Richards Books

"William Shakespeare in 'Measure for Measure' wrote 'The law hath not been dead though it hath slept'. In 2004 the Supreme Court of the United States revivified the 215 year old Alien Tort Claims Law in deciding that aliens who are victims of human rights abuses deserve protection when the abuses cannot be redressed in the country where they occurred. The case that earned the court's thoughtful attention was Filartiga v. Pena-Irala. The thrilling and dramatic story behind this case is very well told by Dr. Richard Alan White in his book Breaking Silence: The Case That Changed the Face of Human Rights. The book takes on added significance because Dr. White was an active participant in the drama, and his first person knowledge has produced a historically accurate and outstanding thriller of a story. The book is a well written, true story of the abuse of a man and his family by the military dictator of Paraguay and his henchmen. Richard Alan White puts you in the middle of the unfolding tragic events, beginning with the torture and murder of the son of a noted and admired Paraguayan physician, poet and artist. This is non-fiction at its best! "

Let me start by saying that I am NOT a non-fiction book reader in any way shape or form. BUT, this book was so amazing that (unfortunately) it read like fiction. You were mesmerizied by the drama, gripped by the human emotion and sorrowed by the resulting tragady. It is really the truth when we say that "true life is stanger than fiction". Richard Alan White can testify to it. He lived it. He suffered through it with the Filartiga family and we feel it in his words. DO NOT MISS READING THIS BOOK BECAUSE OF IT'S CATEGORIZATION; A WORTHWHILE BOOK CAN BE FOUND ANYWHERE! AND THIS IS ONE OF THEM.

Richard Alan White's account of the heroic Paraguayan physician Joel Filartega is a is an extremely captivating and well written account of fact that reads like the best of fiction. The story documents the case that affirmed that the US court system can protect aliens who are victims of human rights abuses that occur in other countries and can not be fairly adjudicated.

The author, a close friend of doctor Filartiga and his family, writes not as an observer but with the fervor and conviction of a participant in a remarkable drama. A must read.

In Breaking Silence: the Case that Changed the Face of Human Rights Richard Alan White tells the story of the family tragedy that led to the ground-breaking case of Filartiga v. Peòa. The case affirmed that the US court system provides protection to aliens who are victims of human rights abuses that cannot be redressed in the countries where the abuses occurred.
Elegantly written, Breaking Silence is a page-turner that should appeal to any reader. It's a great gift book because, published by a university press, it is not yet widely known.
The details of the Filartiga story come alive because White himself was part of the drama. While he was a graduate student living and studying in Paraguay, Richard Alan White became a close friend of a Paraguayan doctor, Jose Filartiga, and his family. A deep friendship continued long after White's return to the United States. When Dr. Filartiga's son was tortured and murdered by authorities, Dr. Filartiga contacted White instead of ignoring the torture/murder, as Paraguayan custom and politics dictated. White immediately flew to Paraguay to be with his friends. Breaking Silence is a story of the resulting search for justice.
Not only will this book appeal to lawyers and others familiar with the Alien Tort Claims Act and the Filartiga case, but also to those working or otherwise interested in the field of human rights. The book has special importance for those who hope to work in an NGO or to work internationally at the grass-roots level, because it shows how committed individuals can learn to use governmental systems to make a difference. It should be a must-read for students.
Breaking Silence recently received an "Outstanding Book" rating from theAmerican Association of University Presses Books Committee. University presses published 6,000 books this past year, and Breaking Silence was only one of six political science books to receive this award.
A longer review of this book is the feature story in Lawyers Weekly USA, April 26, 2005: "Family Tragedy Leads to Revival of Pirate Law."

Outstanding!!!! Extremely readable, educational, thought-provoking, inspirational, a mystery -- everything rolled into one. Having been in Asuncion with the author shortly after Joelito's murder, I can personally attest to the horror of this tragedy and its effect on the Filartiga family. My mother read the book, too, and liked it so much that she wants to join my Paraguay/Uruguay tour next year. I'll definitely put "Breaking Silence" on the recommended reading list for that trip.

I thought this was one of the best books in the EQ series, and coming from me thats saying quite a bit, oh and Winnowill is a subject worth thinking about.

ElfQuest is a wounderful series for anyone whom reads it. It is full of some of the personal expierences from Wendy and Richard Pini's own life, it contains moral lessons, it has incredible insight, a dynamic story and georgeous artwork, do not pass this book up! IT ROCKS!!!

