The Mission, the Men, and Me

The Mission, the Men, and Me: Lessons from a Former Delta Force Commander Paperback – September 7, 2010
Author: Visit ‘s Pete Blaber Page ID: 0425236579

Review

”His thesis is that there aren’t that many different situations in life, and there aren’t that many different ways of dealing with them — have a few, simple principles, and, when in doubt, refer to them. He’’s a stoic with a sense of humor, and I very much enjoyed his book.” –David Mamet, Pulitzer Prize-winning American playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and film director.

”A book about the complexities of combat that’s just as applicable for dealing with the complexities of business and our personal lives.” –Kevin Sharer, chairman and CEO, Amgen

–This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

About the Author

PETE BLABER commanded at every level of Delta Force, executing vital missions across the globe including destroying the largest pocket of Al Qaeda forces to date, and helping to hasten the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq. He lives in Santa Monica, California.

–This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Paperback: 336 pagesPublisher: Berkley; Reprint edition (September 7, 2010)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0425236579ISBN-13: 978-0425236574 Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies) Best Sellers Rank: #17,671 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #16 in Books > History > Military > Iraq War #18 in Books > History > Military > United States > Veterans #40 in Books > History > Military > Intelligence & Espionage
When the dust has finally settled from our involvement in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, one of the engagements that I believe will occupy the time of many prognosticators for generations to come will be "Operation Anaconda" that took place in the Shahi Khot Valley of Afghanistan in the winter of 2002.

Several fine books have already been written describing what happened during those fateful hours in the frigid February and March air high in the mountains near the Pakistan border. Sean Naylor gives a gripping account of his part of the story in "Not a Good Day to Die." (See below for the link to my review from February, 2007.)

Nate Self’s recent book, "Two Wars" (to be reviewed here soon) adds another important perspective on what happened in Afghanistan and beyond.

Pete Blaber, the Delta Force commander who was in charge of the AFO (Advanced Force Operations) involved in Operation Anaconda, has written a compelling book that is a welcome addition to the ongoing dialogue about what we can all learn from the events of those days. Adding valuable insight into this engagement, Blaber’s book also takes a broad look at lessons he has learned along the way that are practical and applicable not just to military operations but to any situations that presents leadership challenges.

The title of the book, "Mission, the Men, and Me – Lessons from a Former Delta Force Commander ," refers to the three priorities and three questions that Blaber set for himself in making decisions in the heat of battle: "What is best for the Mission; what is best for my men; what is best for me?" Any leader would be well served to adapt these priorities at decisive moments in responding to challenges and opportunities.
This excellent book is really about how to thrive out on the edge of a high-risk, high-profile career. It’s not a book for armchair experts or backseat drivers of whatever stripe, because one of Blaber’s key teachings is how to circumvent the kibbutzers and second-guessers in positions of authority, ignore their distractions and overcome their interference, and accomplish the mission.

In fact, while it’s a great title, the equation of the "mission", his "men" and himself "me" gives the misleading impression that Blaber may be a bit of a prima donna. In fact, the "Mission, Men and Me" framework is applied whenever Blaber is being pressured by a senior commander to take an action that Blaber is convinced will result in damage to the mission or needless harm to his men. When forced into these dilemmas, if the only consideration is his personal or career interests, than Blaber always puts "Me" at risk to assure the best outcome for the Mission and his Men.

The realism of the book can be conveyed by observing that Blaber needs to apply the Mission, Men and Me framework fairly frequently!

The book, which is officially divided into Parts One – Four, is thematically structured into three sections:

(1) The first section is a series of very helpful lessons and mental frameworks for handling intense, stressful and complex situations. Blaber has benefited from the kind of resources the US Government can afford to pour into its best and brightest, and an unbelievable amount of cutting edge cognitive, psychological, sociological, and other areas of research have been reduced to practical learnings and made available to the operators of Delta Force, and Blaber makes them available to readers of this book.
Download The Mission, the Men, and Me: Lessons from a Former Delta Force Commander – September 7, 2010 PDF Free Download

JoharHarsaya326

Maus

Maus: A Survivor’s Tale Paperback – October 1, 2003
Author: Art Spiegelman ID: 0141014083

About the Author

Art Spiegelman is a contributing editor and artist for the New Yorker. His drawings and prints have been exhibited in museums and galleries around the world. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Maus, and a Guggenheim fellowship. It was also nominated for the National Book Critics Award. He lives in New York.

