Good advice for tough times "To succeed in life, you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone." —Reba McEntire "You can't be brave if you've only had wonderful things happen to you." —Mary Tyler Moore "Sometimes you just have to pee in the sink." —Charles Bukowski "Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first." —Mark Twain "Anyone who trades liberty for security deserves neither." —Benjamin Franklin "When your dreams turn to dust, vacuum." —Desmond Tutu Ever had one of those days when nothing seems to go your way? Poor little you. Now deal with it! Life is too short to spend moping around when instead you could be taking things with a pinch of salt—and a shot of tequila. Here's a book packed with straight-talking quotations to help you get a grip and find the brighter side.

Saying "shit happens" indicates events are random, have no meaning and there is no accountability or responsibility. It indicates such events could just as easily happen again and there's nothing we can do about them. Bullshit. This book is about catastrophes and how to avoid them, mitigate their effects and learn from them as seen from the perspective of the Masters of Chaos: United States Army Special Forces (Green Berets). Taking the attitude shit happens is negative and is fatal. Titanic: Systematic Failure Kegworth Plane Crash: The Danger of Deferring to Authority and Experts Little Big Horn: Leadership Failure New London Schoolhouse Explosion: Lack of Focus The Donner Party: Social Disintegration From Tulips to the Housing Bubble: Greed Overwhelms Reality Apollo 13: Success Snatched from the Jaws of Catastrophe The bottom line is we can predict and prevent most catastrophes because every one has at least one man made factor, of the 7 cascade events, involved. In other words, we have control over whether shit happens. But it means changing a complacent mindset, getting rid of delusional thinking, and viewing the world around us in a Green Beret way. Because shit doesn't just happen.

"Your life isn't over." My dad says this. "I mean, YOUR life isn't over. Beyond the kids. You'll go on living, doing things. This isn't it." I know, I assure him. I have the kids. They need me. They're my life now. "OK," he replies, then grunts—more of a brief hum. He only hums when he thinks I'm full of shit. Shockingly single. Amy Biancolli's life went off script more dramatically than most after her husband of twenty years jumped off the roof of a parking garage. Left with three children, a three-story house, and a pile of knotty psychological complications, Amy realizes the flooding dishwasher, dead car battery, rapidly growing lawn, basement sump pump, and broken doorknob aren't going to fix themselves. She also realizes that "figuring shit out" means accepting the horrors that came her way, rolling with them, slogging through them, helping others through theirs, and working her way through life with love and laughter. Amy Biancolli is an author and journalist whose column appears in the Albany Times Union. Before that, Amy served as film critic for the Houston Chronicle where her reviews, published around the country, won her the 2007 Comment and Criticism Award from the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors Association. Biancolli is the author of House of Holy Fools: A Family Portrait in Six Cracked Parts, which earned her Albany Author of the Year. Amy lives in Albany, New York, with her three children.

Have you ever wondered why everything seems to be getting worse? Tired of endless disappointments and declining quality in every aspect of life? This book is your ticket out of the downward spiral. Examine the causes and consequences of societal decline, explore historical patterns, and discover practical solutions to improve your life and the world around you. - Learn about the psychological foundations behind the decline of quality - Discover the role of big tech, social media, and the entertainment industry in accelerating the decline - Understand how your everyday choices contribute to the problem and what you can do to resist - Explore the impact of consumerism, environmental degradation, and political corruption - Discover practical strategies to navigate the world of declining quality If you want to live a better life in a better world, buy this book today. Shit Happens is a no-nonsense guide to understanding and overcoming the decline of quality in modern society. Say goodbye to disappointment and hello to a future of better quality!

"I wish I could cry, but I cannot. If I could forget the tragedy, perhaps I would know how to cry again." Mary Graves. Survivor, the 'Donner Party' Every man-made disaster and catastrophe has at least six Cascade Events leading up to the final event, the catastrophe according to the Rule of Seven. This is a quick read of the Cascade Events that led up to Cannibalism while the 'Donner Party' emigrated west to California Bob examines the Rule of Seven, and how human error plays a role in many catastrophes. Nothing happens in isolation or as a result of a single event. Thus, by learning from history, we can gain insight into preventing a similar catastrophe in the future. The key to the Donner Party were the numerous tipping points where the group failed to make decisions. Also, most people don't know how many homicides were committed during this event!

Swallowing a World analyzes a series of massive and meandering late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century texts that represent, formally reproduce, and ultimately invite reflection upon the effects of globalization to show that contemporary maximalism is an aesthetic response to globalization and a global phenomenon in its own right.

"Quote: During the Los Angeles Coroner's Inquest, William Mulholland said, ""this inquest is a very painful for me to have to attend but it is the occasion of that is painful. The only ones I envy about this whole thing are the ones who are dead."" In later testimony, after responding to a question, he added, ""Whether it is good or bad, don't blame anyone else, you just fasten it on me. If there was an error in human judgment, I was the human, I won't try to fasten it on anyone else."" William Mulholland, chief engineer, Water Department Los Angeles Every man-made disaster and catastrophe has at least six Cascade Events leading up to the final event, the catastrophe according to the Rule of Seven. This is a quick read of the Cascade Events of the second greatest loss of life in the history of California: The St. Francis Dam. Bob examines the Rule of Seven, and how human error plays a role in many catastrophes. Nothing happens in isolation or as a result of a single event. Thus, by learning from history, we can gain insight into preventing a similar catastrophe in the future. William Mulholland, a self-taught engineer, brought water to Los Angeles, but he also brought a catastrophe in the form of the St. Francis dam which failed, killing hundreds. From the very land the dam was placed on, to its design, to the failure of Mulholland on the very day the dam would collapse when called by the worried dam-keeper, to see the pending catastrophe. This is one of many catastrophes that Bob Mayer, former Green Beret, West Point Graduate and NY Times Bestselling Author, examines in his series of shorts: The Anatomy of a Catastrophe.