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Books Received
November 2011
Listed below are books received for review over the last two months. Entries include publishing information as well as a description of the book. Unless otherwise stated, the book description is taken from the publisher's website or the book jacket. Selected titles from this list will be chosen for a full review in forthcoming issues of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books. Previous books received are available from the links below.
Previous Editions
|Blood at the Root: Lynching as American Cultural Nucleus. by Jennie Lightweis-Goff. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2011. 217p.
In Blood at the Root, winner of the 2009 SUNY Press Dissertation/First Book Prize in African American Studies, Jennie Lightweis-Goff examines the centrality of lynching to American culture, focusing particularly on the ways in which literature, popular culture, and art have constructed the illusion of secrecy and obsolescence to conceal the memory of violence. Including critical study of writers and artists like Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Richard Wright, William Faulkner, George Schuyler, and Kara Walker, Lightweis-Goff also incorporates her personal experience in the form of a year-long travelogue of visits to lynching sites. Her research and travel move outside the American South and rural locales to demonstrate the fiction of confining racism to certain areas of the country and the denial of collective responsibility for racial violence. Lightweis-Goff seeks to implicate societal attitude in the actions of the few and to reveal the legacy of violence that has been obscured by more valiant memories in the public sphere. In exploring the ways that spatial and literary texts replace lynching with proclamations of innocence and regret, Lightweis-Goff argues that racial violence is an incompletely erupted trauma of American life whose very hiddenness links the past to still-present practices of segregation and exclusion.
|Cape Town after Apartheid: Crime and Governance in the Divided City. by Tony Roshan Samara. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2011. 256p.
Cape Town after Apartheid focuses on urban renewal and urban security policies and practices in the city center and townships as this aspiring world-class city actively pursues a neoliberal approach to development. The city's attempt to escape its past is, however, constrained by crippling inequalities, racial and ethnic tensions, political turmoil, and persistent insecurity. Samara shows how governance in Cape Town remains rooted in the perceived need to control dangerous populations and protect a somewhat fragile and unpopular economic system. In urban areas around the world, where the affluent minority and poor majority live in relative proximity to each other, aggressive security practices and strict governance reflect and reproduce the divided city.
A critical case for understanding a transnational view of urban governance, especially in highly unequal, majority-poor cities, this closely observed study of postapartheid Cape Town affords valuable insight into how security and governance technologies from the global North combine with local forms to create new approaches to social control in cities across the global South.
|Cartel: The Coming Invasion of Mexico's Drug Wars. by Sylvia Longmire. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. 256p.
Having followed Mexico's cartels for years, border security expert Sylvia Longmire takes us deep into the heart of their world to witness a dangerous underground that will do whatever it takes to deliver drugs to a willing audience of American consumers. The cartels have grown increasingly bold in recent years, building submarines to move up the coast of Central America and digging elaborate tunnels that both move drugs north and carry cash and U.S. high-powered assault weapons back to fuel the drug war. Channeling her long experience working on border issues, Longmire brings to life the very real threat of Mexican cartels operating not just along the southwest border, but deep inside every corner of the United States. She also offers real solutions to the critical problems facing Mexico and the United States, including programs to deter youth in Mexico from joining the cartels and changing drug laws on both sides of the border.
|Contemporary Maritime Piracy: International Law, Strategy, and Diplomacy at Sea. by James Kraska. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2011. 253p.
In the past decade, the incidence of maritime piracy has exploded. The first three months of 2011 were the worst ever, with 18 ships hijacked, 344 crew taken hostage, and 7 crew members murdered. The four Americans on board the sailing vessel Quest were shot at point-blank range. The economic costs are also staggering, reaching $7 to $12 billion per year, as insurance costs skyrocket, ransoms double and then quadruple, and ships are forced to hire armed security for protection. Pirates operating off the Horn of Africa disrupt shipping traffic through the strategic Suez Canal, siphoning transit fees from an unstable Egypt, while the seizure of supertankers in the Indian Ocean underscores the vulnerability of the world's oil supply.
Governments, private industry, and international organizations have mobilized to address the threat. This is the first volume to examine their work in developing naval strategy, international law and diplomacy, and industry guidelines to suppress contemporary maritime piracy.
Contemporary Maritime Piracy: International Law, Strategy, and Diplomacy at Sea comprises three sections, the first of which contains chapters on historical and contemporary piracy, international law and diplomacy, and coalition strategies for combating future piracy. The second and third parts provide collections of historic profiles and relevant documents.
|Deviance and Inequality in Japan: Japanese Youth and Foreign Migrants. by Robert Stuart Yoder. Bristol, UK; Portland, OR: The Policy Press, 2011. 240p.
Japanese youth and foreign migrants face stringent institutionalised controls in Japan. This book questions the efficacy of such social controls, focusing on the interrelation of inequality (powerlessness, discriminate controls and class inequality) and deviance (largely derived from power and the violation of informal and formal norms). It provides a comprehensive detailed description and explanation of inequality and deviance of Japanese youth and 17 foreign migrant groups. The book is aimed at individuals, students and academicians interested in Japan area studies.
|The Ethics of Capital Punishment: A Philosophical Investigation of Evil and its Consequences. by Matthew H. Kramer. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2011. 368p.
Debate has long been waged over the morality of capital punishment, with standard arguments in its favour being marshalled against familiar arguments that oppose the practice. In The Ethics of Capital Punishment, Matthew Kramer takes a fresh look at the philosophical arguments on which the legitimacy of the death penalty stands or falls, and he develops a novel justification of that penalty for a limited range of cases.
The book pursues both a project of critical debunking of the familiar rationales for capital punishment and a project of partial vindication. The critical part presents some accessible and engaging critiques of major arguments that have been offered in support of the death penalty. These chapters, suitable for use in teaching courses on capital punishment, valuably take issue with positions at the heart of contemporary debates over the morality of such punishment.
The book then presents an original justification for executing truly terrible criminals, a justification that is free-standing rather than an aspect or offshoot of a general theory of punishment. Its purgative rationale, which has not heretofore been propounded in any current philosophical and practical debates over the death penalty, derives from a philosophical reconception of the nature of evil and the nature of defilement.
As the book contributes to philosophical discussions of those phenomena, it also contributes importantly to general normative ethics with sustained reflections on the differences between consequentialist approaches to punishment and deontological approaches. Above all, the volume contributes to the philosophy of criminal law with a fresh rationale for the use of the death penalty and with probing assessments of all the major theories of punishment that have been broached by jurists and philosophers for centuries. Although the book is a work of philosophy by a professional philosopher, it is readily accessible to readers who have not studied philosophy. It will stir both philosophers and anyone engaged with the death penalty to reconsider whether the institution of capital punishment can be an appropriate response to extreme evil.
|The Ethics of Plea Bargaining. by Richard L. Lippke. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2011. 272p.
The practice of plea bargaining plays a hugely significant role in the adjudication of criminal charges and has provoked intense debate about its legitimacy. This book offers the first full-length philosophical analysis of the ethics of plea bargaining. It develops a sustained argument for restrained forms of the practice and against the free-wheeling versions that predominate in the United States.
|The Fertile Soil of Jihad: Terrorism's Prison Connection. by Patrick T. Dunleavy. Dulles, VA: Potomac Books, Inc., 2011. 160p.
On January 26, 1993, a young Palestinian man named Abdel Nasser Zaben was arrested and incarcerated in New York City for kidnapping and robbery. Just thirty days later, while he remained locked up, radical Islamic fundamentalists detonated a bomb in the World Trade Center. These two events, connected by common threads, signaled the coming of jihad to America. From the seemingly insulated environment of prison, this same young man, thought to have been merely a common criminal, swore allegiance to Osama bin Laden and began to convert other young minds to the cause. A dangerous terrorist recruitment "cell" had been born. How did it happen?
Through the story of Abdel Nasser Zaben's recruitment efforts in prison,The Fertile Soil of Jihad explores in vivid detail how the American prison subculture fosters terrorism. Dunleavy shows how Zaben carefully and knowingly selected the most likely candidates for conversion to his cause. He reveals how Zaben used his apprentice role in the prison chaplain's office as a cover for his work and how prison resources were used in the service of terrorism. This book yields invaluable insights for intelligence and corrections professionals as well as informed citizens eager to learn what progress the U.S. government is making in countering terrorism.
|The Furnace of Affliction: Prisons and Religion in Antebellum America. by Jennifer Graber. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2011. 248p.
Focusing on the intersection of Christianity and politics in the American penitentiary system, Jennifer Graber explores evangelical Protestants' efforts to make religion central to emerging practices and philosophies of prison discipline from the 1790s through the 1850s.
Initially, state and prison officials welcomed Protestant reformers' and ministers' recommendations, particularly their ideas about inmate suffering and redemption. Over time, however, officials proved less receptive to the reformers' activities, and inmates also opposed them. Ensuing debates between reformers, officials, and inmates revealed deep disagreements over religion's place in prisons and in the wider public sphere as the separation of church and state took hold and the nation's religious environment became more diverse and competitive. Examining the innovative New York prison system, Graber shows how Protestant reformers failed to realize their dreams of large-scale inmate conversion or of prisons that reflected their values. To keep a foothold in prisons, reformers were forced to relinquish their Protestant terminology and practices and instead to adopt secular ideas about American morals, virtues, and citizenship.
|Habeas Corpus in America: The Politics of Individual Rights. by Justin J. Wert. Lawrence, KS: University of Press Kansas, 2011. 296p.
For most Americans, habeas corpus is the cornerstone of our legal system: the principal constitutional check on arbitrary government power, allowing an arrested person to challenge the legality of his detention. In a study that could not be more timely, Justin Wert reexamines this essential individual right and shows that habeas corpus is not necessarily the check that we've assumed. Habeas corpus, it emerges, is as much a tool of politics as it is of law.
In this first study of habeas corpus in an American political context, Wert shifts our collective emphasis from the judicial to the political—toward the changes in the writ influenced by Congress, the president, political parties, state governments, legal academics, and even interest groups. By doing so, he reveals how political regimes have used habeas corpus both to undo the legacies of their predecessors and to establish and enforce their own vision of constitutional governance.
Tracing the history of the writ from the Founding to Hamdi v. Rumsfeld and Boumediene v. Bush, Wert illuminates crucial developmental moments in its evolution. He demonstrates that during the antebellum period, Reconstruction, Gilded Age, Great Society, and the ongoing war on terrorism, habeas corpus has waxed and waned in harmony with the interests of majoritarian politics. Along the way, Wert identifies and explains the political context of fine points of law that many political scientists and historians may not be aware of—such as the exhaustion rule requiring that a federal habeas participant must first exhaust all possible claims for relief in state court, a maneuver by which the post-Reconstruction Court abandoned supervision of race relations in the South.
Especially in light of the new scrutiny of habeas corpus prompted by the Guantánamo detainees, Wert's book is essential for broadening our understanding of how law and politics continue to intersect after 9/11. Brimming with fresh insights into constitutional development and regime theory, it shows that the Great Writ of Liberty may not be so great as we have supposed—because while it has the potential to enforce conceptions of rights that are consistent with the best ideals of American politics, it also has the potential to enforce its worst aspects as well.
|Illicit Flirtations: Labor Migration, and Sex Trafficking in Tokyo. by Rhacel Salazar Parreñas. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. 2011. 336p.
In 2004, the U.S. State Department declared Filipina hostesses in Japan the largest group of sex trafficked persons in the world. Since receiving this global attention, the number of hostesses entering Japan has dropped by nearly 90 percent—from more than 80,000 in 2004 to just over 8,000 today. To some, this might suggest a victory for the global anti-trafficking campaign, but Rhacel Parreñas counters that this drastic decline—which stripped thousands of migrants of their livelihoods—is in truth a setback.
Parreñas worked alongside hostesses in a working-class club in Tokyo's red-light district, serving drinks, singing karaoke, and entertaining her customers, including members of the yakuza, the Japanese crime syndicate. While the common assumption has been that these hostess bars are hotbeds of sexual trafficking, Parreñas quickly discovered a different world of working migrant women, there by choice, and, most importantly, where none were coerced into prostitution. But this is not to say that the hostesses were not vulnerable in other ways.
Illicit Flirtations challenges our understandings of human trafficking and calls into question the U.S. policy to broadly label these women as sex trafficked. It highlights how in imposing top-down legal constraints to solve the perceived problems—including laws that push dependence on migrant brokers, guest worker policies that bind migrants to an employer, marriage laws that limit the integration of migrants, and measures that criminalize undocumented migrants—many women become more vulnerable to exploitation, not less. It is not the jobs themselves, but the regulation that makes migrants susceptible to trafficking. If we are to end the exploitation of people, we first need to understand the actual experiences of migrants, not rest on global policy statements. This book gives a long overdue look into the real world of those labeled as trafficked.
|The Many Faces of Youth Crime: Contrasting Theoretical Perspectives on Juvenile Delinquency across Countries and Cultures. by J. Junger-Tas, I. H. Marshall, D. Enzmann, M. Killias, M. Steketee, and B. Gruszczynska. New York, NY: Springer. 2012. 85p.
This book presents the first comprehensive analysis of the second International Self-Report Delinquency study (ISRD-2). An earlier volume, Juvenile Delinquency in Europe and Beyond (Springer, 2010) focused mainly on the findings with regard to delinquency, victimization and substance use in each of the individual participating ISRD-2 countries. The Many Faces of Youth Crime is based on analysis of the merged data set and has a number of unique features:
|Peculiar Institution: America's Death Penalty in an Age of Abolition. David Garland. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2010. 432p.
The U.S. death penalty is a peculiar institution, and a uniquely American one. Despite its comprehensive abolition elsewhere in the Western world, capital punishment continues in dozens of American states—a fact that is frequently discussed but rarely understood. The same puzzlement surrounds the peculiar form that American capital punishment now takes, with its uneven application, its seemingly endless delays, and the uncertainty of its ever being carried out in individual cases, none of which seem conducive to effective crime control or criminal justice. In a brilliantly provocative study, David Garland explains this tenacity and shows how death penalty practice has come to bear the distinctive hallmarks of America's political institutions and cultural conflicts.