If you are new to the world of elfquest this is the third book in the elfquest line.Before it comes the books Fire and Flight(book #1)and the Forbbiden Grove(book #2). In this book, you meet the Gliders, a group of elves that claims to be the High Ones. You also meet the dark and evil Winnowill, a healer but one which uses her powers for hurting rather then healing.Lastly you learn the secret of the Wolfriders... I won't give away the story but I do reccomend you buy this book for its art,story and feeling...

This is the third book out of four collections of the original quest which are, in my opinion, works of genius!! The first book is Fire and Flight, the second - The Forbidden Grove, and the last (In my opinion, as the stuff that follows doesn't really seem like Elfquest to me) is the Quest's End. I have been reading those same four books over and over again for 15 years and I feel that they have enriched my life.

Of course, being an ElfQuest fan, I love pretty much everything ElfQuest, including this book, and so will you if you like ElfQuest in general.

However, this is the paperback/black and white edition-don't buy it! Warp and Marvel comics are coming out with hardback, color editions of I believe all of the ElfQuest storyline, just slightly re-organized from the last hardcover/color edition of their graphic novels that they released- heads up, don't go paying fifty bucks online for someone's used old copy! Unless you're really impatient don't go buying this! The next one to be redone in color and hardback should be #3! They've done 1 and 2!

Although it will be more expensive that way, if you're going to bother getting into something that is primarily a visual medium, why not in color as it was meant to be seen? Nothing "artistic" about this kind of B&W, it just loses.

Richard's book of survival during one of this nation's worst crisis and most poorly responded to events is well written and shows how badly we are prepared for disaster. it alsoshows what levels we can rise to when needed.

I started reading this book and couldn't put it down. It pulls you in making you feel like you were there also. I'm just thankful to God I wasn't. I highly recommend this well written personal account of that day in history and the events that followed.

Once I started reading I could not stop. I thought I might be getting myself into a book that, although I felt compelled to read it I was afraid I would cry throughout. Not so. This book told the real story and revealed how moronic the entire situation became, day by day, hour by hour. I could only chuckly at how rediculous the situation became. If I didn't know better by personal experience I would think it was a satirical comedy that someone made up after a bad dream. Sadly it was all true. I agree with one of the other reviews, this is a must read for anyone that could potentially face any type of disaster, expected, unexpected, natural or manmade.
Thank you Dr.D for taking the time to chronical everything. Especially, considering that post-K there isn't much time for the luxury of such things. It is amazing your mind and memory could focus on this project.
Thank you.

We lived in New Orleans for nine years and during that time used several doctors at Memorial Hospital. Dr. Deichmann was our Internal Medicine physician. Later we moved to the Mississippi Gulf Coast and lost everything in Katrina, so we have a special interest and bond with those who experienced it. I remember Dr. Deichmann as a kind, quiet, professional physician and to picture him in these horrific circumstances is almost unbelievable. This book contains everything - sadness, frustration, courage, and even humor in the most dismal moments. I read it in one sitting, and will recommend it to all my fellow friends and survivors.

This account by a professional is an easy to read, yet fascinating, portrait of the scene and happenings within the hospital during the Katrina episode. It is not overly dramatic or accusing, but a straightforward and creditable observation. I really appreciate the first-hand knowledge from a respected source. It was a while before we locals could deal with too much knowledge on too many happenings or were capable of facing and digesting how and what transpired. This is a study of dedication and courage of the staff at Memorial Hospital and is uplifting and healing because of those qualities that the staff displayed for all of us out here... It gives us hope and offers redemptive healing for the sins of the community because of their sacrifices and willingness to do the same in the future. I am grateful for that and this book.

You can tell when you pick up the book: quilting stitches are embossed on the cover. Quilt patches make up the cover: eggs, pie, soup, chicken. There are no photographs inside. No garnishes. Nothing about piling up the food into teetery towers and drizzling essences of something or another on a gigantic plate. YET these are America's best-known chefs. At least half of them must be James Beard Award winners. Their own cookbooks and restaurants have won most of the other awards. Cooking from the Heart is 100 chefs making up this treasury of family recipes, of familiar (to them) favorites, all designed for a home cook. Sure, there are a few recipes with a couple sub-recipes (you can't make a pie in one step...but we all do it without grousing). Sure, there are a few (but only a few) that have an ingredient that might require a trip to specialty market. But that's part of the joy in this kind of a book: finding something new to add to the standards in your own recipe file.
Unlike a lot of chef-written books, this one tells stories. Funny accounts of travels or mishaps or family members. Really touching tributes to grandparents, mentors, loved ones. And then the recipes themselves make this book a stand out. Try these titles: Brown-butter apple tart, blue cheese grits with wild mushrooms, crab cakes with a fried corn sauce. Or try something incredibly festive: a leg of lamb cooked for three days with a pound and a half of garlic--that's 1 1/2 pounds: marinated for a day, cooked for 7 hours, and rested for a day, resulting in something so tender and aromatic... A wild recipe from Philip Boulot in Portland, Oregon. The book is full of these simmered recipes that fill the house with something that's divine and earthly: Emeril's Sunday pot of bolognese sauce, John Ash's grandmother's beef stew, Suzanne Goin's devil's chicken with mustard and leeks.
Which makes this book sound too strong in the meat department, which isn't the case. Tons of great seafood, lots of homey desserts, and a big range of starters and first courses. It really is a quilt: bright patches from all across America, from every cuisine, from so many great talents. And like a quilt, something to pass on and cherish.

