Showing results by author "Benjamin Smith" in All Categories

The Mexican drug trade has inspired prejudiced narratives of a war between north and south, White and Brown; between noble cops and vicious kingpins, corrupt politicians and powerful cartels. In this first comprehensive history of the trade, historian Benjamin T. Smith tells the real story of how and why this one-peaceful industry turned violent. He uncovers its origins and explains how this illicit business essentially built modern Mexico, affecting everything from agriculture to medicine to economics - and the country’s all-important relationship with the United States.

In the late 2020s and early '30s, corporations managed to render the major governments of the world obsolete. The big corporations owned most of the territories as well as the majority of the world's wealth. While many of the old traditions were still observed in various parts of the world, the true power was with the corporations. In the late '30s, what would be known as the Corporate Wars began as larger companies initiated hostile takeovers in a whole new fashion. Employees, armed with corporate weapons, warred for dominance. On May 1st, 2067, it all ended in a nuclear fire.

Government, industry, and academia need better tools to explore threats, opportunities, and human interactions in cyberspace. The interactive exercises called cyber wargames are a powerful way to solve complex problems in a digital environment that involves both cooperation and conflict.

What hope remains at the end of the world? That question plagues Lieutenant Nathan Ward as he and his fellow mounted police officers defend one of the last cities on Earth. Columbia, Missouri, was spared a direct hit when the bombs fell, but it’s become a target: refugees flood the city, gangs run rampant, an enemy army closes in, and the Corporations responsible for the catastrophe conspire in the shadows.

The end came fast for Lieutenant Nathan Ward. One moment he was participating in an international convention of mounted police officers, the next he was in a command bunker watching the world’s two biggest corporations - Obsidian and Teledyne - destroy it in an exchange of nuclear hellfire. While Columbia, Missouri, was spared a direct strike, a near-miss EMP fried most of the vehicles and the electrical grid. Then the corporations started a shooting war in the streets, and they didn’t care who got caught in the crossfire. But Columbia was one of the last cities still standing.

Nigel Shirazi, the Speaker of the Merc Guild, knows that war is coming and he’s not ready. He needs to build up the mercenary forces after years of war, and he’s proclaimed the Phoenix Initiative to give people who want to start new companies the opportunity to do so. CASPers are cheaper and financed at lower rates, and the government of Earth is offering bounties to take the mercs from alien races off the planet. Now is the time!

Kill with Kindness is the no-nonsense guide for sales managers navigating the highs and lows of leadership, infused with a healthy dose of humour along the way.Whether you're a first-time manager finding your footing or a seasoned leader seeking fresh perspectives, maverick sales expert Benjamin V. Smith offers actionable advice, candid stories, and proven strategies, often enriched with historical and pop culture references, to help you build trust, inspire your team, and achieve success without compromising integrity.Lead with purpose, empower your team and win the right way. Kill with ...

Join the last vestiges of Humanity and their alien allies (the reptilian Thrynn, the insectoid Velox, and the plant-based Elowan) as they attempt to carve out their own territory in a sector of space filled with wondrous opportunity and deadly threats. Brave explorers seek out new worlds to colonize while merchants cruise from starport to starport, their holds laden with exotic goods. Not all in this futuristic setting have noble intent. For every prospector and trader attempting to make a difference, a dozen pirates, smugglers, and mobsters engage in all manner of criminal enterprise.

The great mystery of June Cleaver, her life, her marriage, and her family, has plagued mankind for generations. How could such a perfect woman exist, loving a husband, raising two sons, and cooking so immaculately while never appearing stressed, over-worked, fed-up, or unsatisfied? This absurdest comedy takes the familiar television matron into the 21st century to express the evolution of the American nuclear family from the past to the present, hitting some contemporary hot-button-topics along the way.

Suburban soccer moms and soy latte-sipping men have no clue what these blue-collar men and women have to put up with on a daily basis. From chupacabras chewing the cable lines during the big game to zombie infestations boiling out from beneath that derelict double-wide on the other side of the trailer park, the heroes of It Came From the Trailer Park: Volume Two have their work cut out for them! Hold their beer, Romero and Hitchcock. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!

Harmon Tomeral and his friends wanted nothing more than to go to space, and they have beaten the odds, time and again. They developed a mech and won the Top Fleet Marine Competition. They brought back a battlecruiser from an unknown system and made it their own. They made allies who helped them achieve great victories, and they ultimately founded new colonies in what has become known as the Salvage System.

If you love axe-wielding barbarians, shape-shifting dragons, possessed toys, or cryptic assassins, then grab your traveling pack and join in the adventures.

Three film students and an audio engineer walk into a bar. They have to guess the plot of a movie by watching the last five minutes. It’s not that hard to figure out, Stacy.

There is hope in Alzheimer's disease, but it isn't where most people look for it... Any form of dementia is terrifying and lonely for both the one suffering it and for those close to them. How do our relationships with those we love change with loss of memory or clarity of thought? What happens...

Once, he’d been a captive of the ancient trunk in the cellar of Bell House. Still, all that ended years ago when a little girl went snooping and found what she mistook for a miraculous and magical new friend. The tragedy that forced the little girl to move away from the old house left him heartbroken, but he is nothing if not patient. Sooner or later, someone always comes, and when they do, he’s never disappointed. But then the moving van arrives, bringing back the girl from long ago as a grown woman. Things in the cellar of Bell House are about to get very interesting, indeed.

Welcome to Necrolopolis, a fantasy world with a postal system as inefficient as our own, an undead pharaoh with an ego as big as his pyramid, a ghoul with an unhealthy interest in soup pots, not to mention a faction war between mummies and ashlings. A necromancer's job is never done, especially in a city of four million undead souls!

Hydroponic gardening can be very complicated, with computers and sensors controlling everything from watering cycles to nutrient strength and the amount of light that the plants receive. On the other hand, hydroponics can also be incredibly simple. A hand-watered bucket of sand with a single plant is also a method of hydroponic gardening.

A podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related. Long-form interviews with people whose work I find interesting.

Inspector Victoria Rhodes works long hours as one of the last clean cops on San Francisco's crumbling police force. When a double murder claims the life of a city prosecutor in the exclusive covenant community of Atlantis, Rhodes is assigned as liaison between the SFPD investigation and the investigation run by the private security force known as the ASM.

Why Are You Sick? How to Reclaim Your Health with the Ultimate Health Model™ isn’t just another health audiobook—it’s a cultural revolution. Step inside a first-of-its-kind immersive experience where science meets storytelling, and characters like Dan, Debbie, Hank, and Heidi bring cutting-edge health truths to life.