Books by "David J. Blacker"
4 books found
The claim by the Ministry of Defence in 2001 that 'the experience of numerous small wars has provided the British Army with a unique insight into this demanding form of conflict' unravelled spectacularly in Iraq and Afghanistan. One important reason for that, David French suggests, was because contemporary British counter-insurgency doctrine was based upon a serious misreading of the past. Until now, many observers believed that during the wars of decolonisation in the two decades after 1945, the British had discovered how western liberal notions of right and wrong could be made compatible with the imperatives of waging war amongst the people, that force could be used effectively but with care, and that a more just and prosperous society could emerge from these struggles. By using only the minimum necessary force, and doing so with the utmost discrimination, the British were able to win by securing the 'hearts and minds' of the people. But this was a serious distortion of actual British practice on the ground. David French's main contention is that the British hid their use of naked force behind a carefully constructed veneer of legality. In reality, they commonly used wholesale coercion, including cordon and search operations, mass detention without trial, forcible population resettlement, and the creation of free-fire zones to intimidate and lock-down the civilian population. The British waged their counter-insurgency campaigns by being nasty, not nice, to the people. The British Way in Counter-Insurgency is a seminal reassessment of the historical foundation of British counter doctrine and practice.
Hutchison argues that pressures on schools associated with declining budgets, competing ideologies, and economic/technological shifts have the potential to radically alter the landscape of the K-12 school experience. He discusses strategies for This book considers the philosophy of place in education and everyday life, the history of and current trends in school design, the school infrastructure crisis, and the relationship between the philosophy of education and classroom design. Hutchison argues that pressures on schools associated with declining budgets, competing ideologies, and economic/technological shifts have the potential to radically alter the landscape of the K-12 school experience. He discusses strategies for mediating these pressures and strengthening a sense of place in education.mediating these pressures and strengthening a sense of place in education.
Mindfulness: The Basics provides a comprehensive introduction to what mindfulness is, how and why it’s useful, and guidance for practice. Mindfulness practice can help reduce anxiety, stress, and low mood, giving way to creativity, happiness, and tranquillity. It also offers us a way in which to acknowledge the limitations and challenges inherent in the human condition. This book covers a brief history of mindfulness, its applications, and a review of the current evidence base, as well as some key debates in the field. Divided into three broad sections, this book explores understanding mindfulness, practicing mindfulness, and future directions. Chapters particularly emphasise the role mindfulness can play in addressing the major environmental, social, and political challenges of our time. The book also contains a glossary of key terms, chapter summaries, diagrams, and an e-resource of audio-guided practices. This book is essential for anyone interested in learning more about practising mindfulness. Students of mindfulness as well as those in healthcare training programmes (such as nursing, medicine, psychology, and psychotherapy) will find this an invaluable guide.
This book describes the complete iWarp system, from instruction-level parallelism to final parallel applications. The authors present a range of issues that must be considered to get a real system into practice. foreword by Gordon Bell and afterword by H.T. Kung Although researchers have proposed many mechanisms and theories for parallel systems, only a few have actually resulted in working computing platforms. The iWarp is an experimental parallel system that was designed and built jointly by Carnegie Mellon University and Intel Corporation. The system is based on the idea of integrating a VLIW processor and a sophisticated fine-grained communication system on a single chip. This book describes the complete iWarp system, from instruction-level parallelism to final parallel applications. The authors present a range of issues that must be considered to get a real system into practice. They also provide a start-to-finish history of the project, including what was done right and what was done wrong, that will be of interest to anyone who studies or builds computer systems.