The universal act of dressing -- shared by both men and women, young andold, rich and poor, minority and majority -- has shaped human interactions, communicated hopes and fears about the future, and embodied what it means to beSomali. Heather Marie Akou mines politics and history in this rich and compellingstudy of Somali material culture. Akou explores the evolution of Somali folk dress, the role of the Somali government in imposing styles of dress, competing forms ofIslamic dress, and changes in Somali fashion in the U.S. With the collapse of theSomali state, Somalis continue a connection with their homeland and communitythrough what they wear every day.

Despite millennia of fame, the origins of the Great Pyramid of Giza are shrouded in mystery. Believed to be the tomb of an Egyptian king, even though no remains have ever been found, its construction date of roughly 2550 BCE is tied to only one piece of evidence: the crudely painted marks within the pyramid's hidden chambers that refer to the 4th Dynasty king Khufu, discovered in 1837 by Colonel Howard Vyse and his team.Using evidence from the time of the discovery of these "quarry marks" - including surveys, facsimile drawings and Vyse's private field notes - along with high definition photos of the actual marks, Scott Creighton reveals how and why the marks were faked. Analyzing Vyse's private diary, he reveals Vyse's forgery instructions to his two assistants, Raven and Hill, and what the anachronistic sign should have been. He examines recent chemical analysis of the marks along with the eye-witness testimony of Humphries Brewer, who worked with Vyse at Giza in 1837 and saw forgery take place. Exploring Vyse's background, including his electoral fraud to become a member of the British Parliament, he explains why he was driven to perpetrate a fraud inside the Great Pyramid. Creighton's study strikes down one of the most fundamental assertions of orthodox Egyptologists and reopens long-standing questions about the Great Pyramid's true age, who really built it, and why.

The Canadian media system, which in many respects is this society's "meeting ground"-its public square-is in the midst of a profound shift away from the foundations on which it has rested comfortably for decades. The publicly financed Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, long the backbone of the broadcasting system, is threatened by budget cuts and by technological change. The newspaper industry has fallen into the hands of a few powerful individuals. Huge global corporations and a vast communications revolution are dramatically altering the nature of news and entertainment. This book argues that unless action is taken these changes will narrow our access to the information we need as citizens and damage our capacity to communicate with each other and reflect on ourselves as a community. Power and Betrayal in the Canadian Media is a sweeping exploration of the Canadian media system and the impact it has on Canadian society, politics, and culture.

Why is it that Tony Blair always wore the same pair of shoes when answering Prime Minister's Questions? That John McEnroe notoriously refused to step on the white lines of a tennis court between points? And that President-elect Barack Obama played a game of basketball the morning of his victory in the Iowa primary, and continued the tradition the day of every following primary? Superstitious habits are common. Do you ever cross your fingers, knock on wood, avoid walking under ladders, or step around black cats? Sentimental value often supersedes material worth. If someone offered to replace your childhood teddy bear or wedding ring with a brand new, exact replica, would you do it? How about GBP20 for trying on a jumper owned by Fred West? Where do such feelings come from and why do most of us have them? Humans are born with brains designed to make sense of the world and that need for an explanation can lead to beliefs that go beyond reason. To be true they would have to be supernatural. With scientific education we learn that such beliefs are irrational but at an intuitive level they can be resistant to reason or lie dormant in otherwise sensible adults. It now seems unlikely that any effort to get rid of supernatural beliefs or superstitious behaviours will be completely successful. This is not all bad news - such beliefs are a useful glue that binds us together as a society. Combining brilliant insight with witty example Hood weaves a page-turning account of our 'supersense' that navigates a path through brain science, child development, popular culture, mental illness and the paranormal. After reading SuperSense, you will realize why you are not as reasonable as you might like to think - and why that might be no bad thing.