America's radical federalism and local democracy, as well as its legacy of violence and racism, account for our divergence from the rest of the West. Whereas the elites of other nations were able to impose nationwide abolition from above despite public objections, American elites are unable—and unwilling—to end a punishment that has the support of local majorities and a storied place in popular culture.
In the course of hundreds of decisions, federal courts sought to rationalize and civilize an institution that too often resembled a lynching, producing layers of legal process but also delays and reversals. Yet the Supreme Court insists that the issue is to be decided by local political actors and public opinion. So the death penalty continues to respond to popular will, enhancing the power of criminal justice professionals, providing drama for the media, and bringing pleasure to a public audience who consumes its chilling tales.
Garland brings a new clarity to our understanding of this peculiar institution—and a new challenge to supporters and opponents alike.
|Policing Economic Crime in Russia: From Soviet Planned Economy to Privatization. by Gilles Favarel-Garrigues. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2011. 288p.
Gilles Favarel-Garrigues explores the management of economic crime in Russia, from the time of Leonid Brezhnev to Boris Yeltsin, recasting the history of the "criminal problem" that has tainted Russian politics since the late 1980s.
In the closing decades of the Soviet regime, shortages of goods and services precipitated a rapid increase in black market and underground practices, visible to all yet wholly illegal. Favarel-Garrigues explains why certain cases were selected for prosecution and why particular funds and manpower were deployed to combat "economic crime." Law enforcement agencies were also charged with stemming the fallout from Mikhail Gorbachev's liberal economic reforms. Russia's judicial framework proved too obsolete to deal with far-reaching economic change, tempting many in law enforcement to privatize their professional know-how. Drawing on firsthand research with both criminals and policemen, Favarel-Garrigues scrupulously investigates the changing face of criminal law and its practice before and after the fall of the Soviet state.
|Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys. by Victor M. Rios. New York, NY; London, UK: New York University Press, 2011. 237p.
Victor Rios grew up in the ghetto of Oakland, California in the 1980s and 90s. A former gang member and juvenile delinquent, Rios managed to escape the bleak outcome of many of his friends and earned a PhD at Berkeley and returned to his hometown to study how inner city young Latino and African American boys develop their sense of self in the midst of crime and intense policing. Punished examines the difficult lives of these young men, who now face punitive policies in their schools, communities, and a world where they are constantly policed and stigmatized.
Rios followed a group of forty delinquent Black and Latino boys for three years. These boys found themselves in a vicious cycle, caught in a spiral of punishment and incarceration as they were harassed, profiled, watched, and disciplined at young ages, even before they had committed any crimes, eventually leading many of them to fulfill the destiny expected of them. But beyond a fatalistic account of these marginalized young men, Rios finds that the very system that criminalizes them and limits their opportunities, sparks resistance and a raised consciousness that motivates some to transform their lives and become productive citizens. Ultimately, he argues that by understanding the lives of the young men who are criminalized and pipelined through the criminal justice system, we can begin to develop empathic solutions which support these young men in their development and to eliminate the culture of punishment that has become an overbearing part of their everyday lives.
|Punishing Race: A Continuing American Dilemma. by Michael Tonry. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2011. 224p.
How can it be, in a nation that elected Barack Obama, that one third of African American males born in 2001 will spend time in a state or federal prison, and that black men are seven times likelier than white men to be in prison? Blacks are much more likely than whites to be stopped by the police, arrested, prosecuted, convicted, and imprisoned, and are much less likely to have confidence in justice system officials, especially the police.
In Punishing Race, Michael Tonry demonstrates in lucid, accessible language that these patterns result not from racial differences in crime or drug use but primarily from drug and crime control policies that disproportionately affect black Americans. These policies in turn stem from a lack of white empathy for black people, and from racial stereotypes and resentments provoked partly by the Republican Southern Strategy of using coded "law and order" appeals to race to gain support from white voters. White Americans, Tonry observes, have a remarkable capacity to endure the suffering of disadvantaged black and, increasingly, Hispanic men. Crime policies are among a set of social policies enacted since the 1960s that have maintained white dominance over black people despite the end of legal discrimination. To redress these injustices, Tonry offers a number of proposals: stop racial profiling by the police, shift the emphasis of drug law enforcement to treatment and prevention, eliminate mandatory sentencing laws, and change sentencing guidelines to allow judges discretion to take account of offenders' life circumstances. Those proposals are all attainable and would all reduce unjustifiable racial disparities and the collateral human and social harms they cause.
|Putting Fear of Crime on the Map: Investigating Perceptions of Crime Using Geographic Information Systems. by Bruce J. Doran & Melissa B. Burgess. New York, NY: Springer, 2012. p. 283.
The impact of crime on society is well-known and well-documented. But fear of crime also takes a major toll, affecting individual mobility, neighborhood cohesion, and local economies, and is an increasingly important topic in criminology and other disciplines. In recent years, Geographic Information Systems technology has brought needed spatial dimensions to research into fear of crime.
Putting Fear of Crime on the Map reviews these efforts, chronicling the evolution of both research and technology. Fear of crime is defined as a complex system of avoidance behaviors that paradoxically helps create conditions favorable to crime, and the authors summarize approaches used in understanding the problem. In later chapters, data from two landmark studies examine new ways of conceptualizing and addressing fear of crime offered by GIS technology, and the authors present innovative GIS-based methods for reducing fear of crime, as well as in monitoring the effectiveness of law enforcement and community initiatives.
|Sentencing and the Legitimacy of Trial Justice. by Ralph Henham. ???, ???: Routledge, 2011. 368p.
This book discusses the under-researched relationship between sentencing and the legitimacy of punishment. It argues that there is an increasing gap between what is perceived as legitimate punishment and the sentencing decisions of the criminal courts.
Drawing on a wide variety of empirical research evidence, the book explores how sentencing could be developed within a more socially-inclusive framework for the delivery of trial justice. In the international context, such developments are directly relevant to the future role of the International Criminal Court, especially its ability to deliver more coherent and inclusive trial outcomes that contribute to social reconstruction. Similarly, in the national context, these issues have a vital role to play in helping to re-position trial justice as a credible cornerstone of criminal justice governance where social diversity persists. In so doing the book should help policy-makers in appreciating the likely implications for criminal trials of 'mainstreaming' restorative forms of justice.
Sentencing and the Legitimacy of Trial Justice firmly ties the issue of legitimacy to the relevant context for delivering 'justice'.
|Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones From the Ancient World to the Era of Human Rights. by Elizabeth D. Heineman (Ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Penn Press, 2011. 352p.
Since the 1990s, sexual violence in conflict zones has received much media attention. In large part as a result of grassroots feminist organizing in the 1970s and 1980s, mass rapes in the wars in the former Yugoslavia and during the Rwandan genocide received widespread coverage, and international organizations—from courts to NGOs to the UN—have engaged in systematic efforts to hold perpetrators accountable and to ameliorate the effects of wartime sexual violence.
Yet many millennia of conflict preceded these developments, and we know little about the longer-term history of conflict-based sexual violence. Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones helps to fill in the historical gaps. It provides insight into subjects that are of deep concern to the human rights community, such as the aftermath of conflict-based sexual violence, legal strategies for prosecuting it, the economic functions of sexual violence, and the ways perceived religious or racial difference can create or aggravate settings of sexual danger.
Essays in the volume span a broad geographic, chronological, and thematic scope, touching on the ancient world, medieval Europe, the American Revolutionary War, precolonial and colonial Africa, Muslim Central Asia, the two world wars, and the Bangladeshi War of Independence. By considering a wide variety of cases, the contributors analyze the factors making sexual violence in conflict zones more or less likely and the resulting trauma more or less devastating. Topics covered range from the experiences of victims and the motivations of perpetrators, to the relationship between wartime and peacetime sexual violence, to the historical background of the contemporary feminist-inflected human rights moment. In bringing together historical and contemporary perspectives, this wide-ranging collection provides historians and human rights activists with tools for understanding long-term consequences of sexual violence as war-ravaged societies struggle to achieve postconflict stability.
|Smugglers, Brothels, and Twine: Historical Perspectives on Contraband and Vice in North American's Borderlands. by Elaine Carey and Andrae M. Marak. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 2011. 264p.
In this volume the borders of North America serve as central locations for examining the consequences of globalization as it intersects with hegemonic spaces and ideas, national territorialism, and opportunities for—or restrictions on—mobility. The authors of the essays in this collection warn against falling victim to the myth of nation-states engaging in a valiant struggle against transnational flows of crime and vice. They take a long historical perspective, from Mesoamerican counterfeits of cacao beans used as currency to cattle rustling to human trafficking; from Canada's and Mexico's different approaches to the illegality of liquor in the United States during Prohibition to contemporary case studies of the transnational movement of people, crime, narcotics, vice, and even ideas.
By studying the historical flows of contraband and vice across North American borders, the contributors seek to bring a greater understanding of borderlanders, the actual agents of historical change who often remain on the periphery of most historical analyses that focus on the state or on policy.
To examine the political, economic, and social shifts resulting from the transnational movement of goods, people, and ideas, these contributions employ the analytical categories of race, class, modernity, and gender that underlie this evolution. Chapters focus on the ways power relations created opportunities for engaging in "deviance," thus questioning the constructs of economic reality versus concepts of criminal behavior. Looking through the lens of transnational flows of contraband and vice, the authors develop a new understanding of nation, immigration, modernization, globalization, consumer society, and border culture.
|Space, Place, and Violence: Violence and the Embodied Geographies of Race, Sex and Gender. by James A. Tyner. New York, NY: Routledge, 2011. 240p.
Direct, interpersonal violence is a pervasive, yet often mundane feature of our day-to-day lives. Paradoxically, violence is both ordinary and extraordinary. Violence, in other words, is often hidden in plain sight. Space, Place, and Violence seeks to uncover that which is too apparent: to critically question both violent geographies and the geographies of violence. With a focus on direct violence, this book situates violent acts within the context of broader political and structural conditions. Violence, it is argued, is both a social and spatial practice. Adopting a geographic perspective, Space, Place, and Violence provides a critical reading of how violence takes place and also produces place. Specifically, four spatial vignettes—home, school, streets, and community—are introduced, designed so that students may think critically how 'race', sex, gender, and class inform violent geographies and geographies of violence.
|Toward a Unified Criminology: Integrating Assumptions about Crime, People and Society. by Robert Agnew. New York, NY; London, UK: New York University Press, 2011, 272p.
Why do people commit crimes? How do we control crime? The theories that criminologists use to answer these questions are built on a number of underlying assumptions, including those about the nature of crime, free will, human nature, and society. These assumptions have a fundamental impact on criminology: they largely determine what criminologists study, the causes they examine, the control strategies they recommend, and how they test their theories and evaluate crime-control strategies.
In Toward a Unified Criminology, noted criminologist Robert Agnew provides a critical examination of these assumptions, drawing on a range of research and perspectives to argue that these assumptions are too restrictive, unduly limiting the types of "crime" that are explored, the causes that are considered, and the methods of data collection and analysis that are employed. As such, they undermine our ability to explain and control crime. Agnew then proposes an alternative set of assumptions, drawing heavily on both mainstream and critical theories of criminology, with the goal of laying the foundation for a unified criminology that is better able to explain a broader range of crimes.
|The Trials of Eroy Brown: The Murder Case That Shook the Texas Prison System. by Michael Berryhill. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2011. 244p.
In April 1981, two white Texas prison officials died at the hands of a black inmate at the Ellis prison farm near Huntsville. Warden Wallace Pack and farm manager Billy Moore were the highest-ranking Texas prison officials ever to die in the line of duty. The warden was drowned face down in a ditch. The farm manager was shot once in the head with the warden's gun. The man who admitted to killing them, a burglar and robber named Eroy Brown, surrendered meekly, claiming self-defense.
In any other era of Texas prison history, Brown's fate would have seemed certain: execution. But in 1980, federal judge William Wayne Justice had issued a sweeping civil rights ruling in which he found that prison officials had systematically and often brutally violated the rights of Texas inmates. In the light of that landmark prison civil rights case, Ruiz v. Estelle, Brown had a chance of being believed.
The Trials of Eroy Brown, the first book devoted to Brown's astonishing defense, is based on trial documents, exhibits, and journalistic accounts of Brown's three trials, which ended in his acquittal. Michael Berryhill presents Brown's story in his own words, set against the backdrop of the chilling plantation mentality of Texas prisons. Brown's attorneys—Craig Washington, Bill Habern, and Tim Sloan—undertook heroic strategies to defend him, even when the state refused to pay their fees. The Trials of Eroy Brown tells a landmark story of prison civil rights and the collapse of Jim Crow justice in Texas.
|When Crime Appears: The Role of Emergence. by Jean Marie McGloin, Christopher J. Sullivan, and Leslie W. Kennedy. New York, NY: Routledge, 2011, 250p.
In recent years, the idea of emergence, which suggests that observed patterns in behavior and events are not fully reductive and stem from complex lower-level interactions, has begun to take hold in the social sciences. Criminologists have started to use this framework to improve our general understanding of the etiology of crime and criminal behavior. When Crime Appears: The Role of Emergence is concerned with our ability to make sense of the complex underpinnings of the end-stage patterns and events that we see in studying crime and offers an early narrative on the concept of emergence as it pertains to criminological research. Collectively, the chapters in this volume provide a sense of why the emergence framework could be useful, outlines its core conceptual properties, provides some examples of its potential application, and presents some discussion of methodological and analytic issues related to its adoption.
|Youth Gangs and Street Children: Culture, Nurture and Masculinity in Ethiopia. by Paula Heinonen. Oxford, UK; New York, NY: Berghahn Books, 2011. 186p.
The rapidly expanding population of youth gangs and street children is one of the most disturbing issues in many cities around the world. These children are perceived to be in a constant state of destitution, violence and vagrancy, and therefore must be a serious threat to society, needing heavy-handed intervention and 'tough love' from concerned adults to impose societal norms on them and turn them into responsible citizens. However, such norms are far from the lived reality of these children. The situation is further complicated by gender-based violence and masculinist ideologies found in the wider Ethiopian culture, which influence the proliferation of youth gangs. By focusing on gender as the defining element of these children's lives — as they describe it in their own words — this book offers a clear analysis of how the unequal and antagonistic gender relations that are tolerated and normalized by everyday school and family structures shape their lives at home and on the street.


