Up-to-date, well-documented, comprehensive coverage of cults, sects, and world religions, from the historical to the contemporary INCLUDES * Well-known... groups and world religions, such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Islam, and Baha'i * Groups with a significant North American influence, including Santeria, Rastafarians, Haitian Voodo, white supremacy groups, Wicca, and Satanism REVISED, UPDATED, AND EXPANDED TO INCLUDE NEW ENTRIES AND NEW INFORMATION * Updated information on Islam and its global impact * New entries: the Branch Davidians, Native American religions, Heaven's Gate, Aum Supreme Truth, the Boston Movement, the Masonic Lodge, and many others * Developments in the world of cults and the occult Encyclopedic Dictionary of Cults, Sects, and World Religions is arguably the most significant reference book on the subject to be published. Formerly titled Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions, and the Occult, it provides reliable information on the history and beliefs of nearly every form of religion active today. This extensively revised edition includes new topics, updated information, and a brand-new format for a clearer, more organized approach. The authors evaluate the beliefs and practices of each group from the perspective of the Bible and the historic creeds of the Christian church. You'll also find group histories, numerous illustrations, charts, current statistics, websites, bibliographies, and other useful information.

Semiotics, Media Studies and Communication Studies are three closely interlinked fields. Briefly stated, Semiotics, the science of signs, looks at how... humans search for and construct meaning; Communication Studies is concerned with how meaning is conveyed; and Media Studies considers the ways in which messages are transmitted and received. This dictionary is designed to help students and general readers unlock the significance of the terminology and jargon commonly used in these fields.Being interdisciplinary in nature, Semiotics, Media, and Communication Studies are cluttered with notions derived from other disciplines. Hence, this dictionary also encompasses basic concepts from the fields of anthropology, archaeology, psychology, psychoanalysis, linguistics, philosophy, artificial intelligence, computer science, and biology. Collected here are the terms, concepts, personages, schools of thought, and historical movements that appear frequently in the relevant literature.The basis of each entry is a simple definition, which often includes the term's origin. Illustrations are provided where necessary, along with historical sketches of movements or schools of thought. The commentary on personages consists of brief statements about their contribution and relevance. Thus, the dictionary not only defines what a term means, but often goes into its history, applications, and broad implications. Terms are cross-referenced and their etymology is given where possible. This is a compact, practical research manual that will relieve much tension for students in semiotics and related fields. Because of its interdisciplinary approach, it will also provide a range of scholars with a handy reference to disciplines distinct from but related to their own.

This unique and groundbreaking book seeks to re-focus gender debate onto the issue of daughter discrimination - a phenomenon still hidden and... unacknowledged across the world.It asks the controversial question of why millions of girls do not appear to be surviving to adulthood in contemporary Asia. In the first major study available of this emotive and sensitive issue, Elisabeth Croll investigates the extent of discrimination against female children in Asia and shifts the focus of attention firmly from son-preference to daughter-discrimination.This book brings together demographic data and anthropological field studies to reveal the multiple ways in which girls are disadvantaged, from excessive child mortality to the withholding of health care and education on the basis of gender. Focusing especially on China and India, the book reveals the surprising coincidence of increasing daughter discrimination with rising economic development, declining fertility and the generally improved status of women in East and South Asia. Essential reading for all those interested in gender in contemporary society.

Endangered Plants and Threatened Ecosystems on the Island of Hawaii has just been released and is available at island bookstores. The full color, 64... page volume is co-authored by UHH Geography and Environmental Studies professor James Juvik along with recent UHH Geography graduates John Delay and Kealoha Kinney. Other book co-authors include UH Manoa Botany Professor Mark Merlin, Hilo state forester Lyman Perry and Big Island ecologist Mick Castello. The book project was an outgrowth of efforts by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the State Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) to involve both Big Island hunter organizations and environmentalists in co-operative efforts to improve understanding and strengthen conservation of the Island s unique and endangered native plant resources. The book includes chapters on the environmental factors controlling ecosystem distribution, current conservation efforts, endangered species laws and policies, and a field guide to selected endangered plant species, with ethno-botanical uses. Many photos and maps accompany the text. Readers will find information on access to public hiking areas in the various districts of the Big Island where native ecosystems can be visited.

Intended for intermediate and AP French classes. This manual contains idioms, day to day language, common slang, proverbs and hints for writing on... various levels. Widely used as a resource or composition manual, vocabulary enrichment book or a text to promote oral skills.