Sure, pick up the book because it features new recipes from umpteen James Beard Award winners, from most of the affable chefs who have television shows, from these "chefs who are the new rock stars." Okay, that might be the way you find the book. But inside, it's all storytelling. Rosen, the book's writer, coaxed the most familiar and family-inspired stories from these celebrity chefs to accompany their recipes. (And the recipes themselves also have a very accessible, personable feel to them: nothing too fanciful or formidable.)
A review, which put me onto the book said, "you know feel-good movies...this is a feel-good cookbook." It's a book to read at the kitchen table while you have breakfast, dreaming up what to cook for dinner. Dreaming of those anecdotes you tell about your own family's favorite meals. It's a fireside book. An emotional book: it about WHY we want to go to the trouble of cooking wonderful things for people we love. It's THE ideal book to give as gift, full of heart.

This book exhibits exceptional taste. The panko-crusted goat cheese on arugula and asparagus salad is worth the price of the book. And then there are 99 other great recipes.

Since we've elevated chefs to "star status" these days, we want to know all about what appliances and ingredients they use, what they themselves eat, etc. So ONE of the great things about this collection is the inside look you get at each chef's personal history. Really touching stories like Marcel Desaulnier, while stationed in Viet Nam, sharing the homemade chocolates his mother had sent. All this besides the fact that the book itself is gorgeous and just reading the recipes is entertainment enough. And as if I needed another way to rationalize buying the book, the fact that a portion of the proceeds go to an organization committed to ending hunger (Share Our Strength) had me sold. Buy this book!

At first I thought, wow! a nice book, a good gift. The premise of 100 great American chefs sharing stories and recipes for a good cause. But both the tales and the recipes exceeded my expectations. A terrific addition to my extensive cookbook collection.

Your own body can cure itself of disease and Dr Ross is giving you the tools to work with in finding the root cause of any problem. Read this book and then re-read it as often as you wish. Step by step you can achieve the vibrant health and energy you were meant to have. If you are already healthy and well you certainly want to stay that way and prevent any disease from occuring in the future. I am fortunate to know Dr. Ross and have been a patient of his for several years. I am 66 years old and I feel better now then I have ever felt. Thank you Dr. Ross for your wonderful book and inspiration that it brings.

Dr. Steven Ross is an expert in the field of functional diagnostic medicine and is a knowledgeable, compassionate practitioner. His book, Curing the Cause & Preventing Disease, is highly informative. During a time when more and more people are interested in establishing true health, this book is a welcome and timely perspective on how to obtain that.

"Curing the Cause and Preventing Disease" is a book that everyone should read. It is easy to read and follow, and it is full of information that I have never read before. By applying this book towards my life and health habits, I feel better and have more energy than before. At the same time, I have not had to give up on the things I enjoy. The instructions are easy to follow and apply at the same time.

It is a MUST read for everyone.

This book is my first introduction to Functional Diagnostic Medicine. Dr. Ross really makes understanding this amazing new science easy. I enjoy thinking outside the box when it comes to my health. If you want a new approach to your own health, buy this good and easy read.

This book is a must read! If you are interested in becoming healthier or dealing with a health challenge then Dr. Ross's book is a great resource. It's written in a way were you can take immediate action in your own life and implement numerous proven methods to "Curing and Preventing Disease." This book is not only easy to read but Dr. Ross has managed to take complicated issues and put them in terms that we can fully understand. I plan on reading this book again to get every once of info out of it I can!

