Wrestling Gators

Wrestling Gators PDF Author: Patrick Colbeck
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781947360136
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
Find out what happens when fed-up citizens turn an engineer loose on the political swampThe beginning of this century marked the "Lost Decade" for Michigan. More than a half million people fled the state, decreasing her Electoral College votes from eighteen to sixteen.Career politicians in both parties are clenching their gator-like jaws tighter and tighter on hard-working Michiganders. Instead of serving the common interests of the people who elected them, the politics-as-usual crowd is beholden to special interests that generously support their pursuit of power.That's what drove a successful aerospace engineer and small-business owner to get out of his comfort zone, run for office, and restore the voice of the people. Echoing the president's battle cry, Colbeck's strategy is to drain the swamp and rid Michigan of her entrenched "alligators."Michigan is on the verge of making a dramatic comeback. Colbeck's strategy for returning the power to "We the People" is well on its way! In Wrestling Alligators, you will learn¿How government really works.¿How good people are seduced by the political swamp.¿What happens when one attempts to drain the swamp.¿How we can restore our faith in government.

Wrestling Gators

Wrestling Gators PDF Author: Patrick Colbeck
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781947360136
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Get Book Here

Book Description
Find out what happens when fed-up citizens turn an engineer loose on the political swampThe beginning of this century marked the "Lost Decade" for Michigan. More than a half million people fled the state, decreasing her Electoral College votes from eighteen to sixteen.Career politicians in both parties are clenching their gator-like jaws tighter and tighter on hard-working Michiganders. Instead of serving the common interests of the people who elected them, the politics-as-usual crowd is beholden to special interests that generously support their pursuit of power.That's what drove a successful aerospace engineer and small-business owner to get out of his comfort zone, run for office, and restore the voice of the people. Echoing the president's battle cry, Colbeck's strategy is to drain the swamp and rid Michigan of her entrenched "alligators."Michigan is on the verge of making a dramatic comeback. Colbeck's strategy for returning the power to "We the People" is well on its way! In Wrestling Alligators, you will learn¿How government really works.¿How good people are seduced by the political swamp.¿What happens when one attempts to drain the swamp.¿How we can restore our faith in government.

Wrestling with Faith, Love, and Gators

Wrestling with Faith, Love, and Gators PDF Author: Chad Young
Publisher: ACU Press
ISBN: 0891126600
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 198

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Book Description
We hear people say we should love God with all our hearts, souls, and minds, but what does that mean? Or more importantly, what could it look like to fall in love with God? “Chad, jump on the gator’s back!” In a split second, a decision had to be made. Did Chad love his future brother-in-law enough to help him control a powerful seven-and-a-half-foot alligator? Ultimately, there was a subconscious devotion that affected his decision. We all face decisions every day. Some of them are small, but others are potentially life-altering. What you decide to do in those split seconds comes down to this: We all have beliefs about life and love, about what is most important, and we all act on those beliefs. In this book, Chad Young addresses what many Christians are missing: being in love with God. The lack of genuine faith and love in the church is the main reason why 59% of college students who grew up with a Christian background are leaving the Christian faith. Chad uses his own faith journey and humorous stories to call you to a deeper, legitimate love for God.

Alligator Wrestling and You

Alligator Wrestling and You PDF Author: Louis Phillips
Publisher: Avon Books
ISBN: 9780380763030
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 100

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Book Description
A humorous guide to the care and feeding of alligators and the fine art of wrestling them.

Alligators

Alligators PDF Author: Nancy Furstinger
Publisher: ABDO
ISBN: 1629686794
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 50

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Book Description
Have you ever wondered what it's like to be a cold-blooded, creepy-crawly alligator? Learn all about this incredible reptile in this upper-elementary title. This title offers an in-depth look at alligators, including their physical characteristics, behavior, survival, techniques, life cycle, habitat and range, and threats to the animal. Aligned to Common Core standards and correlated to state standards. Core Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

Swamplandia!

Swamplandia! PDF Author: Karen Russell
Publisher: Knopf
ISBN: 0307263991
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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Book Description
The Bigtree children struggle to protect their Florida Everglades alligator-wrestling theme park from a sophisticated competitor after losing their parents.

America's Alligator

America's Alligator PDF Author: Doug Alderson
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1493048279
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 153

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Book Description
People have long been fascinated by the American alligator. Ever since humans arrived on the continent more than 15,000 years ago, the American alligator has been both feared and revered, celebrated and scorned, and often hunted for food and hide. Once tourism began to take hold in the South as a real industry, especially in Florida, the alligator took on iconic and even mythical status. “One of the most picturesque features of Florida has always been that uncouth and fierce-looking reptile called the alligator,” wrote Nevin O. Winter in 1918. “Everybody who comes down here to the peninsula has an ambition to see one in the wild.” Seminole Indians wrestled alligators for show. Alligator souvenirs and mascots often took what people feared—a sharp-toothed predator—and made it into something cute and cuddly. Alligator-themed songs were recorded and released, including “See You Later Alligator” by Bill Haley and His Comets. Hollywood into created alligator-themed movies such as Alligator People. Alligators were also reportedly kept in the White House under two presidencies. And perhaps the most unusual alligator story was one that helped to nab Ma Barker and her son Fred when they were hiding out along Florida’s Lake Weir. America’s Alligator examines the colorful and sometimes conflicted relationship our species has had with Alligator mississippiensis. Doug Alderson explores the country’s rich alligator mythology and how it inspired various forms of art, stories, photography, tourism and even humor.