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Describing Peace
"I think I was thirsty for answers, for hope, and for something secure and solid." -Natalie Sebastian, iamsecond.com
After watching Natalie's video a few times, I keep coming back to this one quote. How often do we grasp for stability in this life? How often do we search for something unshakable.
To someone who may be new to this whole Jesus-concept, or someone who thinks the whole thing is hokey, it's hard to articulate what it is that gives us peace. So let's try to figure this out.
"I had seen that security lived out in [a] student's life and I knew if I could just grab a hold of even a little piece of that, then the home life would be better. My life would be better. And it has been." – Natalie Sebastian
Here's my question for you: What is it about being second that brings a sense of security? How are we able to be content with putting God first?
Let's discuss!
-Shay, I AM SECOND blogger
Filed under: I am Second, iamsecond.com | 4 Comments
Tags: homelife, hope, I am Second, joy, peace, security, stability
4 Responses to "Describing Peace"
To me…
I think that it has to do with the fact that you don't have to be responsible for it yourself. The only thing that I can compare it to is my experience with work. I've been "self-employed" before, and I've always experienced extra stress knowing that it was going to be on me to make sure that I can provide. Now that I work for a stable corporation I don't have the pressure of making things happen on my own. It is cool knowing that I have the "protection" of that authority over me. They make sure that I get paid, have benefits, etc. I just go in and cover my area and contribute to the whole.
In my opinion, putting me first puts the pressure on me to make it all work out. In being second, there is peace in the idea that I just do what God made me to do, and He takes care of managing the rest of the universe. It's kinda nice knowing that it is not all on me…
I have finally figured out that putting myself second does give me the security I need on a daily basis. Simply put, I am putting myself second to the Almighty King. It's like a chain of command to me. Who would I go to for solace if I put myself first? Who would I go to for life's everyday hiccups and struggles if I put myself first. It gives me comfort to know I am second and can turn over my sins and daily needs to the one who loves me most, the one who gave his life for me, and the one who will never turn his back on me. Jesus Christ is first in my life and makes me proud to be second … forever and ever!
Have you ever tried to be everything and do everything? From past experiences, I found it impossible to be the best mom, the best wife, the best at my job, the best friend, the best……. Trying to control it all destines one to fail. It puts too much pressure on us – after all we're not in control anyway!!!! Trusting in our Lord Jesus and knowing Heis with us every step of the way to be there, and hold us up when we can no longer stand is recognizing and living "I am second". This understanding and conviction offers peace, God's peace, that which passes ALL understanding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hallelujah!!!!!!!!!
"He brought Me Out Of A Pit, He Raised Me Up" That is what Shannon said. His Love and Mercy raised me up as well. In Him I feel Secure. His Holy Spirit in me brings me Peace. Knowing that I am His, that nothing can snatch me away…That is security.
I have found that I am only content when I put God First. If I am putting myself first, I am the maker of my own misery.

