Media events have been described as broadcasts that involve an engaged audience viewing the same event simultaneously; though this definition is still relevant, the way media outlets interact with and react to their audiences has greatly changed. This is in part due to the emergence of social media platforms which allow a participatory audience, something that genre-specific television channels now rely on. Because these genre-specific, 24-hour channels seek to hook viewers with hyperbolic presentation and the illusion of large media events, the original definition must be adapted. Global Perspectives on Media Events in Contemporary Society seeks to re-define the role of the media in relaying information about current events within a modern context. Determining what constitutes as and the proper presentation of a media event is of great importance given the ubiquity of media consumption. This book approaches the topic from historical, ceremonial, and globally cultural perspectives while addressing news, sports, and other significant current events. It is a vital resource for students and teachers of communication, media, and journalism, professionals in the media industry, policy makers, and sociologists.

Focusing on the transitional period of the late Republic to the early Principate, Trees in Ancient Rome offers a sustained examination of the deployment of trees in the ancient city, exploring not only the practicalities of their cultivation, but also their symbolic value. The Ruminal fig tree sheltered the she-wolf as she nursed Romulus and Remus and year’s later Rome was founded between two groves. As the city grew, neighbourhoods bore the names of groves and hills were known by the trees which grew atop them. From the 1st century BCE, triumphs included trees among their spoils and Rome’s green cityscape grew, as did the challenges of finding room for trees within the congested city. This volume begins with an examination of the role of trees as repositories of human memory, lasting for several generations. It goes on to untangle the import of trees, and their role in the triumphal procession, before closing with a discussion of how trees could be grown in Rome’s urban spaces. Drawing on a combination of literary, visual and archaeological sources, it reveals the rich variety of trees in evidence, and explores how they impacted, and were used to impact, life in the ancient city.

Jules Duchon was a real New Orleans vampire. Born and bred in the working-class Ninth Ward, bitten and smitten with the Big Easy. Driving through the French Quarter, stuck in a row of bumper-to-bumper cars that crept along Decatur Street like a caravan of bone-weary camels, Jules Duchon barely fit behind the steering wheel of his very big Cadillac taxicab. Even with the seat pushed all the way back.

Damn, he was hungry.

Jules stopped his cab, pressed the wobbly rocker switch that jerked the electric windows reluctantly to life, and stuck his head into the humid night air. “Hey, baby. You interested in some dinner?”

–from Fat White Vampire Blues

Vampire, nosferatu, creature of the night–whatever you call him–Jules Duchon has lived (so to speak) in New Orleans far longer than there have been drunk coeds on Bourbon Street. Weighing in at a whopping four hundred and fifty pounds, swelled up on the sweet, rich blood of people who consume the fattiest diet in the world, Jules is thankful he can’t see his reflection in a mirror. When he turns into a bat, he can’t get his big ol’ butt off the ground.

What’s worse, after more than a century of being undead, he’s watched his neighborhood truly go to hell–and now, a new vampire is looking to drive him out altogether. See, Jules had always been an equal opportunity kind of vampire. And while he would admit that the blood of a black woman is sweeter than the blood of a white man, Jules never drank more than his fair share of either. Enter Malice X . Young, cocky, and black, Malice warns Jules that his days of feasting on sisters and brothers are over. He tells Jules he’d better confine himself to white victims–or else face the consequences. And then, just to prove he isn’t kidding, Malice burns Jules’s house to the ground.

With the help of Maureen, the morbidly obese, stripper-vampire who made him, and Doodlebug, an undead cross-dresser who (literally) flies in from the coast– Jules must find a way to contend with the hurdles that life throws at him . . . without getting a stake through the heart. It’s enough to give a man the blues.

Adding to the growing literature on shared formulation, the authors provide over two decades of practice-based evidence for the use of a Shared Assessment, Formulation and Education (SAFE) approach to working with those with complex mental health and behavioural needs. The SAFE approach offers an evidence-informed framework for multidisciplinary teams to address the needs of those with complex and enduring psychosis for whom current evidence-based interventions are ineffective in promoting their recovery. Drawing from richly detailed case studies, the authors provide a range of useful tools and fomulation templates for use by clinicans and professionals alike. They put forward a shared language to promote a multidisciplinary understanding of service users' complex needs and a means of organising treatment into a focused, realistic and targeted approach aimed at reducing barriers to recovery and allowing individuals to lead personally meaningful lives. The book focuses predominantly on the treatment of those with psychosis who require bespoke, multi-theory informed care. This work will be an invaluable resource to professionals working with this client group, including clinical and counselling psychologists, psychiatrists and other allied health professionals.

