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Defense Against the Dark Arts in Space
Defense Against the Dark Arts in Space
The proliferation of counterspace weapons across the globe often calls into question what can be done to best protect satellites from attack. This analysis from the CSIS Aerospace Security Project addresses different methods and technologies that can be used by the United States government, and others, to deter adversaries from attack. A wide range of active and passive defenses are available to protect space systems and the ground infrastructure they depend upon from different types of threats. This report captures a range of active and passive defenses that are theoretically possible and discusses the advantages and limitations of each. A group of technical space and national security experts supported the analysis by working through several plausible scenarios that explore a range of defenses that may be needed, concepts for employing different types of defenses, and how defensive actions in space may be perceived by others. These scenarios and the findings that resulted from subsequent conversations with experts are reported in the penultimate chapter of the report. Finally, the CSIS Aerospace Security Project team offers conclusions drawn from the analysis, actionable recommendations for policymakers, and additional research topics to be explored in future work.
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The Value of Hawaiʻi 3
The Value of Hawaiʻi 3
“Hulihia” refers to massive upheavals that change the landscape, overturn the normal, reverse the flow, and sweep away the prevailing or assumed. We live in such days. Pandemics. Threats to ʻāina. Political dysfunction, cultural appropriation, and disrespect. But also powerful surges toward sustainability, autonomy, and sovereignty. The first two volumes of The Value of Hawaiʻi (Knowing the Past, Facing the Future and Ancestral Roots, Oceanic Visions) ignited public conversations, testimony, advocacy, and art for political and social change. These books argued for the value of connecting across our different expertise and experiences, to talk about who we are and where we are going. In a world in crisis, what does Hawaiʻi’s experience tell us about how to build a society that sees opportunities in the turning and changing times? As islanders, we continue to grapple with experiences of racism, colonialism, environmental damage, and the costs of modernization, and bring to this our own striking creativity and histories for how to live peacefully and productively together. Steered by the four scholars who edited the previous volumes, The Value of Hawaiʻi 3: Hulihia, the Turning offers multigenerational visions of a Hawaiʻi not defined by the United States. Community leaders, cultural practitioners, artists, educators, and activists share exciting paths forward for the future of Hawaiʻi, on topics such as education, tourism and other economies, elder care, agriculture and food, energy and urban development, the environment, sports, arts and culture, technology, and community life. These visions ask us to recognize what we truly value about our home, and offer a wealth of starting points for critical and productive conversations together in this time of profound and permanent change.
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Seeking Oz
Seeking Oz
Facing marital problems and eventually divorce, author Makena McChesney found herself a single mother. Seeking comfort, she was befriended by the charismatic pastor of a nondenominational Christian fellowship of believers, and she joined the cult in 1978. In Seeking Oz, she discusses the twelve years of entrapment in this cult, predominantly in the 1980s, in a rural community in the United States. In this memoir, she answers the often-asked question, How did you end up in a cult? Starting with her formative years in a mainstream Pentecostal Christian church, she underscores the underlying issues that contribute to victimizationconditions that develop from being raised in a fear-based, shame-based religion. McChesney narrates her journey through restrictive doctrines in early childhood and adolescence, through a resultant dysfunctional marriage, and ultimately through the twelve cult years. McChesney travels down the Yellow Brick Road and through the Dark Forest as she finds herself getting increasingly entangled and her choices taken from her. As the entanglement progresses to a form of imprisonment, she angrily and secretly challenges the God of her religion in the way of questions for which she demands and expects answers. Answers pour forth in waves of several disturbing events that impact her and her family until a time of death and destruction that serves to eventually pave a way out. She tells her story not to condemn the offenders, but to encourage victims to be strong and take personal responsibility. I had forewarned Bud that I needed to talk to him, and he was waiting for me when I arrived. I briefly explained that I was having chest pain and would like some relief from teaching for a time. Without any dialogue, Bud motioned for me to sit in a chair near him while he pulled a book from his small bookshelf. He quietly and solemnly reached for his reading glasses, and under the dim light of a lamp, he read me a short story. The story was about a widow who was raising her small child alone, when she contracted a fatal disease. She was concerned about leaving the earth and her young dependent child. Though she was worried, as fate had it, someone came forward and offered to raise the child when she died. As it turned out, it was for the best, because that person was better equipped than even the mother to do the job. When Bud finished the story, I felt mortification. Bud removed his glasses, set them on a nearby desk with the book, leaned back in his chair, folded his hands across his chest, and offered no further explanation for reading me such a story.
