Michael Richardson

J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, ordered information to be withheld in the death of an Omaha policeman in 1970 resulting in the conviction of two Black Panthers for the crime. The book explores the racial divide of the time and events leading to murder, the details of the FBI intrusion into a local prosecution, and the unsuccessful efforts of the two convicted men to obtain a new trial untainted by FBI and police misdeeds. The book uses prison interviews, police reports, FBI memorandums, news accounts, and legal documents to tell the hidden story of justice undone in the heart of America. A policeman's killers got away with murder so that the two Black Panthers, Ed Poindexter and David Rice, could be blamed and sentenced to life imprisonment. The book is a painful account of how justice was twisted in Omaha, Nebraska, and then ignored. Hoover's role in the travesty is documented from previously secret COINTELPRO documents. Statements of the prisoners who became known as the Omaha Two, woven throughout the book, add a personal and sometimes uplifting element to a unique and compelling story of a corrupted national police force.

George Bataille (1867-1962) is widely recognized as one of the most important thinkers of the twentieth century. This is the first book in English to examine Bataille's work as a whole. It offers an accessible introduction to a complex and often ambiguous thinker.

Embark on a Thrilling Journey with Hayley Slade For the very first time, Hayley Slade dares to step out of her comfort zone, embarking on an adventure that promises the unexpected. Anticipating nothing more than a touch of seasickness and perhaps a fleeting storm, Hayley soon discovers that her journey holds far greater challenges. Marooned on a seemingly deserted island, Hayley encounters a mysterious castaway named Jack. But fate has more in store-they are soon captured and plunged into the perilous world of pirates, where centuries-old secrets and legendary treasures lurk beneath the turquoise waves of the Caribbean. As Hayley clings to her camera, capturing the raw beauty and danger of their predicament, Jack remains shrouded in his enigmatic past. Their survival hinges on trust, wit, and courage as they navigate treacherous waters, evade ruthless pirates, and face life-threatening situations head-on. Will Hayley and Jack uncover the hidden treasure, or will their secrets doom them to a watery grave? Journey with them as they discover that sometimes the greatest treasure is found not in gold, but in the bonds we forge under the harshest of circumstances. This pulse-pounding adventure is a must-read for those who crave suspense, romance, and the allure of the unknown. Grab your copy today and dive into a world where danger and destiny intertwine

What if I told you that the second coming had already happened? What if I told you something had gone wrong? Would you believe me? Could you? Christian is faced with these very questions, a man who has never understood his place in the world. A former priest, soldier and now a government agent specializing in the occult must face his own uncertainties when he becomes entangled in an investigation that appears to lend itself to the supernatural. Now this man who has only ever questioned his faith must call upon it and his friends to guide him through the challenge ahead. When Christian meets up with his estranged childhood priest, he wanders into the rabbit hole after finding the old man, whom he hasn't seen in over twenty years, has not aged a day. Now, is it God or the Devil whom he must face? The answers will shake the very core of humanity and could lead the world to war or, a lasting peace.

What if I told you that the second coming had already happened? What if I told you something had gone wrong? Would you believe me? Could you? Christian is faced with these very questions, a man who has never understood his place in the world. A former priest, soldier and now a government agent specializing in the occult must face his own uncertainties when he becomes entangled in an investigation that appears to lend itself to the supernatural. Now this man who has only ever questioned his faith must call upon it and his friends to guide him through the challenge ahead. When Christian meets up with his estranged childhood priest, he wanders into the rabbit hole after finding the old man, whom he hasn't seen in over twenty years, has not aged a day. Now, is it God or the Devil whom he must face? The answers will shake the very core of humanity and could lead the world to war or, a lasting peace.

