New Releases by Scott Smith

Comptable dans un coin reculé de l’Ohio où il a grandi, Hank Mitchell a l’impression d’être passé à côté de sa vie. Son frère, Jacob, erre de bar en bar, en ressassant la perte de la ferme familiale pour cause de dettes. Or, eux à qui la chance, depuis des générations, n’avait jamais souri découvrent, au milieu d’une forêt enneigée, l’épave d’un avion contenant un sac de quatre millions de dollars. Leur plan : attendre un an avant de profiter de l’argent. Ce trépidant polar est le récit d’une spirale infernale où les personnages, comme possédés par ce qu’ils ne possèdent pas encore, se laissent glisser sur la pente du mal. Peut-être que la quête du bonheur mérite bien quelques contorsions avec la morale, mais à quel prix ? Originaire de l’Ohio, Scott Smith connaît ces paysages désolés et fascinants qu’il décrit si bien dans son premier roman paru en 1993. Succès critique et public aux États-Unis, Un plan simple a été traduit dans de nombreux pays et adapté au cinéma par Sam Raimi. Le film Fargo des frères Coen et la série qui en découle lui doivent ses décors et son humour froid.

This combines a philosophy and instruction on goals, habits, planning with an undated 4-month calendar and journal. Calendars and planners have common elements such as the daily agenda and task lists. The Independent Planner has these as well; but how do I know that the items which populate my daily schedule are helping me to advance my goals. This is where we find the most unique feature in the Independent Planner - the daily Goal Tracker.

Methodism in the public and private lives of the politician After more than forty contentious years in the public eye, Hillary Rodham Clinton is one of the best-known political figures in the nation. Yet the strong religious faith at the heart of her politics and personal life often remains confounding, if not mysterious, to longtime observers. Even many of her admirers would be surprised to hear Clinton state that her Methodist outlook has “been a huge part of who I am and how I have seen the world, and what I believe in, and what I have tried to do in my life.” Gary Scott Smith’s biography of Clinton’s journey in faith begins with her Methodist upbringing in Park Ridge, Illinois, where she faithfully attended worship services, Sunday school, and youth group meetings. Like many mainline Protestants, Clinton’s spiritual commitment developed gradually throughout childhood, while her combination of missionary zeal and impressive personal talents has informed her career from the time of her pro bono work at Yale on behalf of children to the present. Her Methodist faith has been very important to many of Clinton’s high-profile endeavors and in helping her cope with the prominent travails brought on by two presidential campaigns, never-ending conservative rancor, and her husband’s infidelity. Smith’s account examines Clinton’s faith in the context of work ranging from her 1990s pursuit of healthcare reform to a “Hillary doctrine” of foreign policy focused on her longtime goal of providing basic human rights for children and women--a project she saw as essential to United States security. The result is an enlightening reconsideration of an extraordinary political figure who has defied private doubts and public controversy to live by John Wesley’s dictum: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”

It''s hard to know what specific opportunities, technologies or challenges the future will bring. If you want to overcome the uncertainties of tomorrow, it''s essential that you build a future culture. The potential for success is limitless for businesses which develop a culture designed for innovating and adapting to the future. Drawing upon decades of experience as futurists and consultants, Scott Smith and Susan Cox-Smith offer proven strategies that will allow you to fundamentally rewire your culture so that it becomes more fluent, agile and prepared to deal with whatever tomorrow will bring. From futureproofing your brand and manifesto to adapting the experience of your workforce, Future Cultures offers practical tools and techniques that will bring your focus out of the past and into the future. Through first-hand interviews and case studies from multinational companies such as IBM and the UN, this book will show how you can join the world''s most innovative businesses by prioritizing tomorrow today.

This book is designed to introduce a theory of ecological psychology into interprofessional health education. The foundations are affordances (features in the environment that afford the opportunity to be recognized and utilized), the life-world (what the meaningful environment contains for the trainee), and behavioral-settings (person-made affordances that are permissive, supportive, or resistive to specific behaviors). Expanding the life-world is the main mechanism of learning in health care. Becoming aware of intentional and unintentional features of the behavioral setting is how we structure the curricular environment to achieve this life-world expansion. The book is structured into four domains: The Natural Domain, The Mental Domain, The Social Domain, and Non-Linearity. The final application section lays out a structure for designing, implementing, and evaluating the educational program in a professional healthcare setting. This book is ideal for clinician managers of interprofessional healthcare clinics, and for the teachers and trainees from each discipline (e.g., medicine, nursing, pharmacy, psychology, social work, etc.).

