Princess Diana, Jackie O, Grace Kelly& mdash;the star icon is the most talked about yet least understood persona. The object of adoration, fantasy, and cult obsession, the star icon is a celebrity, yet she is also something more: a dazzling figure at the center of a media pantomime that is at once voyeuristic and zealously guarded. With skill and humor, Daniel Herwitz pokes at the gears of the celebrity-making machine, recruiting a philosopher's interest in the media, an eye for society, and a love of popular culture to divine our yearning for these iconic figures and the role they play in our lives.

Herwitz portrays the star icon as caught between transcendence and trauma. An effervescent being living on a distant, exalted planet, the star icon is also a melodramatic heroine desperate to escape her life and the ever-watchful eye of the media. The public buoys her up and then eagerly watches her fall, her collapse providing a satisfying conclusion to a story sensationally told& mdash;while leaving the public yearning for a rebirth.

Herwitz locates this double life in the opposing tensions of film, television, religion, and consumer culture, offering fresh perspectives on these subjects while ingeniously mapping society's creation (and destruction) of these special aesthetic stars. Herwitz has a soft spot for popular culture yet remains deeply skeptical of public illusion. He worries that the media distances us from even minimal insight into those who are transfigured into star icons. It also blinds us to the shaping of our political present.

This is the amazing story of how a quest to try to crack the mystery of the Megalithic Yard - an ancient unit of linear measurement - led to the discovery of compelling evidence pointing to the existence of an unknown, highly advanced culture which was the precursor to the earliest known civilizations such as the Sumerians and the Egyptians. There must have been a Civilization One. Knight and Butler reveal the secrets of an extraordinary integrated measuring system which might have been lost to the world for ever. It was a system, far more advanced than anything used today, which forms the basis of both the Imperial and Metric measure systems! These ancient scientists understood the dimensions, motions and relationships of the Earth, Moon and Sun - they measured the solar system and even understood how the speed of light was integrated into the movements of our planet. Their conclusions fly in the face of everything that we thought we knew about the origins of the modern world - but the evidence is incontrovertible. And the implications of these revelations go far beyond the fascination of the discovery of a 'super-science' of prehistory; they indicate a grand plan which will have far reaching theological ramifications!

#1 Best Seller in Trivia & Fun Facts, Questions & Answers, Curiosities & Wonders, and Cults & Demonism Think You Know About Sexual Customs Around Our World? Have Fun and Enjoy Some Surprises!This book is a humorous glimpse of a wide range of stereotype-busting sexual, relationship and romantic mores around the world. It is fun, interesting, and eye-opening! For example, places where women control the mating game, set marriage rules, and marry one another for political power. The fact that it's all true also makes it fascinating. Take a romp through a rollicking worldwide tour with LOL views of extraordinary sexual customs. It will astound and regale you. At the same time, it proves sex is like happiness - universally sought but subjectively enjoyed.

In 1968 University of California Press published an unusual manuscript by an anthropology student named Carlos Castaneda. The Teachings of Don Juan enthralled a generation of seekers dissatisfied with the limitations of the Western world view. Castaneda's now classic book remains controversial for the alternative way of seeing that it presents and the revolution in cognition it demands. Whether read as ethnographic fact or creative fiction, it is the story of a remarkable journey that has left an indelible impression on the life of more than a million readers around the world.

Popular Lost Cities author David Childress opens the door to the amazing world of ancient technology, from the computers of ancient world to the "flying machines of the gods." Technology of the Gods explores the technology that was allegedly used in Atlantis and the theory the Great Pyramid of Egypt was originally a gigantic power station. Childress also uncovers many other mysteries, including:
-- the technology of ancient flight
-- how the ancients used electricity
-- megalithic building techniques
-- the use of crystal lenses and the fire from the gods
-- ancient evidence of high-tech weapons, including atomic weapons
-- the role of modern inventors, such as Nikola Tesla, in bringing ancient technology into modern use
-- impossible artifacts, and more, much more.

Childress has done it again! From beginning to end, Technology of the Gods is filled with facts, keen observations and tales that challenge modern assumptions in a humorous, intelligent and compelling way that is quintessential Childress.

