource that no serious student of Magic can afford to be without. It is all here, as in no other Grimoire. Use its instructions and the world of evocation and personal gratification are well within your grasp!

The Christian longing to share anguish, fear, gratitude, and awe has found expression in many forms of prayer, beginning in Scripture and the practices and words of Jesus. Over the centuries many fruitful approaches to prayer have taken hold, but often there is a certain unease about what is right or what is best. In this welcome and welcoming book, Fr. James Martin eases these concerns with thoughtful, practical encouragement about prayer in all of its forms. In All Seasons, For All Reasons is drawn from "Teach Us to Pray," Fr. Martin's very popular monthly column in Give Us This Day.

The Church is very good at inviting or challenging people to love their neighbours. It is not so strong on encouraging us to love ourselves. This book illuminates the healing truth that encountering the love of God sets us free to live as we were intended to live - loving ourselves and those around us. Through Bible passages, stories and exercises, the authors encourage us to throw off the sense of apprehension that bothers so many, and to enjoy living to the full in God's exhilarating company.

Whether it happens all at once or gradually over time, spiritual awakening is an experience that may be accompanied by great insight, ecstatic bliss, or a mystical infusion of light, love, and vision. But it can be an overwhelming experience, too, leaving those to whom it's occurred searching for answers and understanding. Written by a transpersonal psychologist and non-dual teacher, this book will help you understand the phenomenon of spiritual awakening, and provide guidance and support for you on your spiritual journey. At the heart of most spiritual traditions is the understanding that we are one with all of existence. This realization, also known as spiritual awakening or spiritual emergence, can occur spontaneously, after years of spiritual practice, or through many other portals. Although awakening is often considered a purely positive experience, many people are not prepared for the ramifications of such a life-altering event. When your perception of yourself and reality has been altered, you may find yourself with more questions than answers. Where can you turn? Based on over thirty years of case studies, as well as the author's own experiences, When Spirit Leaps explores the why and what of spiritual awakening, revealing how this phenomenon occurs across all traditions, and exploring the various ways it can happen. Including discussions on kundalini energy, meditation, yoga and qigong, breathwork, near-death experiences, and much more, this inspirational book offers companionship and practical solutions to common challenges along the spiritual path of awakening. With this book as your guide, you'll gain a deep understanding of the process and different portals of awakening, and find comfort and support in the real-life stories of those who have experienced this shift in consciousness and faced its challenges. Most importantly, you'll learn how you can embody this awakening and live joyfully and effectively without attachment to a personal sense of self, but as the oneness with all that is your true nature. No matter where you are on your spiritual journey, this book will help you along the way.

This book deals with a hospital's struggle to secure and maintain financial stability. In the story, the leadership team of a fictional hospital adopts the tools and principles associated with the Toyota Production System or Lean. The story takes the reader through leadership's arduous journey from rejecting the methodology to embracing it, to successful implementation. This book is important because many of our nation's hospitals are besieged with financial difficulties with declining reimbursement and the public is losing confidence in our hospital's ability to provide quality care without error. Lean can provide relief from these issues but only if it is properly implemented. "With this book, Tom Zidel expertly outlines the necessary elements and proper execution of process improvement in the form of a fast-paced business novel. Set in a hospital, we follow a senior management team overcoming organizational skepticism and resistance as it moves to rapidly implement a series of improvement initiatives as the core of its financial turnaround plan. Tom brilliantly incorporates descriptions of Lean principles and tools and the historical context of process improvement into this engaging book while demonstrating the power of Lean to dramatically improve patient satisfaction, clinical outcomes and business results." - James P. Hill, Senior Vice President, Administrative Services, MedStar Washington Medical Center

Hilarious advice on what NOT to do with money, from financial funny man Ben Stein Everyone's searching for the secrets to financial success, but what about the best ways to lose money . . . fast?! In How To Really Ruin Your Financial Life and Portfolio, bestselling author, economist, financial commentator, and media personality Ben Stein explains exactly what to do . . . to go bust! The ultimate "how-NOT-to" guide, the book gives readers invaluable tips that should be avoided at all costs. Written in Stein's own inimitable style, this hilarious guide provides essential financial advice on what not to do when it comes to managing money. From reading and acting upon investing newsletters to trading on a margin, from investing in bonds to breathlessly following CNBC, and from buying stock in firms you do not understand to believing in your own genius at stock picking to keeping as little cash on hand as possible, Stein presents the rules that every would-be investor needs to know, so they can do the exact opposite and actually make money. Fully revised and updated, this new edition presents all-new missteps that can destroy any portfolio. Fully revised and updated edition of the tongue-in-cheek bestseller that shows investors what not to do with their money Written by acclaimed author economist, financial commentator, and media personality Ben Stein Loaded with indispensable pieces of bad advice that readers should avoid at all costs A laugh-out-loud approach to personal finance, How To Really Ruin Your Financial Life and Portfolio is an accessible guide to money from the funniest man in finance.