This book reports the results of an ethnographic study, focusing primarily on the experiences of four teachers of the Chinese language in Australian secondary schools. The author creates an audience for their voices as they reflect on their own understandings of culture, language teaching, and culture in language teaching through semi-structured interviews, and compares these reflections with written stimulus dialogues designed to elicit ''culture-in-language'' reflections, as well as curriculum and policy documents produced by the Australian government. The book''s findings indicate that teachers of the Chinese language are diverse in their views on culture, language teaching, and the ways in which culture can or should inform language teaching, and the author argues that language teacher intercultural competence cannot be assessed through a synthesis of the current English-only research literature. This book will be of interest to teachers and teacher trainers of Chinese as a foreign language, as well as students and scholars of applied linguistics and language education more broadly.

Constructivism dominates over other theories of knowledge in much of western academia, especially the humanities and social sciences. In Exposing the Roots of Constructivism: Nominalism and the Ontology of Knowledge, R. Scott Smith argues that constructivism is linked to the embrace of nominalism, the theory that everything is particular and located in space and time. Indeed, nominalism is sufficient for a view to be constructivist. However, the natural sciences still enjoy great prestige from the “fact-value split.” They are often perceived as giving us knowledge of the facts of reality, and not merely our constructs. In contrast, ethics and religion, which also have been greatly influenced by nominalism, usually are perceived as giving us just our constructs and opinions. Yet, even the natural sciences have embraced nominalism, and Smith shows that this will undermine knowledge in those disciplines as well. Indeed, the author demonstrates that, at best, nominalism leaves us with only interpretations, but at worst, it undermines all knowledge whatsoever. However, there are many clear examples of knowledge we do have in the many different disciplines, and therefore those must be due to a different ontology of properties. Thus, nominalism should be rejected. In its place, the author defends a kind of Platonic realism about properties.

How faith sustained Jackie Robinson—both as an athlete and as an activist. The integration of Major League Baseball in 1947 was a triumph. But it was also a fight. As the first Black major leaguer since the 1880s, Jackie Robinson knew he was not going to be welcomed into America’s pastime with open arms. Anticipating hostility, he promised Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey that he would “turn the other cheek” during his first years in the league, despite his fiercely competitive disposition. Robinson later said that his faith in God had sustained him—giving him the strength he needed to play the game he loved at the highest level without retaliating against the abuse inflicted upon him by opposing players and fans. Faith was a key component of Robinson’s life, but not in the way we see it with many prominent Christian athletes today. Whereas the Tim Tebows and Clayton Kershaws of the sports world emphasize personal spirituality, Robinson found inspiration in the Bible’s teachings on human dignity and social justice. He grew up a devout Methodist (a heritage he shared with Branch Rickey) and identified with the theological convictions and social concerns of many of his fellow mainline Protestants—especially those of the Black church. While he humbly stated that he could not claim to be a deeply religious man, he spoke frequently in African American congregations and described a special affinity he and other Black Christians felt for the biblical character Job, who had also kept faith despite suffering and injustice. In his eulogy for Robinson, Jesse Jackson described Robinson as a “co-partner of God,” who lived out his faith in his civil rights activism, both during and after his baseball career. Robinson’s faith will resonate with many Christians who believe, as he did, that “a person can be quite religious and at the same time militant in the defense of his ideals.” This religious biography of Robinson chronicles the important role of faith in his life, from his childhood to his groundbreaking baseball career through his transformative civil rights work, and, in the process, helps to humanize the man who has become a mythic figure in both sports history and American culture.

