​The scholarly study of international relations tends to go over the same cases, issues, and themes. This book addresses this by challenging readers to think creatively about international politics. It highlights some of the strangest and rarest phenomena in diplomacy and world politics. Comprised of a series of vignettes and organized by common themes like nonsensical borders, quasi-countries, and diplomatic taboos, Weird IR encourages readers to think critically about the discipline without losing one's sense of humor completely.

Have you been feeling overly stressed lately? Give yourself a break from your nuclear surroundings to have a read and crack a smile. With this book you can cheer up and discover: > That there is evidence and insight that certain sea creatures had sex with a human. > Why having dementia can be a good thing if you're up to no good. > How inherently stupid kids believe in fortunetellers. > Why it is useful to have an eccentric uncle in the Texas Panhandle. > Why you should avoid having adventures in a sauna. 50 Entertaining Funny Short Novels for Adults is a beautifully woven together collection of the funniest and at times true-to-life stories our mother Earth has to offer. People do the craziest things, mostly out of sheer natural stupidity, and this book shows stories born in madness, the craziest misadventures and hysterical anecdotes that will make your stomach clench with laughter; you also will be exposed to weird talking points and occasionally interesting insights. This book is best suited for everyone, but mainly for mature adults. A welcome relief for long lonely nights and situations that simply require distraction. Keep it at home to entertain friends and family, gift it to a friend, or package it up for a still suffering creature or a long lost lover. This book will help you in many ways. Get, or give, hours of entertainment, just scroll up and hit the buy button now!

The fourth volume of the annual Unidentified Funny Objects series features the theme of dark humor. What happens when you ask some of the genre's masters to interpret this theme? The enclosed twenty-three darkly humorous tales range from black comedy to biting satire to morbid irony and everything in between. Inside this book you'll find Faustian bargains gone awry, time-traveling ghosts, flawed supervillains, talking hamsters, and much more. Featuring stories by: George R. R. Martin Neil Gaiman Andrew Kaye Caroline M. Yoachim Esther Friesner Brent C. Smith Laura Pearlman Tim Pratt Piers Anthony Ian Creasey Oliver Buckram Anaea Lay Karen Haber Eric Kaplan Jody Lynn Nye Tina Gower Zach Shephard Mike Resnick James Aquilone Michael J. Martinez Tina Connolly Gini Koch Jonathan Ems

"My Funny Life, Coffee Break Snippets 2," will add a smile to your face and laughter to your heart. You'll even shed a tear or two as you read some of these true life adventures. It takes you into the realm of the miraculous! It boosts your faith, encourages you in times where hope is too far away, gives you some Holy Spirit gems of wisdom, and guides you as you navigate through life's challenges, and various stages. It's a good companion to take along on a trip, when lunching alone, or reading to a friend in time of need. It will give you a "happy spot" after a hard day of work. These life stories, lessons, insights, and miracles can be enjoyed by all ages. I'm the author, MaryLynn Dede Wagner and my hope is that your heart will truly be blessed and enriched by these God given life miracles, adventures. and experiences, as mine has been! God strongly urged me to share these stories with you, so here you go... the adventure begins. God bless us everyone!

A wacky, wild, and weird look at animals through the eyes of Jungle Jack Hanna! Have you ever seen a naked mole rat? Do you know what a binturong is? Do you know what kind of bird has a deadly kick? Explore the world’s wackiest, wildest, and weirdest animals with expert and host Jungle Jack Hanna. The book features thirty animals that are wacky, weird, or wild. Kids will learn amazing animal facts and stories of Jungle Jack's personal adventures with some of these unique creatures. The book includes a bonus DVD with hilarious bloopers from his Emmy award-winning show, Jack Hanna’s Into the Wild, and other shows from his career.

