Dodging The 60s Bullet And Other Blessings From My Mennonite German Immigrant Grandparents

About the Book I chose Dodging the 60's Bullet as the title because it expresses how I feel about living through that era without taking a direct hit! I believe I was blessed by the timing of my birth as well as the influence from my immigrant grandparents who helped to raise me. I was almost an adult when this unarmed ‘insurrection’ began, but those who were only in their early teens were not as lucky. The ‘60s attack on America’s culture alarmed my elderly grandfather who came to this country before 1900, and he shared his profound (and prophetic) concerns with me in 1962. It seemed that almost overnight social norms were being overturned by this generation composed of mostly college students who had been influenced by left-leaning professors who taught that our traditional values were unjust and had to be radically changed. God was soon declared ‘dead’, drug use was celebrated and sex was considered just a form of ‘Free Love’ with any partner! The effect of all this is magnified now, because those who suffered a direct hit (and the children they spawned) are currently in charge of our government, education, media and entertainment. If you are not over 60 years old, you likely have no idea of how or why we are seeing such a downturn of civility, lawlessness and immorality in our culture now. My life’s journey, combined with a renewed faith in Judeo-Christianity, prompted me to share my experiences and opinions in this book. As a passionate current events and cultural news-addict, I am fascinated with how these issues are addressed in this ancient book we call the Bible! I am hoping what I have written will be relatable and interesting enough to provide some food for thought and even some encouragement for those who are facing difficult times. We were all created with unique abilities for a purpose; and those abilities can be used to replace discouragement with faith and hope for the future! About the Author I am a first-time author but have always loved to write, including ‘letters to the editor’ and commenting on news sites! I have worked in many different jobs in both public and private sectors, including several years owning and operating a Childcare Center of fifty three children in partnership with my sister-in-law. I have also dabbled in artwork with several paintings and other items many people liked enough to even pay me for! I now live in Olympia, Washington where I am blessed with three wonderful grandchildren (one in California), plus two great grandbabies and one more on the way! I share my home with a long-haired cat named Ollie who I think would be better suited to living on a farm; but he seems attached to me...(sigh). I am also a member of the Board of Directors in a small Messianic Congregation called Lion of Judah where I enjoy learning more about the faith that makes me a happy warrior in this crazy world!

Grace believed she went from losing it all to having it all. In a desperate attempt to put her life back together, Grace, divorced and jobless, leaves Tucson to return to Chicago-a place she never planned to call home again. She also never planned to fall for Benjamin Hayward. Drawn into the fairytale existence of his power and wealth, Grace is unable to see what her family and friends see, and ignores the warning signs of Dr. Benjamin Hayward's dark side. Benjamin's secrets-the death of his mentally ill wife and the disappearance of his daughter-push Grace into an abyss deeper than the one that brought her home in the first place, and she risks losing even more. Pieces of Grace is a complicated story of relationships confused by undercurrents of mental illness. Readers find themselves hoping family and friends can carry Grace through her most difficult moments.

"One of Canada's foremost leaders in conflict resolution writes about his personal experiences of infamous, long-standing conflicts in South Africa, the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and elsewhere. He argues that we must understand human violence if we are to keep human civilization alive. From such understanding, he is able to show how deep-rooted conflict can slowly be transformed into peace and reconciliation. Anyone who cares about violence in this world should feel that this book is for them."

Explore the power of the underdog in Malcolm Gladwell's dazzling examination of success, motivation, and the role of adversity in shaping our lives, from the bestselling author of The Bomber Mafia. Three thousand years ago on a battlefield in ancient Palestine, a shepherd boy felled a mighty warrior with nothing more than a stone and a sling, and ever since then the names of David and Goliath have stood for battles between underdogs and giants. David's victory was improbable and miraculous. He shouldn't have won. Or should he have? In David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwellchallenges how we think about obstacles and disadvantages, offering a new interpretation of what it means to be discriminated against, or cope with a disability, or lose a parent, or attend a mediocre school, or suffer from any number of other apparent setbacks. Gladwell begins with the real story of what happened between the giant and the shepherd boy those many years ago. From there, David and Goliath examines Northern Ireland's Troubles, the minds of cancer researchers and civil rights leaders, murder and the high costs of revenge, and the dynamics of successful and unsuccessful classrooms—all to demonstrate how much of what is beautiful and important in the world arises from what looks like suffering and adversity. In the tradition of Gladwell's previous bestsellers—The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers and What the Dog Saw—David and Goliath draws upon history, psychology, and powerful storytelling to reshape the way we think of the world around us.