One family's fight to reform the medical system is documented in this excellent, but gut-wrenching book. The author, Dorothy Cancilla, a bright and feisty woman, who learned the hard way how callous and incompetent some medical providers can be. Death by HMO documents her daughter Jennifer's eight years of painful illness that eventually led to a premature and avoidable death. Jennifer died four days before her 30th birthday.

I'm amazed at how much information and detail is compiled into this 132-page book. The reader gets an education on the human body, and the tragic errors made by doctors at every turn become very clear.

Jennifer's problems began with frequent abdominal pain and vomiting. While doctors debated about the cause of her suffering, she trusted her doctor who literally butchered her by removing her pancreas, instead of her gallbladder. Jennifer, who was somebody's mother, wife, daughter and sister, tried to live a normal life around many hospital stays and surgeries. Cancilla portrays her youngest daughter as heroic. Anyone reading this book will fall in love with Jennifer, but what pulls at my heart is Cancilla's loss--a mother's loss--that never goes away. She honors her daughter and family by writing this book.

People need to know what can happen to any of us once we put ourselves in someone else's hands. We must advocate for ourselves and our loved ones. We cannot assume that the doctor is always right. We have to keep in mind that the only body we have has to last us a lifetime. We are the ones who are affected by wrong decisions. Ultimately we must consider the medical professionals as part of our team. They are expert consultants and sometimes gifted surgeons. But even the most dedicated doctors are imperfect, not God-like. Even decent medical people may be cajoled into betraying their patients by the HMO who pays their salary.

Death by HMO will surprise and dismay you. But you will be inspired by the courage of Dorothy Cancilla and her family. This story has all the elements for a great movie.

> This is a very well written and documented story of a family trying to get professional medical care for their daughter (Jenny) at Kaiser Hospital...

> Jenny's family took it for granted that all Hospitals were "100% Dedicated at Maintaining a Very High Standard and keeping all of their patients in Excellent Health"...

> Without going into detail their daughter who was in her early 20's had a medical condition that seemed to be getting worse...

> This family was in for a Rude Awakening when they took Jenny to Kaiser Hospital to be diagnosed and treated...

> What they found out is that Kaiser Hospital did not want acknowledge or admit anything was wrong with "Jenny" and Refused to provide the Correct Diagnostic Tests that "would or would not" verify that she had medical condition that needed treated ASAP...

> Jenny's family spent the next "8" years trying to have their daughter Correctly Diagnosed and Treated at Kaiser Hospital with the end result being that the only thing "this hospital" had to offer them were Lies, Deception and Denial by repeatedly telling them that their daughter "did not" have any medical problems at all...

> What was found out later in Court by Professional Medical Experts and Doctors was that Jenny was provided with "100% Extreme Sub-Standard Medical Care" at "this HMO" starting with her very first visit...

> To put it simply: This young lady could have been Diagnosed - Treated and Cured by the Lowest 10% of the Graduates fresh out of Medical School because as it turned out Jenny had an Elementary Medical Condition that could have been Easily Diagnosed and Cured with Proper Professional Treatment...

> After Eight Years of "Extreme Sub-Standard Medical Care" at Kaiser Hospital and combined with Six Un-Needed Operations: Jenny Died a Horrible Death at the young age of "29 Years Old"...

***** THE FOLLOWING IS WHAT "YOU WILL LEARN FROM THIS EXCELLENT BOOK":

#1 The Red Flags that will tell You to change Doctors or Staff and get an Outside Second Opinion...

#2 To be able to Locate the "Many Great Doctors" that are available at Kaiser Hospital...

#3 To Understand the Fact that you have Zero-Support from some HMO's...

#4 I know that it is a "Known Fact" that there are some "Doctors and Staff" at "This Hospital" who Do Not care at all if you Die or Severely Damaged by their Major or Minor Medical Malpractice Mistakes and they will do nothing at all to save you - Rather than admit they made a Serious
Mistake and Save You - They will keep this a Complete Secret...

#5 Also Keep in Mind that there are "Many Great Doctors and Staff" at Kaiser who have Perfomed Miracles and saved patients who had almost no chance at all of Surviving and / or perfomed Incredibly Complicated Operations or Treatments with Fantastic Results...

#6 It is a "Known Fact" that some very "Unqualified Doctors or Staff" at Kaiser who will: Lie, Destroy and / or Lose Critical Medical Records, XRAYS, Radiology Reports, Dr's & Nurse's Notes, and any Info. that would Show or Prove they Commited a Major or Minor Malpractice Mistake that Killed or Severely Injured You...