Paperback: 296 pagesPublisher: Penguin Books, Limited (UK); unknown edition (October 1, 2003)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0141014083ISBN-13: 978-0141014081 Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Best Sellers Rank: #4,531 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #2 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Graphic Novels > Historical & Biographical Fiction #19 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Military > World War II #23 in Books > History > World > Jewish > Holocaust
I haven’t read many graphic novels, but I am decently well-read otherwise, and my knowledge of the Holocaust would be above the average person’s, but not phenomenal. Given that background, and all that I had read about Maus, I was expecting a "tour de force" that would make at least a minor dent on my reading career. That, unfortunately, was not to be, and while I finished the book feeling that the time spent on it was definitely well spent, the book is already fading in my memory.

Maus tells the tale of an artist who decides to write a comic book based on his Father’s recount of the Holocaust, which, in fact, is what the author is doing based on his own Father’s experiences. The book spans about 4 decades from the mid-thirties to the seventies, covering the pre-WWII period to the time when the author is actually exploring the past with his Father and writing this book. There are two stories intertwined marvelously in this book: a first-hand survivor’s experience of life before, during, and after the Holocaust, and that of a relationship between an ageing Father and young-to-middle aged son who have a serious disconnect.

The two stories could actually have been written independently, but it is their excellent juxtaposition which is one of the clear highlights of the book, for it has a multiplier affect on the poignancy of both the Father’s and the Son’s situations. Each of the stories themselves is well crafted, managing to weave together a bunch of incidents across points in time to create a very smoothly flowing narrative.
Imaginative…shocking…brilliant. As the title so cleverly suggests, I could go on for days raving about this book. Having clearly thrown my objectivity out the window, let me tell you why Art Speigelman’s Maus is the best thing to happen to comix since sliced bread.

Although Maus is written in comic strip format, Spiegelman does everything he can to subvert our assumptions about the medium. There are few, if any, character `thought bubbles;’ there is little emphasis on humour and witty exchanges. This is a serious book about a serious subject: the holocaust. As Spiegelman himself notes in the book (I am paraphrIDg here), "how can a comic strip, a medium historically dismissed as nothing more than `the funnies,’ capture the horror and pathos of the attempted extermination of an entire race of people?" The great achievement of the book is that not only does it meet this lofty challenge, I honestly can’t think of another medium that could have better captured the spirit of those times. Spiegelman’s skilful use of illustration adds a layer of irony to the story, and demonstrates the pathos that underscored the rise of Nazi Germany. Particularly interesting is that people of differing backgrounds appear as animals. There is the obvious binary where Germans are depicted as cats and Jews as mice (the text quotes a disturbing German Nazi-era editorial equating Jews with the flea-ridden mouse). Among others, Poles appear as pigs, the French as frogs (problematic, to say the least, although Spiegelman tries to justify this by pointing out instances of French hostility towards Jews), and Americans as dogs. The reasons why certain animals symbolize certain countries or ethnicities is not explained, neither whether ethnicity and nationhood are essentially the same construct.
I’m Jewish–and 72 years old–but my families have been here for several generations, so I didn’t have to experience any of it, except from a great distance (and as a 5 to 10 year old). I only recently became aware that some Jews will not read any book, or see and film, relating to the Holocaust,–because they can’t stand to.

O.K. Maybe Maus isn’t the best place to start. But for those of us who are curious as to how it really was, without any sugar coating, and without having our noses rubbed in it, it is very good. We do not have to SMELL or TASTE the camps; we do not have to see rotting corpses, mice do not have very expressive faces. It is the story of a survivor–through no fault, he stresses, of his own!–told in American speech, frequently organized in Yiddish word order, frequently punctuated by Spiegelman’s own speech, and that of his wife. We learn, from a very personal story, of everything that happened to Art’s father, without having to be afraid of turning the page. It is very honest. He does indeed "bleed history." And sometimes the blood is funny as well.

There is never any question of "Well, why didn’t they get out, while they could?" You do what your country tells you to do, and by the time you realize you are a prisoner of war (Art’s father was briefly in the Polish army), and that this involves being treated like a non-human, it’s too late.