The West, especially the Intermountain states, ranks among the whitest places in America, but this fact obscures the more complicated history of racial diversity in the region. In Making the White Man’s West, author Jason E. Pierce argues that since the time of the Louisiana Purchase, the American West has been a racially contested space. Using a nuanced theory of historical “whiteness,” he examines why and how Anglo-Americans dominated the region for a 120-year period. In the early nineteenth century, critics like Zebulon Pike and Washington Irving viewed the West as a “dumping ground” for free blacks and Native Americans, a place where they could be segregated from the white communities east of the Mississippi River. But as immigrant populations and industrialization took hold in the East, white Americans began to view the West as a “refuge for real whites.” The West had the most diverse population in the nation with substantial numbers of American Indians, Hispanics, and Asians, but Anglo-Americans could control these mostly disenfranchised peoples and enjoy the privileges of power while celebrating their presence as providing a unique regional character. From this came the belief in a White Man’s West, a place ideally suited for “real” Americans in the face of changing world. The first comprehensive study to examine the construction of white racial identity in the West, Making the White Man’s West shows how these two visions of the West—as a racially diverse holding cell and a white refuge—shaped the history of the region and influenced a variety of contemporary social issues in the West today.

“Fascinating footnote to Holocaust history . . . a Jewish hospital in the heart of Berlin that treated patients to the very end of Hitler’s reign” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) “One of the most incredible stories of World War II.” —Dallas Morning News How did Berlin’s Jewish Hospital, in the middle of the Nazi capital, survive as an institution where Jewish doctors and nurses cared for Jewish patients throughout World War II? How could it happen that when Soviet troops liberated the hospital in April 1945, they found some eight hundred Jews still on the premises? Daniel Silver carefully uncovers the often surprising answers to these questions and, through the skillful use of primary source materials and the vivid voices of survivors, reveals the underlying complexities of human conscience. The story centers on the intricate machinations of the hospital’s director, Herr Dr. Lustig, a German-born Jew whose life-and-death power over medical staff and patients and finely honed relationship with his own boss, the infamous Adolf Eichmann, provide vital pieces to the puzzle—some have said the miracle—of the hospital’s survival. Silver illuminates how the tortured shifts in Nazi policy toward intermarriage and so-called racial segregation provided a further, if hugely counterintuitive, shelter from the storm for the hospital’s resident Jews. Scenes of daily life in the hospital paint an often heroic and always provocative picture of triage at its most chillingly existential. Not since Schindler’s List have we had such a haunting story of the costs and mysteries of individual survival in the midst of a human-created hell. “Gripping . . . one physician’s actions are depicted in all their fascinating complexity.” —The Washington Post Book World

"The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you," Christ told his followers. And a few fishermen, a tax collector, and a motley group of believers set out to change the world. In fact, they succeeded.In 16th century Europe, the Anabaptists preaching in cities by night, on back streets, and in secret corners behind rail fences set out to do the very thing the apostles had done. They, too, turned the world of their day upside down. What was the secret of their strength? In this book, Hoover explains what gave the Anabaptists their incredible spiritual strength.Was their secret a return to the Bible? No, they were far more than Biblicists. Was it a return to apostolic tradition? No, they were far more than keepers of tradition. Fundamentalism and traditionalism have never held Christianity together nor made it work.The "secret of the kingdom of God" is stunningly simple. With two words Christ revealed it to His disciples. Upon comprehending it, His disciples came to a sudden knowledge of the will of God, of the whole Bible, and of the right way to live.This book is more than an Anabaptist history; it is a challenge to all Christ-followers to put the teachings of Jesus into practice and to be part of a Kingdom movement that transcends the man-made boundaries of denomination.

Historically Canadians have considered themselves to be more or less free of racial prejudice. Although this conception has been challenged in recent years, it has not been completely dispelled. In Colour-Coded, Constance Backhouse illustrates the tenacious hold that white supremacy had on our legal system in the first half of this century, and underscores the damaging legacy of inequality that continues today. Backhouse presents detailed narratives of six court cases, each giving evidence of blatant racism created and enforced through law. The cases focus on Aboriginal, Inuit, Chinese-Canadian, and African-Canadian individuals, taking us from the criminal prosecution of traditional Aboriginal dance to the trial of members of the 'Ku Klux Klan of Kanada.' From thousands of possibilities, Backhouse has selected studies that constitute central moments in the legal history of race in Canada. Her selection also considers a wide range of legal forums, including administrative rulings by municipal councils, criminal trials before police magistrates, and criminal and civil cases heard by the highest courts in the provinces and by the Supreme Court of Canada. The extensive and detailed documentation presented here leaves no doubt that the Canadian legal system played a dominant role in creating and preserving racial discrimination. A central message of this book is that racism is deeply embedded in Canadian history despite Canada's reputation as a raceless society. Winner of the Joseph Brant Award, presented by the Ontario Historical Society

For more than thirty years, humankind has known how to grow enough food to end chronic hunger worldwide. Yet while the ''Green Revolution'' succeeded in South America and Asia, it never got to Africa. More than 9 million people every year die of hunger, malnutrition, and related diseases every year - most of them in Africa and most of them children. More die of hunger in Africa than from AIDS and malaria combined. Now, an impending global food crisis threatens to make things worse. In the west we think of famine as a natural disaster, brought about by drought; or as the legacy of brutal dictators. But in this powerful investigative narrative, Thurow & Kilman show exactly how, in the past few decades, American, British, and European policies conspired to keep Africa hungry and unable to feed itself. As a new generation of activists work to keep famine from spreading, Enough is essential reading on a humanitarian issue of utmost urgency.