Official Stories

Official Stories
Author: Liam Scheff
Publisher: CreateSpace
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2012-05-31
Genre: Conspiracies
ISBN: 9781477561348

"Official stories exist to protect officials." With the opening line as our guide, we're going to pry open the vault of "official-dom" and see what lies beneath. Drawing information from 10 years of investigative journalism, Liam invites you to join the hunt for the details that lie just beneath the surface. In this heavily-researched but irreverent book, we'll look under the rocks and stones of our culture: From CIA and JFK, to 9/11 and Shakespeare; from Vaccination to HIV to Big Bang theory, Darwinism, Plate Tectonics and more. Think of it as a corrective textbook to all the tales we were taught in school. Why do we accept some stories as true when the details so obviously contradict the headlines? We're going to find out what's real, what's true, and what's just an "official story."

Official Stories

Official Stories
Author: Laurie Brand
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2014-09-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780804789608

Until the recent uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, the resilience of authoritarian regimes seemed a fundamental feature of regional politics. While economic, political, and internal security policies are most often considered in discussions of regime maintenance, Laurie Brand introduces a new factor, that of national narratives. Portrayals of a country's founding, identity, and bases of unity can be a powerful strategy in sustaining a ruling elite. Brand argues that such official stories, which are used to reinforce the right to rule, justify policies, or combat opponents, deserve careful exploration if we are to understand the full range of tools available to respond to crises that threaten a leadership's hold on power. Brand examines more than six decades of political, economic, and military challenges in two of North Africa's largest countries: Egypt and Algeria. Through a careful analysis of various texts—history and religion textbooks, constitutions, national charters, and presidential speeches—Official Stories demonstrates how leaderships have attempted to reconfigure narratives to confront challenges to their power. Brand's account also demonstrates how leaderships may miscalculate, thereby setting in motion opposition forces beyond their control.

Official Stories

Official Stories
Author: Laurie A. Brand
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Total Pages: 293
Release: 2014-09-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 0804792321

Until the recent uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, the resilience of authoritarian regimes seemed a fundamental feature of regional politics. While economic, political, and internal security policies are most often considered in discussions of regime maintenance, Laurie Brand introduces a new factor, that of national narratives. Portrayals of a country's founding, identity, and bases of unity can be a powerful strategy in sustaining a ruling elite. Brand argues that such official stories, which are used to reinforce the right to rule, justify policies, or combat opponents, deserve careful exploration if we are to understand the full range of tools available to respond to crises that threaten a leadership's hold on power. Brand examines more than six decades of political, economic, and military challenges in two of North Africa's largest countries: Egypt and Algeria. Through a careful analysis of various texts—history and religion textbooks, constitutions, national charters, and presidential speeches—Official Stories demonstrates how leaderships have attempted to reconfigure narratives to confront challenges to their power. Brand's account also demonstrates how leaderships may miscalculate, thereby setting in motion opposition forces beyond their control.

Scary Stories

Scary Stories
Author: Tony Johnston
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2022-07-19
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1665904321

First published in 1978, this perfectly spooky picture book with illustrations by beloved and award-winning Tomie dePaola compiles four spine-tingling tales as told by little monsters. One dark night three little things—an imp, a goblin, and a scalawag—get together to tell the scariest stories they can think of. They are brash and brave as they argue over who should go next, and each one tries to make his story the scariest. When they finish, they realize someone was listening…and that may be the scariest thing of all.

Stories to Tell

Stories to Tell
Author: Richard Marx
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2021-07-06
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1982169478

