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  George Washington -...

  John Guccion

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  Step into the remarkable life of George Washington, an unwavering leader whose dedication to reason and virtue paved the way for American independence against daunting odds. This audiobook offers an abridged version of "Life Stories for Young People: George Washington," a historical narrative by German author Ferdinand Schmidt, translated for American readers by journalist George P. Upton. Designed to convey Washington's deep sense of duty and commitment to peace, this biographical tribute delves into his pivotal role as Commander-in-Chief during the American Revolutionary War. Explore Washington's decisive leadership, from the challenging early years of the colonial army to the strategic crossing of the Delaware River, the harsh winter at Valley Forge, and the pivotal battles that shaped the nation's destiny. Despite being written over a century ago, this account illuminates the enduring importance of moral character and leadership exemplified by one of America's greatest presidents.

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  Debunking the Lourdes Miracles...

  Joseph McCabe

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  Lourdes is a town in south-western France which in 1858 became the site of one of the most famous Marian apparitions. The recipient of the vision, Bernadette Soubirous, was directed to start digging in a cave, and a spring was uncovered. The waters of the spring gained the reputation of possessing healing properties, and subsequently Lourdes has become one of the most popular Catholic pilgrimage sites in the world. 
      
  Currently, Lourdes is visited by between four and six million pilgrims annually, and it is estimated that over 200 million people have visited the site since 1858. 
  In 1905 Pope Pius X directed that the Lourdes Medical Bureau be established to assess claims of miraculous healing.  To date only 70 instances of healing following visits to Lourdes have been officially declared as miraculous, although anecdotal evidence of several thousand more has been claimed. 
  In the opening essay of this collection, celebrated skeptic and scholar Joseph McCabe turns his acerbic investigative eye on these events and challenges the validity of many of the healings.  This collection also includes three other short essays on other religio-political issues and an article about McCabe by J.V. Nash. 
  Contents 
  Debunking the Lourdes Miracles  
  The Church in Mexico 
  England's Religious Census 
  The Cowardice of American Scientists 
  The Views and Philosophy of Joseph McCabe By J. V. Nash

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  Zeppelins of World War I The:...

  Editors Charles River

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  While airplanes had never before appeared above the field of war, other aerial vehicles had already been in use for decades, and balloons had carried soldiers above the landscape for centuries to provide a high observation point superior to most geological features. The French used a balloon for this purpose at the Battle of Fleurus in 1794, and by the American Civil War, military hydrogen balloons saw frequent use, filled from wagons generating hydrogen from iron filings and sulfuric acid.  
  	In fact, with advances in dirigible technology, many military thinkers and even aeronautical enthusiasts believed that blimps would remain the chief military aerial asset for the foreseeable future. These men thought airplanes would play a secondary role at best and might even prove a uselessly expensive gimmick soon to fade back into obscurity, leaving the majestic bulk of the dirigible as sole master of the skies.  
  	The Zeppelins, slow and large as they were, proved to be easy targets for fire from the ground, so they were too vulnerable for reconnaissance in the warzone. Instead, they were used for the task of bombing targets. Bombs were dropped on Paris in August 1914, and Zeppelins bombed Belgian forces as the Germans advanced on Liège. The Germans also used them to bomb England’s eastern ports and London in an attempt to disrupt military supplies. On the other side, British pilots destroyed a Zeppelin on the ground at Düsseldorf.  
  	This was bombing at its simplest; the explosives were kept on hooks on the side of the machines and dropped by a crew member by hand. These small forays into aerial bombardment barely even hinted at the bombing campaigns to come, but Zeppelin raids on Britain would continue for nearly four years, killing more than 500 people and injuring 1,300. These raids and the attempts to stop them would be carried out at the cutting edge of new technology. 

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  National Parks Forever - Fifty...

  Jonathan B. Jarvis, T. Destry...

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  Two leaders of the National Park Service provide a front-row seat to the disastrous impact of partisan politics over the past fifty years—and offer a bold vision for the parks’ future. 
    
  The US National Parks, what environmentalist and historian Wallace Stegner called America’s “best idea,” are under siege. Since 1972, partisan political appointees in the Department of the Interior have offered two conflicting views of the National Park Service (NPS): one vision emphasizes preservation and science-based decision-making, and another prioritizes economic benefits and privatization. These politically driven shifts represent a pernicious, existential threat to the very future of our parks. 
    
  For the past fifty years, brothers Jonathan B. and T. Destry Jarvis have worked both within and outside NPS as leaders and advocates. National Parks Forever interweaves their two voices to show how our parks must be protected from those who would open them to economic exploitation, while still allowing generations to explore and learn in them. Their history also details how Congress and administration appointees have used budget and staffing cuts to sabotage NPS’s ability to manage the parks and even threatened their existence. Drawing on their experience, Jarvis and Jarvis make a bold and compelling proposal: that it is time for NPS to be removed from the Department of the Interior and made an independent agency, similar to the Smithsonian Institution, giving NPS leaders the ability to manage park resources and plan our parks’ protection, priorities, and future.

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  Encounterism - The Neglected...

  Andy Field

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  A playful, analytical, informed, and poetic exploration of the delight and transformative power of real-life encounters. 
   
   
   
  The light touch of a hairdresser's hands on one's scalp, the euphoric energy of a nightclub, huddling with strangers under a shelter in the rain, a spontaneous snowball fight in the street, a daily interaction with a homeless man—such mundane connections, when we closely inhabit the same space, and touch or are touched by others, were nearly lost to "social distancing." Will we ever again shake hands without a thought? 
   
   
   
  In this deeply rewarding book, Andy Field brings together history, science, psychology, queer theory, and pop culture with his love of urban life and his own experiences—both as a city-dweller and as a performance artist—to forge creative connections: walking hand-in-hand with strangers, knocking on doors, staging encounters in parked cars. In considering twelve different kinds of encounters, from car rides to video calls to dog-walker chats in the park, Field argues "that in the spontaneity and joy of our meetings with each other, we might find the faint outline of a better future."

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  The Generational Assault on...

  Christopher Arthur Rockefeller

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  A Political Commentary Narrative Novel: A warm and touching novel that encourages embracing traditional Christian American values, highest morals and ethics, family values, working together (not separately) as American citizens toward common, sensible and benevolent goals and aspirations with courage and resolve and unhindered, undefeatable determination to be the best citizen of the United States and best world citizen possible, thereby benefitting this generation and future generations by embracing, supporting, and defending common yet imperative aspirational goals including: Preservation of American Values, Suggestions For Election System Security & Integrity, Common Sense Values, United States Constitution Adherence & Preservation of American Citizen Freedoms & Upholding & Defending of Constitutional Amendment Rights, and Preservation of Christian Values of United States Constitution Founding Fathers (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, James Monroe and James Madison). This book's aim and goal is to influence and motivate all those who read this literary work to act in a responsible manner and strive to be a harmonious team player, all in order to achieve amazing cooperative accomplishments in life that one could never achieve alone, and that one individual could never imagine possible.

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