Does the giant Yeti roam the mountain ranges of Tibet? Does a real-life Shangri-La lie waiting to be discovered in a Himalayan valley? Do transmissions from lost civilizations beam messages of salvation to humankind? What lost creatures lurk in the murky depths of Scotland's brooding Loch Ness? And who - or what - is responsible for the implacable monoliths which tower over Easter Island? The obsession that so many now have with the uncanny and unnatural is itself a mystery. It prompts serious questions which could have remarkable answers. Drinking deep from the wells of esoteric knowledge, Greg Reece undertakes a heroic quest for solutions. Braving the darkest recesses of cult belief, he stalks the twilight borderlands of contemporary culture, where, at the outer edges of mainstream thought, things become downright freaky and outlandish.Taking his life in both hands, the author explores a subterranean cavern reputed to be the home of elusive blue-skinned troglodytes; goes hiking in the backwoods for a glimpse of Bigfoot; investigates the truth of Alternative Archaeology in search of Atlantis; and tests for himself the time-travel and anti-gravity theories of famed inventor Nikola Tesla. Unashamedly revelling in the unexplained, "Weird Science and Bizarre Beliefs" is both a penetrating analysis of the hidden underbelly of science, pseudo-science and religion and an unforgettable journey into the innermost depths of the fantastic and the peculiar.

"Like all Graham Phillips' works, this book is well-researched, challenging, and a real page-turner. A must-have for readers with inquiring minds who love a quest."Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince, authors of The Templar Revelation: Secret Guardians of the True Identity of Christ"In this extraordinary historical quest Graham Phillips reveals powerful new evidence not only for the existence of the lost Ark, but also its final fate and last resting place. His incredible research blows away existing myths while at the same time painting an entirely new picture of an enigma that has baffled the world for over 3,000 years."Andrew Collins, author of From the Ashes of Angels and Twenty-First Century GrailAccording to legend, the Ark of the Covenant was an ornate golden chest that was both a means of communicating with God and a terrible weapon used against the enemies of the ancient Israelites. In order to use it the high priest had to wear a breastplate containing twelve sacred gemstones called the Stones of Fire. These objects were kept in the Great Temple of Jerusalem until they vanished following the Babylonian invasion in 597 B.C.At the ancient ruins of Petra in southern Jordan, Graham Phillips uncovered evidence that thirteenth-century Templars found the Ark and the Stones of Fire, and that they brought these treasures back to central England when they fled the persecution of French king Philip the Fair a century later. The author followed ciphered messages left by the Templars in church paintings, inscriptions, and stained glass windows to what may well be three of the Stones of Fire. When examined by Oxford University scientists these stones were found to possess odd physical propertiesthat interfered with electronic equipment and produced a sphere of floating light similar to ball lightning.The Bible asserts that the Ark had the power to destroy armies and bring down the walls of cities. Now Graham Phillips provides scientific evidence that these claims may be true and offers compelling documentation of where the Ark is located.GRAHAM PHILLIPS is the author of Atlantis and the Ten Plagues of Egypt, The Chalice of Magdalene, and The Moses Legacy. He lives in Coventry, England.

This book presents the explosive theory that Jesus Christ survived the crucifixion, travelled across what was then known as Asia, took up residence in Kashmir, India, married, had children and lived to the ripe old age of 120 years. Thirty illustrations include original-language documents (Sanskrit, Tibetan, Persian) -- with accompanying English translations -- that clearly record the sojourn of Jesus Christ all throughout Asia/India. The book studies five branches of humanity that are involved in an intense struggle over the identity of Jesus Christ, and compares their perspectives. Those branches are: revisionist Christian scholars, traditional Christianity, Eastern religions and philosophies, the world of Islam, and atheists, agnostics and secular humanists. Also examined are the philosophical issues surrounding the subject of a post-crucifixion life of Jesus. It offers an intense and fascinating comparison between Eastern religion and philosophy on the one hand, and Western Christianity on the other. This thorough examination is perhaps as engaging, if not more so, as the actual documents that detail the travels of Jesus to Kashmir after the crucifixion.