Designing Asynchronous Circuits using NULL Convention Logic (NCL) begins with an introduction to asynchronous (clockless) logic in general, and then focuses on delay-insensitive asynchronous logic design using the NCL paradigm. The book details design of input-complete and observable dual-rail and quad-rail combinational circuits, and then discusses implementation of sequential circuits, which require datapath feedback. Next, throughput optimization techniques are presented, including pipelining, embedding registration, early completion, and NULL cycle reduction. Subsequently, low-power design techniques, such as wavefront steering and Multi-Threshold CMOS (MTCMOS) for NCL, are discussed. The book culminates with a comprehensive design example of an optimized Greatest Common Divisor circuit. Readers should have prior knowledge of basic logic design concepts, such as Boolean algebra and Karnaugh maps. After studying this book, readers should have a good understanding of the differences between asynchronous and synchronous circuits, and should be able to design arbitrary NCL circuits, optimized for area, throughput, and power. Table of Contents: Introduction to Asynchronous Logic / Overview of NULL Convention Logic (NCL) / Combinational NCL Circuit Design / Sequential NCL Circuit Design / NCL Throughput Optimization / Low-Power NCL Design / Comprehensive NCL Design Example

A nuanced portrait of a great historical figure considered everything from a “God-haunted man” to a “stalwart nonbeliever” What did faith mean to Winston Churchill? Churchill was far from transparent about his religious beliefs and never regularly attended church services as an adult, even considering himself “not a pillar of the church but a buttress,” in the sense that he supported it “from the outside.” But Gary Scott Smith assembles pieces of Churchill’s life and words to convey the profound sense of duty and destiny, partly inspired by his religious convictions, that undergirded his outlook. Reflecting on becoming prime minister in 1940, he wrote, “It felt as if I were walking with destiny, and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial.” In a similarly grand fashion, he described opposing the Nazis—and later the Soviets—as a struggle between light and darkness, driven by the duty to preserve “humane, enlightened, Christian society.” Though Churchill harbored intellectual doubts about Christianity throughout his life, he nevertheless valued it greatly and drew on its resources, especially in the crucible of war. In Duty and Destiny, Smith unpacks Churchill’s paradoxical religious views and carefully analyzes the complexities of his legacy. This thorough examination of Churchill’s religious life provides a new narrative structure to make sense of one of the most important figures of the twentieth century.

Smith offers an engaging biography of one of the world''s most inspiring, humorous, and provocative authors. He analyzes Mark Twain''s constantly changing views of Christianity, humanity, the afterlife, and other theological topics, thereby providing a window into the spiritual crisis of the Gilded Age.

Approach the future as a conversation, not a declaration. How can you be prepared for what''s next when emerging trends constantly threaten to turn your strategic plan on its head? The world of business is experiencing a state of hyperchange influenced by global movements, disruptive technologies, political uprisings and new consumer expectations. If your world is turned upside down, will you know how to pivot and thrive, or will you be roadkill in the ''adapt or die'' business race? Futuring is the art of anticipating and testing the trade-offs of different futures by making sense of key trends, signals and emerging patterns. How to Future is the only book that will teach you how to become a strategy wayfinder, allowing you to evaluate, plan and prepare for better futures for you and your business. How to Future is a guidebook to futuring and arms you with tools, strategies and practices that illuminate new strategic pathways. Renowned futurists Scott Smith and Madeline Ashby teach you how to manage the daily flood of information and signals, and discern emergent patterns that have a direct impact on the direction of your business. How to Future isn''t about the "one future" you expect. Instead, this book equips you with valuable tools and concepts, builds a future-focused mindset and enables you to envision, stress-test and prototype adaptable, informed and agile strategic visioning. These tools will empower you, your team and your organization to anticipate whatever futures emerge.

I started using KDP (as well as other publishing distribution channels) way back when it first opened its doors, and I haven''t looked back. I''ve launched several imprints and have sold over 2,000,000 books. In this book, I''ll show you how I, and other authors, have done it.

“ A Certain Sound is a well-written, carefully crafted, scripturally saturated book that was a joy to read. As one who has many years’ experience with open air preaching, I thank God for this stirring call to the church to fulfill one of her main duties—namely, preaching Jesus ‘to every creature.’ Read this book. Master it. And with the help of the Holy Spirit, let the ‘certain sound’ of the glorious gospel of Christ be heard outdoors once again.” — Rob Ventura, Grace Community Baptist Church, North Providence, Rhode Island, and coauthor of A Portrait of Paul and Spiritual Warfare Table of Contents: PART 1: THEOLOGY OF OPEN AIR PREACHING 1. A History of Open Air Preaching 2. Theology for Open Air Preaching 3. The Local Church and the Open Air Preacher 4. Using the Law in the Open Air 5. Using Apologetics in the Open Air Part 2: THE TASK OF OPEN AIR PREACHING 6. The Open Air Preacher’s Character 7. The Open Air Preacher’s Competence 8. Response to Open Air Preaching 9. The Open Air Preacher’s Response 10. Exhortation to the Church and Seminaries