Vladek is very good at "organizing" things–eggs, chocolate, seeing his wife, finding hiding places–but had he once been caught by the wrong people, at the wrong time, with thre wrong things in his hands or speaking to the wrong people about the wrong things, there would be no Art Spiegelman.
Download File The Penguin Book of Lesbian Short Oct 30 2012 a href http blm bz 3yC Download File a The Penguin Book of Lesbian Short Pt 500 1199 Revised as of October 1 2007 Lifestyles Paperback

Download Maus: A Survivor’s Tale – October 1, 2003 PDF Free Download

JoharHarsaya326

Paper Towns – October 16, 2008 PDF

Paper Towns Hardcover – October 16, 2008
Author: Visit ‘s John Green Page ID: 0525478183

From Publishers Weekly

Green melds elements from his Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines— the impossibly sophisticated but unattainable girl, and a life-altering road trip—for another teen-pleIDg read. Weeks before graduating from their Orlando-area high school, Quentin Jacobsen’s childhood best friend, Margo, reappears in his life, specifically at his window, commanding him to take her on an all-night, score-settling spree. Quentin has loved Margo from not so afar (she lives next door), years after she ditched him for a cooler crowd. Just as suddenly, she disappears again, and the plot’s considerable tension derives from Quentin’s mission to find out if she’s run away or committed suicide. Margo’s parents, inured to her extreme behavior, wash their hands, but Quentin thinks she’s left him a clue in a highlighted volume of Leaves of Grass. Q’s sidekick, Radar, editor of a Wikipedia-like Web site, provides the most intelligent thinking and fuels many hilarious exchanges with Q. The title, which refers to unbuilt subdivisions and copyright trap towns that appear on maps but don’t exist, unintentionally underscores the novel’s weakness: both milquetoast Q and self-absorbed Margo are types, not fully dimensional characters. Readers who can get past that will enjoy the edgy journey and off-road thinking. Ages 12–up. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 9 Up—Quentin Jacobsen, 17, has been in love with his next-door neighbor, Margo Roth Spiegelman, for his entire life. A leader at their Central Florida high school, she has carefully cultivated her badass image. Quentin is one of the smart kids. His parents are therapists and he is, above all things, “goddamned well adjusted.” He takes a rare risk when Margo appears at his window in the middle of the night. They drive around righting wrongs via her brilliant, elaborate pranks. Then she runs away (again). He slowly uncovers the depth of her unhappiness and the vast differences between the real and imagined Margo. Florida’s heat and homogeneity as depicted here are vivid and awful. Green’s prose is astounding—from hilarious, hyperintellectual trash talk and shtick, to complex philosophizing, to devastating observation and truths. He nails it—exactly how a thing feels, looks, affects—page after page. The mystery of Margo—her disappearance and her personhood—is fascinating, cleverly constructed, and profoundly moving. Green builds tension through both the twists of the active plot and the gravitas of the subject. He skirts the stock coming-of-age character arc—Quentin’s eventual bravery is not the revelation. Instead, the teen thinks deeper and harder—about the beautiful and terrifying ways we can and cannot know those we love. Less-sophisticated readers may get lost in Quentin’s copious transcendental ruminations—give Paper Towns to your sharpest teens.—Johanna Lewis, New York Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Hardcover: 305 pagesPublisher: Dutton Books; 1st edition (October 16, 2008)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0525478183ISBN-13: 978-0525478188 Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1 x 8.5 inches Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Best Sellers Rank: #23,553 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #8 in Books > Teens > Literature & Fiction > Social & Family Issues > Runaways #62 in Books > Teens > Mysteries & Thrillers > Romantic #128 in Books > Teens > Literature & Fiction > Social & Family Issues > Friendship
To everyone who surrounds Margo Roth Spiegelman, she is an adventurous, unconventional, and intelligent person and a highly admired someone that everyone puts on a pedestal. So when Margo sneaks into Quentin Jacobsen’s room one glorious night and involves him in her crazy exploits, he can’t help but feel as if a new page has been turned, and just maybe he can be a part of the marvelous Margo’s life.

But the next morning all of Quentin’s hopes are dashed with Margo’s disappearance. Her parents and the police think this is just another one of her stunts, but Q’s not so sure. Because Margo has left him a string of clues, one right after another, which just might lead him to her. But the thing is, he’s not sure what he’ll find.

John Green brings readers another surprising, witty, and fully honest book in Paper Towns. His writing is captivating from the very beginning as multitudes of details, no mater how large of small, flow seamlessly together. Green has a knack for highlighting the little distinguishing factors that make us human, making for more believable characters and completely enthralling book.