subset: commoncrawl


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Book: Sources of Value by Simon Woolley (BP) Review: Interesting topic. This aims to break down NPV and attribute the components into identifiable advantages of a company over its competitors. Most of the time when you identify sustainable competitive advantage for a company, its terminates as a qualitative judgment. This book takes it one step … Continue reading
Book: Valuation for Mergers, Buyouts and Restructuring, by Enrique R. Arzac (Columbia University) Review: Excellent book on valuation theory! Highly recommended! Key Points: Unlevered net income = net income + (1 – tax rate)*(interest expense – interest income) Unlevered net income + change in deferred taxes = net operating profit after tax (NOPAT) NOPAT + … Continue reading
Recently I had a conversation with a friend who is working as a forex trader in a leading investment bank. He was asking about when I would sell a position. The typical scenarios in which a value investor would sell a position are: It is overvalued. Mistakes were made in the analysis which led to … Continue reading


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Other Wood Products
Integrity Architectural Millwork's offerings are not limited to architectural hardwood moulding or dimensioned stock. Look to us for all your solid wood product needs. From arched casings to to railings to hardwood plywood, we are here to help.
Arches & Curved Materials
Arched and half round wood casings and jamb extensions are available in most casing and S4S profiles. Curved crowns, baseboards and chair rails are available in solid wood or flexible material. Please call for quote.
Door Frames & Window Trim
Interior and exterior door and window frames can be manufactured to your exacting specifications, and can be sent blank or pre-machined. Frames are sent knock down.
Railings are another of our specialties. We can reproduce solid wood railings for a historical restoration, and we can produce handicapped accessible railings for hospitals and assisted living facilities. See available options.
Stair Treads
We manufacture stair treads in any wood species. The treads can be produced from the standard 1-1/16" thick to 6" thick for a more contemporary design with many width and length options.
Solid Wood Paneling
Solid wood paneling brings richness and warmth to a room. See available options.
Log Cabin Siding
Our log cabin siding can be used for interior or exterior use.
Butcher Block Tops
We generally use hard Maple for our custom-made, solid wood butcher block tops since it is naturally disease resistant and a great choice for kitchens.
We carry several species of hardwood flooring in stock. Dozens of species, sizes and finishes are available with very short lead times. Please call us with your requests.
Hardwood Plywood
Integrity Architectural Millwork carries ¼" and ¾" hardwood plywood in stock in 4' x 8' sheets in these species: Knotty Alder, Superior Alder, Ash, Birch, Cherry, Hickory, Knotty Pine, Mahogany, Maple, Red Oak, and White Oak. Other species, cuts, thicknesses and sheet sizes are available upon request.


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This blog is dedicated with love to my missing daughter, Michaela Joy Garecht. Michaela was kidnapped on November 19, 1988, at the age of nine, and she is still missing. I will never stop looking for her. I will never stop loving her.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Dear Michaela ... my birthday present
My birthday present from all the kids just arrived today, and I wanted to share it with you. It's a very pretty bracelet, with each child's name engraved on each link. Here you can see your name, Michaela, on the first link. You are always so present, so very much a part of the family. If you came back, Michaela, it would be almost as though you'd never left.
5 comments:
- angelicaJanuary 7, 2012 at 11:38 PM
Very beautiful and meaningful gift! =)ReplyDelete
Your children are so thoughtful. I know your a proud mama. Very pretty bracelet! I think it is wonderful how your family include her in everything. For a split second at moments it almost doesn't seem as if she has been gone this long. More like she just stepped away to college. Have a wonderful evening.
That is really how it is Megan. I know that for Michaela, if she came home, it might be an adjustment. But for us, it is as though she never left, she is so much a part of our family every day. It is my hope that by writing these blogs, if Michaela is out there, her family will feel as comfortable and familiar to her as she does to all of us.ReplyDelete
What a beautiful and thoughtful bracelet!!!ReplyDelete
Do you have some more birthday presents to share?ReplyDelete
Send gifts to pakistan


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The Spectrum Profiler (SpecPro) is a unique self-assessment tool which is based on the Seven Rays, part of the Ageless Wisdom, and used to help people gain insight into themselves, their purpose and life direction. It was developed by Dr. Dorothy Maver in 1986-88 as part of her doctoral thesis and is a sub-set of the original PIP. At that time it was called the SIP for Student Identity Profile. It has gone through five revisions and been taken by thousands of people throughout the world.
The Spectrum Profiler is designed for those whose background in the Ageless Wisdom would suggest they could be perplexed or puzzled by parts of the PIP II. The Spectrum Profiler could, therefore, be seen as a preliminary instrument to the PIP II.
The Workshop material given on this website, and found in the Supplementary area, was initially developed for the Spectrum Profiler. We encourage you to review it even if you are not planning on giving a Workshop as much of the information contained within can be useful in either helping you understand the Ageless Wisdom or in helpng you explain what it is to others.
Originally it was decided to keep the Spectrum Profiler separate from the PIP II, but with the inclusion of the TARA and Self Search that has changed. Now if you create an account with one that account is good for all four instruments. The main reason for this—aside from making life easier for you—is so that, in the future, we will be able to use all of the instruments for research.
To get to the Spectrum Profiler section of the PIPIIonline.com website simply click on the SpecPro menu item and you will see Spectrum Profiler at the top of the window on all of the pages. To get back to the main PIPIIonline section of the site you can click the PIPIIonline menu item. The same is true of the Self Search. The TARA will only be in the menu of those individuals who have completed the PIP II.


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The other day, "us boys" headed up to the lake for some good 'ol fashion bonding time. We invited my dad to come along because, let's be honest, the only thing that makes a fishing trip even better is when Grandpa is there.
I've always been a better fisherman than my dad. When we were growing up, he'd take us fishing several times every year, and somehow he never caught a thing. He'd get bites, he'd yank on his pole to set the hook, and nothing. Every single time. Nothing. He'd grow tired of it, and then let us hold his fishing pole for awhile. Without fail, the second he handed it over, we'd land a fighter. We would always laugh hysterically at his dumb luck.
It wasn't until I was a dad that I found out he'd always handed us his pole with a fish already hooked on the line.
It wasn't until I was a dad that I realized just how much those fishing trips always meant to me.
And so, "us boys" headed up for some fishing, like we often do. The shore was packed. Nobody was catching anything. A fresh insect hatch had just hit and the water was covered with bugs. This meant a never-ending feast at the surface for the fish who suddenly had no need for balls of cheese or worms on hooks.
We rigged our lines and cast them out. We sat for about an hour, wedged in-between dozens of other families. There wasn't a single whoop and holler. There wasn't a single shout of elation. The fish were safe that night.
And that's okay, because fishing is much less about the fishing, and much more about the time alone with your kid, away from the hustle and bustle of the everyday.
And then, my bobber went under. I gave a swift jerk to the line and after making sure that the fish was hooked, I sat back down and yawned. "Noah, I'm kind of tired of holding my fishing pole. You wanna hold it for a minute? Can you handle holding a fishing pole this big?" He was elated, and took it from me, excited to show me that he could, indeed, handle it.
The tip of the pole jerked down. "Noah, I think you just got a bite, pull up on it, quick!" He pulled and suddenly felt the thrill of a fish fighting on the line. Daddy, there is a fish! I did get one! he screamed. "Reel it in and let's see it!"
As he reeled his fish in, I stomped the ground and declared how frustrated I was that I never catch a fish and he always catches a fish. He laughed, hysterically, just like I used to laugh at my dad when he never caught a fish.
He landed the fish, and you would have thought it was Christmas morning. Within the next ten minutes, we came as close to feeling like celebrities as we ever would. One at a time, everybody on the shore wandered over to ask us what we were using. Noah emphatically told everybody who came over the story of how he caught his fish.
On the way home, we all laughed some more about the fish Noah caught when nobody else could catch one.
For Noah, it was magic. For dad, it was beautiful. For grandpa, I'm betting he loved it as much as he did 25 years ago.
And that is why dads go fishing with their kids.
Dan Pearce, Single Dad Laughing
Do you have any special memories with your dad? Please share.


