In 1966, Pan Am had reached the zenith of its wealth and influence. Under aviation pioneer Juan Trippe, the airline had risen from the muddy back-waters of Latin America to a place of preeminence in world commerce. Told from points of view of airmen and executives, Skygods gives the inside story on the demise of the world's most experienced airlines.

In 1966, Pan American Airways reached the zenith of its wealth & influence. Its pilots were lords of the sky; Skygods. Under aviation pioneer Juan Trippe's autocratic control, Pan Am bought jet airliners before its competitors & made record profits. It was the first U.S. airline to order the supersonic transport; it accepted reservations for the first service to the Moon. Then Pan American Airways fell to earth. In Skygods, Robert Gandt, a Pan Am pilot for 26 years, gives an inside account of the great airline's unprecedented demise. He interviewed hundreds of former Pan Am airmen & executives. He reveals how Pan Am's captains, in Navy-style uniforms, once commanded their ships like petty tyrants. They were the best & brightest in airline industry, but there were disturbing stories of captains who allowed stewardesses to land their aircraft, flew them at the wrong altitude & in the wrong direction & who tragically disappeared, often without a trace. All was not well either in the Pan Am Building, the massive landmark in New York where a succession of impulsive & short-sighted CEOs combined to preside over the demise of a great airline. Pan An bought a domestic airline it did not need; bought aircraft it did not need & operated half-empty planes on low-density routes. It sold the entire Pacific network for a bargain price & sold precious assets to meet its payrolls. And then came the Lockerbie tragedy. This is a fascinating account of what can go wrong with a pillar of strength of the U.S. industry, when its leaders lose their sense of direction & when their star employees-the Skygods-discover that they are mere mortals.

In this thought-provoking new book, Bruce Lerro offers a speculative reconstruction of the sacred beliefs and practices of cultures existing between 30,000 and 500 B.C.E. Lerro describes how material changes in various social formations--including hunting-gathering bands and horticulturalists in villages--were responsible for the shift from magic to realism, from the belief in earth spirits to faith in sky gods. Drawing from such diverse theorists as Marx and Engels, Vygotsky, Piaget, and George Herbert Mead, Lerro critiques and transforms mechanical, humanistic, new age, and countercultural perspectives on the history of sacred traditions. This study of comparative religion and mythology has important applications for the fields of archaeology, evolutionary anthropology, sociology, political science, and comparative psychology.

In this innovative volume, Jay McDaniel creatively weaves various strands of contemporary theology into a vibrant pattern for an ecological spirituality. Influenced by process theology, the author synthesizes core insights of feminism, liberation theology, creation theology, and world religions. He focuses this varied knowledge around the central theme of an ecologically sound and nurturing faith. The work is strengthened by provocative study questions, an insightful appendix on the role of silence in ecological spirituality, and a comprehensive, annotated bibliography.

In Native American history, there are many legends about UFOs, gods, the paranormal and aliens. There has always been a connection between Native Americans and beings from other parts of the universe, referred to as Star People. Perhaps due to familiarity with celestial fixtures, it has been easier for Native Americans to relate events they have experienced on earth with things such as the formation of the Pleiades. It is not hard to believe they would identify an event with a star, being the nature and history of tribes was to exist outdoors. The night sky would be paid much more attention by one who did not live indoors. Through the many legends and tribes you can find instances where natives are either rescued or helped by gods or Star Beings. The Pleiades is the basis of the creation of the Hopi Indians. The Dakota also speak of 'the abode of the ancestors' or Tiyami as a place of their origin. Other native oral histories, or legends, speak of an origin, in the stars generally, or other constellations. The Cree did not originate from human beings but from people from the constellations who later became humans. While others like the Lakota tell stories of beings from the skies. Regardless of the tribe or the whether the interaction is through a god or star people, there is proof that the ancient people of North America believed they have been visited by unexplainable beings from the heavens and beyond. The stories in the collection tell of many different tribes and their experiences and the outcome of walking with these beings. From experiences with aliens, to the dead rising in spirit form, this book will cover a wide range of stories of the paranormal.

In Native American history, there are many legends about UFOs, gods and aliens. There has always been a connection between Native Americans and beings from other parts of the universe, referred to as Star People. Perhaps due to familiarity with celestial fixtures, it has been easier for Native Americans to relate events they have experienced on earth with things such as the formation of the Pleiades. The experience of tribal individuals with the Pleiades is featured quite prominately in legends across many tribes including Cherokee, Onondaga, Lakota and others. It is not hard to believe they would identify an event with a star, being the nature and history of tribes was to exist outdoors. The night sky would be paid much more attention by one who did not live indoors. Regardless of the tribe or the whether the interaction is through a god or star people, there is proof that the ancient people of North America believed they have been visited by unexplainable beings from the heavens. The stories in the collection tell of many different tribes and their experiences and the outcome of walking with these beings.

From the flights of the Wright brothers through the mass journeys of the jet age, airplanes inspired Americans to reimagine their nation’s place within the world. Now, Jenifer Van Vleck reveals the central role commercial aviation played in the United States’ rise to global preeminence in the twentieth century. As U.S. military and economic influence grew, the federal government partnered with the aviation industry to carry and deliver American power across the globe and to sell the very idea of the “American Century” to the public at home and abroad. Invented on American soil and widely viewed as a symbol of national greatness, the airplane promised to extend the frontiers of the United States “to infinity,” as Pan American World Airways president Juan Trippe said. As it accelerated the global circulation of U.S. capital, consumer goods, technologies, weapons, popular culture, and expertise, few places remained distant from the influence of Wall Street and Washington. Aviation promised to secure a new type of empire—an empire of the air instead of the land, which emphasized access to markets rather than the conquest of territory and made the entire world America’s sphere of influence. By the late 1960s, however, foreign airlines and governments were challenging America’s control of global airways, and the domestic aviation industry hit turbulent times. Just as the history of commercial aviation helps to explain the ascendance of American power, its subsequent challenges reflect the limits and contradictions of the American Century.