The land of opportunity, a golden Eden, the last frontier. What is this place that has given rise to countless metaphors but can still quicken the imagination? For Bill Barich, the question became a quest when he realized that home was no longer New York, where he had grown up, but California, to which he had been lured twenty years earlier. Now, in this account of his journey through California, he captures the true nature of the state behind the stereotypes. From the fogbound fishing towns of the North to the Mexican port of entry at San Ysidro, Barich describes an amazing diversity among people who have staked a claim to California’s promise. He introduces us to a Native American hairdresser and the head priest of a Sikh temple; we meet loggers, bikers, an aging lifeguard, and the prison warden whose job is to keep Charles Manson behind bars. He follows the traces of John Muir, Robert Louis Stevenson, Walt Disney, and Ronald Reagan, and weighs the impact their dreams have had on the rest of us. The result is a book that captures all the promise, heartache, grandeur, and incongruity of California and its unabashed Big Dreams.

The American prison system has grown tenfold since the 1970s, but crime rates in the United States have not decreased. This doesn't surprise Michael J. Lynch, a critical criminologist, who argues that our oversized prison system is a product of our consumer culture, the public's inaccurate beliefs about controlling crime, and the government's criminalizing of the poor. While deterrence and incapacitation theories suggest that imprisoning more criminals and punishing them leads to a reduction in crime, case studies, such as one focusing on the New York City jail system between 1993 and 2003, show that a reduction in crime is unrelated to the size of jail populations. Although we are locking away more people, Lynch explains that we are not targeting the worst offenders. Prison populations are comprised of the poor, and many are incarcerated for relatively minor robberies and violence. America's prison expansion focused on this group to the exclusion of corporate and white collar offenders who create hazardous workplace and environmental conditions that lead to deaths and injuries, and enormous economic crimes. If America truly wants to reduce crime, Lynch urges readers to rethink cultural values that equate bigger with better.

Microfinancing is considered one of the most effective strategies in the fight against global poverty. And now, in Small Loans, Big Changes, author Alex Counts reveals how Nobel Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus revolutionized global antipoverty efforts through the development of this approach. This book presents compelling stories of women benefiting from Yunus’s microcredit in rural Bangladesh and urban Chicago, and recounts the experiences of different borrowers in each country, interspersing them with stories of Yunus, his colleagues, and their counterparts in Chicago.

Self-empower your self-image skills. You can tailor-make your own system using BJ's motivational power phrases to achieve your desired success. He did it, why not you? Here are a few of those phrases: Why has real success escaped so many? Their focus was not on a big dream, if any. Fear is a paralyzing force that can drive anyone off course. Self-image means you believe in you. When you believe in you, others will too. No matter in life what we go through, to ourselves we should always be true. Always be ready to meet a new friend. This can be a self-image-building trend. The positive words we continually confess can help us pave the way to our success. This is one book in a four-book series available online and in all major book outlets. There will be 250 of BJ's motivational power phrases in all four books on the following subjects: self-image, motivation, leadership, and setting goals. This book is on self-image. All my books can be found on www.bjcatewrites.com and blog.

Come to Blueridge Junction and meet the BJ Boys. Blueridge is a small town with BIG love between real men. This box set contains all three full-length novels. Fight for It - Micah is a small-town mechanic with a big-time dream. He’s found his soulmate in high school social studies teacher Coleman Pierce, but while Micah’s out and proud of it, Coleman’s closet door is closed, locked, and welded shut. Stolen nights are all they’ll ever have, unless Micah can find some way to convince Cole that coming out won’t be the end of his dreams. Cole moved to Blueridge Junction to escape his past. He planned to make himself a new life, far from home and the betrayal he’d suffered there. He wasn’t going to make the same mistakes again, but he didn’t count on meeting Micah, or the intensity of the feelings the man arouses in him. But Micah is out and Cole… isn’t. And while Micah definitely revs his engines, Cole isn’t going to risk his job or his newly minted future on a relationship that might not work out. When outside forces bear upon the couple, Cole is faced with a decision. Will he keep his secret and risk losing everything, including the man he loves? Or will he stand with Micah and fight for their future? Can't Fight It - For small-town tattoo artist Levi Wells his few forays into love have only brought him trouble. When trouble with a capital T came sashaying into town two years ago in the form of flamboyant young dancer Jay Owens, Levi becomes more determined than ever to stay away from anything remotely resembling a relationship. Especially one with someone so young and different than him. Two years. That’s how long Jay has been trying to wear Levi down. But, Levi only sees Jay as a thorn in his side and balks at their differences every chance he gets. Luckily for them both, Jay isn’t going to let a little thing like Levi’s reluctance stand in the way of getting what he wants. Levi is as stubborn as Jay is tenacious and they find themselves at an impasse. When Jay inadvertently gets himself into an unnerving situation, Levi’s protective nature surges forth even as he berates his heart for getting involved. Will Levi stay focused on their differences and keep fighting his true feelings? Or will Jay finally burrow through Levi’s self-imposed walls? One thing is for sure, you can’t fight love. Bound to Fight - Bar and grille owner Cody Parker is the no-nonsense leader of a weekly gathering of the leather community—a powerful, respected man guaranteed to make all the bottom boys beg. He sees red at even the mere mention of Kennedy Marks. Having escaped a terrifying childhood, Kennedy Marks is now a beloved Blueridge Junction police officer. Until recently, Kennedy has never questioned his role in intimate relationships. He knows Cody hates him, and the feeling is very much mutual. Neither man can explain why they despise each other. But when an unexpected kernel of desire takes root in Kennedy’s mind, that ever-present animosity begins to waver. Can the two allow themselves to explore the reasons behind their hatred and cross that thin line between love and hate? Male/Male (M/M) small-town, found family romance.