It was Friday the thirteenth, not destined to be a good day in the eyes of many overly superstitious fishermen on the dock. It was a gloomy day. The sky was scattered with dark clouds and a misty fog hung over the ocean. Doom and gloom again, said Captain John Carl Thomason unenthusiastically, as he watched his crew unload the catch onto the dock. The price is in the toilet again. What happened to the way things used to be around here? Probably gone along with his mind, muttered a short balding man who looked worthless in every respect. Shut your trap, Remi, snapped John Carl. Yes Cap, said Remi. He sounded like he had memorized the responses he gave to his captains commands. John Carl Thomason looked as though he would be very good looking if it were not for the fact that he always looked as though he was having the worst day of his life. Is that a banana youre eating, Remi? asked John Carl casually. Yes Cap, said Remi automatically. Well, guess what, mate? said John Carl, his voice colder now. What? asked Remi, not catching his captains cold tone. Bananas are bad luck, thats what, yelled John Carl. He grabbed the banana out of Remis hand and shoved it in his face. DO YOU- REALIZE -WHAT -TODAY IS? he yelled, pronouncing each word with deadly emphasis. No sir, spluttered Remi, who looked quite the idiot with banana all over his face. ITS FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH, YOU WORTHLESS IDIOT, roared John Carl. We have enough bad luck without you making things worse with your stinking slimy banana. The Captain threw the banana peel on the dock and stormed away, swearing loudly. Remi stumbled towards the truck, carrying a large box. He stepped on the banana peel and fell flat on his face. Hey, Remi, called a young man named Sono, how long does it take from when you step on the peel to when you hit the dock? One banano-second! There was a roar of laughter from the other crewmembers on the dock. Nice one, Sono, said another young man called Browen. Sono and Browen were brothers, ages nineteen and eighteen. They looked very much alike and had very similar personalities. They seemed to be able to read each others thoughts, and were, therefore, exceptional liars. They could always talk their way out of anything, even with their captain, who was not easily fooled. Remi was not a challenge for them. They had taken the job working on the boats because neither of them was very academically inclined. They were, however, very good at making jokes, pulling pranks, and having as much fun as possible while on the job. They stopped at nothing to insult anyone who displayed a lack of intelligence or physical prowess. Remi Nelson was a short, chubby, balding man, who had never really been able to make anything of his life, or at least it never seemed like he had. He was thirty-five, but looked forty-five, at best. Sono and Browen thought he was at least fifty. Everyone always made fun of Remi, but he still seemed to feel important and useful. This only seemed to make things worse for him, although he never seemed to understand that. Just imagine being stupid enough to eat a banana in front of Cap on Friday the thirteenth, said Sono loudly. Imagine being stupid enough to slip on the peel and fall flat on your face, said Browen. Imagine doing this job till youre fifty, said Sono. Im thirty-five, snapped Remi, who had stood up and was wiping banana off his face. Really? said Sono mockingly. I had no idea guys went bald and got beer bellies that soon. You might want to tell Cap to get a move on, he must be at least thirty or thirty-five. I dont see him looking like that. Looks arent everything, you know, muttered Remi. Clearly, or you wouldnt even be alive, sneered Sono. Get to work, snapped John Carl coming up behind them. Yes Cap, said Remi immediately Sorry sir, said Browen emphasizing the last

Papers, Poetry & Prose offers a reminder to all of us that dealing with life as a teen can be an emotional, difficult, and challenging. It also reminds us that friendships, new experiences and growing up is an amazing experience. Sit back reflect and remember your teen years as these students share theirs. No celebrities here, just dedicated young writers exercising their voices. Papers, Poetry & Prose is a teenage perspective on life. Eighth grade students from Pierce Middle School in Waterford, Michigan open their writer's notebooks and inspire other teens to pick up their pens and write. They take on topics that are funny, sad, creative and difficult. The ideas range from tiny hurdles that are faced in daily life, to obstacles that no one should have to face. The writings include poems, memories, stories and insights. The writing presented is created through a writer's workshop format which allowed the students to choose their own topics, revise and peer edit as well as share their ideas and work along the way.

At head of title:National Geographic kid

This story is about an adventure with suspense filled with romance and laughter that also has a bit of science fiction, but not to graphic. David is an only child with an artist for a mom, who passed away years ago, and a scientist for a dad that won two Nobel prizes for his technology discovery and designs. David's dad past away mysteriously when David was in his last days of graduating from university, with a PHD like his dad. Attending his dad's funeral and came home to an empty house was a difficult time for him finding himself followed by government people everywhere he goes. He found romance and love all together with hidden secrets his dad left behind. Uncovering the truth about his dad's life and sudden death and the amazing secrets he dad kept from him, sharing and experiencing it all with his new love Melissa, who was his old school friend. All through this adventure David is pursued with questions, revealed secrets, amazing discoveries, uncovering the truth and the government and finding true love.

Using a corpus of data drawn from naturally-occurring second language conversations, this book explores the role of idiomaticity in English as a native language, and its comparative role in English as a lingua franca. Through examining how idiomaticity enables first language learners to achieve a greater degree of fluency, the book explores why idiomatic language poses such a challenge for users of English as a lingua franca. The book puts forward a new definition of competence and fluency within the context of English as a lingua franca, concluding with an analysis of practical implications for the lingua franca classroom. This in-depth study of English language learning using corpus data will be of interest to researchers in applied linguistics and corpus linguistics and to teachers of English as an international lingua franca.