The four protagonists in Matthew Baker’s collection “Hybrid Creatures” are preoccupied with the idea of connection—how to connect with strangers, how to connect with family, how to connect with friends, and what makes a connection sincere. A young hacker attempts to track down his vanished mentor; a boy is equally torn between his mother’s and father’s families; a composer takes a spontaneous trip to Nashville in the wake of his husband’s death and gets stuck on a roof with a hipster philosopher; and an elderly businessman searches for his wife at a dinner party on a remote mountain. Each story in the collection is written partially in a hybrid language: HTML; mathematics; musical notation; and formal logic, the language used to construct philosophical arguments. These hybrid lexicons attempt to capture the consciousness of someone whose experience of the world is filtered through linguistic fusion--and because there are aspects of the human experience, certain connections the characters make, that are only possible to communicate through these hybrid tongues. In the end, “Hybrid Creatures” is a moving exploration of how hard yet necessary it is to connect with others and even one’s self, as well as the various languages we use in an attempt to do so.

Stop. Look. Listen. But don’t you dare inquire any further. You don’t want to see what I’ve seen. You don’t want to know what I know. Xavier Prince, Louis/Hugh Keaton and Serena Tennyson are dead but their legacy of belligerence, unpredictability and ruthlessness cast a large, dark shadow of uncertainity over the lives of those that were left behind. Atlanta has paid a heavy price and now lies in ruins. And the country that all three loved so much teeters ever closer to the edge of an abyss from which it may never fully recover. And yet, the worse is still to come. Dr. Angel Hicks Dupree and Thomas Pepper have learned the Whirlwind’s secrets—all of her secrets. The two of them have discovered a plot far more calculating, harrowing and audacious than anyone of them would have possibly imagined. And they already be too late to stop it. Exposing the truth about the Whirlwind may be the one thing that sets it free.

Because of the long dominance of MexicoÕs leading political party, the Partido Revolucionario Institucional, the campaigns of its presidential candidates were never considered relevant in determining the victor. This book offers an ethnography of the Mexican political system under PRI hegemony, focusing on the relationship between the formal democratic structure of the state and the unofficial practices of the underlying political culture, and addressing the question of what purpose campaigns serve when the outcome is predetermined. Discussing Mexican presidential politics from the perspectives of anthropology, political science, and communications science, the authors analyze the 1988 presidential campaign of Carlos Salinas de GortariÑthe last great campaign of the PRI to display the characteristics traditionally found in the twentieth century. These detailed descriptions of campaign events show that their ritualistic nature expressed both a national culture and an aura of domination. The authors describe the political and cultural context in which this campaign took placeÑan authoritarian presidential system that dated from the 1920sÑand explain how the constitutional provisions of the state interacted with the informal practices of the party to produce highly scripted symbolic rituals. Their analysis probes such topics as the meanings behind the candidateÕs behavior, the effects of public opinion polling, and the role of the press, then goes on to show how the system has begun to change since 2000. By dealing with the campaign from multiple perspectives, the authors reveal it as a rite of passage that sheds light on the political culture of the country. Their study expands our understanding of authoritarianism during the years of PRI dominance and facilitates comparison of current practices with those of the past.

"From award-winning author Michael Adams, Could It Happen Here? draws on groundbreaking new social research to show whether Canadian society is at risk of the populist forces afflicting the rest of the world. In vote after shocking vote, Western publics have pushed their anger to the top of their countries' political agendas. The votes have varied in their particulars, but their unifying feature has been rejection of moderation, incrementalism, and the status quo. Britons opted to leave the European Union. Americans elected Donald Trump. Far-right, populist politicians channeling anger at out-of-touch "elites" are gaining ground across Europe. Amid this roiling international scene, Canada appears placid, at least on its surface. As other societies retrench, the international media have taken notice of Canada's welcome of Syrian refugees, its half-female federal cabinet, its acceptance of climate science and mixed efforts to limit its emissions, the absence of a prominent hard-right ethno-nationalist movement. After a year in power, the centrist federal government continues to enjoy majority approval, suggesting an electorate not as bitterly split as the ones to the south or in Europe. As sceptics point out, however, Brexit and a Trump presidency were unthinkable until they happened. Could it be that Canada is not immune to the same forces of populism, social fracture, and backlash that have afflicted other parts? Our largest and most cosmopolitan city elected Rob Ford. Conservative Party leadership hopeful Kellie Leitch proposes a Canadian test for immigrants and has called the Trump victory "exciting." Anti-tax demonstrators in Alberta chanted "lock her up" in reference to Premier Rachel Notley, an elected leader accused of no wrongdoing, only policy positions the protesters disliked. In Could It Happen Here?, pollster and social values researcher Michael Adams takes Canadians into the examining room to see whether we are at risk of coming down with the malaise affecting other Western democracies. Drawing on major social values surveys of Canadians and Americans in 2016--as well as decades of tracking data in both countries--Adams examines our economy, institutions, and demographics to answer the question: could it happen here?"--