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I've been on the internet longer than I can remember, and so whenever I get an idea, I rush to check if the domain is available. Checking every now and then – I realize that I run up a few domains that I no longer use.
Whilst I released a few back into the market even before the expiry, I think that was a mistake. So let's not repeat those mistakes and make myself look like an idiot.
If you've come through search, or directly by typing the domains below – then you know – the domain is for sale! Just make an offer and I'll revert. Projects that I'm working on, but would be happy to have an offer on…
- act.vc – could be for an 'active' venture capitalist like myself
- ask.vc – if I get the time, I'll build a place for asking VC related questions and more. Inspired by Ask The VC (hint if you're interested in buying)
- saul.co – the Hebrew name of Paul, as in Jose Paul Martin
- bankerbible.com – an authority website covering, trading, investing, funding, startups etc – (comes with facebook, Google+ & twitter handles)
- corvient.com (comes with facebook, Google+ & twitter handles) – sophisticated consulting name
- copybanker.com – if you're into copywriting and you want to cater to financial services, bank on this.
- christica.com – developing a Christian Foundation
- istopsnoring.com – developed an ebook + brand recognition on sleep apnea and snoring.
- snorefreesleep.com – based on a high quality blog on sleep apnea and snoring.


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Why Carve a Spoon?
For the simple elegance
An extension of nurturing through food
To free the spoon as it wants to be alive
Because everything is better when it is handmade
It's relaxing
A form of self expression
"Our hands were the first spoons—the cupped form that quenched our thirst gave shape to the thought of what could be. We carve spoons to rest our hands on the work of the past. The smooth flowing lines of a well carved spoon contain in their beauty a part of who we are." –Bob Lake
"Wooden spoons don't burn your mouth if you lick them after they've been sitting in a bowl of hot soup. Plus they are just way cooler." –Christy Torkelsen
"Carve a spoon and feed yourself twice." –Nicholas Gale
To know i can create something useful and nourishing from the most minimal of tool and elemental of nature
To experience the community of spoon makers and carvers that know wood and bless trees in so many beautiful ways..
40+ folks joined in the 2 day Driftless Spoon Gathering this past weekend in La Farge WI. Join us monthly for our Spoon Circle-2nd Thursday of every month at the ARK in Viroqua, 6:30-8:30pm
Next year date to be announced: September ?
Spoon Carving Info_ 2015 : How to Carve a Spoon


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How much will a website design by Three Lions Design Studio Cost?
This is a difficult question to answer, as there is can be a great deal of difference between one client's needs to the next. We often compare this to asking a builder how much would it cost to build a home- obviously that depends on many different factors, as is the case with website design. With today's modern design strategies,however, most websites can be completed at a very reasonable cost.
What is hosting and domain registration?
Think of domain registration as your business license for your website, which typically costs between $7 and $20 per year. We like to explain hosting as rental of you space on the world wide web. Not all web hosting is created equal though,so it is important to make an informed decision about your hosting choices. Please contact one of our experts to explain the differences between various hosts, and what hosting package you need for your site's requirements so we can steer you away from the complex and expensive hosting companies that you may run into.
How long does the process take?
Again. this is a question that will vary from website to website. The construction analogy is useful here as well; it takes a lot longer to build a 10 story apartment building than a one- bedroom rancher. In the vast majority of cases ,we are able to finish a website from initial assessment to final deployment in about 14 business days.
Why can't I find my site on the search engines ?
We submit all of our design client's websites to the major search engines, however sometimes you are searching for you site that uses highly competitive keywords. As a check to see if you site has been indexed search www.yoursite.com ; if you find it and are not happy where it is ranking please contact one of our experts to boost your search engine ranking using our search engine optimization techniques.
I have a very complex site concept can Three Lions Design Studio build it for me?
The answer is simple …Yes! There is absolutely no limit to the what we can do!


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Club Policies and Procedures
GHFA Code Of Conduct
Club Codes of Behaviour UPDATED
Spectator Code of Behaviour
Player Code of Behaviour
Parent Code of Behaviour
Drop Off and Pick Up of Children Policy
Club Communication Policy
"This Member Protection Policy aims to ensure Football Federation Australia Limited's (FFA) core values, good reputation and positive behaviours and attitudes are maintained. It assists us in ensuring that every person involved in our sport is treated with respect and dignity, and is safe and protected from abuse. Through this Policy, we aim to ensure that everyone involved in Football is aware of his or her legal and ethical rights and responsibilities.
This Policy also provides the procedures that support our commitment to eliminating discrimination, harassment, child abuse and other forms of inappropriate behaviour from Football. As part of this commitment, FFA will take disciplinary action against any person or organisation bound by this Policy if they breach it.
FFA is committed to providing an environment safe for children, which is free from harassment and abuse for everyone, and promotes respectful and positive behaviour and values. This Policy provides codes of conduct and behaviour that form the basis of appropriate and ethical conduct by which everyone must abide.
This Policy is an essential part of our organisation's proactive and preventative approach to tackling inappropriate behaviour."
The Policy
Photographing Children
Some guidelines


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As a blogger myself, I understand the ups and downs that come with running your own website. However, I find the positive definitely outweighs the negative. I had a conversation with photographer and blogger Sarah Fennel about how to overcome obstacles that may come with blogging and her perspective on pursuing your dreams. I also learned that we share the same belief about butter.
YHM: Under your 'about me' page, you mention that Broma Bakery is your way of sharing your love of food with others while indulging in your passion for photography. What else do you love about blogging?
Sarah Fennel: One thing that I really love about blogging is that you can connect with other people. You can get a lot of feedback on what you love doing and you can see what other people are doing as well.
If it excites me then others will be excited about it too.
YHM: Have you come across any obstacles and/or difficulties from blogging? If so, how did you overcome them?
SF: It can be really easy to compare yourself to other blogs because there are so many out there. I might think "Oh, it's already been done" or "They've done this better." I think a lot of bloggers struggle with it. I've been able to overcome it by making sure that 1) everything I put out is unique and I've put a twist on something and 2) it excites me. If it excites me then others will be excited about it too. I need to make sure that whatever I put out there is something I'm excited to see. As long as you share quality content, the feedback should come.
YHM: If you could describe your baking philosophy or style in 3 words, what would they be?
SF: Accessible, sexy and not fat-free.
Accessible: Although I enjoy things such as croissants or things that require a lot of technique, I much prefer to bake things that everyone can make. So when they look at a recipe, it's not just "it's beautiful" but they can make it too.
Sexy: My baking style is definitely more visual. Not only does it have to taste good but it has to look good. We eat with our eyes first so I think it's very important to make things look appealing.
Not fat-free: There's a lot of blogs that are health focused (Paleo, gluten-free, fat-free). And I think it's an important niche but it's not the niche I want to have. I think it's okay to indulge as long as it's in moderation. And things just taste better with butter.
If you are good at what you're doing and willing to do the work, there's no reason why you shouldn't succeed.
YHM: Was it scary quitting your job to work full-time on your blog? And what advice would you give to young people who are considering quitting a job to pursue a passion or hobby?
SF: It was absolutely scary quitting my job. Luckily, everything fell into place at the right time. I always loved photography but I was beginning to do a lot of work with food photography, and I loved it. I had some savings so I was able to be on my own while doing that. It's honestly been the best career move I've ever made.
I think we're fortunate enough to be in this day and age where having a 9-5 job isn't the norm anymore. Now is the time to go out there and do something we love. I also think that people just understand that we don't have to be a doctor or lawyer, and sit at a desk 24-7.
My advice to those who are looking to quit their job to pursue a passion is that as long as you are motivated, passionate and are good at what you do, you will succeed. I strongly believe that. I definitely think you need that trifecta. If you are good at what you're doing and willing to do the work, there's no reason why you shouldn't succeed.
YHM: What's one of your favorite posts?
SF: My salted caramel brownies. They're fudgy and salty. I love that sweet and salty combination. They're pretty much the perfect combination.
YHM: What are your favorite blogs?
SF: 1) Joy the Baker. She's the mother of all baking blogs. She's been blogging for years and she's so real. Her content looks really nice. She has a wide range of content that she produces, it's not just desserts. She's very straightforward and it comes across in her writing, recipes and photography.
2) I am a Food Blog. I love their photography style. Their name says it all. It's all about good-looking food and great recipes. I can just scroll through it all day.
3) Half Baked Harvest. Tieghan lives on a rural farm so a lot of her posts are rustic. All of her recipes are super down-home, but she puts a really nice updated spin on them. Her photography is just incredible.
YHM: You mention that you have an insatiable sweet tooth. If you could have one dessert for the rest of your life, what would it be?
SF: Brownies. There's nothing better.
If you aren't already familiar with Sarah Fennel and Broma Bakery, you should head on over to her blog for some serious food-spiration. All of her recipes look 10/10 and she shares everything from Bourbon blueberry basil donuts to Strawberry Nutella Poptarts.
I'm definitely going to make her Mint Chocolate Covered Oreos over the holiday break. As a recent graduate, I'm also taking her advice on pursuing our passions. How will you pursue your dreams and make things happen?For an exclusive share Fennel whipped us up a yummy double chocolate glazed donut with pistachios recipe. Get all the baking tips here.
For an exclusive share Fennel whipped us up a yummy double chocolate glazed donut with pistachios recipe.
By Sarah Jaihe Lee / Portrait by Natasha Janardan