Self-empower your motivation skills. You can tailor-make your own system using BJ's motivational power phrases to achieve your desired success. He did it. Why not you? Here are a few of those phrases: Setting a critical deadline can serve as a motivating sign. The will for us to win comes from within. A big dream is a great motivator. It is also an idea and goal creator. Winners have learned a fact that is true: the art of winning can motivate me and you. Always remember nothing moves without motivation, even if it be an individual, group, business, or a nation. Worrying about something wrong we have done can really slow down a winner who needs to run. This is one book in a four-book series available online and in all major book outlets. There will be 250 of BJ's motivational power phrases in all four books on the following subjects: self-image, motivation, leadership, and setting goals. This book is on motivation. All my books can be found on www.bjcatewrites.com and blog.

This fascinating reference covers the major topics concerning dreaming and sleep, based on the latest empirical evidence from sleep research as well as drawn from a broad range of dream-related interdisciplinary contexts, including history and anthropology. While many books have been written on the subject of sleep and dreams, no other resource has provided the depth of empirical evidence concerning sleep and dream phenomena nor revealed the latest scientific breakthroughs in the field. Encyclopedia of Sleep and Dreams: The Evolution, Function, Nature, and Mysteries of Slumber explores the evolution, nature, and functions of sleep and dreams. The encyclopedia is divided into two volumes and is arranged alphabetically by entry. Topics include nightmares and their treatment, how sleep and dreams change across the lifetime, and the new field of evolution of sleep and dream. While this book includes ample material on the science of sleep and dreams, content is drawn from a broad range of disciplinary contexts, including history and anthropology.

Self-empower your goal setting skills. You can tailor-make your own system using BJ's motivational power phrases to achieve your desired success. He did it. Why not you? Here are a few of those phrases: Our first look at a critical change, that goal may appear to be out of range. How can we ever keep growing if we don't know where we are going? Daily focusing on our goals, achieving them is a safe bet. By using proven success principles, that goal can be met. When we decide to set a goal, our statement should be bold. Leaders are always prepared to take a hit, Knowing they will have to win bit by bit. This is one book in a four-book series available online and in all major book outlets. There will be 250 of BJ's motivational power phrases in all four books on the following subjects: self-image, motivation, leadership, and setting goals. This book is on goal setting. All my books can be found on www.bjcatewrites.com and blog.

It Aint Over First Round This hood-licious story and characters are used as metaphors to show how God fulfills his will and promises through people. The cries of the Ghetto have been heard however God reigns on the just as well as the unjust. But his message of love is that he will turn your darkest hour into sunshine when you believe and depend on him. The time period is set in the late 80s early 90s when crack reached its true peek and our souls had been lost to material gain. These friends will give you the Ghetto tour guide that proves the Holy Scripture We dont fight against flesh and blood but principalities and spirits I high places. Let me hear your war cry people because Dream sets it off. Little children afraid of the dark and sick and tired of the Boogie Man stealing their innocence and dreams will gain hope from Dreams story and learn that god has already conquered every boogieman in your life no matter how big or how small. Lil Zap, Bliz, Rome, Reif and Bookill grow up believing that life is what you make it but later learn that the symphony of storms encountered have been orchestrated and conducted by Gods hand before the foundations of this world. It Aint over First Round is filled with excitement, laughter, love, murder, betrayal and mayhem all the things that make a riveting debut novel. Endurance is the test and faith is the promise of light.

In This Is All a Dream We Dreamed, two of the most well-respected chroniclers of the Dead, Blair Jackson and David Gans, reveal the band’s story through the words of its members, their creative collaborators and peers, and a number of diverse fans, stitching together a multitude of voices into a seamless oral tapestry. Capturing the ebullient spirit at the group’s core, Jackson and Gans weave together a musical saga that examines the music and subculture that developed into its own economy, touching fans from all walks of life, from penniless hippies to celebrities, and at least one U.S. vice president. This definitive book traces the Dead’s evolution from its humble beginnings as a folk/bluegrass band playing small venues in Palo Alto to the feral psychedelic warriors and stadium-filling Americana jam band that blazed all the way through to the 90s. Along the way, we hear from many who were touched by the Dead—from David Crosby and Miles Davis, to Ken Kesey, Carolyn “Mountain Girl” Garcia, and a host of Merry Pranksters, to legendary concert promoter Bill Graham, and others. Throughout their journey the Dead broke (and sometimes rewrote) just about every rule of the music business, defying conventional wisdom and charting their own often unusual course, in the process creating a business model unlike any seen before. Musically, too, they were pioneers, fusing inspired ideas and techniques with intuition and fearlessness to craft an utterly unique and instantly recognizable sound. Their music centered on collective improvisation, spiritual and social democracy, trust, generosity, and fun. They believed that you can make something real, spontaneous, and compelling happen with other musicians if you trust and encourage each other, and jam as if your life depended on it. And when it worked, there was nothing else like it. Whether you’re part of the new generation of Deadheads who are just discovering their music or a devoted fan who has traded Dead tapes for decades, you will want to listen in on the irresistible conversations and anecdotes shared in these pages. You’ll hear stories you haven’t heard before, possibly from voices that may be unfamiliar to you, and the tales that unfold will shed a whole new light on a long and inspiring musical odyssey.