#7 You may think so but you WILL NOT get any Support from "Some" Outside Medical "Watchdog" groups that you are told watches out for Sub-Standard Medical Care - This gives some people a Job to get Paid to Do Nothing and they are paid by you the tax-payer...

#8 The Exception to #7 is MEDICARE - "They do an EXCEPTIONAL JOB" at making sure you are OK... >>> BUT YOU HAVE TO LOOK OUT FOR THE RED FLAGS
YOURSELF BEFORE IT IS TO LATE...

#9 Before it is to late this HMO will have to Re-Evaluate their Game-Plan and put their Members & Patients in Priority Position #1... Income and Profits should be Priority Position #2... And #3 Should be to Weed-Out Any and All Unqualified Employees and Staff and hire Only Qualified and Professional Employee's who Desire to be the "Best of th Best" in the Kaiser Hospital System...

#10 If I had to make an Evaluation of the Kaiser Hospital HMO at this time after reading this excellent book and also being a past member of this this HMO - The Words that Clearly come to Mind Are:
***** THIS HAS TO BE THE MEDICAL SCAM of the CENTURY *****...

If Denzel Washington Touched Your Heart in The New Movie "John Q" Than read.....Jennifer's Story...DEATH BY HMO...A Real Life Tragedy.

This book is much much more than one which relays the horrible medical treatment that Jennifer received "While In The Hands of Kaiser" which resulted in her death.

This book is also about an organization that is more concerned about profit and image than the lives of any of it's patients. They will lie, they will trick, they will deny care in any manner possible until it is too late to save the patient if a patient is no longer profitable to them in the long run.

President Nixon when he was considering allowing the creation of the HMO Act was advised by Mr. John D. Ehrlichman who had received information on how Kaiser is run from the then CEO of Kaiser - Edgar Kaiser. Mr. Erlichman stated "...the less care they give them, the more money they make" and that just about sums up everything about this company.

Jennifer was tortured and abused by this corporation and like countless others she and her family found the inconceivable taking place right before their eyes. Medical personnel were not performing their prescribed duties in a professional nor competent manner. The medical staff with their conduct appeared to be a bunch of bumbling fools.

The Kaiser system is intentionally set up so that the patient and their family will choose to believe that a series of errors or incomptent events is taking place. These are really premeditated actions by a corporation that has put in place a system intentionlly fraught with systemic problems to delay treatment until the patient goes away one way or another.

For anyone that would question that statement how else can you explain how a doctor that goes to school for a decade to learn to be a physician and then passes a test to get a license could be so clueless over and over again.

It simply costs Kaiser less to settle an arbitration than it would to provide proper medical care in the long run.

Jennifer's family should be praised. They had the courage, the fortitude and the belief in themselves to put aside their pain and to focus their thoughts so that the public would have the opportunity to learn and avoid the never ending nightmare that they were all forced to endure by Kaiser and the for profit Permanente Medical Group.

This book is must reading for all people. If you must do business with Kaiser then at least be aware of what their business practices are so you can avoid the eternal suffering that Jennifers family must go through.

Jennifer's death was not in vain. She has lived on in this book to tell the story of what happened and to light the way for those that will listen.

This is a very disturbing indictment of modern health care. Dorothy Cancilla exhibits an extraordinary amount of restraint in recalling the preventable death of her daughter at the hands of inept doctors and an unforgiving system.

It's ironic that a organization whose charter is to maintain people's health can actually compromise their lives when the bottom line might be in jeopardy.

Kudos to Mrs. Cancilla for having the courage to face her demons by sharing them with others.

I bought this book and haven't even started to really dig INTO it, but i just wanted to say that upon first glance, this book seems as down to earth as jacque himself. i had the opportunity to meet him last week in New York, and he's just opened his second bakery, in downtown manhattan. i've watched his shows, but i can't believe how friendly of a person he is - he is the same offscreen as he is onscreen! i'm going to start going through these recipes, and i can't wait!

Torres is a force for pastry! His energy, creativity and enthusiasm for his passion is contagious!

Here his goal is to provide home cooks with American desserts that are manageable both from technique and ingredient view.

It begins with great basics section including terms, equipment, ingredients, and then basic building blocks e.g. pastry cream and apricot glaze.

Then on to recipe sections on such as Tarts, Cakes, Breads, Holiday extraveganzes, etc.

These are not too unusual of recipes, just good basics which most everyone can master given commitment to follow his well done instructions with many sketches and photos, and always a full-colored photo of the finished dish. There is even a whole section devoted to kids enjoying this type of baking, with recipes geared just for them to try with the folks help of course.