The mystery in Paper Towns is clever, and will leave readers scratching their heads as Q and his friends struggle to piece together the clues with some frustration and tons of humor. But the teens are just as quick to get serious as they contemplate what has actually happened to Margo and as Quentin especially comes to see her in a completely different light with a little help from the poetry of Walt Whitman.

Though Paper Towns did slow down a little bit in the middle of the book as Quentin hits a brick wall in his search, this novel is suspenseful, hilarious, and quirky, and especially appealing to the well read teen.
I know this is a YA book, but as a reader who is twice as old as Quentin (okay I lie- I’m about six years older even than that!), I thought it was one of my best reads in a long while. Having been a band nerd and heavily involved in speech and drama, I most definitely had close friends who were Quentins, Bens, or Radars, and I can think of more than one Margo in my high school (and each of them was about ten tiers higher in the caste system than I, so I cannot say we were close friends).

This past week I went to a conference in Phoenix and got stuck in the Albuquerque airport for a couple of hours on my way there. I saw Paper Towns most unattainably sitting on the top shelf out of arms reach in the airport bookstore. Thankfully a kind, tall stranger retrieved it for me, and I am so glad he did, because getting to know Quentin a little better at the end of each conference day was more fun than the alternative activity- which would have been getting buzzed in the fancy hotel bar paying $10 per drink.

On my return flight I was sitting next to a guy who made this repulsive sound every two to three minutes that made me think he was trying to suck his sinuses down his throat (I can only assure you that reading about this sound is much less nauseating than listening to it). When I had about twenty pages left, I decided the finale was too special to read in an environment of a full flight on a Sunday evening sitting next to Phlegm-Man, so I saved it until I got home. No spoilers, but I like how John Green wrapped it up; although I was swimming in metaphors (mainly about grass and cracks– not what you’re thinking).
"Paper Towns" was written by a smart, smart man. I’ve heard about John Green before, but this is the first time I’ve read one of his novels, and I can hardly articulate how impressed I am. He writes flawed, nuanced characters that spout off highly quotable dialogue. In short, this is a book you quite simply need to buy. To elaborate a bit…

The book is divided into three sections. In the first, Margo Roth Spiegelman takes Quentin, our protagonist (who, sidebar, is in love with her) on a crazy, ‘spontaneous’ journey that changes his life forever. In the second part, Quentin tries to make sense of the events that follow that glorious night. In the third and final part, he goes on a road trip with his friends in order to meet up with Margo. All of this seems rather simple, but it’s packed so tight with bittersweet poignancy, insight, and intelligence that you can hardly believe the book is only three-hundred pages long. And really, when a book can incorporate Walt Whitman’s "Song of Myself" as well as this one did, and offer more insight into Whitman’s words than any literary criticism possibly could… what more could you ask for?

The book is just overflowing with ideas, literary references, deep understanding of the way senior year in high school feels, and–most importantly–insight into the way people perceive things. What I love most about Green’s writing is that he never has the characters settle on these big, life-changing revelations. When Quentin discovers something vital about understanding life, his finds are often refuted by a new realization, that is later refuted itself. It’s a very "in the moment" novel, written about a boy in love with a very "in the moment" girl.
Make a Refundable deposite Express HelpLine Your personal information and card details are 100 secure About Us Recent Question User Login Security Privacy Policy Question list Terms of Service Wikipedia Featured article candidates Featured Probably don t need to list Hardcover in the references 16 24 March 2008 published a paper on the topic after receiving a photo and a skin from the Miss Peregrine s Home for Peculiar Children Ransom eerie detail it s no wonder Miss Peregrine s Home for Peculiar Children has been snapped up by of Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns Hardcover Miss Peregrine s Home For Peculiar Children Ransom Review Miss Peregrine s Home For Peculiar Children is a wonderfully original and inventive book with colorful characters a mysterious tale woven together with

Download Paper Towns – October 16, 2008 PDF

JoharHarsaya326

A Guide to Improvised Weaponry: How to Protect Yourself with WHATEVER You’ve Got Kindle Edition

A Guide to Improvised Weaponry: How to Protect Yourself with WHATEVER You’ve Got Kindle Edition
Author: Visit ‘s Terry Schappert Page ID: B00UY0FB8C