*National Bestseller* Legendary musician Richard Marx offers an enlightening, entertaining look at his life and career. Richard Marx is one of the most accomplished singer-songwriters in the history of popular music. His self-titled 1987 album went triple platinum and made him the first male solo artist (and second solo artist overall after Whitney Houston) to have four singles from their debut crack the top three on the Billboard Hot 100. His follow-up, 1989’s Repeat Offender, was an even bigger smash, going quadruple platinum and landing two singles at number one. He has written fourteen number one songs in total, shared a Song of the Year Grammy with Luther Vandross, and collaborated with a variety of artists including NSYNC, Josh Groban, Natalie Cole, and Keith Urban. Lately, he’s also become a Twitter celebrity thanks to his outspokenness on social issues and his ability to out-troll his trolls. In Stories to Tell, Marx uses this same engaging, straight-talking style to look back on his life and career. He writes of how Kenny Rogers changed a single line of a song he’d written for him then asked for a 50% cut—which inspired Marx to write one of his biggest hits. He tells the uncanny story of how he wound up curled up on the couch of Olivia Newton-John, his childhood crush, watching Xanadu. He shares the tribulations of working with the all-female hair metal band Vixen and appearing in their video. Yet amid these entertaining celebrity encounters, Marx offers a more sobering assessment of the music business as he’s experienced it over four decades—the challenges of navigating greedy executives and grueling tour schedules, and the rewards of connecting with thousands of fans at sold-out shows that make all the drama worthwhile. He also provides an illuminating look at his songwriting process and talks honestly about how his personal life has inspired his work, including finding love with wife Daisy Fuentes and the mystery illness that recently struck him—and that doctors haven’t been able to solve. Stories to Tell is a remarkably candid, wildly entertaining memoir about the art and business of music.

The Official Chuck Norris Fact Book

The Official Chuck Norris Fact Book
Author: Chuck Norris
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Total Pages: 314
Release: 2009
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1414334494

For the first time, Norris gives readers not only his favorite "facts about himself, but also the stories behind the facts and the code by which he lives his life.

Little House on the Prairie

Little House on the Prairie
Author: Laura Ingalls Wilder
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 357
Release: 2016-03-08
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0062094882

The third book in Laura Ingalls Wilder's treasured Little House series—now available as an ebook! This digital version features Garth Williams's classic illustrations, which appear in vibrant full color on a full-color device and in rich black-and-white on all other devices. The adventures continue for Laura Ingalls and her family as they leave their little house in the Big Woods of Wisconsin and set out for the big skies of the Kansas Territory. They travel for many days in their covered wagon until they find the best spot to build their house. Soon they are planting and plowing, hunting wild ducks and turkeys, and gathering grass for their cows. Just when they begin to feel settled, they are caught in the middle of a dangerous conflict. The nine Little House books are inspired by Laura's own childhood and have been cherished by generations of readers as both a unique glimpse into America's frontier history and as heartwarming, unforgettable stories.

War Stories

War Stories
Author: Gordon Korman
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2020-07-21
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1338290215

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Restart, a story of telling truth from lies -- and finding out what being a hero really means. There are two things Trevor loves more than anything else: playing war-based video games and his great-grandfather Jacob, who is a true-blue, bona fide war hero. At the height of the war, Jacob helped liberate a small French village, and was given a hero's welcome upon his return to America.Now it's decades later, and Jacob wants to retrace the steps he took during the war -- from training to invasion to the village he is said to have saved. Trevor thinks this is the coolest idea ever. But as they get to the village, Trevor discovers there's more to the story than what he's heard his whole life, causing him to wonder about his great-grandfather's heroism, the truth about the battle he fought, and importance of genuine valor.

The Magic

The Magic
Author: Rhonda Byrne
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 271
Release: 2012-03-06
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 0731815599

One word changes everything... For more than twenty centuries, words within a sacred text have mystified, confused, and been misunderstood by almost all who read them. Only a very few people through history have realised that the words are a riddle, and that once you solve the riddle—once you uncover the mystery—a new world will appear before your eyes. In The Magic, Rhonda Byrne reveals this life-changing knowledge to the world. Then, on an incredible 28-day journey, she teaches you how to apply this knowledge in your everyday life. No matter who you are, no matter where you are, no matter what your current circumstances, The Magic is going to change your entire life!

The Official Lloyd Llewellyn Collection

The Official Lloyd Llewellyn Collection
Author: Daniel Clowes
Publisher:
Total Pages: 104
Release: 1989
Genre: Comics & Graphic Novels
ISBN:

Lloyd's adventures swing and bop like a tiki orgy hosted by little green hipsters from outer space. 'With untrendy straight lines, Zip-a-tone shades, and sketchy backgrounds, Clowes's LLLL art recalls '50s advertising illos, or architectural drafts seen through a mild hallucinogenic scrim.'- The Village Voice