This book trains engineers and students in the practical application of machining dynamics, with a particular focus on milling. The book walks readers through the steps required to improve machining productivity through chatter avoidance and reduced surface location error, and covers in detail topics such as modal analysis (including experimental methods) to obtain the tool point frequency response function, descriptions of turning and milling, force modeling, time domain simulation, stability lobe diagram algorithms, surface location error calculation for milling, beam theory, and more. This new edition includes updates throughout the entire text, new exercises and examples, and a new chapter on machining tribology. It is a valuable resource for practicing manufacturing engineers and graduate students interested in learning how to improve machining productivity through consideration of the process dynamics.

Are Brian McLaren, Tony Jones, Doug Pagitt, and Rob Bell "yesterday''s news," as many evangelicals seem to think? Truth and the New Kind of Christian (2005) tried to provide a balanced assessment of McLaren''s and Jones''s views. But, they seem to be right about much more that is affecting evangelicals than was realized then. Also, that book misunderstood one of their core claims: everything is interpretation. Moreover, their views have developed over the years, e.g., ethically about colonialism, its influences, and how we should live now. They also have advanced several further claims about the gospel and traditional doctrines. To what extent should Christians embrace their views? Are these the ways to go forward toward a more authentic Christianity, one that is morally better, and a better fit, for our times? Like Truth, this book gives careful attention to their thought. It also offers its own portrait of major shaping influences on Western, Americanized Christianity. But, there remains a root issue that keeps the Western church, whether progressive emergents or evangelicals, in its "Babylonian captivity." It is liberation from that root that will lead to an authentically emergent Christianity.

The Good Coach will lead you into the playbook that can make a difference in all aspects of life. Find encouragement and clarity as you dive into the playbook of Jesus and learn how his idea of winning did not begin on the field of play, but in the hearts of men and women. The questions at the end of each chapter will help you, fellow coaches, and parents have a powerful and unique perspective on making an eternal difference. Read it for yourself, give it away, or start a small group with other coaches or athletes.

Whether you''re an adventure junkie, road-tripper, or card shark, Nevada has something for you. Pull off the perfect trip to the Silver State with Moon Nevada. Inside you''ll find: Strategic itineraries for road-trippers, campers, skiers, and more The best road trips through Nevada, from three days on "the loneliest road in America" to a week covering Death Valley and the Extraterrestrial Highway, plus detailed information on travel times, distances, and directions The top sights and unique experiences: Explore caves and glaciers at Great Basin National Park, or go fishing, swimming, or boating on Lake Tahoe or Lake Mead. Marvel at the Hoover Dam, camp at a secluded alpine lake, and experience the authentic Wild West in a ghost town saloon. Try your hand at a slot machine and eat your way through an epic Las Vegas buffet, or visit one of Nevada''s major festivals and shop for local turquoise jewelry in a Gold Rush town Local tips from longtime Nevadan Scott Smith on where to stay, when to go, and how to get around, plus advice for families with children and travelers with disabilities Full-color photos and detailed maps throughout Thorough background information on the landscape, climate, wildlife, and local culture Focused coverage of Reno, Las Vegas, Death Valley, Tahoe, Central Nevada, Elko, the Ruby Mountains, and more With Moon Nevada''s practical tips and local insight, you can plan your trip your way. Spending more time at the lake? Try Moon Tahoe. Headed to the parks? Try Moon Yosemite National Park or Moon Death Valley National Park.

In the spirit of coyote guidance through the borderland of liminal space, James Scott Smith is offering one exquisite cairn after another to the soul wandering but not lost. The Expanse of All Things is a testament of the journey from form to faith, and of the love for tradition as long as it serves the evolution of consciousness. This collection runs the seam between culture and nature with an aching hunger for experience transformed.

