Necessary Chances

Contained in this book are 50+ stories of actual events told exactly how they happened to the author. The stories span more than 30 years in the field of law enforcement. They cover everything—from answering the phone to murder investigations. The author’s truest intention is to tell the stories so that people might better understand the day-to-day life of a police officer. As often as possible, the stories are told in a humorous manner because we all deserve to laugh. The author hopes that this book might inspire one good man or woman to take up the shield. In today’s world of miscommunication and misunderstanding, the author hopes that somehow, somewhere, a dialogue might open that wasn’t there before.

Nerissa's Ring

Nerissa’s Ring is the last two words of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.

It is “upside down” because the merchants in the play were on a pilgrimage from Venice to Belmont, the home of the queenly princess, Portia, whose assistant was Nerissa. Shakespeare asserts that one can get from Venice to Belmont either by land or by sea. It turns out Belmonte is an inland town in northeastern Portugal which fits that geography.

Furthermore, today’s Belmonte is the home of some 300 Jews (among its population of 3,000) who have lived there since the 16^th century as “Christians,” but in the 1980s they “came out” publicly as Jews. Although no secret to the Gentiles, they literally had worshiped their Jewish God underground, while also dutifully attending church and silently telling God that place was nothing but a pile of stones. Such were the consequences of the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions (Shakespeare probably anglicized Belmont, dropping the “e”).

Never Take No for an Answer

Embarking on a new business venture can be a daunting and unpredictable journey, much like rolling the dice in a game of chance. In 1967, two bold young men, Les Marino and Kenny Anderson, fearlessly stepped into the world of Heavy Construction, boldly declaring that they would one day become the largest contracting firm in the world. Oblivious to the challenges that lay ahead, they hung their shingle on the door of a modest one-room office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, unaware that their audacious prediction might actually come true in the not-too-distant future. The path to success was far from a smooth highway; instead, it resembled a treacherous, winding trail through a dark and perilous jungle. Armed with perseverance, dedication, hard work, and humility, Les and Kenny navigated the obstacles, eventually finding their way to the proverbial yellow brick road and the success they had envisioned.

This book takes you on a captivating journey, detailing the trials, tribulations, and triumphs that shaped their remarkable story. Join them on this thrilling ride, but be sure to fasten your seatbelt securely, as the road ahead is filled with unexpected twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Discover how two determined individuals transformed their dream into reality, and learn valuable lessons that can be applied to your own entrepreneurial endeavors.

New Secrets for Success in an AI World

ACCELERATING CHANGE IS OUR FUTURE

This book examines the most pressing AI questions.

What are the risks associated with AI?

What is changing first: job displacement or job creation?

What are the most significant benefits of AI in the short and long term?

What is the timeline for AI-driven change?

Who will be affected most by AI changes in the world?

Who will be affected the least by AI?

What opportunities lie in future changes?

What does the future look like in the short, mid, and long term?

What are the most significant new evolving trends in AI?

What are some of the AI advancements in healthcare?

What are the secrets to future success in an AI world?

What is the next wave of AI start-ups?

What is the simplest way to monetize AI?

How is AI going to affect the financial system worldwide?

How will AI affect warfare worldwide?

How soon will we see AI personal companions?

What is augmented eternity?  

And much much more…

Nigeria – Politics, Religion, Pentecostal-Charismatic Power and Challenges

Nigeria presents an enthralling case study for understanding developing architypes in interreligious encounters in Africa. The global community needs a cultural understanding and sensitivity for productive engagement with the Arab and non-Arab Muslim world. The Nigeria religious exigencies provide a requisite intelligence into the challenges facing a global community seeking to foster peace. Without a domain of tolerance, love, equity and justice, Nigeria will continually be immured by pessimism, parochialism, cynicism and mutual suspicion. Despite being the largest economy in Africa and the most populous Black country, Nigeria demonstrates incessantly an uncommon fault-line between Christianity and Islam.

The significance of this goes beyond the borders of Nigeria but has become a global showcase anywhere the two religions exist contemporaneously. Nigeria is the nexus between west and central Africa. Rooted in the dusty Sahel of the north, the savannah plains, the rich rainforests of the Atlantic coast, the rocky hills of the West, and the oil-filled swamps of the Delta. Nigeria is the beauty, sound, vision, passion and the soul of the African continent.

In Nigeria, the Nigeria Pentecostal-Charismatic Movement possesses a distinctive flair that demands a holistic understanding of the movement’s historical, cultural, fundamental and religious dimensions in a multifarious religious landscape. The disquisition of the movement’s political cognizance, identity, power, authority, theology, popular culture, ethics and missiological impact in northern Nigeria presents a fine embroidery of their trials, frustrations and challenges, but inveterate in faith, hope and love that opens up innovative panoramas of peaceful dialogical prospects and coexistence between Christians and Muslims in northern Nigeria.

In Nigeria - Politics, Religion, Pentecostal-Charismatic Power and Challenges, Akintayo Emmanuel reconnoiters the complex missiological hindrances challenging the Nigerian Pentecostal-Charismatic Movement. Their contextual missional landslide disheveled with complicated paradoxes in the way the Christian majority have responded to Muslims in northern Nigeria is anatomized. The Nigerian Pentecostal-Charismatic Movement’s puissance to solve some of Nigeria political, ideological, cultural and spiritual dimensions of crisis and sectarian violence is achievable if the movement can mitigate her missiological hindrances.

