My Observations III

These observations were made during the author’s twenty-five years with Recovery Acres Society, a special care facility for people with drug and alcohol problems. This includes fifteen years as a board member – including six years as board chair – and ten years as executive director.

During that time, the facility was able to help hundreds of men, women, and families recover from addictions. It was a real privilege for the author to be a part of the facility and a privilege for him to share these observations with you.

My Rhythm in Life with Hic-Cups

This life story is intended to inspire the reader to start thinking about their own life and how much life means.

A life with tragedy, happiness, and contentment. A journey of endurance and strength, of survival and fulfillment. An “itch” that turned into a two-year commitment with hopes of sharing a life of real stories – with real people – real emotions and real possibilities.

True and amusing stories that will keep you entertained. You will read that you don’t have to be rich, famous or powerful to live a meaningful life. Be the best you can be with family, friends and with others you choose to be with.

My life, the first sixty-nine years.

My Words

Do you suffer from depression? Did you suffer from a distressing childhood? I am here to tell you, my friend, that you are not alone.

You try to catch yourself before you slip but you realize it is too late. I have a long history of depression, and nothing has helped me. As I got older, I had to face it on my own. I learned that I had to start living for myself alone and say no to depression. Figuring myself out and how to treat depression, I caught HIV. It triggered my depression to the extent that I isolated myself in the house for six months and lost everything!

During the time I had with myself, I got to know who I really was. I developed a relationship with God and realized everything was on his time for a reason. I had to find peace within myself to help me cope with my depression. I started writing my feelings out about my life and where it all began. My life has tormented me so much that at times I forget who I am. But I can say I fight every day and admit to what I suffer from, so I can feel comfortable with myself. We all have our problems but never let your problems define who you are as a person. You are loved and you are somebody.

Naked Soccer on the Beach

The wind of change was beginning to blow. And in its wake, stagnation and conformity were being swept aside while creating a fresh and exciting opportunity for a new generation perched on the cusp of release.

Bobby McGuire stood poised and determined to carve out a place for himself and to fully indulge his inquisitive nature. His passion for travel and adventure spurred him onward as he stepped out into the world on his chosen path. With eyes wide open and armed with an indomitable spirit, he never looked back.

How does it feel to walk along the Appian Way through Roman antiquity, stroll through a bustling Arab souk, cross countless miles of burning desert, only to spend the night in a West African jungle, sleeping in a thatched hut? To figuratively stand before the gates of Heaven one day, only to be plunged into the pit of Hell the next. If your curiosity has now been sufficiently stimulated, then step onto these pages and join Bobby McGuire on his journeys through space and time. You’ll be glad you did.

Nanny's Dimes

Josephine was born on February 7th, 1917, in the small village of Little River Harbor, Nova Scotia. Her childhood was spent on the family farm with her five other siblings. There was little money but lots of food and lots of love.

Her life was not always full of happiness. She faced many difficult and sad times, found love and lost love, was gravely ill, and through her faith, she was healed. Josephine was determined to overcome anything that came her way.

She selflessly raised two generations, giving it her all each time. She loved it when the grand, great-grand, and great-great-grandchildren came to visit.

Her faith was very strong. She spent her lifetime attending mass and helping others in need. Her patron saint was the Virgin Mary. So many times, she prayed for her help and always received it. Through God’s grace, she was healed from a serious illness that left her learning to walk again. She was never discouraged and always said that pain was something everyone had to go through to go to heaven.

The dimes that she sent after is a good indication that she indeed made it there.

Nathaniel Clark Smith

If you are interested in learning about a pioneer African American music educator in the United States, then you want to read the story of Nathaniel Clark Smith. Smith was a prolific and charismatic music educator, musician, and composer who lived during the early years of music education history in the United States. His formal training in music was on a military base in Ft. Leavenworth, KS. Extended studies were from Guild Hall in London, England. A college graduate with B.M.A. and M.M degrees, Smith taught music in educational institutions and industries; was a world traveller who performed with the Ernest Hogan Minstrel Troupe; introduced the saxophone to African Americans; composed and published spirituals, marches, operatic songs, a suite, and an unfinished symphony; and hosted a radio broadcast show which was aired all over the Mid-West. He organized bands and out of that, orchestras, choirs, glee clubs and numerous combinations of the voice and instruments were developed. Smith captured the melodies of the countries that he visited in his music compositions.

During his illustrious career, Smith worked with Frederick Douglas, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Booker T. Washington, Nat King Cole, Lionel Hampton, Milton Hinton, John Phillip Sousa, a young Charlie Parker, and others. His students from the Lincoln High School Band became the nucleus of the big band format of the Mid-West. His Pullman Porter musicians were able to perform at a moment’s notice.

Married with one daughter and the son of an African Sergeant Trumpeter and Indian mother, The Story of Nathaniel Clark Smith is a colourful reading of the times during abolition to the mid depression years in the United States. It is the story of an African-American who survived the challenges of the time to obtain a successful music career, and who helped people to better their lives through music in the Mid-Western and Southern African-American communities of the United States.

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.