The introduction of market reforms has radically transformed China. The Market in Chinese Social Policy examines the impact of a shift to market principles in the critical sector of social policy. The contributors demonstrate how social policy reform has been driven by economic transformation, as profound structural change produced inevitable knock-on effects in people's livelihood. Marketization in social policy in turn creates new needs and raises issues that challenge commonly accepted notions of public-private responsibilities in a society undergoing rapid and deep social change.

Insight Pocket Guides: ideal itineraries and top travel tips in a pocket-sized package. Now with free eBook, and a pull-out map. · Compact, concise, and packed with essential information about Where to Go and What to Do, this is an ideal on-the-move companion when you're exploring Bulgaria · Covers Top Ten Attractions, including the Alexander Nevski Cathedral, the Black Sea Coast, sacred monasteries and the Iskar Gorge, plus suggestions for a Perfect Day in Sofia, including museums, churches, the Rotunda and where to find the vibrant street life and great eats · Offers an insightful overview of landscape, history and culture · Contains an invaluable pull-out map, and essential practical information on everything from Eating Out to Getting Around · Includes an innovative extra that's unique in the market - all Insight Pocket Guides come with a free eBook · Inspirational colour photography throughout · Sharp design and colour-coded sections make for an engaging reading experience About Insight Guides: Insight Guides has over 40 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce around 400 full-colour print guide books and maps as well as picture-packed eBooks and apps to meet different travellers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus on history and culture together create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure.

The author shows how sustainable development may be organized, valued and distributed by introducing situational contracting as an interactive and contextual mode of governance. Situational contracting provides a road map for where we want to go, serving the prevailing ideology in implementing the trade between efficiency and fairness.

"The world has a way of defining you if you don't know who you are before you get out there." -Candace Cameron Bure

Sex, Love, and Migration goes beyond a common narrative of women's exploitation as a feature of migration in the early twenty-first century, a story that features young women from poor countries who cross borders to work in low paid and often intimate labor. Alexia Bloch argues that the mobility of women is marked not only by risks but also by personal and social transformation as migration fundamentally reshapes women's emotional worlds and aspirations.

Every American has heard of the lumberjack hero Paul Bunyan and his big blue ox. For 100 years his exploits filled cartoons, magazines, short stories, and children's books, and his name advertised everything from pancake breakfasts to construction supplies. By 1950 Bunyan was a ubiquitous icon of America's strength and ingenuity. Until now, no one knew where he came from—and the extent to which this mythical hero is rooted in Wisconsin.

Joyce Westerman grew up on a farm in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. As a kid, she cleaned the barn, picked vegetables, and helped her father cut down trees. But what she really loved to do was play baseball. Joyce played ball at recess and with friends whenever she could. She even joined her aunt's adult softball team when she was only twelve.

The study of Syria as a Roman province has been neglected by comparison with equivalent geographical regions such as Italy, Egypt, Greece and even Gaul. It was, however, one of the economic powerhouses of the empire from its annexation until after the empire's dissolution. As such it clearly deserves some particular consideration, but at the same time it was a major contributor to the military strength of the empire, notably in the form of the recruitment of auxiliary regiments, several dozens of which were formed from Syrians. Many pagan gods, such as Jupiter Dolichenus and Jupiter Heliopolitanus Dea Syra, and also Judaism, originated in Syria and reached the far bounds of the empire. This book is a consideration, based on original sources, of the means by which Syrians, whose country was only annexed to the empire in 64 BC, saw their influence penetrate into all levels of society from private soldiers and ordinary citizens to priests and to imperial families.

This volume, the third by Charles Burnett in the Variorum series, brings together articles on the different numeral forms used in the Middle Ages, and their use in mathematical and other contexts. Some pieces study the introduction of Hindu-Arabic numerals into Western Europe, documenting, in more detail than anywhere else, the different forms in which they are found, before they acquired the standard shapes with which we are familiar today. Others deal with experiments with other forms of numeration within Latin script: e.g., using the first nine Roman numerals as symbols with place value, abbreviating the Roman numerals, and using the Latin letters as numerals. The author discusses how different types of numerals are used for different purposes, and the application of numerals to the abacus, and to calculation with pen and ink. The studies include the critical edition of several Latin texts.

Lonely Planet's Pocket Miami is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Admire the iconic art-deco architecture, enjoy the nightlife, and swim at North Beach; all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of the best of Miami and begin your journey now!