We all have a story to tell. Three years after losing his first wife to breast cancer in 2001, Scott met Rhonda through an Internet dating service, and, after a whirlwind romance, they married in 2005. The next few years were filled with both bliss and the challenges of blending two families and five children. In 2009, Rhonda was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. This book chronicles their seven-year journey through the raw emotions of e-mails exchanged with their amazing support group of church, friends, coworkers, and family. With a skilled and dedicated team of doctors and caregivers on their side, they were carried through it all by the Grace and Strength of their Lord. This is their story.

We live in a time of moral confusion: many believe there are no overarching moral norms, and we have lost an accepted body of moral knowledge. Alasdair MacIntyre addresses this problem in his much-heralded restatement of Aristotelian and Thomistic virtue ethics; Stanley Hauerwas does so through his highly influential work in Christian ethics. Both recast virtue ethics in light of their interpretations of the later Wittgenstein''s views of language. This book systematically assesses the underlying presuppositions of MacIntyre and Hauerwas, finding that their attempts to secure moral knowledge and restate virtue ethics, both philosophical and theological, fail. Scott Smith proposes alternative indications as to how we can secure moral knowledge, and how we should proceed in virtue ethics.

"“The People’s Victory is a mirror for each of us to see our own power to fight for justice and create the change we want to see in our world.” – Gavin Newsom, Lieutenant Governor of California In 1996, a small group of Americans from all walks of life banded together to create one of the most miraculous political victories in modern American history. Opponents attacked the issue of marriage equality as amoral and a direct threat to families. Allies warned that it was a generation away from being practicable and a selfish drain of precious political capital. A stirring oral history told by those who almost inexplicably found themselves fighting on the front lines, The People''s Victory recounts the successes – and the setbacks – that only served to strengthen everyone’s resolve to resist, fight, and bring equal marriage rights to an entire nation. Through it all, these love warriors found their voice and home in Marriage Equality USA, the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots organization of its kind. While high profile books, articles and documentaries have covered the judicial and legislative machinations, this book puts a human face on the people who made the everyday personal sacrifices to keep the movement alive. The People’s Victory shares deeply moving personal testimonies of over sixty people, from Marvin Burrows, who was forced out of his home and lost many treasured possessions after losing his lost his partner of fifty years; to Kate Burns, who risked arrest for the first time when she stood up for her relationship; to Mike Goettemoeller, who pushed his mother in a wheelchair with Marriage Equality USA to fulfill her dream of marching in a Pride parade. Edie Windsor, the triumphant lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case United States vs. Windsor recounts shouting down a major LGBTQ organization with “I’m 77 years old and I can’t wait!!” when they attempted to belittle marriage as a critical issue. Writer and producer Del Shores shares the touching moment his young teenage daughter used tears and laughter to console him after the passage of Proposition 8 in California dealt a blow to the cause. The People’s Victory is an inspirational roadmap for anyone who has felt passionately about an issue, but has questioned whether one person’s contribution can make a difference. These candid accounts once again prove that every movement for important social change must be built on the acts of everyday. In fact, that is the only way the people have ever been victorious. In his introduction, California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom writes: “I hope these stories inspire you to resist, to fight, to win and in the end write the next stories in our continuing push for a more just and perfect union.”

We all say that we care about children. We all know that millions of children around the world, including in the United States, are suffering physically, materially, and emotionally and are unable to reach their full potential. Moreover, their material deprivation and physical ills often prevent them from responding to the gospel. Most of us conclude that we cannot do anything significant to help the impoverished children living in our own backyards let alone those living in the slums of Nairobi or the hinterlands of Haiti. We can, however, do much to improve their lives materially and spiritually. Through praying, giving generously, sponsoring children, volunteering with aid organizations, living more simply, investing and shopping more prudently, and advocating more zealously in the political arena, we can make a difference. We can prod politicians, business executives, and church leaders to prioritize aiding destitute children. We can support one of the hundreds of organizations that are working effectively to help indigent children have better lives. Suffer the Children describes the plight of poor children and provides many practical ways we can participate in one of the most important crusades to improve our world. The authors have assigned all their royalties to organizations working to aid children.