"Waiting for Macedonia "gives insight into one of the most moving moments in post-war European history: the hope for a new Europe in the years following the collapse of communism. In this ethnography, Thiessen explores the different ways in which identity has been negotiated in Macedonia since the disintegration of Yugoslavia. In contrast to more familiar approaches to the Balkans--which emphasize tradition, rural life, and women in the contexts of kinship and marriage--Thiessen here investigates the everyday habits of a group of young professional women in Skopje. Using research data spanning eight years (1988-96), she traces key aspects of their life, including family relationships, television and shopping habits, cafe life, and attitudes to work. At the same time, she also raises larger questions about Macedonian, Balkan, and Eastern European notions of identity, suggesting that western discourses about former socialist countries may in turn be influencing the way young urban Macedonians see themselves.

Forensic pathologist Philippe Charlier - dubbed the "Indiana Jones of the graveyards" - travels to Haiti where rumors claim that some who die may return to life as zombies. Charlier investigates these far-fetched stories and finds that, in Haiti, the dead are a part of daily life. Families, fearing that loved ones may return from the grave, urge pallbearers to take rambling routes to prevent the recently departed from finding their way home from cemeteries. Corpses are sometimes killed a second time...just to be safe. And a person might spend their life preparing their funeral and grave to ensure they will not become a wandering soul after death. But are the stories true? Charlier's investigations lead him to Vodou leader Max Beauvoir and other priests, who reveal how bodies can be reanimated. In some cases, sorcerers lure the dead from their graves and give them a potion concocted from Devil's Snare, a plant more commonly known as Jimsonweed. Sometimes secret societies use poudre zombi - "zombie powder" - spiked with the tetrodotoxin found in blowfish. Charlier eagerly collects evidence, examining Vodou dolls by X-ray, making sacrifices at rituals, and visiting cemeteries under the cloak of night. Zombies follows Charlier's journey to understand the fascinating and frightening world of Haiti's living dead, inviting readers to believe the unbelievable.

We are said to be living in the age of entitlement, and millennials-those in their late teens to early thirties-are declared by scholars and pundits to expect special treatment more than any prior generation. The Myth of the Age of Entitlement peels back the layers of the entitlement myth, exposing its anti-democratic faults and offering a more nuanced understanding of the millennial generation. Cairns argues that the majority of millennials in fact face bleak economic prospects and mounting ecological disaster. In lively prose, and punctuated with insights from millennials rarely profiled in mainstream media-including indebted university students, young retail workers, Indigenous youth, and supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement-he offers a passionate defense of how this generation is bravely addressing a legacy of inequality and social and ecological injustice. It is this kind of action that can precisely reinvigorate democracy and bring about a new era of universal entitlement.

Oxford-educated historian Farrell's sequel to 'Saucers, Swastikas and Psyops' delves into the creation of a breakaway civilisation by the Nazis in South America and other parts of the world. He discusses the advanced technology that they took with them at the end of the war and psychological war that they waged for decades on America and NATO.

commemorating Sir Francis Bacon's 450th birth anniversary, the 20 and more contributors to THE VIEW BEYOND see a connection between Bacon's attempt to write the master plan of science, his esoteric interests, his supposed connection with Rosicrucianism, and the development of science and spirituality today.Division of the book is into four main sections. The first is about Bacon himself: John Henry on Bacon the scientist, Bacon the alchemist; Peter Dawkins on his 'Great Instauration' or programme for human advancement, Simon Bentley on his horoscope and Colum Hayward on his posthumous reputation.Section 2 develops the esoteric connection is represented by a diversity of authors including Tim Wyatt, who puts the main debate in a Theosophical context; Sylvia Francke on the role of Rudolf Steiner as a synthesizer and Nick Lambert on alchemy, The New Atlantis, and the esoteric. In section 3, Frank Perry writes on the seventh ray in art, seeing Bacon as standing at the head of this influence, and Richard Merrick writes on interference patterns in music and how they are building blocks of the universe itself. Section 4 is about science today, and breakthroughs in neuroscience as well as physics which bring into question the traditional model of materialism; it also examines the social responsibility of the scientist, which is inherent in Bacon's view of science as an activity of the state. In a final section, Kathleen Pepper writes on the Golden Age, Colum Hayward on the topic 'Beyond Materialism' and Steve Nation concludes with a review from the United Nations in New York of esotericism, science and spirituality today.

