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An unprecedented high-level master narrative of America's intelligence wars, demonstrating in a time of new threats that espionage and the search for facts are essential to our democracy For General Michael Hayden, playing to the edge means playing so close to the line that you get chalk dust on your cleats. Otherwise, by playing back, you may protect yourself, but you will be less successful in protecting America. "Play to the edge" was Hayden's guiding principle when he ran the National Security Agency, and it remained so when he ran CIA. In his view, many shortsighted and uninformed people are quick to criticize, and this book will give them much to chew on but little easy comfort; it is an unapologetic insider's look told from the perspective of the people who faced awesome responsibilities head on, in the moment. How did American intelligence respond to terrorism, a major war and the most sweeping technological revolution in the last 500 years? What was NSA before 9/11 and how did it change in its aftermath? Why did NSA begin the controversial terrorist surveillance program that included the acquisition of domestic phone records? What else was set in motion during this period that formed the backdrop for the infamous Snowden revelations in 2013? As Director of CIA in the last three years of the Bush administration, Hayden had to deal with the rendition, detention and interrogation program as bequeathed to him by his predecessors. He also had to ramp up the agency to support its role in the targeted killing program that began to dramatically increase in July 2008. This was a time of great crisis at CIA, and some agency veterans have credited Hayden with actually saving the agency. He himself won't go that far, but he freely acknowledges that CIA helped turn the American security establishment into the most effective killing machine in the history of armed conflict. For 10 years, then, General Michael Hayden was a participant in some of the most telling events in the annals of American national security. General Hayden's goals are in writing this book are simple and unwavering: No apologies. No excuses. Just what happened. And why. As he writes, "There is a story here that deserves to be told, without varnish and without spin. My view is my view, and others will certainly have different perspectives, but this view deserves to be told to create as complete a history as possible of these turbulent times. I bear no grudges, or at least not many, but I do want this to be a straightforward and readable history for that slice of the American population who depend on and appreciate intelligence, but who do not have the time to master its many obscure characteristics."
This is a Summary of Michael V. Hayden's Playing to the Edge American Intelligence in the Age of Terror An unprecedented high-level master narrative of America's intelligence wars, from the only person ever to helm both CIA and NSA, at a time of heinous new threats and wrenching change For General Michael Hayden, playing to the edge means playing so close to the line that you get chalk dust on your cleats. Otherwise, by playing back, you may protect yourself, but you will be less successful in protecting America. "Play to the edge" was Hayden's guiding principle when he ran the National Security Agency, and it remained so when he ran CIA. In his view, many shortsighted and uninformed people are quick to criticize, and this book will give them much to chew on but little easy comfort; it is an unapologetic insider's look told from the perspective of the people who faced awesome responsibilities head on, in the moment. How did American intelligence respond to terrorism, a major war and the most sweeping technological revolution in the last 500 years? What was NSA before 9/11 and how did it change in its aftermath? Why did NSA begin the controversial terrorist surveillance program that included the acquisition of domestic phone records? What else was set in motion during this period that formed the backdrop for the infamous Snowden revelations in 2013? As Director of CIA in the last three years of the Bush administration, Hayden had to deal with the rendition, detention and interrogation program as bequeathed to him by his predecessors. He also had to ramp up the agency to support its role in the targeted killing program that began to dramatically increase in July 2008. This was a time of great crisis at CIA, and some agency veterans have credited Hayden with actually saving the agency. He himself won't go that far, but he freely acknowledges that CIA helped turn the American security establishment into the most effective killing machine in the history of armed conflict. For 10 years, then, General Michael Hayden was a participant in some of the most telling events in the annals of American national security. General Hayden's goals are in writing this book are simple and unwavering: No apologies. No excuses. Just what happened. And why. As he writes, "There is a story here that deserves to be told, without varnish and without spin. My view is my view, and others will certainly have different perspectives, but this view deserves to be told to create as complete a history as possible of these turbulent times. I bear no grudges, or at least not many, but I do want this to be a straightforward and readable history for that slice of the American population who depend on and appreciate intelligence, but who do not have the time to master its many obscure characteristics." Available in a variety of formats, this summary is aimed for those who want to capture the gist of the book but don't have the current time to devour all 464 pages. You get the main summary along with all of the benefits and lessons the actual book has to offer. This summary is not intended to be used without reference to the original books.
Representations of consensual sadomasochism range from the dark, seedy undergrounds of crime thrillers to the fetishized pornographic images of sitcoms and erotica. In this pathbreaking book, ethnographer Staci Newmahr delves into the social space of a public, pansexual SM community to understand sadomasochism from the inside out. Based on four years of in-depth and immersive participant observation, she juxtaposes her experiences in the field with the life stories of community members, providing a richly detailed portrait of SM as a social space in which experiences of "violence" intersect with experiences of the erotic. She shows that SM is a recreational and deeply gendered risk-taking endeavor, through which participants negotiate boundaries between chaos and order. Playing on the Edge challenges our assumptions about sadomasochism, sexuality, eroticism, and emotional experience, exploring what we mean by intimacy, and how, exactly, we achieve it.
