Imagine God's book of poetry, the Psalms, written as poems

that rhyme

that have a variety of metrical patterns

that remain true to meaning of Scripture

that help us hear God's voice in a new way

Jehovah, Thou searchest me deeply;

My nature dost Thou understand;

Whenever I sit, Thou ponderest it;

Whenever I rise, Thou dost realize

My thoughts and the deeds I have planned.

--Psalm 139

Jehovah's mine, my Shepherd divine;

No want will He fail to surpass;

He makes me dine, be filled, and recline

In pastures of tender, young grass.

--Psalm 23

The panting hart seeks most and first

For water-brooks, to quench its thirst,

Lest it should die;

So pants my soul, O God, for Thee

Who art the God of life to me:

Let me draw nigh

--Psalm 42

"I have been teaching the Psalms for more than thirty years, and yet, as I read through these poems, I found myself repeatedly stopping to reflect on things I had never considered before, and being blessed by that exercise."

--Dr. David Howard, Professor of Old Testament, Bethel Seminary, St. Paul, MN

Republican Legal Theory discusses the history, constitution and purposes of law in a free state. This is the most comprehensive study since James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and The Federalist of republican legal ideas. Sellers explains the importance of popular sovereignty, the rule of law, the separation of powers, and other essential republican checks and balances in protecting liberty and against tyranny and corruption.

This book describes the origins of the concept of liberty in the legal and political thought of Rome, Italy, England, France and the United States of America. Professor Sellers traces the development of liberty and republican government over two centuries of European history, in association with liberal ideas. This study reveals republicanism as the parent of liberalism in modern law and politics, and demonstrates the continuing value of republican ideas in securing the liberty of contemporary states and their citizens.

"Republican Principles in International Law" considers the fundamental requirements of a just world order, as applied to public international law. The republican principles of deliberation, popular sovereignty and the public good first formed and justified the law of nations two centuries ago. They still clarify the most contested legal question and explain why people and states should obey international law. This book sets the standard for legitimate government, both within and beyond the jurisdiction of separate states and nations.""

This book undertakes the first systematic, multi-country investigation into how regimes of place equality, consisting of multilevel policies, institutions and governance at multiple scales, influence spatial inequality in metropolitan regions. Extended, diversified metropolitan regions have become the dominant form of human settlement, and disparities among metropolitan places figure increasingly in wider trends toward growing inequality. Regimes of place equality are increasingly critical components of welfare states and territorial administration. They can aggravate disparities in services and taxes, or mitigate and compensate for local differences. The volume examines these regimes in a global sample of eleven democracies, including developed and developing countries on five continents. The analyses reveal new dimensions of efforts to grapple with growing inequality around the world, and a variety of institutional blueprints to address one of the most daunting challenges of twenty-first century governance.

Cities play a growing role in governing. This new role fits within a context that nation-states, global market forces and cities themselves continue to define. The analysis of this book focuses on how local efforts in the distinct European systems of France and Germany as well as American counterparts have provided for environmental quality and social inclusion alongside local economic development. Only in certain European settings has policy making at multiple levels accomplished all three objectives at once. In those settings, effective governance from below has relied on adequate support from higher levels of governments and a favorable position in the global economy.

This volume presents the first systematic comparative analysis of national traditions of local democracy across the developed world, as well as their origins and evolution. It reveals how inclusive local institutions that integrate national and local governance make democracy work better. Across most of the developed world, early forms of the national state entrenched the local power of elites. In Anglo-American and Swiss democracies, state formation imposed enduring tensions with local civic governance. In contrast, inclusive, integrative local institutions in Northern Europe enabled close links with central government around common local and national agendas, producing better governance and fuller democracy to the present day. Through comparative analysis, the authors demonstrate how institutions for local governance and the participation of civil society differ widely among developed democracies, and how local democracy relates to national democracy. The resulting insights fundamentally recast our understanding of how to build and maintain more effective democracies.

Novel Pharmacological Interventions for Alcoholism identifies priorities for focusing alcoholism and addiction research efforts during the coming years. A number of important issues concerning methodology, mechanisms, clinical evaluation, and pharmaceutical aspects are discussed. This book is also a plea for a greater degree of collaboration among academics, pharmaceutical physicians and scientists, and drug regulators; it demonstrates that progress in understanding and fighting addiction and alcoholism is possible in the foreseeable future.

This volume is the eighth in the Research Advances Series and the fifth published by Plenum Press. The purpose of the series is to review new work in rapidly changing fields. We do not expect reviews to cover the whole field of work on alcoholism and addiction. Nor do we expect that they will be like annual reviews covering all work in a delimited field. Our reviews are designed to explore only the most exciting parts of the total field and to focus on conclusions that can be made about them. The series publishes one volume each year. Volume 8 is an omnibus rather than a theme volume in that a wide range of topics is covered, including research on alcohol, opiates, and tobacco. As usual, the greater emphasis is on alcohol research, reflecting the importance of the problem and the volume of work to be reviewed. With Volume 8 come some changes in the Editorial Board. It will be the last volume in the series for Robert E. Popham who has resigned from the Board. He has been with the series since its inception and has contributed a great deal to its development. The members of the Board are grateful for his help. We are adding two new members: Dr. Howard Cappell, whose field is experimental psychology, and Dr. Edward M. Sellers, in clinical medicine and pharmacology.