Adding to the growing literature on shared formulation, the authors provide over two decades of practice-based evidence for the use of a Shared Assessment, Formulation and Education (SAFE) approach to working with those with complex mental health and behavioural needs. The SAFE approach offers an evidence-informed framework for multidisciplinary teams to address the needs of those with complex and enduring psychosis for whom current evidence-based interventions are ineffective in promoting their recovery. Drawing from richly detailed case studies, the authors provide a range of useful tools and fomulation templates for use by clinicans and professionals alike. They put forward a shared language to promote a multidisciplinary understanding of service users' complex needs and a means of organising treatment into a focused, realistic and targeted approach aimed at reducing barriers to recovery and allowing individuals to lead personally meaningful lives. The book focuses predominantly on the treatment of those with psychosis who require bespoke, multi-theory informed care. This work will be an invaluable resource to professionals working with this client group, including clinical and counselling psychologists, psychiatrists and other allied health professionals.

As the US faced its lowest levels of reported trust in government, the COVID-19 crisis revealed the essential service that various federal agencies provide as sources of information. This Element explores variations in trust across various levels of government and government agencies based on a nationally-representative survey conducted in March of 2020. First, it examines trust in agencies including the Department of Health and Human Services, state health departments, and local health care providers. This includes variation across key characteristics including party identification, age, and race. Second, the Element explores the evolution of trust in health-related organizations throughout 2020 as the pandemic continued. The Element concludes with a discussion of the implications for agency-specific assessments of trust and their importance as we address historically low levels of trust in government. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Despite the steady acceptance of psychological interventions for people with psychosis in routine practice many people continue to experience problems in their recovery. The need to develop new approaches, particularly for those who are more difficult to engage and have significant co-morbidities is therefore important. Innovations in Psychosocial Interventions for Psychosis positions psychological formulation as a key organising principle for the delivery of care within multidisciplinary teams. The interventions described all have the common theme of supporting recovery and achieving goals that are of primary importance to the service user which targets interventions on broader obstacles to recovery. Along with their experienced contributors, Alan Meaden and Andrew Fox introduce new developments in psychological interventions for people affected by psychosis who are hard to reach, working in a variety of settings with people at various stages of recovery. The book is divided into three parts. In part one brief interventions and approaches aimed at promoting engagement are described as interventions in their own right. Part two is focused on longer-term interventions with individuals. Some of these highlight new developments in the evidence base whilst others draw on work applied less frequently to psychosis drawing from the broader psychological therapy practice-based evidence field. In part three attention is given to innovations in group settings and those aimed at promoting greater multidisciplinary working in settings where a whole team approach is needed. Each chapter describes the theory underpinning a different approach, its development, key strategies, principles and stages, and contain case examples that illustrate the use of the approach in a clinical setting. Innovations in Psychosocial Interventions for Psychosis will be an invaluable resource to professionals working with this client group, including clinical and counselling psychologists, psychiatrists, and other allied health professionals.

Despite the steady acceptance of psychological interventions for people with psychosis in routine practice many people continue to experience problems in their recovery. The need to develop new approaches, particularly for those who are more difficult to engage and have significant co-morbidities is therefore important. Innovations in Psychosocial Interventions for Psychosis positions psychological formulation as a key organising principle for the delivery of care within multidisciplinary teams. The interventions described all have the common theme of supporting recovery and achieving goals that are of primary importance to the service user which targets interventions on broader obstacles to recovery. Along with their experienced contributors, Alan Meaden and Andrew Fox introduce new developments in psychological interventions for people affected by psychosis who are hard to reach, working in a variety of settings with people at various stages of recovery. The book is divided into three parts. In part one brief interventions and approaches aimed at promoting engagement are described as interventions in their own right. Part two is focused on longer-term interventions with individuals. Some of these highlight new developments in the evidence base whilst others draw on work applied less frequently to psychosis drawing from the broader psychological therapy practice-based evidence field. In part three attention is given to innovations in group settings and those aimed at promoting greater multidisciplinary working in settings where a whole team approach is needed. Each chapter describes the theory underpinning a different approach, its development, key strategies, principles and stages, and contain case examples that illustrate the use of the approach in a clinical setting. Innovations in Psychosocial Interventions for Psychosis will be an invaluable resource to professionals working with this client group, including clinical and counselling psychologists, psychiatrists, and other allied health professionals.