Done.
File Size: 1340 KBPrint Length: 208 pagesPublisher: Adams Media (March 6, 2015)Publication Date: March 6, 2015 Sold by:  Digital Services, Inc. Language: EnglishID: B00UY0FB8CText-to-Speech: Enabled X-Ray: Not Enabled Word Wise: Not EnabledLending: Not Enabled Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled Best Sellers Rank: #33,055 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store) #3 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Sports > Extreme Sports #6 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Safety & First Aid #10 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Exercise & Fitness > Martial Arts

I was expecting a book on how to make weapons that are actually useful. The book tells you a scenario and what you can do with the suggested weapon. The one for the book of matches is hilarious. "Try the single match technique, lighting and throwing one match a time. Maybe you’ll get lucky and burn one of your attackers eyes or, if your really lucky, the match match will ignite your phones clothing" imagine you are the mugger and a guy pulls out some matches and repeatedly lights them and tosses them on you. This book is just a common sense guide or suggests things so stupid that it will just get you laughed at then killed.

After reading a few entries, I had to make sure this wasn’t written by Dave Barry. Remove the bristles from your toothbrush and blow them in the assailant’s eyes, blinding him? Got a rubber band? Shoot him in the eye with it. Wet the end of a towel, twist the end and pop it at his eye.
I think the outrageous outnumbers the practical.

repetitive, could have been 10 pages.

A Guide to Improvised Weaponry How to Protect Yourself A Guide to Improvised Weaponry How to Protect Yourself with WHATEVER You ve Got Kindle EditionA Guide To Improvised Weaponry How to Protect Yourself How to Protect Yourself with WHATEVER You ve Got Start reading A Guide to Improvised Weaponry on your Kindle in under a minute Kindle Edition Verified A Guide to Improvised Weaponry How to Protect Yourself A Guide to Improvised Weaponry How to Protect Yourself with WHATEVER You ve Got eBook Terry Schappert Adam Slutsky Amazon co uk Kindle StoreA Guide to Improvised Weaponry How to Protect Yourself Buy A Guide to Improvised Weaponry How to Protect Yourself with WHATEVER You ve Got by Master Sergeant Terry Schappert US Army Special Forces Kindle Edition

Download A Guide to Improvised Weaponry: How to Protect Yourself with WHATEVER You’ve Got Kindle Edition PDF

JoharHarsaya326

Anxiety and Worry Workbook Kindle Edition PDF Free Download

Anxiety and Worry Workbook [Print Replica] Kindle Edition
Author: Visit ‘s David A. Clark Page ID: B00FOT65TC

Done.
File Size: 9771 KBPrint Length: 294 pagesPublisher: The Guilford Press; 1 edition (November 15, 2011)Publication Date: November 15, 2011 Sold by:  Digital Services, Inc. Language: EnglishID: B00FOT65TCText-to-Speech: Not enabled X-Ray: Not Enabled Word Wise: Not EnabledLending: Not Enabled Enhanced Typesetting: Not Enabled Best Sellers Rank: #162,358 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store) #23 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Counseling & Psychology > Pathologies > Anxieties & Phobias #89 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Social Work #100 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Counseling & Psychology > Mental Health > Mood Disorders
This is an important book, for obvious reasons. It’s the first self-help book on anxiety by Aaron T. Beck, the founder of cognitive therapy. It’s published hot on the heels of Beck’s 2010 revised treatment manual for cognitive therapy of anxiety disorders, also co-authored with David Clark. Beck’s original treatment manual for anxiety was published in 1985 and revised in 2005 but this is a major revision of his approach. He has now provided an extremely comprehensive account of the scientific evidence for cognitive therapy and a more carefully defined and up-to-date set of guidelines for clinicians. This self-help workbook is basically the companion text for that clinical manual, presenting the same approach in a version designed for the general public to use by themselves or as homework when seeing a cognitive therapist using the same approach.

It’s not as much of of a light-read as some popular self-help books. It’s a workbook in the true sense, with a thorough and systematic chapter-by-chapter approach, including many forms to complete and regular exercises to engage in, perhaps requiring half an hour of work per day for several months. This, in other words, is a serious evidence-based guide to addressing anxiety directly and it will require commitment from the reader.

