Breaking the Chains of Bondage

Thirty-four years ago, Charles Smith was incarcerated in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (or ‘Injustice,’ as he would say) with two life sentences. Now, he shares with us the harrowing and horrific experience of life in a Texas prison. Breaking the Chains of Bondage is his personal memoir that guides us through the fields and down the halls of everyday life, torture, and trauma in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison system. It is a read you won’t soon forget.

Despite facing numerous hardships and challenges during his 30+ years of incarceration, Charles persevered and achieved a master’s degree in psychology from UT-Clear Lake in Houston, earning widespread respect as a motivational speaker. He shares his passion for justice for all and his love for Esther and humanity at large. Breaking the Chains of Bondage is a riveting story of courage, resilience, and love. Open it up—take a walk inside.

Can Love and Talents Survive Opposite Political and Economic Environments?

Can Love and Talents Survive Opposite Political and Economic Environments?

This author believes that it is important to narrate how he has been affected by living under opposing political and economic systems.

This book shows how the command economy differs from the market economy through the example of a highly qualified Cuban economist and scholar who has lived for decades in developing and developed market economy and command economy countries.

Another very important and interesting aspect of this book is that it establishes the talents of this man’s two big loves’ –– his mother and his second wife –– as important and influential contributors in developing his behavior in the politico-socio-economic environment in which his life has so far taken place.

This book is divided into four sections: CHAPTER I contains an analytic summary of chaotic situations in Cuba and the United States, in which he had personally participated. CHAPTER II is a comparison of the political, social, and economic advantages and disadvantages existing between the market and the command economies, and the social democracy according to his international scholarly and personal experience, in developing and developed countries, especially during the last half of the twentieth and the first two decades of the twenty-first centuries. CHAPTER III explains in depth what is meant by each one of this author’s seven talents: reading and writing, pedagogy, tenacity, learning foreign languages, traveling around the world, singing, and being empathetic. CHAPTER IV explains how these talents are related to those of the two women who had considerably influenced the performance of his life.

Canadian Family Law Handbook

This book provides an easy-to-understand survey of family law across Canada. For those interested in Ontario or other provinces, perhaps working toward paralegal certification, this book provides all the relevant details of family law and competencies in an organized fashion using plain language. The latest amendments to the Divorce Act concerning decision-making responsibilities, parenting time, and contact orders are fully canvassed as are new requirements for moving or relocating, and the broader definition of family violence. Indeed, not all marriages and families are harmonious. There is a thorough review of domestic abuse and resulting trauma as well as legal remedies including peace bonds, restraining orders, and civil contempt. This book also examines the client-centered, trauma-informed, anti-racist approach to providing legal services.

The laws of marriage (but not solemnization), annulment, and divorce are essentially the same no matter where you live in Canada. The first six chapters are very informative about those topics and issues of parenting, child support, and financial assistance for spouses. This book also deals with disputes concerning parenting responsibilities, support, and property division that arise when the parties never married but cohabited in a conjugal relationship of some duration prior to separation.

While this book is not legal advice, it provides every reader with a solid grasp of their rights and obligations in family matters. And those who will qualify as legal advisers in family disputes will benefit from the breadth of the material and the comparative approach.

Celestial Scepters I

Celestial Scepters I challenges the Church to explore the Scriptures, and to cease cutting, pasting and ignoring the Bible. The Church, in other words, must challenge their leaders, who have, since the beginning, distorted Jesus’ words.

Yet the Church is continually in conflict, forcing schisms and fusing theology with the political world, the Great Harlot. This has led them to deify kings, dictators, and papal autocrats. Why have they neglected Jesus’ teachings, going so far as to support antichristian figures like Hitler, Mussolini, Putin and Donald Trump?

Time is running out, the assault on the truth continues. Two movements emerged after Jesus’ death, the Church of James and the Church of Paul. Paul agreed to obey James, and to honor the Spirit that led Paul to do obey. Yet, Paul returned to his ways and ignored his sacred pledge. The early disciples, those who followed James, soon died out, who never left Jesus’ teachings. Paul, a man of contradictions, commanded his followers to obey the very kings who empowered the Church to ignore Jesus’ words and mission, making him, in reality, a Gentile god. But Jesus was explicit that we can become one with God, while yet alive, in the same way Jesus is one with God. We never needed a dictatorial taskmaster that Paul was and continued to be. What’s been lost since the beginning is the fact that we were given the glory, and we too are created in the image of God, and we too are the Way.

Chasing Dreams in a Sailboat

Chasing Dreams in a Sailboat is an anthology of stories about the interesting people we met in foreign sailing destinations; vibrant people with different perspectives, backgrounds, and life experiences, who have shaped us into more open-minded individuals.