In Nonhuman Witnessing Michael Richardson argues that a radical rethinking of what counts as witnessing is central to building frameworks for justice in an era of endless war, ecological catastrophe, and technological capture. Dismantling the primacy and notion of traditional human-based forms of witnessing, Richardson shows how ecological, machinic, and algorithmic forms of witnessing can help us better understand contemporary crises. He examines the media-specificity of nonhuman witnessing across an array of sites, from nuclear testing on First Nations land and autonomous drone warfare to deepfakes, artificial intelligence, and algorithmic investigative tools. Throughout, he illuminates the ethical and political implications of witnessing in an age of profound instability. By challenging readers to rethink their understanding of witnessing, testimony, and trauma in the context of interconnected crises, Richardson reveals the complex entanglements between witnessing and violence and the human and the nonhuman.

In Nonhuman Witnessing Michael Richardson argues that a radical rethinking of what counts as witnessing is central to building frameworks for justice in an era of endless war, ecological catastrophe, and technological capture. Dismantling the primacy and notion of traditional human-based forms of witnessing, Richardson shows how ecological, machinic, and algorithmic forms of witnessing can help us better understand contemporary crises. He examines the media-specificity of nonhuman witnessing across an array of sites, from nuclear testing on First Nations land and autonomous drone warfare to deepfakes, artificial intelligence, and algorithmic investigative tools. Throughout, he illuminates the ethical and political implications of witnessing in an age of profound instability. By challenging readers to rethink their understanding of witnessing, testimony, and trauma in the context of interconnected crises, Richardson reveals the complex entanglements between witnessing and violence and the human and the nonhuman.

A complete guide to tantric sex in a 3-volume boxed set. In this three-volume boxed set, tantric sex teachers Diana and Michael Richardson present practices to help couples enrich their sex life with the spiritual, healing power of sex. In Tantric Orgasm for Women, Diana explores Tantra from the female perspective, sharing her more than 20 years of research and revealing how relaxation is the key to achieving deep orgasmic states. She looks at how receptive feminine energy influences the male-female exchange, provides ancient tantric meditations and breathing exercises for increased sensitivity and awareness, and explores the role of the clitoris, breasts, and vagina in achieving orgasm. In Tantric Sex for Men, Diana and Michael show men how to move beyond goal-oriented sex and relax into sex as a meditative union of complementary energies. They include foreplay approaches and diagrams of sexual position sequences, explore the relationship-strengthening benefits of deep sustained penetration, and explain how to perform soft penetration and avoid premature ejaculation. In Slow Sex, Diana provides a step-by-step guide for committed couples to explore the healing, spiritual power of slow sex and awaken the body’s innate mechanism for ecstasy and pleasure. She explains how slow sex increases sensitivity and sexual vitality as well as creating and restoring love. Providing illustrations of different positions for eye contact, deep sustained penetration, and soft penetration, she shows how the practice of slow sex provides couples a way to reach a shared meditative state and use it as a vehicle to achieve higher consciousness. Enabling committed couples to develop a personal tantric sex practice, the authors reveal how to keep your sex life sustainable, fulfilling, and enjoyable for many decades to come as well as how to harness the power of sex to access extraordinary realms of sensitivity, sensuality, and higher consciousness.

Appreciating the beauty of a Blue Heron is a gift to treasure, Sensing magical moments by a waterfall, standing on the rocks, or holding tight to a tree limb, the resilience of this majestic creature is impressive. These are special moments to appreciate the many lessons reflecting life through nature's lens. After all, the beauty of being surrounds us daily and reflects the foundation we all need to live and prosper.

An exploration of what it means when we say something is beautiful. Bringing together ideas of beauty from both Eastern and Western philosophy, François Jullien challenges the assumptions underlying our commonly agreed-upon definition of what is beautiful and offers a new way of beholding art. Jullien argues that the Western concept of beauty was established by Greek philosophy and became consequently embedded within the very structure of European languages. And due to its relationship to language, this concept has determined ways of thinking about beauty that often go unnoticed or unchecked in discussions of Western aesthetics. Moreover, through globalization, Western ideals of beauty have even spread to cultures whose ancient traditions are based upon radically different aesthetic foundations; yet, these cultures have adopted such views without question and without recognizing the cultural assumptions they contain. Looking specifically at how Chinese texts have been translated into Western languages, Jullien reveals how the traditional Chinese refusal to isolate or abstract beauty is obscured in translation in order to make the works more understandable to Western readers. Creating an engaging dialogue between Chinese and Western ideas, Jullien reassesses the essence of beauty.