CORRECTION: Amy Lefevre’s second language is risk. A gorgeous young investment banker, she navigates Wall Street’s toxic culture with ease—until the stock market collapses. CRISIS: Amy starts investigating the failed deals her boss engineered. Drawn to a treacherous ride on the edge, will her efforts to expose him cause her to lose it all? CONSENT: Amy’s best friend is a dominatrix with an offer: take over her elite S&M dungeon, catering to the pervy needs of millionaires and billionaires and learn the true nature of power. EDGE PLAY is a universe beyond Fifty Shades of Grey and The Big Short, set in the most elite, twisted circles of Wall Street mega-power and S&M. Amy Lefevre dives into an underground realm of Big Swinging Dicks only to find that, in this arena, the women wield the whips and the men submit. “Edge Play explores obsession and ambition with a fetishist's eye for detail. From the sleek Syren latex to the sexy Louboutins, to power moves found in both the dazzling hustle of high finance and the darkness of the dungeon, this book delivers.” —LILY BURANA, Author of Strip City “This is such a fun book! Smart, sexy, and full of surprises. It's also full of stingingly authentic details of Wall Street and the BDSM culture simmering just below it. It's a New York where everyone wants to come out on top, and power is a skill that can be learned.” —JO WELDON, Author of Fierce: The History of Leopard Print and The Burlesque Handbook “Masters of the Universe have a new mistress—a protagonist who learns to wield power in the excessive, fascinating cultures of Wall Street and BDSM-for-hire. BOW DOWN.” —WEDNESDAY MARTIN, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author of Primates of Park Avenue and UNTRUE
"Blondie24 tells the story of a computer that taught itself to play checkers far better than its creators ever could by emulating the principles of Darwinian evolution and discovering innovative ways to approach the game. In this year of 2001, as we remember Arthur C. Clarke's predictions, David Fogel dramatically demonstrates how evolutionary computation may enable humans to create a thinking machine far more readily than the techniques traditionally used in the study of artificial intelligence."--BOOK JACKET.
Historical changes in play are taking place in childhood all over the world, with the digitalisation of children’s lives. Researchers are worried about the disappearance of advanced forms of play and the prioritization of time spent with loving adults, supporting play with babies and toddlers. At the same time, our understanding about the crucial importance of individual development is becoming clearer. The Routledge International Handbook of Early Childhood Play explores these issues and more. It proposes the importance of adult participation in play, as adult guidance brings the possibility of moral, cultural and symbolic elements to children’s play, and enhances the educational opportunities in adult-child joint play. The book also examines the aesthetic dimension of play and its role in the development of imagination and creativity. With contributors from many parts of the world, this unique handbook brings together the latest research and highlights practice which focuses on play. This is an essential and engaging read for all students, academics, teachers and practitioners with an interest in play.
Queen Elizabeth's spymasters recruit an unlikely agent--the only Muslim in England--for an impossible mission in a mesmerizing novel from "one of the best writers in America" (The Washington Post) The year is 1601. Queen Elizabeth I is dying, childless. Her nervous kingdom has no heir. It is a capital crime even to think that Elizabeth will ever die. Potential successors secretly maneuver to be in position when the inevitable occurs. The leading candidate is King James VI of Scotland, but there is a problem. The queen's spymasters--hardened veterans of a long war on terror and religious extremism--fear that James is not what he appears. He has every reason to claim to be a Protestant, but if he secretly shares his family's Catholicism, then forty years of religious war will have been for nothing, and a bloodbath will ensue. With time running out, London confronts a seemingly impossible question: What does James truly believe? It falls to Geoffrey Belloc, a secret warrior from the hottest days of England's religious battles, to devise a test to discover the true nature of King James's soul. Belloc enlists Mahmoud Ezzedine, a Muslim physician left behind by the last diplomatic visit from the Ottoman Empire, as his undercover agent. The perfect man for the job, Ezzedine is the ultimate outsider, stranded on this cold, wet, and primitive island. He will do almost anything to return home to his wife and son. Arthur Phillips returns with a unique and thrilling novel that will leave readers questioning the nature of truth at every turn.
Video games have long been seen as the exclusive territory of young, heterosexual white males. In a media landscape dominated by such gamers, players who do not fit this mold, including women, people of color, and LGBT people, are often brutalized in forums and in public channels in online play. Discussion of representation of such groups in games has frequently been limited and cursory. In contrast, Gaming at the Edge builds on feminist, queer, and postcolonial theories of identity and draws on qualitative audience research methods to make sense of how representation comes to matter. In Gaming at the Edge, Adrienne Shaw argues that video game players experience race, gender, and sexuality concurrently. She asks: How do players identify with characters? How do they separate identification and interactivity? What is the role of fantasy in representation? What is the importance of understanding market logic? In addressing these questions Shaw reveals how representation comes to matter to participants and offers a perceptive consideration of the high stakes in politics of representation debates. Putting forth a framework for talking about representation, difference, and diversity in an era in which user-generated content, individualized media consumption, and the blurring of producer/consumer roles has lessened the utility of traditional models of media representation analysis, Shaw finds new insight on the edge of media consumption with the invisible, marginalized gamers who are surprising in both their numbers and their influence in mainstream gamer culture.
Readers will learn secret strategies for maximizing their winning potential; which slot machine strategies are myths and which are facts; and which machines pay back the most money and most frequently. After reading this funny and insightful book, the reader will know everything there is to know about playing the slots.