In this compelling exploration of like, Gregg Braden merges the modern discoveries of nature's patterns (fractals) with the ancient view of a cyclic universe. The result is a powerful model of time-fractal time-and a realistic window into what we can expect for the mysterious year 2012 ...and beyond. Applying fractal time to the history of the world and life, he proposes that everything from the war and peace between nations to the patterns of human relationships mirror the returning cycles of our past. As each cycle repeats, it carries a more powerful, amplified version of itself. The key: If you know where to look in the past, you know what to expect when the same conditions return in the present and future. For the first time in print, the Time Code Calculator gives you the tool to do just that! Through easy-to-understand science and step-by-step instructions, discover for yourself: * How the conditions for 2012 have occurred in the past, and what we can expect when they repeat! * The 'hot dates' that hold the greatest threats of war and greatest opportunities for peace, as well as economic cycles such as the stock-market collapse of 2008! * How Earth's location in space triggers cycles of spiritual growth for humans! * Your personal Time Codes for the key events of business, relationships, and change in your life! * How each cycle carries a window of opportunity-a choice point that allows us to select a new outcome for the returning pattern! * What the 1999 ice cores form Antarctica reveal about past cycles of climate, global warming, Earth's protective magnetic fields, and what these things mean for us today! In a powerful yet comprehensive style, Gregg gives us a way to make sense of the rapid, and often dramatic, change of today's world. It is these understandings that guide us way from the destructive choices we've made in the past. They also show the way to the greatest possibilities of our lives. Gregg suggests that is we can see time form this perspective, the past reveals the great secret of our moment in history and what we can expect as we approach December 21, 2012!

Two decades after radiocarbon dating declared the Turin Shroud a mediaeval fake, brand-new historical discoveries strongly suggest that this famous cloth, with its extraordinary photographic imprint, is genuinely Christ's shroud after all. In 1978 in his international bestseller The Turin Shroud Ian Wilson ignited worldwide public debate with his compelling case endorsing the shroud's authenticity. Now, 30 years later, he has completely rewritten and updated his earlier book to provide fresh evidence to support his original argument. Shroud boldly challenges the current post-radiocarbon dating view - that it is a fake. By arguing his case brilliantly and provocatively, Ian Wilson once more throws the matter into the public arena for further debate and controversy.

The manger or Macy's? Americans might well wonder which is the real shrine of Christmas, as they take part each year in a mix of churchgoing, shopping, and family togetherness. In Christmas in America, Restad brilliantly captures the rise and transformation of our most universal national holiday.

Mullins presents some bare facts about the Federal Reserve System with subjects on: it IS NOT a U.S. government bank; it IS NOT controlled by Congress; it IS a privately owned Central Bank controlled by the elite financiers in their own interest. The Federal Reserve elite controls excessive interest rates, inflation, the printing of paper money, and have taken control of the depression of prosperity in the United States.

From the author of Fake History, Otto English, comes a shocking yet hilarious look at ten of the greatest liars from our past, examining these previously unquestioned idols and exposing what they were trying to hide.

Was Che Guevara really a revolutionary hero? Should Mother Teresa be honoured as a saint? Is Henry V actually England's greatest king? And why does JFK's legend continue to grow?

Having exposed some of the greatest lies ever told in Fake History, journalist Otto English turns his attention to some of history's biggest (and most beloved) figures.

Whether it's virtuous leaders in just wars, martyrs sacrificing all for a cause, or innovators changing the world for the better, down the centuries supposedly great men and women have risen to become household names, saints and heroes. But just how deserving are they of their reputations?

Exploring everything from Captain Scott's reckless hunt for glory and Andy Warhol's flagrant thievery to Coco Chanel's murky Nazi past, Otto English dives into the hidden lives of some of history's most recognisable names. Scrutinising figures from the worlds of art, politics, business, religion and royalty, he brings to light the murkier truths they would rather have kept buried away, at the same time as celebrating the unsung heroes lost to time.

Fake Heroes exposes the truth of the past and helps us understand why that matters today.

Fully illustrated thoughout with photos and diagrams, this book examines ancient sites in South America and reveals evidence that they were made by a far older culture than originally thought. It reveals evidence that the technology used could only have been 'power' tools.

In the sixteenth century, Spanish conquerors came to the New World in search of El Dorado, the fabled city of gold. Instead, they encountered inexplicable phenomena that have puzzled scholars and historians ever since: massive stone edifices constructed in the Earth's most inaccessible regions . . . great monuments forged with impossible skill and unknown tools . . . intricate carvings describing events and places half a world away.

Who were the bearded "gods of the golden wand" who had brought civilization to the Americas millennia before Columbus? Who were the giants whose sculpted stone heads in Mesoamerica still mystify to this day?

In this remarkably researched fourth volume of "The Earth Chronicles," author and explorer Zecharia Sitchin uncovers the long-hidden secrets of the lost New World civilizations of the Olmecs, Aztecs, Mayas and Incas, and links the conquistadors' quest for El Dorado to the extraterrestrials who searched there for gold long before.

The long-hidden story of a family we thought we knew--and of a power-making apparatus that we have barely begun to comprehend.