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Parenting Children into Wholeness
Parenting Children into Wholeness
Strong, Lifelong Relationships with Your Children along with Maximizing their Potential is a result of intentional parenting. Includes general parenting, single parenting, and advanced parenting. Focuses on raising great children, developing healthy and lasting relationships, and maximizing their potential. This brings fulfillment and wholeness in their lives, leaving you happy and fulfilled as a parent. Ann Makena has written a parenting book that is an exceptional balance of practical or real world strategies coupled with the equally important areas of emotional and spiritual well-being of both the caregiver and the child. She has an innate ability to distill the complexities of parenting into easily digestible concepts. This book is a reflection of her own personal story: amazing. heroic. virtuous. (Dr.Zaccariello, Michael J., Ph.D., L.P.) In Parenting Children into Wholeness, Ann Makena has given us a rare look into the vital role of parents. It is rare in two ways. First, it places parents back in the empowered role God intended parents to have in a childs life as adults who carefully shape and develop character in a healthy atmosphere of loving discipline. It is also rare in being both a wonderful primer for new moms and dads and a deeply thoughtful refresher that encourages veteran parents in their crucial role. Highly recommended reading! (Pastor Jim Anderson, Senior pastor Harbor church Hastings, & President of HNI) Ann Makena has written a manual for parenting that reflects her faith, her experience as a mother and the lessons she has learned from listening to and counseling others. There are many wise reflections on the fundamental principles of parenting. These can create a lifelong relationship with the child. A parent can give their child the wherewithal to live as a confident adult, with a sense of direction and comfort in the decisions they need to make. It is emphasized that even when good parenting is acquired belatedly, there is still the capacity to make changes for the better. (Dr. Galen Breningstall, MD Neurologist) Thank you to Ann Makena for sharing your advice, wisdom, and experience with us again. Ann depicts the realities of parenthood, such as Being a good parent takes a lot of work. She utilizes her life experiences, joys/challenges as a mother, and her religious background as a chaplain to provide a framework for parents to build relationships with their children. She even addresses the challenges parents can face in different walks of life, such as single parenthood and parenting a child with special needs. (Dr. Anna Milz, MD, MPH, Pediatrician)
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Beyond Oz
Beyond Oz
After release from a 12-year cult experience, Makena embarks on an adventure to discover what it means to live life by direct reliance on Source, exclusive of a fear-based religious belief system. Her cult experience was restrictive and stripped her and her family of freedom of choice. Eventually, the cult doctrine nearly led to sacrifice of home and property. On attempting to escape the cult entrapment in 1990, she appealed to God to give her encouragement. She received a three-fold promise from two identical scripture passages that essentially described a release from imprisonment, a time of abundance, and lifetime financial security. The Beyond Oz experience covers a span of 26 years that ultimately delivers all three promises—the last of which appeared impossible when she experienced a devastating loss at age 60. She was also inspired to “close the book,” indicating the Bible and some of the more oppressive messages. She was divinely encouraged to follow her inner guidance, her higher self, Source. She transparently narrates the ups and downs, the highs and the lows, but all with the underlying lessons she brought forward from her cult experience—to release fear, ask Source, gain knowledge, take personal responsibility and above all to love self and fellowman.
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Nairobi Noir
Nairobi Noir
In this anthology, fourteen authors explore dark mysteries in the concrete jungle capital of Kenya, dealing with topics of race, religion, and corruption. Akashic Books continues its award-winning series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each book comprises all-new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the respective city. Brand-new stories by: Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Stanley Gazemba, Ngumi Kibera, Peter Kimani, Winfred Kiunga, Kinyanjui Kombani, Caroline Mose, Kevin Mwachiro, Wanjiku wa Ngugi, Faith Oneya, Makena Onjerika, Troy Onyango, J.E. Sibi-Okumu, and Rasna Warah. Praise for Nairobi Noir “Nairobi Noir takes readers into the enigmas that haunt Kenya’s most populous city through the deft storytelling of a stellar cast of writers, which includes Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Stanley Gazemba, Makena Onjerika, Troy Onyango, and others.” —Brittle Paper, One of 50 Notable African Books of 2020 “Nairobi is a city of 3 million souls, so it makes sense as a setting Akashic Books’ famed noir series. 14 new stories fill a collection with Nairobi old and new; authors range in age from 24 to 81, and many layers of the city and its complex subcultures will be revealed as the reader makes their way through. Perfect for the armchair traveler!” —CrimeReads, included in CrimeReads’ Most Anticipated Crime Books of 2020 “Crime fiction fans have much to savor.” —Publishers Weekly
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