This is a collection of memoirs about the cultural experiences we have encountered in our beloved British Virgin Islands, the shockingly beautiful French Polynesian Society Islands, the ancient villages along the ink-blue Tyrrhenian Sea’s most dazzling stretch of the Italian coastline known as the Amalfi Coast, and the magnificent Dalaman sailing region in southern Turkey, appropriately nicknamed the ‘Turkish Riviera.’

In each destination, we mingled with the locals and embraced unexpected opportunities so that for a passing moment in time, we could become a part of the diverse civilization we visited.

Chasing Rommel

On June 6, 1944, tens of thousands of American soldiers, sailors, and airmen assaulted the German held coast of France at Normandy. Some were killed, some wounded, and all of them were changed as the battles raged against Rommel and his defenders. They fell for yards of sandy beaches, for critical roads, bridges, villages, towns, and cities. Together, we will travel to those places, and we will relive all the bravery and horror, all the mistakes and honor, as we learn their stories - Chasing Rommel.

Child Protection in America

Child abuse and neglect are tragically common. Each year, more than 1,000 American children die due to maltreatment. Thousands more suffer physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. Across the country, every community has a system of government-operated and funded child protective services (CPS). But given that social workers of CPS have the authority to remove children from unsafe parents, it is no surprise that CPS is controversial. Does CPS protect children? Does CPS do more good than harm? Is CPS fundamentally racist, as some critics argue? Should CPS be abolished? To answer these questions, it is essential to understand the origins of child protection in America. How did we arrive at the child protection system in place today? This book traces the history of child protection from colonial times to the present and provides the most in-depth analysis ever published of the origins of child protection.

Come Thirsty: Leave Quenched

Come Thirsty, Leave Quenched invites you on a transformative journey into the depths of your spirit, offering a sanctuary for the weary soul. In a world filled with noise and distraction, this devotional serves as a navigational guide, leading you to the oasis of inner fulfillment you’ve been seeking.

You will find solace and inspiration for your heart, whether facing a broken spirit, a tired mind, or seeking answers to life’s profound questions.

Prepare to encounter whispers of grace and the realization that within you lies the key to everlasting fulfillment. Discover the courage to confront challenges and the strength to drink deeply from the wellspring of life.

Come with an open heart and leave these pages forever changed!

Compelling Encounters

These journal accounts of life as a trauma specialist in Kenya, Eritrea and Uganda present poignant, engrossing yet disturbing view of African life. In shocking detail, HIV/AIDS deaths, inhuman treatment of the mentally ill, forced military conscription, brutal attacks by warring insurgencies, the fate of AIDS orphans and government control of the people are all noted in detail.

In contrast to the horrors witnessed, the descriptions of the beautiful scenery, flowers, and animals depict another side of African life. Details of family life, education, customs, and language are also included.      

The role of missionary sisters and priests and the church is emphasized and explained.     

Confidence Matters

This book can help you to develop your self-awareness, your self-belief, and your sense of self-worth so that you can feel confident whenever, wherever, and with whomever.

Go on a journey of self-discovery with practical step-by-step exercises, and develop and strengthen your authentic motivation and self-confidence with techniques based on the powerful behavioural science of neuro-linguistic programming.

Confidence Matters by Dr. Louise J. Goddard EdD is for everyone – from teachers to business leaders, entrepreneurs to coaches, parents, and people from all walks of life. It goes beyond positive thinking. It contains no-nonsense step-by-step exercises for self-discovery, transcendence of unconscious limiting beliefs, and enhancement of mental clarity, self-awareness, motivation, gratitude, and self-empowerment.

Connections

I am a practicing psychotherapist with over fifty years of experience, still actively seeing patients in the San Diego area. I currently specialize in those needing treatment for long-term care, chronic conditions, and PTSD.

I returned to my roots in writing Connections. I expanded upon the developmental frameworks I taught in my UCSD courses; my students encouraged me to adapt these core psychological constructs into a matrix encompassing my other passions, like physics and spirituality. I believe we need an ongoing inner Renaissance if we hope to spark one in the wider world.

Conscious (R)Evolution, Humanity, Insanity, and the Planet

In Conscious (R)Evolution, Humanity, Insanity, and the Planet, the author brings together two powerful insights: that all life on this planet is interconnected, and that humanity’s current path of consumerism and industrialization is leading to catastrophe. From deforestation to pollution, we are damaging the very environment that sustains us. This book asks us to stop and consider the bigger picture: as an intelligent species, why would we willingly destroy the planet that gave us life? With urgency and clarity, the author calls for a new way of living, one that recognizes our place in the natural world and uses our intelligence to create a better future for all.