After eight disastrous years, George W. Bush leaves office as one of the most unpopular presidents in American history. Russ Baker asks the question that lingers even as this benighted administration winds down: Who really wanted this man at the helm of the country, and why did his backers promote him despite his obvious liabilities and limitations? This book goes deep behind the scenes to deliver an arresting new look at George W. Bush, his father George H. W. Bush, their family, and the network of figures in intelligence, the military, finance, and oil who enabled the family's rise to power. Baker's exhaustive investigation reveals a remarkable clan whose hermetic secrecy and code of absolute loyalty have concealed a far-reaching role in recent history that transcends the Bush presidencies. Baker offers new insights into lingering mysteries--from the death of John F. Kennedy to Richard Nixon's downfall in Watergate. Here, too, are insider accounts of the backroom strategizing, and outright deception, that resulted in George W. Bush's electoral success. Throughout, Baker helps us understand why we have not known these things before. "Family of Secrets "combines compelling narrative with eye-opening revelations. It offers the untold history of the machinations that have shaped American politics over much of the last century.

In 1976, Scottish engineer Stan Hall organised a landmark expedition to the caves of the Tayos Indians in Ecuador, involving a dozen institutions, joint Special Forces, and astronaut professor Neil Armstrong as Honorary President and participant. Hall was driven by curiosity about Erich von Daniken's report of a Metal Library allegedly found in the caves by investigator Juan Moricz in the mid-1960s (published in von Daniken's 1972 blockbuster Gold of the Gods). This idea was considered unorthodox in the absence of any ancient written script in South America. In Hall's odyssey into the heart of global enigmas he researches: the origins of mankind; Atlantis; Ptolemy's lost city of Cattigara; and, the sudden rise and fall of wonder civilisations. This journey ended with his identification of Atlantis and Cattigara, and the entrance to the Metal Library along the Pastaza River in Ecuador. Imagination, action and danger combine explosively in the story of this spectacular British-Ecuadorian expedition to the Tayos Caves of Ecuador.

Praise for Unsolved Mysteries of American History

"The facts are presented clearly and concisely, and the answers have been thoroughly researched using the most up-to-date sources."
-Newark Star Ledger

"Everything that would make a great detective story. It has intellectual twists and turns, alleyways and dead ends; it has politics, espionage, intrigue, murder, cowardice, greed, courage, battles, liars, and frauds."
- New Strait Times

"Stimulating and pleasurable, fair and objective . . . recommended for both the history buff and the fan of true-life mysteries."
-Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Unsolved Mysteries of History

"Draws intelligently and entertainingly on respected-and disputed-primary volumes. . . . Reading a chapter aloud to a group would almost guarantee a lively evening."
-Baltimore Sun

"Unerring good sense and . . . well-paced prose."
-Petersburg Monitor

"Solid speculation . . . full of clever advice."
-Associated Press

"Aron's latest offering proves again that history can be fun and as strange, at least, as fiction."
-Booklist

* Shows how the archetypal symbols of the Pohnpaid petroglyphs have exact counterparts in other ancient cultures throughout the world * Provides evidence that Pohnpaid is closely related to--yet predates--neighboring Nan Madol * Includes hundreds of Pohnpaid petroglyphs and stone circle photos, many never before seen While residing on the small Pacific island of Pohnpei in the 1990s, Carole Nervig discovered that a recent brush fire had exposed hundreds of previously unknown petroglyphs carved on gigantic boulders. This portion of the megalithic site called Pohnpaid was unknown even to Pohnpei's state historic preservation officer. The petroglyphs were unlike others from Oceania, so Nervig began investigating and comparing them with petroglyphs and symbols from around the world. In this fully illustrated exploration, Nervig documents her discoveries on Pohnpei, revealing how the archetypal symbols of the Pohnpaid petroglyphs have exact counterparts in other ancient cultures and universal motifs throughout the world, including the Australian Aborigines, the Inca in Peru, the Vedic civilization of India, early Norse runes, and Japanese symbols. She provides evidence that Pohnpaid is closely related to--yet predates--neighboring Nan Madol and shows how Pohnpaid was an outpost of the sunken Kahnihmueiso, a city of the now-vanished civilization of Mu, or Lemuria. Discussing the archaeoastronomical function of the Pohnpaid stones, the author examines how many of the glyphs symbolize celestial phenomena and clearly reveal how their creators were sky watchers with a sophisticated understanding of astronomy, geophysics, geomancy, and engineering. She shows how the scientific concepts depicted in the petroglyphs reveal how the citizens of Mu had a much deeper understanding of the living Earth than we do, which gave them the ability to manipulate natural forces both physically and energetically. Combining archaeological evidence with traditional oral accounts, Nervig reveals Pohnpaid not only as a part of a geodetic network of ancient sacred sites and portals but also as a remnant of the now submerged but once enlightened Motherland of Mu.