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I'm Brianna, a born-and-bred Willmarite with a stubborn loyalty to the land of 10,000 lakes and most notably the promised land that is Willmar, Minnesota. My favorite claims to fame from this fine hometown of mine include turkey, El Tap's quesadillas, blended lattes from LuLu Beans, and the best Target store any town could ask for. And Fernanda's famous pavlovas if you extend the circle to Kandiyohi County.
I'm an alumnus of Children's Corner Preschool, Community Christian School, Willmar Junior High (now Willmar Middle School), Willmar Senior High School, and Ridgewater College. I received my journalism and public relations degree from Southeastern University during a brief stay in the south that proved once and for all that "Minnesota nice" most definitely exists. Not that I ever planned on acquiring permanent residency outside my home state. I'll gladly take a trip closer to the equator once or twice a year, but home is where the heart is, and what can I say? I heart Willmar.
My mom was Miss New London once upon a time and my dad is a fellow WHS grad, which makes me a second-generation Willmar native. Between my parents and my grandparents, I've inherited a mix of blood from Pennock to Prinsburg, and if you're wondering, yes – you and I are probably related.
My hope is that these #Willmarwins encourage you to explore everything this area has to offer and to celebrate each #win of your own as you do life in this community.
Welcome to Willmar! You're already #winning in my book!


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Chocolate City Music presents a brand new single from the Soul RnB Queen Ruby Gyang titled Shakara. Off the much anticipated 'This is Love' EP set for release soon, 'Shakara' features the super talented Ajebutter 22 who definitely brings extra spice to the already groovy tune.
Produced by Jude Abaga, Chopstix and Reinhard and mixed by Suka Sounds, 'This is Love' EP is poised to set up Ruby Gyang as one of Africa's finest Soul RnB artist. With her undeniable talent and strength, Ruby shows that African women are taking over the Industry.
Listen download and enjoy Ruby Gyang's 'Shakara' featuring Ajebutter 22 as you anticipate 'This is Love' EP.
To connect with Ruby Gyang, follow @RubyGyang on Twitter, Instagram & Facebook


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Tonight is the next-to-last episode ever of LOST. I've been a fan since the start, watching the released seasons several times with different friends over the years. Even powering through the Season 3 slump =). Just for fun, Richard and I chucked together a little one page app we've called We Love LOST.
Richard wrote the backend in Ruby on Rails. Every few minutes it uses Twitter's search API looking for the text "welovelost". Any new tweets it finds are saved to a database. This is an gross simplification of course. There is a blog post about the Rails stuff on the Made with Sense blog. Made with Sense is Richard's new venture and the makers of Dispatch.
The Rails app also has a JSON API. Basically, a URL you can hit which serves up a random tweet record from the database. That gave me all I needed to write some jQuery that will pull from that URL and drop a new tweet onto the page. WebKit animations make the tweet fly around a bit before the jQuery removes it from the page.
The entire project is downloadable from this post. If you are interested in how anything from the back end or the front end works, it's all there for your perusal.
One random person will be chosen to win the complete series DVD set when it comes out. Just tweet with #welovelost to enter. I know... I kinda hate "tweet to win" contests too, but this isn't some blatant promotional thing. The whole point is sharing the love of LOST and sharing this cool little tweet aggregation app.


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Mortgage applications, as reported by the Mortgage Bankers Association, rose 18% year-over-year in March as purchase activity increases, even as refinancing activity dries up.
Mortgage applications are primarily interest-rate driven. They increase as rates fall because homeowners take advantage of the drop in rates to refinance. Conversely, they fall as rates rise. They also exhibit a seasonal pattern, correlating with purchase activity during the summer selling season. This year, we are seeing strong origination volume growth even as rates climb back towards 2% on the 10-year bond. The mix of purchase activity versus refinance activity is becoming more purchase-driven. This favors the mortgage bankers who have a strong retail branching system, and works against the lenders who go direct to the consumer.
Transition to a purchase-driven market
Mortgage bankers had an extremely profitable 2012 as rates fell and real estate prices bottomed. Much of the activity over the past five years has been the "serial refinancer," or someone who has equity in their home and has taken advantage of refinance opportunities as rates have fallen. These borrowers are highly price-sensitive and tend to go with consumer direct lenders who offer low rates and reduced application fees. These consumer direct lenders will struggle in a purchase environment, and have been laying off staff in anticipation of a drop in volume.
The purchase market is much more relationship-driven. This market requires a branch system of local professionals who have a large network of realtors, real estate attorneys, etc. These bankers compete on the basis of price and service. It also means that there is competition for independent brokers and bankers. A mortgage banker can grow very quickly through M&A activity.
Big opportunities ahead for the mortgage REITs who focus on origination
The mortgage market is undergoing a massive transformation as the private label mortgage market returns. Ever since the bubble burst, mortgage origination has been almost exclusively government-driven. If a loan could not fit in the conventional (Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac) or government bucket (FHA, VA), it probably was not made. Originators typically do not hold their mortgages. They either sell them to the big banks or securitize them. Since the securitization market was dead, they had no outlet for non-agency mortgages. Redwood Trust (RWT) has been the only issuer of private label (securities backed by mortgages that are not government guaranteed) mortgage backed securities and they have focused exclusively on high quality jumbo loans.
In the past few weeks, we have seen private label deals from JP Morgan (JPM) and Everbank (EVER). We've also seen the first sub-prime deal since the bubble burst. The private label market was a $1.1 trillion per year market prior to 2008. Since then, approximately $1.5 billion has been issued in total. The return of the private label market opens the door for borrowers of all stripes who have been shut out because they do not qualify for an agency or government mortgage. This particularly helps out the REITs who focus on origination, but it also helps out those that invest in non-agency mortgage backed securities.


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Labor – Loading or Unloading Help
One Movers Network load-unload your rental truck:
For the do-it-yourself mover who needs labor only. Whether you rent a Uhaul, Penske, Ryder, Enterprise, or Budget, you can enjoy a professional move without the price and the strain. Movers will meet you, load and/or unload your truck. This service is also available for ABF U-Pack and Movex trailers, Door-To-Door and PODS storage crates/containers. We offer packing, unpacking, and driving to make your move even easier.
Local or long-distance Labor:
Find moving labor in your area to do the loading and unloading for the entire move. Relocating out-of-town or out-of-state; Find experienced labor in your current area to help load for you. Then find helpers in the area you're relocating to, and have them unload. You have an extra hand no matter where you go.
No relying on friends or family for your labor help:
Isn't it funny… friends and family always seem to have something to do on the date of your move. That's OK. You can find experienced labor to give you a professional hand to help move your furniture and other belongings.


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I have an idea for a small book about a special little girl. But for that I need to draw the same girl a couple of times and that's not as easy as it sounds.
So I just started drawing a girl, to see if she was special. And of course she was, like all the girls are, and all the boys of course. I'm talking about real life now, not just about drawn little people. Everyone is special and beautiful. But most of us have forgotten and are just trying to fit in to this strange society that we call normal
There are so many people who do not live their lives but do what they think is expected of them. They live empty lives and are trying to keep up … but with whom, with what? And when are you good enough, when do you fit in? When you have a lot of money, or the right clothes, or the biggest cars, or the most facebook friends…? You feel you are never good enough, but how can you if you don't even know where you're supposed to fit in to, or what you have to be like. So lots of people are living a life that is not their own. And that is very sad.
I feel people should listen more to their true hearts and a little less to their deceiving and confusing minds. The world would be a much nicer place …
So after this speech back to the little book about the special little girl
I've made some drawings, 2 of them on a piece of cardboard. But I had not noticed that one of the pieces was smoother than the other. So the Prismacolor pencils look different on the second one.
After these two I started drawing on some pieces of mixed media paper, so they all will look the same.
I've used Graphite pencil for the drawing, Prismacolor pencils to color the girl. The white around the girl is done with Molotow acrylic pen and the background with a Stencil and Pan Pastels.
Be like this special little girl … just be your own unique self!