In shadowy back alleys, crumbling brownstones, and gleaming skyscrapers, cities harbor unique forms of terror. Here lie malicious ghosts, cursed buildings, malignant deities, and personal demons of every kind. Twenty of today''s most talented writers bend their skills toward the darkness, creating brand-new tales guaranteed to keep you awake at night-- especially if you live in the dark cities. Far worse than mythical creatures such as vampires and werewolves, these are horrors that lurk in the places you go every day--where you would never expect to find them. But they are there, and now that you know, you''ll never again walk the streets alone.

Do you have a scurry of squirrels playing baseball in your backyard? Jack does - along with many other groups of adventurous animals you''ll learn about in this fun story of amazing discoveries! From a tower of sparkly, pink giraffes to an array of cartwheeling hedgehogs, Jack uses the power of his imagination to create a tale that delights his teacher and classmates alike!

Philosophical naturalism is taken to be the preferred and reigning epistemology and metaphysics that underwrites many ideas and knowledge claims. But what if we cannot know reality on that basis? What if the institution of science is threatened by its reliance on naturalism? R. Scott Smith argues in a fresh way that we cannot know reality on the basis of naturalism. Moreover, the "fact-value" split has failed to serve our interests of wanting to know reality. The author provocatively argues that since we can know reality, it must be due to a non-naturalistic ontology, best explained by the fact that human knowers are made and designed by God. The book offers fresh implications for the testing of religious truth-claims, science, ethics, education, and public policy. Consequently, naturalism and the fact-value split are shown to be false, and Christian theism is shown to be true.

Las vacaciones mexicanas de unos jóvenes estadounidenses dejarán de ser unos días de diversión para convertirse en una auténtica pesadilla. Stephen King dice de ella: « Suspense al más puro estilo Ruth Rendell. Smith pretende aterrorizar al lector y lo consigue, y lo hace de una manera directa, sin atajos: Las ruinas es un prolongado grito de horror.» Unos jóvenes norteamericanos de vacaciones en México ven como estas se convierten en una pesadilla. Lo que iba a ser un trekking emocionante por la jungla, pasa a ser una caza y captura en la que ellos serán las víctimas. «La enredadera era la razón de su cautividad allí: esa era la esencia de lo que les estaba diciendo Jeff. Los mayas habían conseguido formar un claro al pie de la colina sembrando el suelo con sal, todo con la intención de aislar a la planta. La teoría de Jeff era que la enredadera se reproducía por contacto. Cuando la tocaban recogían las semillas, las esporas, o lo que fuese que les sirviese de medio de reproducción, y si cruzaban el claro, se las llevarían consigo. Por eso los mayas no los dejaban salir de la colina. - ¿Y los pájaros? -preguntó Mathias - No hay pájaros -interrumpió Jeff-. ¿No lo has notado? Ni los pájaros ni insectos; ningún ser vivo aparte de nosotros y la planta.»

A blockbuster anthology of original, blood-curdling vampire fiction from New York Times bestselling and award-winning authors, including Charlaine Harris, whose novels were adapted into HBO’s hit show True Blood, and Scott Smith, publishing his first work since The Ruins. Before being transformed into romantic heroes and soft, emotional antiheroes, vampires were figures of overwhelming terror. Now, from some of the biggest names in horror and dark fiction, comes this stellar collection of short stories that make vampires frightening once again. Edited by New York Times bestselling author Christopher Golden and featuring all-new stories from such contributors as Charlaine Harris, John Ajvide Lindqvist, Scott Smith, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Michael Kortya, Kelley Armstrong, Brian Keene, David Wellington, Seanan McGuire, and Tim Lebbon, Seize the Night is old-school vampire fiction at its finest.

This book discusses the application of complex adaptive systems theory to the design and evaluation of patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs). The three defining goals of PCMHs are to spread patient-care roles among healthcare team members, focus on disease prevention and include the patient in the healthcare team. It explains why some PCMH pilots are highly successful while others do not show much benefit, covers specific sub-theories that allow for bracketing of different aspects of the clinic system and highlights strategies by which institutions can engage in this process. Inter professional Education in Patient-Centered Medical Homes is a valuable resource for faculty and managers of health professions teaching clinics, deans of medical and health professional schools and medical administrators.

Continuing the work of Faith and the Presidency (OUP 2006), Gary Scott Smith takes on eleven more US presidents and examines the role religion played in their policies, personal lives, and decisions.