I especially enjoyed "Paul Bocuse Papillotte", "Lemon Upside Down Cake", "9C Muffins", and the "Caramel Walnut Souffle."

This is a good starting point for many into this arena of fun for one's own consumption and for giving.

Well, I must have said that I bought this book mainly because of Jacques Torres. However, after reading through the book as well as baking some of the desserts in the book. I must have said that this is one of the best dessert books that won't disappoint any reader. The dessert comes out and tastes as good as the look of it. The crust of my pie is flaky. The sauces taste great. Even though some of the reviewers said that it is too basic, I think that basic is all there is to a great dessert. Once you have learned the basic, you can adapt the recipe to make something spatacular.

Cooking and baking is one of my passions and so it goes that watching cooking shows on TV instead of movies is the norm in my TV room. Jacques became one of my favorite chefs the moment I began watching his show during FoodTV's Chocolate week in February. I found myself watching with child-like delight as I watched him pour chocolate on the counter and into molds, making chocolate making look like child's play so I knew I had to order his books.

Desert Circus at Home is my favorite baking book. The recipies are fun and easy, ranging from simple basics to fairly complex.
Buy this book and I'll bet you'll have all the pages covered with chocolate finger prints in no time at all because you will want to make all the recipies as soon as you open the pages. The recipies are foolproof if you have any experience in the kitchen at all.

Despite the proliferation of photos of a professionally coiffed jacques Torres, this is not another ego book by a professional chef. This book is filled with wonderful recipes specifically selected because they are well-suited to the home cook. They range from fairly complex but doable creations to simple tips on how to improve common desserts. The instructions are easy to follow, and Torres is an entertaining and helpful author. Many of the recipes are designed to appeal to children, a real plus for parents who cook.

I would like not to see the parallels. Any rational and compassionate person should like not to see the parallels. But the parallels are there, and Miller lays them bare in this devastating and meticulous extended analogy.

This is an astonishing book. Its thesis is provocative, to say the least, and it may not be for everyone -- but if you've ever wondered if just maybe our current federal drug policy wasn't delivering quite what you'd hoped, crack this book open and prepare to lose sleep.

The author has done the work and now the citizens must spread the "gospel". Like a seer Lawrence is able to anticipate the insane trajectory of where this drug war is leading. Though the picture he paints is ugly, if these drug warrior zealots are not vigorously challenged now he clearly shows how much uglier it will become. The evil of Nazi Germany and that of the US drug war are clearly shown to progress via the same chain of events: identification, ostracism, confiscation, concentration, and the final solution ie annihilation. Miller is an American hero doing the best he can to awaken conciousness.

This is one of the most powerful books I've read in a long time. Richard L. Miller deserves an award. In this book, the author details the erosion of civil liberties by the current war on drugs. For those familiar with this area, he trots out the typical points: harsh penalties for minor violations and loss of civil liberties for all.

But what makes this book special is the author's analysis of legal issues and history. Richard Miller is an independent scholar who has written about Nazi justice (in "Nazi Justiz"). I thought his application of Nazi jurisprudence to the drug war was overkill at first. Little did I know just how wrong I was. As one reviewer put it, this book will help you lose weight.

What sets this book above the others on the drug war is that Miller explains how the war effects the innocent, and how innocence is no longer an adequate defense. In fact, Miller has a Justice Department official quoted as saying that innocence was not a defense to forfeiture of assets. He argues that asset forfeiture has corrupted law enforcement at all levels.

In one example, Miller tells of an elderly couple in one California county who owned a mutil-million dollar ranch adjacent to a national park. Apparently, the Park Service wanted the land, the local law enforcement the assets (in the form of the house, possessions, etc.). Thus, police had to get a warrant to raid the property. First, they searched it illegally. This is a typical tactic of DEA agents and local law enforcement, who search a house and either plant or discover evidence that they can use to get a warrent later. Regardless, the courts have determined that even illegal searches and seizures are acceptable in the war on drugs. All of this is documented in the book. Even in the illegal search, no drugs were discovered. An elderly couple, go figure?

If you think that stopped the police, DEA, et al., then you haven't read the book. One local officer testified before a judge that "thousands" of marijuana plants were being cultivated on the property. This testimony was based on a lie told to the officer by another. Although both were aware of the lie (and the couple's complete innocence of ANYTHING), this way neither officer could be chared with perjury. Needless to say, the judge issued the warrant.