Romantic love presents some of life's most challenging questions. Can we choose who to love? Is romantic love rational? Can we love more than one person at a time? And can we make ourselves fall out of love? In On Romantic Love, Berit Brogaard attempts to get to the bottom of love's many contradictions. This short book, informed by both historical and cutting edge philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience, combines a new theory of romantic love with entertaining anecdotes from real life and accessible explanations of the neuroscience underlying our wildest passions. Against the grain, Brogaard argues that love is an emotion; that it can be, at turns, both rational and irrational; and that it can be manifested in degrees. We can love one person more than another and we can love a person a little or a lot or not at all. And love isn't even always something we consciously feel. However, love - like other emotions, both conscious and not - is subject to rational control, and falling in or out of it can be a deliberate choice. This engaging and innovative look at a universal topic, featuring original line drawings by illustrator Gareth Southwell, illuminates the processes behind heartbreak, obsession, jealousy, attachment, and more.

Zizek as comedian: jokes in the service of philosophy. "A serious and good philosophical work could be written consisting entirely of jokes."-Ludwig Wittgenstein The good news is that this book offers an entertaining but enlightening compilation of Zizekisms. Unlike any other book by Slavoj Zizek, this compact arrangement of jokes culled from his writings provides an index to certain philosophical, political, and sexual themes that preoccupy him. Zizek's Jokes contains the set-ups and punch lines-as well as the offenses and insults-that Zizek is famous for, all in less than 200 pages. So what's the bad news? There is no bad news. There's just the inimitable Slavoj Zizek, disguised as an impossibly erudite, politically incorrect uncle, beginning a sentence, "There is an old Jewish joke, loved by Derrida..." For Zizek, jokes are amusing stories that offer a shortcut to philosophical insight. He illustrates the logic of the Hegelian triad, for example, with three variations of the "Not tonight, dear, I have a headache" classic: first the wife claims a migraine; then the husband does; then the wife exclaims, "Darling, I have a terrible migraine, so let's have some sex to refresh me!" A punch line about a beer bottle provides a Lacanian lesson about one signifier. And a "truly obscene" version of the famous "aristocrats" joke has the family offering a short course in Hegelian thought rather than a display of unspeakables. Zizek's Jokes contains every joke cited, paraphrased, or narrated in Zizek's work in English (including some in unpublished manuscripts), including different versions of the same joke that make different points in different contexts. The larger point being that comedy is central to Zizek's seriousness.

A stirring work that offers a chilling glimpse into the negligence, greed, murder, and, at times, comical disorganization behind some of the CIA's most controversial secret operations, this book collects the first five issues of the zine. Summarizing the influence the CIA had in the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.; the AIDS virus; the killing of Filiberto Ojeda Rios, a Puerto Rican independence movement leader; the Patriot Act; and the Iran-Contra affair, this forthright representation provides an behind the scenes look at the United States' foreign and domestic policies. The radical claims presented are built on fact and posit an accessible alternative to mainstream histories that help to contextualize current events and the worldwide anti-American backlash.

Unlock Supernatural Power"This is definitely a fun read and shows small ways you can try and change your life for the better." Nerdy Girl Express #1 Best Seller in Crystals Practice Practical Magic. Did you know that wearing an amulet of green jade during an interview will help you get the job? Have you heard that an amethyst ring can help break bad habits and even encourage sobriety? Anyone looking for love can place two pink quartz crystals in the bedroom; you'll not be alone for long! These are just a few of the hundreds of secrets shared in The Magic of Crystals and Gems. Semi-precious stones and gems have long been known for their magic as well as their beauty. In this book of charms, readers learn everything there is to know about the powers of crystals from birthstone magic to gem divination to jewelry spells. This is a fun, entertaining, and enlightening book that will appeal to everyone who's ever worn a birthstone, kissed the ring of a lover for luck, or bought a crystal for good energy. Learn Amazing Things About Crystals. The Magic of Crystals and Gems is a treasure chest filled with the ancient wisdom of crystals. It is also a handy how-to filled with little-known lore along with the myth, meanings and specific magical qualities of hundreds of crystals, both common and very rare, including many meteorites. Author Cerridwen Greenleaf shares secrets to how and why crystal balls work, scrying with obsidian, crystal astrology, divination, healing, psychism and connections between the stars in the sky and gems of the earth. This one-of-a-kind work on the power of crystals belongs on the bookshelf of everyone interested in the magical gifts of Mother Nature. Learn: Which crystals are right for you How to unlock the mystery of sacred stones Ways to improve your life with changes as simple as putting new crystals in your room If you like The Crystal Bible or Crystals for Healing, you'll love The Magic of Crystals and Gems