The Other Orlando

The Other Orlando PDF Author: Kelly Monaghan
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781887140508
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
This fully revised and updated editions reviews nearly 200 other attractions, from family theme parks like SeaWorld to sports, the arts, dinner attractions, Kennedy Space Center, roadside attractions, zoos, gardens, and the great outdoors.

High Stakes

High Stakes PDF Author: Jessica Cattelino
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 0822391309
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
In 1979, Florida Seminoles opened the first tribally operated high-stakes bingo hall in North America. At the time, their annual budget stood at less than $2 million. By 2006, net income from gaming had surpassed $600 million. This dramatic shift from poverty to relative economic security has created tangible benefits for tribal citizens, including employment, universal health insurance, and social services. Renewed political self-governance and economic strength have reversed decades of U.S. settler-state control. At the same time, gaming has brought new dilemmas to reservation communities and triggered outside accusations that Seminoles are sacrificing their culture by embracing capitalism. In High Stakes, Jessica R. Cattelino tells the story of Seminoles’ complex efforts to maintain politically and culturally distinct values in a time of new prosperity. Cattelino presents a vivid ethnographic account of the history and consequences of Seminole gaming. Drawing on research conducted with tribal permission, she describes casino operations, chronicles the everyday life and history of the Seminole Tribe, and shares the insights of individual Seminoles. At the same time, she unravels the complex connections among cultural difference, economic power, and political rights. Through analyses of Seminole housing, museum and language programs, legal disputes, and everyday activities, she shows how Seminoles use gaming revenue to enact their sovereignty. They do so in part, she argues, through relations of interdependency with others. High Stakes compels rethinking of the conditions of indigeneity, the power of money, and the meaning of sovereignty.

Warriors Without War

Warriors Without War PDF Author: Patricia Riles Wickman
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
ISBN: 0817317317
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 420

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Book Description
Warriors Without War takes readers beneath the placid waters of the Seminole’s public image and into the fascinating depths of Seminole society and politics. For the entire last quarter of the twentieth century, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, a federally recognized American Indian Tribe, struggled as it transitioned from a tiny group of warriors into one of the best-known tribes on the world’s economic stage through their gaming enterprises. Caught between a desperate desire for continued cultural survival and the mounting pressures of the non-Indian world—especially, the increasing requirements of the United States government— the Seminoles took a warriorlike approach to financial risk management. Their leader was the sometimes charming, sometimes crass and explosive, always warriorlike James Billie, who twice led the tribe in fights with the State of Florida that led all the way to the US Supreme Court. Patricia Riles Wickman, who lived and worked for fifteen years with the Seminole people, chronicles the near-meteoric rise of the tribe and its leader to the pinnacle of international fame, and Billie’s ultimate fall after twenty-four years in power. Based partly on her own personal experiences working with the Seminole Tribe of Florida, Wickman has produced an in-depth study of the rise of one of the largest Indian gaming operations in the United States that reads almost like a Capote nonfiction novel.

The Thing about Florida

The Thing about Florida PDF Author: Tyler Gillespie
Publisher: University Press of Florida
ISBN: 0813065852
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 134

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Book Description
A journey beyond fears and stereotypes The memes. “Because Florida” jokes. “Florida Man” stories. Tyler Gillespie was once embarrassed to call Florida home, concocting fantasies he’d been born somewhere else. In The Thing about Florida, Gillespie faces his Florida denial and takes readers on an exuberant search for the state behind the caricatures, cutting through the media storm with curiosity and humor. Gillespie’s journey leads him into unexpected places such as halfway houses, gator pits, rattlesnake rooms, and clothing-optional campgrounds, where he meets eclectic and unconventional Floridians. He interviews storm chasers, Civil War reenactors, cattle ranchers, drag queens, python hunters, and pet smugglers. His conversations delve into serious issues such as addiction, Florida’s racist past, and care options for the state’s LGBTQ senior citizens. With perspective and empathy derived from his background as a gay man raised Southern Baptist, Gillespie shows how important it is to understand the diversity and complexity of Florida today. “It’s dangerous to meet our fears with fear,” he says as he confronts his own as well as the state’s monsters—invasive species, hurricanes, environmental destruction. He reminds us that Florida’s people and problems are vital parts of the nation’s future. A fresh and engaging voice, Gillespie captivates with a snappy pace, sly wit, and crisp observations. As he weaves his childhood memories and personal experiences alongside the stories of the individuals he encounters, Gillespie reconciles with his home state. He finds Florida’s humanity, a beautiful mix of hopes, dreams, and second chances.