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Software guru
We've turned Beautiful Travel Photography with fun and interesting trivia into Classic Puzzles, Plus a Travel Edition of "Spot 5 Photo differences" game!
-They make great Wallpaper.
-Fun & Educational for all ages.
-Learn about the world while you Touch-Screen puzzle.
-Try to beat your best times or just relax and enjoy at your own pace.
HD movies quiz your knowledge before you puzzle. Complete your puzzle for the answer.
Can you spot the differences on these awesome travel photos?
We dare you. They are not easy… be warned
-Puzzles save automatically so you never loose your place.
-Now with Game Center! Leader boards & Achievements.
-Post to Facebook or even e-mail to your friends
Totally Awesome Travel App! *****
by Tuscany Trish
Definitely recommend to travel lovers everywhere! Great concept and lots of fun! It's 2 classic games that will never go out of style. We've listened to all your feedback and are constantly improving based on your comments. Every video has been made longer for more time to read the answers. Let us know what we can do to make this more fun for you! "
"Just a quick note to say that I love your puzzles! They're reasonably priced with excellent photos, graphics and great for keeping me preoccupied on my international flights. Thanks for a quality product. Cheryl S"


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Or a little of both?...
As an "Indie" writer, I owe whatever success I've had so far to the Internet. All of us "Indies" do. The Internet has finally provided an outlet for us to sell out works without having to go through the traditional gatekeepers. Not only that, but it also provides a means to promote our work without spending an arm and a leg on advertising. Anyone with the drive and determination can write a book, put it up for sale on Amazon and other outlets, and then send it to review bloggers, create a Facebook page, a blog, a website, etc. If the work is any good, people will hear about it, and hopefully buy it, and the Indie writer can begin to make a living. Yeah for the Internet! My new best friend!
Of course there is a flip side to all of this. For any writer, the Internet can be a huge distraction. Throughout history, a writer's tools have allowed him or her to write, and nothing more. From papyrus paper in ancient Egypt, to notebooks and ballpoint pens, to typewriters to electric typewriters, the tool was a means of getting thoughts onto paper. That is no longer the case. Now a writer's tool allows that writer to check e-mail messages, read news, play games, participate in forums, see real-time sales figures for their books, watch videos, and on and on. All it takes is one tap of the mouse and suddenly the writer can lose himself in this digital world. This is something every writer on earth is now having to struggle with. It opens up a lot of questions. What effect is this having on the literature of our day and age? What are these distractions having on the writer's creativity? What is it doing to our brains and the way they function? Perhaps only time will be able to answer these questions, but perhaps more pressing, what can a writer do to combat this new menace?
One much-discussed approach is that of the writer Jonathan Franzen, who claims that nobody with Internet access at his or her workplace is writing great fiction. Franzen famously removed the wifi card from his computer, deleted any program that might distract him, and put Super Glue in his Ethernet port. Like most authors, I haven't succumbed to that approach yet, but I can definitely see where he's coming from. So far I'm making-do by unplugging my wifi router for extended periods during the day, or else just trying to get by on sheer willpower. I'm hoping that with practice, the willpower alone will be sufficient, but again time will tell. If all else fails, it is good to know that the convenience store down the street is stocked with plenty of Super Glue.


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Sandy Springs Gun Club is a state-of-the-art facility with 3 independent firing ranges, a pro shop, members lounge and training room.
The staff is great and they have gone out of the way to support GADPA for the weekly matches. New shooters are always welcome. If you are interested in competitive shooting we suggest you read our New Shooter Info page, pack your gear and head out to our next match.
Your Match Directors
Alex Glukhov has been shooting competitively since 2010 starting with GADPA matches at American Classic Marksman (now Norcross Gun Club). Alex became a safety officer in 2010 and helped run matches at several Atlanta-area ranges. He has finally found a home at Sandy Springs Gun Club and entertains shooters all the time with extremely creative and fun stages. Alex is a design guru, and may of the former state match and trophy designs for GAPDA are his. He is also currently GADPA'a creative director.
Juraj Zelman (Yuri) has only been a shooting a short time, but he has come a long way quickly. He purchased his first handgun for home defense in 2009. In 2013, Yuri moved from California and quickly discovered GADPA to begin his competitive shooting career. He became a volunteer almost instantly and has become co-Match Director for Sandy Springs. Besides competing, Yuri also enjoys anything outdoors, and he loads his own ammo when forced to stay indoors. His lovely wife, Erika, supports his hobby and even enjoys an occasional "friendly" match at the range.
For the latest information about upcoming matches, match discussion, request stages, or to ask any questions, follow the link to the Sandy Springs Indoor Match Facebook group and ask to join.


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Well, what does Leigh Carson know?
Leigh Carson is a St. Louis based Family Law Attorney who writes about the Real Estate Industry. She sees it everyday and how families and their emotions swing through the Home Buying/Selling experience.
In her article, "What a Home Inspector Can Do for You When You Are Selling Your House", she writes, "A home inspector is trained to identify items in a home that need either replacement or repair. A certified inspector will carefully examine the structural components of the home, including roof, windows, insulation, siding and tuck pointing, as well as the heating, cooling, plumbing and electrical systems. The home inspector's report will give far more information than an appraisal or an analysis by a real estate agent."
Ms. Carson continues with the process, "Most buyers make an offer to purchase property that is contingent upon the inspection revealing no significant issues; and even though the buyer will have their own inspection done, it is important to talk with your real estate agent about the benefit of having an inspection done yourself before you put your home on the market."
She also points to one advantage of having your home inspected is that the report can be attached to the seller's disclosure, assisting the buyer and reinforcing the idea that you are being forthright and straightforward in your disclosures about the property. It also puts you in a good position to maximize the listing price and ultimately the selling price."
The Sellers inspection is not intended to replace the buyer's inspection; it is there to inform the Seller as to what items are in need of repair. Decisions can then be made by the Seller as to what repair direction to take before the property is put on the market. The direction also can move to what concessions on price need to be considered before the home is on the market and offers are being made to the Seller.
A Prelisting Inspection allows the Buyer to purchase your home with confidence
Closings are not delayed due to unknown conditions. Adverse negotiations are minimized since all parties involved know the condition of the home before an offer to purchase is made. When considering selling your homes near charlotte you should consider essex homes charlotte.
A Prelisting Inspection is proven to Sell your home faster
Make your home stand out in the marketplace as one that can be purchased with confidence. A documented Home Inspection and Home Warranty increase the odds of selling your home. It is a proven fact that homes with warranties sell faster and at a higher average price.
Ms. Carson concludes that "the right inspector will be experienced, meticulous, plainspoken and ideally have a proven track record in your area." Ask your agent for a recommendation or check for local members of the North Carolina Licensed Home Inspectors Association (www.NCLHIA.org) or the National Association of Certified Home Inspectors (www.nachi.org).
Advantage Inspection Raleigh perform the Nation's Best Home Inspection and provides the Nation's Only "No Denied Claims Warranty" available in the industry.
For the last 17 years, Advantage Inspection has been the deciding factor for the people we serve: Buyers, Sellers, Real Estate Agents and Home Inspectors. Advantage Inspection Raleigh serves Raleigh, Durham and the Triangle area.
Advantage Inspection Raleigh
"more than just an inspection company!"


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Nullification Works! Even Drug Warriors Know It: Thoughts from Maharrey Head #135
"10 Minutes Closer to Freedom"
During his confirmation hearing, U.S. Attorney General nominee William Barr basically admitted nullification works. He called the current system with states legalizing weed despite federal prohibition "backdoor nullification."
In this episode of Thoughts from Maharrey Head, I talk about Barr's comments, the states' success in nullifying federal prohibition and what it means for the future.
Free E-Book: The Power of No!: The Historical and Constitutional Basis for State Nullification
Feds Legalize Hemp But Not CBD; States Can Continue to Nullify Prohibition


text: Artifact Details Title Patil, Suhas oral history Catalog Number 102702410 Type Text Date 2010-08-02 Contributor Fairbairn, Doug, Interviewer Patil, Suhas S., Interviewee Publisher Computer History Museum Place of Publication Mountain View, California Extent 25 p. Description Dr. Suhas Patil grew up in a small town 170 miles from Calcutta. With encouragement from his parents, he followed a technical path attending St. Xavier's College in Calcutta after graduating from high school. He then attended Indian Institute of Technology nearby to study electronics in the early 1960's. With the encouragement of a visiting American professor at the Institute, he decided to study in America after leaving IIT. He was accepted at MIT where he earned a PhD in Computer Architecture. He became a professor at MIT until 1975 when he moved to the University of Utah. There he became a pioneer in applying his knowledge of computer architecture to new world of VLSI design. He went on to develop a unique set of tools and methodologies for IC design, moved to Silicon Valley, founded a successful IC design company, Cirrus Logic. He later pursued his interest in multi-processor systems in starting another company, Cradle Technologies. Dr. Patil also was one of the founder of TiE, The Indus Entrepreneurs, an organization meant to "give back" and help young engineers have the same kind of success that Dr. Patil and his co-founders had enjoyed. Category Transcription Subject Patil, Suhas; semiconductor history; Cirrus Logic; Hackworth, Michael; Cradle Technologies; TiE; General Intrument; set-top box; Project MAC (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).; Silicon foundry; Starcom V Collection Title Oral history collection Credit Gift of Dr. Suhas Patil Lot Number X5664.2010 102702410-05-01-acc.pdf