The book begins with a generic approach to anxiety, which can be used for subclinical problems and many mild-moderate issues. The later chapters focus on three special categories of anxiety: panic attacks, social anxiety and chronic worry. These problems are experienced by many people but the chapters will, of course, be particularly relevant to people who suffer from panic disorder, social phobia, or generalised anxiety disorder (sometimes called the "worry" disorder).
Download Anxiety and Worry Workbook Kindle Edition PDF Free Download

JoharHarsaya326

Emotional Blackmail PDF

Emotional Blackmail: When the People in Your Life Use Fear, Obligation and Guilt to Manipulate You Hardcover – May, 1997
Author: Visit ‘s Susan Forward Page ID: 0060187573

From Library Journal

Forward, who gave us the best-selling The Men Who Hate Women, and the Women Who Love Them, offers a course on self-defense for anyone manipulated by guilt.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“Breathe a sigh of relief! Susan Forward helps you identify and correct an intensely destructive and confusing pattern of relating with those you love. I highly recommend this important book!” — Susan Jeffers, Ph.D., author of Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway

See all Editorial Reviews

Hardcover: 272 pagesPublisher: Harpercollins; 1st edition (May 1997)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0060187573ISBN-13: 978-0060187576 Product Dimensions: 1 x 6.8 x 9.8 inches Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds Best Sellers Rank: #177,735 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #1298 in Books > Self-Help > Relationships > Interpersonal Relations #8078 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Psychology & Counseling

This book does a very clear job of defining emotional blackmail so you can begin to easily spot emotional blackmailers in your life. It then concludes with telling you specifically how to deal with emotional blackmail, that is, how to keep your energy, resources, and sometimes your very soul, from being stolen by them.
Something that was particularly important for me personally in the book was the part at the end where she talks about not emotionally blackmailing *yourself*! What an insight! I realized that even when rigid, controlling people are not around to inspire guilt, fear and shame in me to get me to do things that are hurtful to me for their selfish benefit, I have a "voice" in my head that does the job for them, telling me that whatever I do that doesn’t fit the world view of past and present blackmailers is "wrong," "selfish," or even "evil." So I beat myself up on behalf of my blackmailers even when they are not around to do it.
I also was impressed by the insight that not only does it "take two to tango," that no one can blackmail me if I don’t let them, but that it is also possible for me to actually "train" people to blackmail me. This is particularly, true, I think, for those of us raised in rigid, controlling homes with emotionally blackmailing parents. Thereafter, we are, so to speak, fertile ground for any future emotional blackmailers.
I had rather been realizing these sorts of things the past few years now that I’m in my 40s (the middle years when we suddenly reevaluate our whole life), and gradually eliminating emotional blackmailers from my life, without exactly using that term. (The term I used was ridding myself of people whose presence felt like "being nibbled to death by ducks.") This book has validated my innate human "right" to not be eaten alive by the selfish demands of others.
Kudos to Ms. Forward!

I have done a pretty thorough reading of books dealing with control, cults, emotional abuse, etc. I feel like I could write a thesis on this stuff by now. This was the best all around. I am a third party observing a loved one in a controlling relationship. There isn’t a book out there that really addresses my situation, but I have gleaned wisdom from many. What I love about this book is that it gives very concrete strategies for dealing with controlling people. The strategies are very well laid out, lots of examples of phrases that neutralize the offender. As a therapist, she also addresses the discomfort many of us would likely encounter when trying to put these strategies into practice. In addition to the concrete information on strategies, she describes why it might be hard to recognize that you are in an unhealthy controlling situation and how to know for sure. She helps clarify the personal damage victims of control sustain. I have become much more aware of people in my life that may be using unhealthy methods of control and have used the advice to stop, think and strategize to help me. It even helped me become a little wiser to ploys of friends of my kids. This book shows us how to resolve unhealthy control without necessarily having to end the relationship. With these techniques everyone might just come out a winner.

We are not victims of manipulation. We allow manipulation to happen to us and with careful observation we can neutralize it. This is what Susan Forward believes. I don’t know if I agree because I haven’t yet had a chance to practice her techniques in earnest, but I needed to comment on the content itself of the book, "Emotional Blackmail".
It is impossible for an author to address every specific detail of every reader’s personal situation. But this is as close as you can get. Forward gives stories and testimonials of people she has worked with who have used her techniques with success. Unlike other authors that do this, however, Forward does not simply apply the techniques to those situations and expect that you’ll be able to apply it to a scenario of your own. She separates the stories from the guidelines. She provides some fantastic exercises for further clarity of the techniques she describes.
One of the techniques I especially enjoyed reading about was "buying your time". Don’t respond immediately to your blackmailer. Give them time to "stew". In other words, try to avoid snap decisions when dealing with blackmailers. She groups manipulators into different categories. "Tantalizers" are the group I deal with most often. They are the ones who get you to do what they want by making it appear there is something incredible in it for you. This may sometimes be the case, but it’s important to realize that your needs are not the manipulator’s true motivation. Forward explains and clarifies this beautifully.
This is a very well-written book and I recommend it highly.
Download Emotional Blackmail: When the People in Your Life Use Fear, Obligation and Guilt to Manipulate You – May, 1997 PDF

