Xeni Jardin

A sharp-witted knockdown of America's love affair with positive thinking and an urgent call for a new commitment to realism Americans are a "positive" people―cheerful, optimistic, and upbeat: this is our reputation as well as our self-image. But more than a temperament, being positive, we are told, is the key to success and prosperity. In this utterly original take on the American frame of mind, Barbara Ehrenreich traces the strange career of our sunny outlook from its origins as a marginal nineteenth-century healing technique to its enshrinement as a dominant, almost mandatory, cultural attitude. Evangelical mega-churches preach the good news that you only have to want something to get it, because God wants to "prosper" you. The medical profession prescribes positive thinking for its presumed health benefits. Academia has made room for new departments of "positive psychology" and the "science of happiness." Nowhere, though, has bright-siding taken firmer root than within the business community, where, as Ehrenreich shows, the refusal even to consider negative outcomes―like mortgage defaults―contributed directly to the current economic crisis. With the mythbusting powers for which she is acclaimed, Ehrenreich exposes the downside of America's penchant for positive thinking: On a personal level, it leads to self-blame and a morbid preoccupation with stamping out "negative" thoughts. On a national level, it's brought us an era of irrational optimism resulting in disaster. This is Ehrenreich at her provocative best―poking holes in conventional wisdom and faux science, and ending with a call for existential clarity and courage.

"Even my Dad had a hard time finding a place when he and my mother were first married...Momma was pregnant with Berenice, and he went to a woman who had a house. He asked if they could rent a place. She said, no, she couldn’t rent to Jews. Dad said, 'Well, now I know why Jesus was born in a manger.'" —Ruth Matz McCrimmon, A Homeland in the West Rather than a history of Utah Jews, this is a book of Utah Jewish histories. A Homeland in the West collects the stories and the voices of men and women drawn west by choice or by chance, people who made their way and earned their living in a culture often alien, occasionally hostile, sometimes welcoming. These are the stories of immigrants and explorers, artists and merchants, senators and soldiers. Culled from countless hours of oral histories comprising more than ninety current and archived interviews, Eileen Hallet Stone has gathered reminiscences that tell a tale of life in Utah from a seldom-heard perspective. These singular threads—supplemented with stirring photographs, traditional recipes, and a Yiddish glossary—weave a rich and varied tapestry of Utah’s enduring Jewish heritage. Every page is a testament to the individuals who help create the state’s collective history. Meet: • Solomon Nunes Carvalho, who was invited by Colonel John C. Frémont to join his final, near-fatal expedition across the Rocky Mountains in search of a viable route for the country’s first transcontinental railroad. • The Auerbach brothers, who opened their first store in Salt Lake City in 1864 and who, by 1883 saw it become a mercantile enterprise worth half a million dollars in sales and real estate. • Simon Bamberger, who was elected governor in 1916—the first Democrat, first non-Mormon, and only Jew to hold the office. • Anna Rich Marks who made a fortune in real estate and mining and who at one point held the representatives of the Denver and Rio Grand Railroad at gunpoint—demanding they pay her price to cross her land. • Joel Shapiro, who, as a soldier during World War II, found himself in the detachment from his unit assigned to join the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp. With their own voices, in their own words, A Homeland in the West speaks to the dichotomy of living as 'gentiles' in Mormon 'Zion,' testifying to the ways in which memory and tradition, lifestyles and legacies layer together to form the whole of a person, the whole of a community.

The most comprehensive and approachable book available on understanding and using medical marijuana. Revised and updated with the latest information on varietals, delivery, dosing, and treatable conditions, Cannabis Pharmacy is "a well-designed and -illustrated and easy-to-use resource"(Booklist) for those considering medical marijuana as a treatment option. In Cannabis Pharmacy, expert Michael Backes offers evidence-based information on using cannabis to treat an array of ailments and conditions. He provides information on how cannabis works with the body's own system, how best to prepare and administer it, and how to modify and control dosage. This newly revised edition is now completely up-to-date with the latest information on the body's endocannabinoid system, which is understood to control emotion, appetite, and memory. Delivery methods including e-cigarette and vape designs are also covered here, along with information on additional varietals and a new system for classification. Cannabis Pharmacy covers more than 50 ailments and conditions, including anxiety, ADHD, Depression, Gastrointestinal disorders, Insomnia, Menopause, Migraine, Pain, PTSD, and more, that can be alleviated with marijuana.