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New Google Plus updates
In this article, I am going to discuss about recent updates from Google+ and about Google Plus Email App extension for Chrome users. Google+ is the new social networking website from Google which acquired 20+ million customers within a month time.
How to start Google+ Hangout from YouTube ?
Recently, Google rolled out another new feature for its social networking site Google+. With this new feature, users can click on "share button" from any YouTube video, which suggests watching video with friends from a Google+ Hangout.
With the help of this feature, users can start a Google+ Hangout with a YouTube video directly from YouTube. You can watch the same video with your friends in Google+. For this you have to click on "Share" button which is present underneath any video and then you have to click on "Start a Google+ Hangout" which will be at the bottom right-hand corner.
How to include your Google+ status update as a Signature in your Email?
With the help of an extension called Google Plus Email App you can include your Google+ status message as a signature in your email. It has been created by a startup called WiseStamp. The extension is available for both Chrome and Firefox users.
This extension will include your latest Google+ status update in your email signature. All Your email recipients can view your update and then can add you to their circles directly from the message. This update was included in the version 2.7.1 release of WiseStamp. You can try this Google+ Email App extension if you are using Chrome browser.
"Disable reshare" is now "Lock this post"
Two days back, Google made few updates to its social networking site Google+. In the recent updates, Google renamed Disable reshare as Lock this post.
From now, if you don't want to share any of your posts, just click on Lock this post option which is available from the drop-down menu after your post.
How to take Profile photo from Web Camera?
Now, you can take your profile photo with your web camera. Users also have a option to send their circles a personal message whenever they change their profile photo.
To use this feature,one need to visit their profile page, and they have to click on Edit profile and select change photo. On the left,you can find a option, select Web camera (you need Flash for this).
Once you are done with the photo, users also have an option to send their circles a personal message in the share box about their new profile photo.
3) A new feature has been added to Google+, in which Google+ bar float at the top of the screen when users scroll down. It also floats differently on big vs small screens to maximize reading space.
After few complaints from the users, regarding the floating top bar issue, which can cause the notifications menu to be awkwardly truncated when they scrolled down the page, Google+ temporarily disabled it until they fix the problem.
Now, Google+ has a Verification Badge
According to +Wen-Ai Yu "We're starting to roll out verification badges on profiles so you can be sure the person you're adding to a circle is who they claim to be. For now, we're focused on verifying public figures, celebrities, and people who have been added to a large number of Circles, but we're working on expanding this to more folks."
New Notification feature in Google+
+Zach Yeskel who is a product Manager for Google+ Notifications, said that they are rolling out another improvement today. Till now it is difficult to find out whether the person who has been invited by us joined Google+ or not. From today onwards, users will get a notification in their Google bar if someone who invited by them joined Google+.
Share posts on Google+ directly from any Blog or Website
Google+ is a great tool for those who want to share their content online especially for those who are in the business of running a blog or website. With the help of Google+, you can expect good traffic by sharing your content in Google+. Recently, Google is trying to roll out a new feature with which visitors can now directly share links to their Google+ profile from a website which has +1 button added to it. This feature is already available for Facebook and Twitter.
For example, if a reader likes any article in the website, then he/she can share that website or article directly to their Google+ profile. Prior, one has to do the manual copy/paste of the link to their Google+ profile. To do this, just click on the +1 button on the website, you will find an option Share on Google+, click on that, you will get a list with page title, page description and a linked image. You can add a comment and you can share the post publicly or with your desired circles.
Don't know how to add a +1 button to your website? Read this article to know more about how to add a +1 button to your Blog or Website ,
New Suggested user list for Google+
Google recently released a new page for Google+ users. It is called as Suggested user list . With the new page, when you click on the Suggested user list, a new window will open with a list of people to follow which were suggested by Google+.
On the right side of the page, you can see a list with heading Supercharge your stream. When you click on any stream, you will get a suggested users list of that stream. If you like any person and if you want to follow them, just click on Add to Circles and select them in any circle you want.


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Approximately 200 Loudoun County Verizon customers were unable to surf the Web Friday, including the county government.
Verizon spokesperson Christie Reap said a contractor doing construction work hit a Verizon cable on Catoctin Circle in Leesburg.
"Mostly businesses and a few residents were affected for most or part of the day," Reap said.
The cable was repaired and the Internet was up and running by approximately midnight, Friday, she said.


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Fiction, Monologues, Plays & More
The following is a excerpt from Sean M. Kozma's work-in-progress novel Lazarus. Feedback is welcomed!
My name is Lazarus and I was born in a small hillside village in Judea called Bethany, where I lived with my sisters until I grew ill and died while still a young man. Or so I am given to understand, for I no longer have any memories of that life, if indeed I ever did. Two millennia worth of memories since that day now strain at my skull, threatening to burst it apart. I can recall every experience with perfect clarity, but whatever I knew, whoever I was in that first life, died with me that day.
My first memory is of being dead. Of Nothing. Of blackness, eternal and unchanging. No pain, or fear, or discomfort, just the endless dark of the void. Into that darkness came a voice. His voice, clarion and strong. Like a light, pure and blinding, piercing the nothing and calling me back. Calling me out into the light. Into day. Into the world again.
"Lazarus, come forth."
A sensation like rising filled my being. Being filled my being. Lungs expanding. Breath inhaling. Linen and limestone touching electrified skin. Light stabbing through burial shroud and eyelids. Muscles stiff and sore, but alive, screaming in contraction as I rise, sitting, spilling, tumbling from my ossuary niche, pulling the linens from my face.
I have often wondered if the experience was not unlike being born.
My legs were unsteady under me as I stumbled naked from the cave to find Him standing before me, the traveling rabbi who could heal the sick, with my sisters standing alongside him. He had come to Bethany many times before, and my sisters and I had often listened to his sermons. He had eaten at our table and slept at our home. He had a light about Him that drew people to Him, and when He spoke His voice sounded like love, and peace, and all the good things of the world. As I lay sick and dying, my sisters had sent word to Him begging Him to come and heal me, but He came too late.
As I stood before Him, newborn from the grave, I saw Him anew. His cheeks were streaked with fresh tears, but no grief or sadness was in His face. Only joy, and love. I recognized him as the source of all radiance. His light had pierced the darkness. His voice had called me back.
I fell to my knees, laughing and weeping, as my sisters clutched me in their arms, laughing and weeping with me. The small crowd that had gathered upon His arrival pressed around us to touch His garment and beg for His blessing. I could barely stand to look at His face, but neither could I look away. He too laughed and smiled as He lifted me back to my feet.
"Come, Lazarus," He said. "We have much to do."
It is difficult to think back on that time, even though the memories are as fresh and vivid as if they had happened this morning. It is difficult to remember the joy and the ecstasy of traveling with Him and His followers to Jerusalem. I thought those feelings would last forever. I thought we were going to Jerusalem to overthrow the Romans and start His kingdom, a new era of Heaven on Earth. I had no way of knowing He would be dead within a matter of days. He tried to tell us, but we didn't listen.
I never imagined I would outlive Him. I never imagined I would outlive the empire that crucified Him. I never imagined I would outlive the empire after that, or the one after that, or many more besides and all the dark times in between. I never imagined that any one person could live so long and see so much, let alone that it would be me.
Although I do not look it, I am old now. Far older than I can describe. I do not know why death does not come for me, but is doesn't. I have been cold, sick, hungry and thirsty. Hungrier and thirstier than you can conceive. I have been beaten, whipped, stabbed and shot. I have been adrift at sea, and I once fell from an airplane in flight. Still death eludes me.
I think I might welcome death like an old friend after all this time, yet after two millennia of witnessing war, cruelty, torture, and horror unimaginable, I lack the courage to attempt the deed myself.
There are others I have met far older than I. Angels and demons here and there, but it is difficult to relate to them. They lack a sense of personal mortality, a sense of humanity, that would make their age meaningful. Older humans exist as well, but they are few and reclusive. As far as I know, the two oldest still roam the earth. Perhaps, like me, the act of their creation was so potent that it cannot be undone by most normal means.
When last I saw Adam he was a hermit, living deep in a primordial forest as far from civilization as he could get; barely more than an animal. As for Lilith…
I saw Lilith on the street the other day. Not a sign of her in over four hundred years and there she was, sitting outside a cafe, drinking a latte and reading a newspaper someone else had left behind. For I moment, I thought I was mistaken. Her hair was different, her clothes were different, and I could not see her eyes behind her sunglasses. She gave no indication that she saw me as I waited for a bus across the street, but it had to be her. I spent centuries waking up next to that face, caressing that face, kissing that face. It had to be her.
As if for emphasis, a child in a stroller began wailing inconsolably as she and her mother wheeled past the table where Lilith sat. A wicked smile curled at the corners of her mouth. She got up and walked away, leaving the newspaper on the table behind her. I lost sight of her when she rounded a corner.
I waited for traffic to clear and ran across the street to where she'd sat. The paper was open and folded to a particular article. The headline read, "World's Oldest Woman Turns 124." I have no doubt she knew I was there and had placed herself in my line of sight, and left the article behind for me to find, on purpose. To what end I do not know, and that troubles me.
The world teeters on a brink. The signs are hard to see, but they are there. There have always been wars and rumors of wars. There have always been madman ranting that the ends is at hand. The world remains. Yet this time there is something different, something unseen. Forces are gathering and battle lines are being drawn, and dark dreams disturb my sleep.
I has been almost eight centuries since I slept well, or through the night. I can get no more than a few fitful hours a night, and sometimes not even that. Dreams are the seams of my mind that my memories strain against. Too many memories that refuse to be forgotten. Too many horrors witnessed. Too many things that cannot be undone. Time takes its toll on us all.
Of late when I sleep I dream more and more of those first days, and what we saw and went through. I dream of those first memories from this life. I dream of the darkness of that cave and the nothing of the void. That voice, His voice, haunts the moment between sleep and waking, calling to me in the dark and throbbing in my ears.
"Lazarus, come forth."
"Lazarus, come forth."
"Lazarus, come forth."
Sean M. Kozma is a writer, sound designer, and audio technician living in Los Angeles, and working in professional theatre. He also works behind the camera on independent films as production manager, assistant director, and line producer. Originally hailing from southeast Michigan, he has worked as a dishwasher, a fry cook, a delivery driver, a taxicab driver, a dispatcher, an engraver, and an office drone. He is currently writing a novel, among other projects.