A third installment in the delightfully disgusting miscellany series that began with the national bestseller, "Why You Shouldn't Eat Your Boogers and Other Useless or Gross Information About Your Body."
In the "New York Times" (extended list) bestseller "Why You Shouldn't Eat Your Boogers and Other Useless or Gross Information About Your Body," Francesca Gould uncovered everything you'd want to know-and a few things you'd rather you didn't-about the human body. In "Why Fish Fart and Other Useless or Gross Information About the World," she scoured planet Earth for a rich assortment of odd and/or unsavory facts. In "Why Dogs Eat Poop and Other Useless or Gross Information About the Animal Kingdom," Francesca Gould and David Haviland explore a subject positively rife with gross miscellany: the animal kingdom.
Indeed, animals do the darnedest things and, in this vastly entertaining book, Gould and Haviland uncover a universe of strange, hilarious, and quite often disgusting animal habits, ailments, and practices, including:
-Monkey-Faced Lamb disease;
-farting snakes;
-dino-chickens;
-and a creature you've never heard of that eats with its eyes.
"Why Dogs Eat Poop" is sure to delight any fan of the obscure and/ or grotesque.

Beliefs in mysterious underworlds are as old as humanity. But the idea that the earth has a hollow interior was first proposed as a scientific theory in 1691 by Sir Edmond Halley (of comet fame), who suggested that there might be life down there as well. Hollow Earth traces the surprising, marvellous, and just plain weird permutations his ideas have taken over the centuries. From science fiction to utopian societies and even religions, Hollow Earth travels through centuries and cultures, exploring how each era's relationship to the idea of a hollow earth mirrored its hopes, fears, and values. Illustrated with everything from seventeenth-century maps to 1950s pulp art to movie posters and more, Hollow Earth is for anyone interested in the history of strange ideas that just won't go away.

What makes Canada a different kind of society from the United States? In this book-length essay, Philip Resnick argues that, in more ways than one, Canada has been profoundly marked by its European origins. This is most apparent where the European historical underpinnings both of English-speaking and French-speaking Canada are concerned, but it is no less true when one examines Canada's multiple national identities, robust social programs, increasingly secular values and multilateral outlook on international affairs today. As the war in Iraq brought home, and the 2004 federal election reinforced, Canada is a more European-type society than is our neighbour to the south.

This does not come without its own complexities or problems. On the contrary, there are significant parallels between the ambiguous versions of national identity that one finds in Canada and what one finds on the European continent. There are parallels, too, between the elements of self-doubt that characterize Canadians overall when they think about their country and those of Europeans caught up in their own, often fractious, attempts to forge a more integrated Europe. The author argues that Canada needs Europe as an effective counter-weight to the influence of the United States. He further argues that, at a deeper existential level, Canadians need relevant European references to better understand what makes them the kind of North Americans that they are.

Compiled from more than four hundred hours of channeling by Barbara Marciniak, Bringers of the Dawn imparts to us the wisdom of the Pleiadians, a group of enlightened beings who have come to Earth to help us discover how to reach a new stage of evolution. Startling, intense, intelligent, and controversial, these teachings offer essential reading for anyone questioning his or her existence on this planet and the direction of our collective conscious--and consciousness.

The wild, the woolly, and the very strange: Fit to Print contains stories of the comic, the sad, the odd, and the forgotten from 150 years of New Brunswick newspapers. By the author of Six for the Hangman and When Rum Was King.