Imagining New Legalities reminds us that examining the right to privacy and the public/private distinction is an important way of mapping the forms and limits of power that can legitimately be exercised by collective bodies over individuals and by governments over their citizens. This book does not seek to provide a comprehensive overview of threats to privacy and rejoinders to them. Instead it considers several different conceptions of privacy and provides examples of legal inventiveness in confronting some contemporary challenges to the public/private distinction. It provides a context for that consideration by surveying the meanings of privacy in three domains—-the first, involving intimacy and intimate relations; the second, implicating criminal procedure, in particular, the 4th amendment; and the third, addressing control of information in the digital age. The first two provide examples of what are taken to be classic breaches of the public/private distinction, namely instances when government intrudes in an area claimed to be private. The third has to do with voluntary circulation of information and the question of who gets to control what happens to and with that information.

First published in 1952, The Journey to the West, volume I, comprises the first twenty-five chapters of Anthony C. Yu's four-volume translation of Hsi-yu Chi, one of the most beloved classics of Chinese literature. The fantastic tale recounts the sixteen-year pilgrimage of the monk Hsüan-tsang (596-664), one of China's most illustrious religious heroes, who journeyed to India with four animal disciples in quest of Buddhist scriptures. For nearly a thousand years, his exploits were celebrated and embellished in various accounts, culminating in the hundred-chapter Journey to the West, which combines religious allegory with romance, fantasy, humor, and satire.

The earliest complete morality play in English, The Castle of Perseverance depicts the culture of medieval East Anglia, a region once known for its production of artistic objects. Discussing the spectator experience of this famed play, Young argues that vision is the organizing principle that informs this play's staging, structure, and narrative.

This is the true story of Sikkim, a tiny Buddhist kingdom in the Himalayas that survived the end of the British Empire only to be annexed by India in 1975.It tells the remarkable tale of Thondup Namgyal, the last King of Sikkim, and his American wife, Hope Cooke, thrust unwittingly into the spotlight as they sought support for Sikkim's independence after their 'fairytale' wedding in 1963. As tensions between India and China spilled over into war in the Himalayas, Sikkim became a pawn in the Cold War in Asia during the 1960s and 1970s. Rumours circulated that Hope was a CIA spy. Meanwhile, a shadowy Scottish adventuress, the Kazini of Chakung, married to Sikkim's leading political figure, coordinated opposition to the Palace. As the world's major powers jostled for regional supremacy during the early 1970s Sikkim and its ruling family never stood a chance. On the eve of declaring an Emergency across India, Indira Gandhi outwitted everyone to bring down the curtain on the 300 year-old Namgyal dynasty. Based on interviews and archive research, as well as a retracing of a journey the author's grandfather made in 1922, this is a thrilling, romantic and informative glimpse of a real-life Shangri-La.

About the Book Have you ever seen a shifting shadow when no one else is around? Perhaps in your peripheral vision, you caught sight of a glimmering glow or a radiant white light? Or maybe you have heard a voice call your name, speak a command, or word of warning-a clear, audible voice that causes you to turn your head to see who is talking, only to find that there is nobody there, nobody that you can see with the natural eye. Was there ever a time where you were delayed due to unforeseen circumstances? Maybe at that moment, the situation caused stress or frustration due to impatience, but the delay was sparing you from an accident down the road. Have you ever felt the urge to help another human in need with an act of kindness? In all of life's experiences, things are going on behind the scenes, unseen, including the working of angels. We may not see them, other than in glimpses or through revelation, but they are there. They are invisible friends-more for us than against us. Myriads upon myriads and thousands upon ten thousands, there are more of them than can be numbered! They bring help to those who call out for healing, encouragement, peace, and protection all at God's bidding. In a time such as this, it is comforting to know there are angels among us.

H. Ibrahim Salih earned his Ph.D in International Studies in 1967 at the American University School of International Service in Washington, D.C. He was born in Kyrenia, Cyprus and became an American citizen in 1969. He has been a professor of Political Science at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth since 1968. He was chair of the department of Political Science for many years, and has been director of the study abroad programs in Mexico and the Holy Land. His past publications include three books: Cyprus: An Analysis of Cypriot Discord (1968), Cyprus: The Impact of Diverse Nationalism on a State (1978), and Cyprus: Ethnic Political Counterpoints (2004). His previous articles of the Middle East and Cyprus have appeared in many newspapers and journals nationally..