During the raid, the husband was sleeping. He was roused awake by his wife's screaming and was shot to death as he put down his rifle, which he had becuase he thought he was being robbed and was defending his wife. The agents participating in the raid evicted the wife. Even agents of the U.S. Park Service were involved, in case you doubted their complicity.

It gets better. The location of the ranch was in a different county than the one in which the local police were from! They went out of their own jurisdiction for the express purpose of seizing property from people THEY KNEW were innocent. All of this was expressed by the county prosecutor (where the ranch was), when he said that they appeared to be motivated by a desire to obtain the property and assests of its owners.

This book is meticulously documented and researched. The analysis of the legal issues with references to the Nuremburg Tribunal and Nazi legal principles is stunning. As well as his telling of the internment of Japenese-Americans to demonstrate how segments of society can be treated if the propaganda warriors desire their elimination.

If you're not enraged by the time you're finished reading this book, your heart is dead.

This is one of the best books I have read. I am against prohibition. Many people are but whenever the subject comes up in conversation the retort to my sugestion that prohibition be repealed is typically something along the line of "all you want to do is smoke pot" ...followed by some chuckling and then some stories about the days when we use to get high as kids.
This book is not about smoking pot. It is about the use of the drug war and prohibition law to circumvent Americans civil liberties. It is very well written. It helped me to form reasonable counter arguments to the for mentioned statement such as... "is it OK to strip search a child?"
This book is made even more relative when used as background material to analyze what I witness while watching the Judge Alito confirmatio hearings.
The scariest part of this book is watching the events described come alive right before our eyes on C-span.
I think you should read this if you, like me, suspect that something is rotten in Denmark and the official version of what is happening just isn't making sense.

This book is an anomaly amidst the typical drug policy literature available. Miller's argument stems from his scholarship on Nazism. He applies Raul Hilberg's "chain of destruction" to the current "war," not on drugs, but on drug users. William Bennett was less than secretive about his abhorrence for those who used drugs, especially those "hard-core users who were too far gone to care about" - stated differently, the real issue is not the drugs themselves, but the type of people who use drugs. America is full of social problems, e.g. poverty, crime, &c.; problems that most politicians are timid in addressing because of the complexities involved in solving them. Yet, politicians need a platform to stand on and the American public needs a scapegoat. Drug users, that most alien element in the population, according to Miller, are the perfect group to identify, ostracize, confiscate, concentrate, and then annihilate as scapegoats for all the ills in society: in fact this sequence of stages is Hilberg's "chain of destruction." It is from his "seminal" study on the Holocaust, later published as: The Destruction of the European Jews, that Hilberg constructed his theory of the chain of destruction. Nazi Germany, like America, was in the throes of profound social discord and the public demanded a scapegoat. The Jews became the literal manifestation of a scapegoat for the German people. Hitler, faced with harsh social problems, exercised his own prejudices to isolate, blame and thus use the Jews as a scapegoat for Germany's problems. It was identification of the scapegoat with a real entity and the eventual acceptance of this scapegoat by a German majority that led to the conceptualization and employment of a "final solution" for the riddance of social ills from German society. Miller's argument is provocative, to say the least, in that he sees a direct correlation between the processes of Nazism and the processes of the "drug warriors." Moral indignation when it is directed toward a highly specified group of people can have disastrous consequences. Miller is not the only scholar who has applied the scapegoat theory to drug users in American society, but he is the first to take it to its disturbing, but logical end.

VERY GOOD!! the best yet.

VERY GOOD!! the best yet.

I say this is more (much more) bloody than others of four ordinary ElfQuest, but it is writed well. There is a story much morer than ever in "Fire & Flight". Kahvi's the new character in this( you see her in picture) , and she is the chief on elkriders, who call themselves Go-Backs. Go-Backs live in shadow of mountains were is a HOME OF HIGH ONES. And with wolfriders they found it. once more i will say: Wolfriders never die. Yes, I know one-eye just did in a "Captives of Blue mountain", but, if you read this, you se how many of Go-Backs die. And that is normal. But NONE of wolfriders. They have armors as much as Go-backs.

But to end this, I tell you: Wendy and Richard teach us in every book , and they tell about life.

Believe me, you just won't believe this! This is the most skillfully drawn and written part of the whole "Elfquest" series next to the part about the adventures in the Blue Mountain. In fact, you won't see anything like this ever again in any Elfquest tales, nor even the future ones yet to come, I suspect. The great epic of war against the bloodthirsty Trolls of the Great White North begins right after the imprisonment of elves in the Blue Mountain by the witchlike Winnowill - a real teeth-rattling clash of so many different characters, old or new with their individual personalities and differences. In additional, a whole galaxy of the fantastic environment on the far-off World of Two Moons really opens up for the very first time to your mortal human eyes - from the monstrous labyrinth of the Troll lair to the shimmering walls of the long-lost Palace of the High Ones - with a whole bagful of earth-shaking surprises to boot! If you already have this rare book or are lucky enough to get your hands on a copy, I sincerely promise you that you just won't be able to put it down, nor read it just once!