The responses of Nigerian Pentecostal-Charismatic Movement to Nigeria’s socio-political and ethno-religious complexities can construct a great future for the soul of Nigeria. They do not only have the capacity to provide the Christian alternatives to Nigeria’s peculiarities, they can also stimulate Nigeria’s deification among other nations by continuing to disentangle from unscrupulousness and atrociousness embedded within—a reproach and opprobrium to any people.

No Regrets: Growing Up American In An Era of Globalization

No Regrets: Growing Up American in an Era of Globalization follows the author’s life from his earliest days as the child of Czechoslovakian immigrants to his twilight years. Along the way he introduces us to improbable meetings, amazing coincidences, and fascinating individuals and events, all presented in a clear and, at times, humorous first-person narrative.

Against the backdrop of major demographic changes in America since his ancestors’ immigration in the early 20th century, we follow the author’s journey from homogenous neighborhoods populated by first and second generation Central and Eastern Europeans to a life which embraces the rich racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity of America. Part economic, political, and personal history and part social commentary, the author makes a persuasive case for maintaining an open and tolerant country and society made more important given the recent growth of nativist, anti-immigrant, and racial bias in the United States.

During his life, the author introduces us to important historical figures personally connected with his relatives including the last emperor of China; the Granddaughter of the founder of the Mitsubishi Corporation; and Josephine Baker, the black American performer and World War II spy for the French resistance. Personal and funny anecdotes abound such as a chance meeting and almost tennis challenge to one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Interspersed with these, the author provides valuable advice on such practical matters as buying a house and how to lead a rich and full life.

Noise

Introducing a heart-wrenching yet inspiring book of poetry and journals based on a young woman's journey to recovery from an eating disorder.

Now!

In my concern for the spiritual state of the world, I felt compelled to share my life story where I felt there was a progression toward the holy spirit ever so gradually but at least it was a progression. I did explore various ways of life. As a high school student, I was happy to be university-bound. As a university student, I was happy to explore freethinking as well as pursue dance, which was a repressed desire ever so gradually coming towards fruition. This art form brought another dimension of self-discovery through choreography and performing, and through the people that I met. This led to a spiritual conversion which is exemplified by a trip to Israel and the fruits that it brought forth.  

Nowhere to Call Home

In many cities and small communities across Canada, the individuals and families that experience homelessness are often invisible to the greater community around them. People may walk by or see someone that is homeless, yet they feel a disconnection. They see homelessness as an experience that happens to "other people" not something that could ever affect them. However, Leah's work bridges the gap between "us" and "them" by bringing humanity to all the faces of these individuals. Leah does a wonderful job of highlighting the heart and the struggle that everyone can relate to. People that experience homelessness have families, they have favorite foods, pets, jobs, goals, and dreams along with their struggles. Leah's photographs capture the story of homelessness with all of its rich complexity in an image and through conversation. * Gail Hoekstra, Executive Director; and Carlin Dykstra, Housing Stability Support Worker, Welcome In Drop-In Centre

Nurse Aceso in the COVID Pandemic

Aceso Hugh, a registered nurse, has been writing her COVID-19 pandemic experience since its outbreak in 2020. Despite her busy nursing duties, Aceso documented how COVID-19-infected patients were admitted, treated and taken care of in a local hospital where she works. She recorded her work routine, her observations, her conversations with patients as well as her opinions from a nurse’s inside perspective. Her detailed account on the COVID-19 outbreak has shown how American healthcare workers on the frontline coped with this unprecedented crisis from the very beginning. Aceso’s true stories on COVID pandemic give readers an opportunity to familiarize themselves with hospital’s supplies, facilities, conditions and the environment where American healthcare workers and patients spend hours, days and weeks. These collective true stories also allow readers to experience the patients’ frustration, their struggles, their fights for survival, their uncertainty and emotional up and down throughout the pandemic.

Nurturing Creativity Through Poetry Writing

After a few years of teaching high school English, Michael was disillusioned with uninspiring conventional curriculum. Good students simply tolerated the boring content-driven curriculum better than the less academically inclined students. He started reading about an old concept, through a new term: Emotional Intelligence. An epiphany struck: If emotional intelligence (EQ) development was more of an indication of future success than IQ and was vastly more teachable, why did schools not emphasize the development of emotional intelligence?

For the next 25 years as a high school English teacher, Michael drew and learned from vast resources to better understand, articulate, and embed Healthy Habits of the Mind in his everyday lessons. He developed a list of Healthy Habits of the mind which he could discuss with students. Appreciating a curriculum that became relevant and engaging, students invested energy and often discovered their own creativity and voices.

Eventually, Michael understood how developing writing skills and Emotional Intelligence strengthen and reinforce each other. Students who took more risks, succumbed to fewer fears, and developed a revision mentality were better at all life’s tasks, not just writing.

Oil & Gas Design Engineering Guide Book

Oil & Gas Design Engineering Guide Book consists of a set of valuable practices applicable to design engineering services, such as: Projects Engineering Design House Requisites, Guidelines for Technical Package Writing, Quality Assurance Management System, Typical set of Project Design Deliverables and some prevalent Design Engineering Software. It also includes guide notes for various oil & gas facilities, such as pipelines, piping, tanks, pressure vessels, rotating equipment, heaters, heat exchangers, effluent water treatment systems, and flares. It is noted that the documents and articles included in this book will surely be of assistance and value to the readers and specifically to engineers in the Oil & Gas field.