Republican Principles in International Law considers the fundamental requirements of a just world order, as applied to public international law. This book sets the standard for legitimate government, both within and beyond the jurisdiction of separate states and nations.

Around the world, metropolitan areas are emerging as the predominant form of human settlement. Processes like suburbanization, geopolitical fragmentation and metropolitan segregation, once thought to be confined to exceptions like the United States, have become facts of political and social life throughout advanced industrial countries. These global transformations are also contributing to major shifts in political orientations, electoral participation and governance. This book presents the first systematic comparative analysis of these social, spatial and political shifts. Employing a common analytical and methodological framework, the fifteen contributors examine variants of these changes underway in throughout North America, Eastern and Western Europe, and beyond.

Republican legal theory developed out of the jurisprudential and constitutional legacy of the Roman res publica as interpreted over two millennia in Europe and North America. In this book - the most comprehensive study of republican legal ideas to date - Professor Sellers traces the development of republican legal theory. Explaining the importance of popular sovereignty, the rule of law, the separation of powers and other essential republican legal characteristics, he argues that these republican institutions have introduced a new era of justice into politics.

This book describes the origins of the concept of liberty in the legal and political thought of Rome, Italy, England, France and the United States of America. Professor Sellers traces the development of liberty and republican government over two centuries of European history, in association with liberal ideas. This study reveals republicanism as the parent of liberalism in modern law and politics, and demonstrates the continuing value of republican ideas in securing the liberty of contemporary states and their citizens.

Imagine God's book of poetry, the Psalms, written as poems

that rhyme

that have a variety of metrical patterns

that remain true to meaning of Scripture

that help us hear God's voice in a new way

Jehovah, Thou searchest me deeply;

My nature dost Thou understand;

Whenever I sit, Thou ponderest it;

Whenever I rise, Thou dost realize

My thoughts and the deeds I have planned.

--Psalm 139

Jehovah's mine, my Shepherd divine;

No want will He fail to surpass;

He makes me dine, be filled, and recline

In pastures of tender, young grass.

--Psalm 23

The panting hart seeks most and first

For water-brooks, to quench its thirst,

Lest it should die;

So pants my soul, O God, for Thee

Who art the God of life to me:

Let me draw nigh

--Psalm 42

"I have been teaching the Psalms for more than thirty years, and yet, as I read through these poems, I found myself repeatedly stopping to reflect on things I had never considered before, and being blessed by that exercise."

--Dr. David Howard, Professor of Old Testament, Bethel Seminary, St. Paul, MN

A growing majority of humanity lives in sprawling, interconnected urban regions. Diversified metropolitan geographies have replaced the centuries-old divide between urban and rural areas, and transformed the local sources of electoral politics. The resulting patterns of electoral support and participation have shifted axes of partisan competition to the right. This volume undertakes the first international comparative analysis of metropolitan political behaviour. The results support a powerful new thesis to explain many recent shifts in political behaviour: the metropolitanisation of politics.

A growing majority of humanity lives in sprawling, interconnected urban regions. Diversified metropolitan geographies have replaced the centuries-old divide between urban and rural areas, and transformed the local sources of electoral politics. The resulting patterns of electoral support and participation have shifted axes of partisan competition to the right. This volume undertakes the first international comparative analysis of metropolitan political behaviour. The results support a powerful new thesis to explain many recent shifts in political behaviour: the metropolitanisation of politics.

OGINALII is a Young Adult Short Story that pulls in your heart as you leave the asphalt for dusty rural roads and smelly farm land. Exilee Sheffield is a tomboy who recently lost her mother and deals with loneliness and grieving in a most unique manner. Anyone want to watch a pony-show with a cat on the back, featuring a three-legged buffalo, all led by a hyper terrier? Exilee doesn't. She wants to do it And she will. Exilee wants to do anything except learn piano and as Auntie Bell says, "Learn some manners." Until Exilee learns Auntie Bell just might be her new best friend, if she'll let her.

When Lillian's husband learns he's the cause of their infertility, he's gone before morning. Lillie does what any self-respecting woman would do, she turns to Ben and Jerry's and refuses to leave the house. Eventually, she has to venture out to replenish her supply of Phish Food, and runs into her mother-in-law, struggling with the care of her special needs niece. Ashamed by her self-indulgent behavior, Lillie finds strength she didn't know she had to create the family she'd always wanted. Later when Jonathan returns, Lillie hopes to find the closure she lacked from his speedy departure. But instead, he needs a favor and Lillie's the only one who can help. She knows the best thing to do is to forget the past and put her crumbled marriage behind her...or is it? Sometimes coming home, isn't to a place on the map...but a place in your heart.