JoharHarsaya326

World of Warcraft: Rise of the Horde Reprint Edition PDF

World of Warcraft: Rise of the Horde (No. 4) Reprint Edition
Author: Visit ‘s Christie Golden Page ID: 0743471385

About the Author

New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Christie Golden has written more than forty novels and several short stories in the fields of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Among her many projects are over a dozen Star Trek novels and several original fantasy novels. An avid player of World of Warcraft, she has written two manga short stories and several novels in that world. Golden lives in Tennessee. She welcomes visitors to her website: ChristieGolden.com.

Series: WORLD OF WARCRAFTMass Market Paperback: 368 pagesPublisher: Pocket Star; Reprint edition (December 26, 2006)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0743471385ISBN-13: 978-0743471381 Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 6.8 inches Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies) Best Sellers Rank: #38,322 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #95 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Gaming #140 in Books > Computers & Technology > Games & Strategy Guides #367 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > Literature
World of Warcraft: Rise of the Horde, by Christie Golden

"Rise of the Horde" is what a Warcraft book should be. The book is enjoyable, the plot is pretty solid, and the characters are spot on. In the author biography, Golden states that she is a World of Warcraft player and it shows – there are little things thrown in that any Warcraft player will appreciate.

Each chapter starts with a brief introduction from Thrall, the current chief of the new Horde. He is writing the history of the old Horde, the Horde that destroyed their own world and invaded Azeroth, the Horde that perpetuated genocide on the draenei and slaughtered the humans.

The story of the orcs starts with a noble race, living peacefully on Draenor. The orcs have coexisted with the draenei for hundreds of years, ever since the draenei arrived on Draenor fleeing from their ancient enemies. While the orcs take pleasure in hunting animals and bloodlust, they are not killers and have a culture, family groups, a belief system. But all that changes when the Burning Legion turns a key orc to their side, and he leads the orcs on a terrifying descent into madness. Only one clan stands apart, the Frostwolves; their leader Durotan watches helplessly as the orcs are corrupted by demons.

Golden depicts this tale with plenty of emotion; I felt for Durotan’s situation. How many of us have watched someone do something we know is wrong, but we can’t change their minds? Most of us have, I’m sure. "The Rise of the Horde" details just that, the rise of the horde that descended upon Azeroth, intent on taking the world for their own. The story is known, especially if one is a Warcraft player; but Golden fleshes out the story very nicely.
Out of every Warcraft book this is the place to start. It takes before Warcraft 1, 2, 3, WoW, etc. This looks like it will help explain the history of the new WoW expansion War Lords of Draenor a bit. If you’re looking for the proper order to read the Warcraft books I suggest the following:

Rise of the Horde (book) – Covers approx. a 10 year period prior to WC I.

The Last Guardian (book) – Touches on the closing days of the First War with bookends set prior to WC III.

Tides of Darkness (book) – Covers WC II in continuity.

Beyond the Dark Portal (book) – Covers WC II expansion in continuity.

Day of the Dragon (book) – Wraps up some dangling threads from WC II with Deathwing and the Red Dragonflight.

Lord of the Clans (book) – Covers a wide swath from just before WC II all the way to prior to WC III. Should be subtitled All You Wanted to Know About Thrall But Were Too Much of An Alliance Lover to Ask. J/k.

Of Blood and Honor (book) – Set just prior to WC III.

Warcraft III Battle Chest (game) – Reign of Chaos covers the origin of the Scourge and the return of the Burning Legion. The Frozen Throne covers the exile of Illidun, the rise of the Forsaken and the crowning of a new Lich King. Founding of Durotar covers the most recent conflict between Horde and humans prior to WoW.

Arthas: Rise of the Lich King (book) – Recaps material from Tides of Darkness all the way up until the end of Frozen Throne with bookends just before the WotLK cinematic.

Ashbringer (comic) – Covers the fallout from Arthas dissolving the Order of the Silver Hand and the rise of Argent Dawn and Crimson Crusade.
Download World of Warcraft: Rise of the Horde Reprint Edition PDF

JoharHarsaya326