Best Selling Books by M. Christian

The orders and decorations of Old Austria are a fascinating field of study and research to this day, not only reflecting the continuity and turning points of the Habsburg Monarchy from the mid-18th century to the end of 1918, but also directly linked with the Medieval secular and chivalric orders and their extremely ideological and spiritual character, particularly through the Order of the Golden Fleece. The orders founded in the 18th and 19th centuries later also took into account a recipient?s achievements but they still largely retained the nature of fellowships, loyal to their sovereign and ruler. Although these ?orders? were originally intended only for certain social and professional groups, throughout the 19th century the system of awards was increasingly expanded, with decorations commemorating various historical events or personages and later honouring general merit, military achievement or long service. This resulted in a system that was not only comprehensive but complex and had its own peculiar characteristics, distinct from those of other nations.0There were for example privileges and monetary gratuities as well as ennoblement attached to some awards, a recipient?s social background was taken into account and there was a strict hierarchy amongst the orders and decorations themselves.0.

In this paper I address how the ideology of Costa Rican exceptionalism and whiteness has maintained racial inequality with the growth of global tourism. Whereas scholars of whiteness in Latin America typically ignore how the ideology has supported racial inequality in structural forms, I explore how discursive racial discourses influence how structural inequality practices in the tourism industry take form. I examine the narratives and symbols from public and private Costa Rican tourism actors who use Costa Rica''s racial ideology of exceptionalism and whiteness to position the nation''s cultural wealth. Two narratives to define Costa Rica are promoted: (1) environmental uniqueness; and (2) rural democracy traditions. These narratives support white inclusionary and black exclusionary practices in tourism economic activity. Because Costa Rica is perceived as ''white'' and represents a ''white habitus'', it distinguishes itself as a ''democratic'' and ''safe'' place to visit, while negatively racialized Afro-Costa Rican locations in the southern Atlantic coast are framed as ''dangerous'' or ''different'' and non-representative of the exceptional characteristics.

We show that extremely poor, war-affected women in northern Uganda have high returns to a package of $150 cash, five days of business skills training, and ongoing supervision. 16 months after grants, participants doubled their microenterprise ownership and incomes, mainly from petty trading. We also show these ultrapoor have too little social capital, but that group bonds, informal insurance, and cooperative activities could be induced and had positive returns. When the control group received cash and training 20 months later, we varied supervision, which represented half of the program costs. A year later, supervision increased business survival but not consumption.

The capacity to mentally transcend the present moment affords the opportunity to relive former pleasures or preview the perils of things to come. According to the theory of embodied cognition, these imaginary events are made possible by the reactivation of the modality-specific sensory-motor components that accompany interaction with the environment (Barsalou, 1999, 2008; Wilson, 2002). But what happens when our mental simulations deviate from veridical experience? Guided by the observation that imagining the self from an outside point-of-view is a regular occurrence in the mental world (Nigro & Neisser, 1983), this thesis explored the sensory-motor activities that accompany first- and third-person imagery. As first-person (cf. third-person) simulations are closer in character to actual experience, it was anticipated that events imagined from this point-of-view would be accompanied by more pronounced embodied effects than those imagined from a third-person perspective.

The main purpose of this study was to develop a better understanding of the construct of playfulness in school aged children by examining associations between playfulness and adaptive behaviors, humor, and temperament. A secondary aim of this study was to explore the predictive role of early pretend play ability on current playfulness. It was hypothesized that playfulness would positively relate to the capacity to problem solve, regulate affect, and effectively communicate emotions. In addition, playfulness was expected to positively relate to humor and adaptive temperament styles. Pretend play processes were expected to predict playfulness four years later. Forty three children in fourth through sixth grades were administered validated measures of coping, emotion regulation, emotion expression, sense of humor, and temperament. Playfulness was assessed using both parent and teacher report forms of the Child Behaviors Inventory of Playfulness (CBI; Rogers, et al., 1998). Pretend play was assessed with the Affect in Play Scale (APS; Russ, 2004) four and five years prior to data collection. As hypothesized parent reported playfulness significantly related to active coping, emotion regulation, a willingness to express emotions, and the affiliation category of temperament. Inconsistent with hypotheses, teachers'' perceptions of playfulness related to low use of coping strategies and were not associated with adaptive behaviors. The CBI teacher report form was not considered an adequate measure of playfulness for school aged children. It remains unclear how the construct of playfulness relates to early pretend play abilities. As expected, imagination and organization in early pretend play predicted current emotion regulation abilities. The best predictors of parent reported playfulness were affiliation and verbal intelligence. For teachers, the best predictors of playfulness were grade level and lack of using avoidant coping strategies. Parent and teacher ratings of playfulness were not related to one another. Teachers were not adequate reporters of playfulness among school aged children. Results support early pretend play as a predictor of later emotion regulation abilities and variables of humor. Recommendations are made to develop a self-report measure of playfulness for school aged children.

For all that we know about Sherlock Holmes there is much that is a complete and total mystery about him - and, as he would say himself, a that is a puzzle that should be addressed. Is it any wonder that so many of us have scratched our much-smaller craniums and pondered his relationships, trying to use his own maxim of "when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth" to peer down deep into those mysteries? This timely collection focuses on his unmentioned private life. In short, the great detective''s amorous inclinations, the part of life Victorians were so silent on, but so profligate in its practice. And the authors don''t stop there - you will also find stories about the sexual side of other key characters who make up the canon: Irene Adler, Mrs. Hudson, Dr. Watson, and even that most infamous of villains, Professor Moriarty. Included are many of today''s most popular authors including Michael Kurland (American Book Award and the Edgar Award finalist), Angela Caperton (Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica), M. Christian (Lambda Award finalist), and such other distinguished practitioners of the short story and novelette as Cesar Sanchez Zapata, Kate Lear, Wade Heaton, Dorla Moorehouse, Ivo Benengeli, Billierosie, Zachary Jean, PM White, Violet Vernet. As Holmes himself said: "The game is afoot. Not a word! Into your clothes and come!"