This volume asks poignant questions about what it means to be alive and inhabit the present. Living holds us between two places. It expresses what is most elementary—to be alive—and the absoluteness of our aspiration—finally living! But could we desire anything other than to live? In The Philosophy of Living, François Jullien meditates on Far Eastern thought and philosophy to analyze concepts that can be folded into a complete philosophy of living, including the idea of the moment, the ambiguity of the in-between, and what he calls the “transparency of morning.” Jullien here develops a strategy of living that goes beyond morality and dwells in the space between health and spirituality.

This new English translation of François Jullien’s work is a compelling summation of his thinking on the comparison between Western and Chinese thought. The title, From Being to Living, summarises his essential point: that western thinking is obsessed by – and determined as well as limited by – the notion of Being, whereas traditional Chinese thought was always situated in Living. Organized as a lexicon around some 20 concepts that juxtapose Chinese and Western thought, Jullien explores the ways the two have historically evolved, and how many aspects of Chinese thought developed in complete isolation from the West, revealing a different way of relating to the world. Translated by Michael Richardson and Krzysztof Fijalkowski, this text explores Chinese thinking and language in order to excavate elements from them that reveal the fault lines of western thinking. This is an important book for students, scholars and practitioners alike across the Social Sciences.

This new English translation of François Jullien’s work is a compelling summation of his thinking on the comparison between Western and Chinese thought. The title, From Being to Living, summarises his essential point: that western thinking is obsessed by – and determined as well as limited by – the notion of Being, whereas traditional Chinese thought was always situated in Living. Organized as a lexicon around some 20 concepts that juxtapose Chinese and Western thought, Jullien explores the ways the two have historically evolved, and how many aspects of Chinese thought developed in complete isolation from the West, revealing a different way of relating to the world. Translated by Michael Richardson and Krzysztof Fijalkowski, this text explores Chinese thinking and language in order to excavate elements from them that reveal the fault lines of western thinking. This is an important book for students, scholars and practitioners alike across the Social Sciences.

After 9/11, the United States became a nation that sanctioned torture. Detainees across the globe were waterboarded, deprived of sleep, beaten by guards, blasted with deafening music and forced into obscene acts. Their torture presents a profound problem for literature: torturous pain and its traumatic aftermath have long been held to destroy language, shatter experience, and refuse representation. Challenging accepted thinking, Gestures of Testimony asks how literature might bear witness to the tortures of a war waged against fear itself. Bringing the vibrant field of affect theory to bear on theories of torture and power, Richardson adopts an interdisciplinary approach to show how testimony founded in affect can bear witness to torture and its traumas. Grounded in provocative readings of poems by Guantanamo detainees, memoirs of interrogators and detainees, contemporary films, the Bush Administration’s Torture Memos, and fiction by George Orwell, Franz Kafka, Arthur Koestler, Anne Michaels, and Janette Turner Hospital, Michael Richardson traces the workings of affect, biopower, and aesthetics to re-think literary testimony. Gestures of Testimony gives shape to a mode of affective witnessing, a reaching beyond the page in the writing of torture that reveals violent trauma — even as it embodies its veiling.

The historic city of Durham is still dominated today by its Norman cathedral and castle, which were designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, but it is also now a major centre for the county. Founded on a high outcrop on a peninsula above the River Wear as the burial place of St Cuthbert and St Bede, it soon became a leading shrine in medieval England. Loyal to the king in the Civil War, the cathedral and castle suffered under Cromwell’s rule but during the Restoration they were restored along with the rest of the city. The centre of Durham City itself has changed little in the last 200 years, although in more recent decades the commercial districts have been renovated and the population has continued to grow in the outlying villages. Durham: The Postcard Collection contains a remarkable selection of old postcards that give a visual record of life in the city from the beginning of the last century, showing how the city and its community have adapted and changed over the years. This fascinating collection of images will be of interest to those who have lived in Durham or know it well.