For the first time since the original Elfquest story was released as a 20-issue series (from 1978 to 1984), it has been published in the original black-and-white format; the new Reader's Collection printing of Book 4 includes issues 16 to 20 (the last five), dealing with the elves' campaign to wrest control of their ancestral home, the Palace of the High Ones, from a hostile, heavily armed tribe of trolls.

By now much ink has been devoted to the originality and emotional conviction of the Pinis' tale, and of course Wendy's artistic skills need no further explanation. However, it is good to see, once again, the sheer quality - and expressiveness - of the artist's pencil-work as originally presented; some of this was obscured by the mediocre coloring of the editions published since the late Eighties (quite unlike the elegant coloring-work of the earlier Donning versions of the first four volumes, still worth having after all these years).

It has been said many times before, but it should be said, again, that the Pinis demonstrate their storytelling prowess by breaking the conventions of fantasy fiction; most importantly, the fulfillment of the quest is seen to be costly, even in the loss both of lives and innocence; and the battle, though necessary for the elves to reach their goal, is not their be-all and end-all - the truly life-changing events lie further ahead. The climax of this story possesses a nuance and thoughtfulness worthy of "real" fiction, and this, even more than the superlative artwork, gives the tale its substance and emotional power.

A final note on the presentation: some printing errors have unfortunately crept into this Reader's Collection book (as they also have in volumes 5 and 12a (the first printing only) of the series) - many pages are out of their proper order, so if you are new to EQ, try to find and earlier edition of Book 4 to enable yourself to follow the plot correctly. That caution aside, it is good to have the original EQ storyline again - now priced to gain a new audience.

This book has totally changed my life. Jim is a great guy with an evident passion for God and the things He is about. Jim speaks straight to the heart though this book. It is a great, fast read but also carries a ton of depth. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone. But fair warning...don't be surprised if Embracing the Love of God completely changes your life!

I would highly recommend this book to anyone struggling to understand and receive God's love and forgiveness. This book is written especially for believers who are honest enough to admit they have a problem in this area. James Bryan Smith writes in a way that is simplistic and yet profound based on truths from the Word of God. He shares about his own struggles and how he came to a place of acceptance of God's grace and love for him. If you have a desire to be transformed by the love of God, take the time to read this book.

I'm not sure which book got kicked out of the top 5 most influential books in my life, but this book replaced it. I've spent the fist ten years of my Christianity picking up not only the love of God, but the baggage that often goes with religion; I've spent the last ten years in the tricky business of extricating the love and dropping off the baggage.

This is one baggage blasting book.

It's a centering book. One I could not read quickly for the need to lay it down and think. The power in this book lay in the fact that it is also the testimony of one man; and last I heard, a person's testimony ranks with the blood of Jesus as far as overcoming goes. (Rev. 12:11) And what have we to overcome? That insidious voice that accuses us before God day and night. It says day and night. (vs. 10) No let up. That's why we need the message of love pounded and ground into our faces until we jolly well believe it.

This book has helped me to identify the voice of the accuser. It has helped me to see God in the teeny tiny ways he wants to be in my life. It has helped me to embrace what I am ever thinking is for someone else.

What I am understanding is that I did not get saved once; I am getting saved all the time, inch by inch and daily, and books like these are small miracles to help. This book is good news. I can't say how grateful I am to have read it.

This book was sooo good...Please don't hesitate to get it! Take your time, and drink in the love of God that comes through the pages...
Nothing can separate us from the LOVE of GOD! That is what James Smith explains so well in this book. I just finished it, and know I will read it again. This book encouraged me and lifted me up. He definitely has a gift from God...to teach, help, and encourage...with references throughout, to the Word of God. I look forward to reading more of his books. As another reader said, this book will probably become a classic.

Embracing the Love of God is thought provoking and is,in my opinion, a potential "spiritual classic". Mr. Smith's extended essay is organized around three topics: Knowing God's Acceptance, Receiving God's Forgiveness and Experiencing God's Care. Read it, and keep it to re-read, when you need encouragement. Embracing the Love of God was a blessing to me, and I recommend you buy it.