A Promethean technology is one that allows someone of average resources, skills, and intelligence to carry out actions that were once only doable by governments, militaries, or institutions with considerable resources. Essentially, Promethean technologies allow users to create their own weapons of mass destruction from their home computer and deploy them globally with a keystroke. These emerging technologies are increasingly affordable and accessible - and are no more complicated to operate than a satellite TV control box or a smart phone. Although these technologies are a terrifying prospect, the more we know about these dangers, the better we can prepare to head them off. In The Devil's Toy Box, Andrew Fox lays out seven decades of preemptive analysis and shows that while homeland security has explored, in depth, the possible Promethean threats the world faces, it has failed to forecast the most likely attacks. Using actual scenarios Fox teaches how to predict future threats and how to forecast which ones are likely to be used by bad actors within the next five to ten years. Combining the skills of homeland security experts and the imaginations of speculative fiction writers, he then offers an analytical method to deter, counter, or abate these threats, rather than adopting an attitude of resigned fatalism.

What price redemption? Is martial honor worth the cost of one's soul? Lieutenant Commander August Micholson lost his first ship, the wooden frigate USS Northport, in reckless battle against the ironclad ram CSS Virginia. However, Flag Officer Andrew Foote offers the disgraced young Micholson a chance to redeem himself: he can take the ironclad gunboat USS James B. Eads on an undercover mission to destroy a hidden rebel boat yard, where a fleet of powerful ironclads is being constructed which will allow the Confederate Navy to dominate the Mississippi. But dangers far more sinister than rebel ironclads await Micholson and his crew. On the dark waters of the Yazoo River, deep within rebel territory, they become entangled in a plot devised by a slave and his master to summon African fire spirits to annihilate the Federal armies. Micholson must battle devils both internal and external to save the lives of his crew, sink the Confederate fleet, and foil the arcane conspiracy. Ultimately, Micholson is faced with a terrible choice - he can risk the lives of every inhabitant of America, both Union and Confederate, or destroy himself by merging with a demon and forever melding his own soul with that of his greatest enemy... Book One of Midnight's Inferno: the August Micholson Chronicles Watch for Book Two, Hellfire and Damnation, available April, 2014

Coby's back at the drawing board to create yet another new pet After asking Mom for an alligator, she suggests starting with something small first, like a Hamster. Lame So, Coby combines all the things he likes about hamsters and all the things he loves about alligators and creates another new creature. Hamstigator is the 2nd book in the Petimals series

Dogopotamus is the first book in a NEW children's series called, Petimals. Ages 7-10. FULL COLOR INTERIOR Coby is 8 years old, and he wants a pet. Not just any pet, he wants a hippopotamus. But, apparently you can't have a hippo for a pet, so Coby combines all the things he loves about dogs and all the things he loves about Hippos and creates his own NEW pet. Dogopotamus: The mind of a dog, and the weight of a house means disaster might be just around the corner

FROM THE SNOW CLAD FORESTS OF BELARUS TO THE SUN BAKED DESERTS OF IRAQ. A SLAUGHTERHOUSE OF DEADLY VIOLENCE AND REVENGE WITH SUPERNOVA INTENSITY! ABDUCTION EXPLODES INTO A NEW KIND OF FICTION, GRAPHIC AND VIOLENT. LIVE THE STORY! ENTER THE PAGES OF LIVING FICTION. GASP WITH WONDER AND AWE. BE LEFT BREATHLESS! A BLOODY WHIRLPOOL OF VIOLENCE. DRUG BARONS AND THE FORCES OF JUSTICE SWORN TO DESTROY THEIR NEFARIOUS TRADE. A MURDEROUS COLLISION BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL! VIOLENT. GRAPHIC. DEADLY

After morphing into 187 very large white rats in the name of self-preservation, Jules Duchon is back to his portly self, a member of that secret class of New Orleans citizens known as the undead. Though he would like nothing better than to spend his nights raising hell and biting flesh in his beloved French Quarter, duty calls when an exclusive club of blue blood vampires demands that the 450-pound cabbie find out who is attacking its young and beautiful members. Adding insult to injury, he has to enlist the help of a former foe: a black vampire named Preston.
What's a vampire to do? Without the love of a woman to ease his pain, Jules isn't convinced that his undead life is worth living. He doesn't desire Doodlebug (she may be a woman now but Jules knew her back when she was just a boy) any more than he longs for Daphne, a rat catcher who nourishes a crush the size of Jules. No, only Maureen will do. Once a beautiful stripper with nothing but curve after curve to her bodacious body, now she is mere dust in a jar. But Jules will move heaven and earth to get her back . . . even if it means pulling her back from the dead.