3m, 2f / Comedy / Interior End Days received the 2008 American Theatre Critics Association Steinberg citation. Sixteen year old Rachel Stein is... having a bad year. Her father hasn't changed out of his pajamas since 9/11. Her mother has begun a close, personal relationship with Jesus. Her new neightbor, a sixteen-year-old Elvis impersonator, has fallen for her hard. And the Apocolypse is coming Wednesday. Her only hope is that Stephen Hawking will save them all. "The universality of the denouement brings this comedy full circle, leaving us to admire the relevancy of Laufer's humor and wisdom of her message." - Variety "...rapturously funny play about a family trying to survive in a world hurtling toward Armageddon, proves that the right playwright can inspire healing laughter in even the most sobering subjects." - The Miami Herald "...Both poignantly redemptive and often hilariously funny. I hope others will have the opportunity to see this special play. It begs the question of what we would hold most sacred if we knew the end was near. And it brings to life our broad range of choices, including laughter, and the treasured traveling companions who are there even when we face our own personal Armageddon." - Huffington Post "End Days may be about a weirdly dysfunctional family that finds its soul by waiting for the Apocalypse together, but this play has heart: It's engaging, funny as hell and even touching....An exceptional show" - NUVO (Indianapolis) "A manic whirlwind of a family drama as weird and illuminating and truthful as anything likely to be discovered at CERN. End Days is funnier than a great many plays designed solely to induce laughter, and more touching than most plays designed solely to touch...so redolent of the ordinary wishes of real, lonely human beings that, despite the play's atmosphere of general absurdity, it communicates a heartbreaking truthfulness." - Broward-Palm Beach New Times "...thought-provoking, not a little disquieting and seriously, encouragingly funny. Laufer's originality in expressing her ideas is impressive. Highly recommended." - CityBeat Arts and Entertainment "The smartest, most hysterical, laugh-out-loud show you'll see in the theater - ever!...a witty, funny and relevant play." - Martha's Vineyard Plum "End Days directly pits science, religion and suburbia, but it's not an attack on any of them. There's not a trace of mockery in these extraordinary performances, each tinged with compassion, humor and heartbreak. Laufer is clearly a major new voice" - Denver Post

Winner of the Hugo and Nebula AwardsIn order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child... geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut—young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training.Ender's skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. Yet growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister. Is Ender the general Earth needs? But Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender's two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If, that is, the world survives. Ender's Game is the winner of the 1986 Hugo Award for Best Novel.

n the far future, humanity has discovered interstellar travel and faster-than-light communication enabled by ansibles. In exploring the galaxy, they... encountered an alien race known as the Formics, derogatorily dubbed "buggers" due to their insect-like appearance. The Formics attacked the humans and the two races enter into a series of wars. Despite political conflict on Earth between three ruling parties, the Hegemon, Polemarch, and Strategos, a tentative agreement was reached to create the International Fleet (IF) to combat the Formics. In addition to a selective breeding program, the IF monitors the children of Earth via implanted devices to find the best and brightest to enter Command School and enlist in the fleet.

Winner of the Hugo and Nebula AwardsIn order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child... geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut—young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training.Ender's skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. Yet growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister. Is Ender the general Earth needs? But Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender's two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If, that is, the world survives. Ender's Game is the winner of the 1985 Nebula Award for Best Novel and the 1986 Hugo Award for Best Novel.

The novel that launched the bestselling Ender’s Shadow series—available for the first time on unabridged cd The human race is at War with the... “Buggers”, an insect-like alien race. As Earth prepares to defend itself from total destruction at the hands of an inscrutable enemy, all focus is on the development of military geniuses who can fight such a war, and win. The long distances of interstellar space have given hope to the defenders of Earth—they have time to train these future commanders up from childhood, forging them into an irresistible force in the high orbital facility called the Battle School. Andrew “Ender” Wiggin was not the only child in the Battle School; he was just the best of the best. In this new book, Card tells the story of another of those precocious generals, the one they called Bean—the one who became Ender’s right hand, part of his team, in the final battle against the Buggers. Bean’s past was a battle just to survive. His success brought him to the attention of the Battle School’s recruiters, those people scouring the planet for leaders, tacticians, and generals to save Earth from the threat of alien invasion. Bean was sent into orbit, to the Battle School. And there he met Ender....

Originally written in French and translated into English by Beckett, "Endgame" was given its first London performance at the Royal Court Theatre in... 1957. HAMM - Clov! CLOV - Yes. HAMM - Nature has forgotten us. CLOV - There's no more nature. HAMM - No more nature! You exaggerate. CLOV In the vicinity. HAMM - But we breathe, we change! We lose our hair our teeth! Our bloom! Our ideals! CLOV - Then she hasn't forgotten us.

Samuel Beckett was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969; his literary output of plays, novels, stories and poetry has earned him an... uncontested place as one of the greatest writers of our time. Endgame, originally written in French and translated into English by Beckett himself, is considered by many critics to be his greatest single work. A pinnacle of Beckett’s characteristic raw minimalism, it is a pure and devastating distillation of the human essence in the face of approaching death.

Samuel Beckett was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature n 1969; his literary output of plays, novels, stories and poetry has earned him an uncontested... place as one of the greatest writers of our time. "Endgame, " originally written in French and translated into English by Beckett himself, is considered by many critics to be his greatest single work. A pinnacle of Beckett's characteristic raw minimalism, it is a pure and devastating distillation of the human essence in the face of approaching death.

When we think of the twilight of the twentieth century we think of the spectacular collapse of communism, the famines in Africa, civil wars and... genocides across the globe and inexorable dismantling of South Africa's segregated world.  Apartheid was reduced to rubble through the courage of many martyrs and the pressure of world disapproval.  This is the history of the final years of one of the worst contemporary regimes, showing the violent conflict between black and white and the clashes of personality between Botha, de Klerk and Mandela. Professor Jack Spence looks at the most controversial issues associated with apartheid - the ambiguous figure of Nelson Mandela; the disastrous attempts at democracy in the 1990s and continuing persistent problems now; the issue of segregation itself versus apartheid; and the episodes thrown up by the commissions. A fascinating account of the final years of Apartheid, showing the violent conflict between black and white and the clashes of personality between Botha, de Klerk and Mandela.  As well as a full treatment of all these issues, the book contains original interviews and first hand experiences.