Showing results by narrator "Jim D. Johnston" in All Categories

Many of us on Earth live in a home with a street address, city, and zip code. But we have another address, which astronomers and astrophysicists refer to as our "cosmic address": Earth, Solar System, Milky Way, Local Group, Virgo Supercluster, the Universe. Consider the vast scales that our cosmic address spans. Understandably, it's hard for our brains to truly imagine it. Our galaxy, The Milky Way, is populated with somewhere between 100-400 billion stars, one of which is our Sun, an average, run-of-the-mill star.

Most scientists believe that mankind was originally spawned in the salty waters of the seas, and that over millennia creatures managed to evolve into today's primates. If this is so, the oceans have made it abundantly clear that have no desire to take their offspring safely back; from the time of the earliest sailing ships, there have been countless accidents and tragedies where numerous lives were quickly lost.

God uses a perfect stranger to speak to a suicidal neighbor. Through her availability, He is able to communicate purpose for living. Once a successful businessman loses his team, he learns the value of having the right people in the in the right places to ensure prolonged success. Because a youngster refuses to give in to his pride, he avoids losing his life at a basketball court. As a result of second-place finish in a spelling bee, an elementary school child learns the importance of practice.

Imagine a natural or man-made disaster occurring that totally changes the world as you now know it. What would you need to have in place in order to survive such a catastrophe? How can you prepare yourself and your loved ones now for such an event? Survival Book: Everything You Need to Know Before Disaster Strikes takes a serious look at disaster preparedness and reveals 15 tasks that you can work on today that will better prepare you for survival during and following a disaster.

With both an entertainer's eye and a social scientist's rigor, Wayne Parent subjects Louisiana's politics to rational and empirical analysis, seeking and finding coherent reasons for the state's well-known unique history. He resists resorting to vague hand-waving about exoticism, while at the same time he brings to life the juicy stories that illustrate his points. Parent's main theme is that Louisiana's ethnic mix, natural resources, and geography define a culture that in turn produces its unique political theater.

You might know Ulysses S. Grant as a Civil War hero and as the 18th president of the United States, but we will introduce you to the heart and soul of the man who brought freedom and equality to a troubled America. Within this book, you'll discover how Grant motivated and inspired a nation to rise above the dark days of slavery and financial ruin and search their hearts for justice for all. You'll battle with Grant and his men at Vicksburg, and be there when General Lee surrenders at Appomattox.

Most commonly known as the antagonists of the pantheon of gods led by Zeus, the Titans embody "unrest" and "transience" for the modern listener, but for reasons less than the obvious. History, after all, is the story of the winners, and the world of the ancient Greeks was a world of a very real, highly querulous pantheon that it behooved ancient writers to glorify in their works.

The Olympics have long been the center of attention in the sports world, but perhaps no moment in the history of the games was as poignant as Jesse Owens' performance in Berlin in 1936. Owens would finish his career with four gold medals and become known as "perhaps the greatest and most famous athlete in track and field history" (as his obituary in The New York Times put it), but nearly 80 years later, it's the context that has made his performance so memorable.

Although revered in history for their civilization and culture, the Greeks were always in a constant state of warfare amongst themselves. With the likes of Athens, Sparta, and Thebes asserting dominance over the Ionian Peninsula, none of the other city-states could amass an army strong enough to challenge their superiority in the area, much less take on all challengers and invade Persia. However, none of these other city-states had a ruler named Alexander.

Andrew Klein's book pulls no punches, defends Hoffa, and destroys the perverse and pervasive influence of the Kennedy clan. This book presents a flawed and tragic charismatic hero in Hoffa, a powerful and bullying classic villain in Robert Kennedy, and a lush backdrop of union fights, personal betrayal, and presidential assassinations.

This book is an elaborate explanation of MacArthur's life. It is written in an easy-to-follow style that makes you move with the flow of the events of the day. In the book, you will learn almost everything you ever wanted to know about the most decorated army general the US ever had. In particular, you are going to see the factors that influenced MacArthur's life, and the background against which he developed his career.

Africa may have given rise to the first humans, and Egypt probably gave rise to the first great civilizations, which continue to fascinate modern societies across the globe nearly 5,000 years later. From the Library and Lighthouse of Alexandria to the Great Pyramid at Giza, the Ancient Egyptians produced several wonders of the world, revolutionized architecture and construction, created some of the world's first systems of mathematics and medicine, and established language and art that spread across the known world.

Preparation is one of the single most fundamental factors that will make your presentation successful! One thing that you have to realize is that a good presentation ensures that the content is well thought out. This means that you can effectively communicate to your audience with a great degree of confidence.

A series of mountain chains frame the Levantine coast, growing in height as they approach modern-day Lebanon. These provided a natural defense along the important coast, and the few passes through these mountain ranges were the focal points of movement and communication. For this reason, these locations were where many crusader castles were erected.

Joseph Stalin rose from humble roots to become the greatest madman of the 20th century. His disregard for human life dwarfs Hitler's, as does the scale of his crimes. This book by author Andrew Klein exposes "Uncle Joe" as the perpetrator of mass killings, mass incarcerations, and mass starvations across four decades. This book spares no detail and minces no words about the evil deeds of one of history's most brazen tyrants.

The Canaanites and Nubians received the most attention as Egypt's enemies and occasional trading partners, but it was the Libyans - the final third of Egypt's traditional enemies - who influenced later Egyptian culture most. The Ancient Libyans: The Mysterious History of Egypt's Neighbors to the West During Antiquity looks at the various groups and their impact on the region and subsequent cultures. You will learn about the ancient Libyans like never before.

Words of meditation to be comforted by.

This first volume of the Savage Frontier series is a comprehensive account of the formative years of the legendary Texas Rangers. Stephen L. Moore provides fresh detail about each ranging unit formed during the Texas Revolution and narrates their involvement in the pivotal battle of San Jacinto and later battles at Parker's Fort, the Elm Creek Fight, Post Oak Springs Massacre, and the Stone Houses Fight.

Richard Nixon was the consummate politician. Growing up as a poor Quaker in California, Nixon decided early on to pursue a career in politics. Struggling from the bottom, Nixon worked his way through law school and eventually into politics. Richard Nixon embodied the American dream. He would also embody the American nightmare. Richard M. Nixon made it to the pinnacle of political power in the United States through effort and determination. Then, in the blink of an eye, he lost everything.

John Adams didn't cut a dashing figure like George Washington. He was not the darling of France, as was Benjamin Franklin. He was not a wealthy and statuesque plantation owner like Thomas Jefferson. Adams was highly opinionated, blunt, and often tactless in his social interactions. To top it off, he was short, fat, and awkward. This does not sound like the description of a Founding Father we should want to know any better - but that's where you're wrong.