Nathan was understandably confused at LAX on the way to visit his grandfather for the first time in the historical fishing village of DeSoto, near Tampa Bay. His grandfather had been to the La Crescenta home of his parents and he knew and loved the older man. His mother shied away from talking about the little tucked-away spot where she grew up. When she did talk, Nathan got the idea that the people back there were bumpkins with no concept of civilized life, barely literate, certainly not cultured. His mother attended California College of Arts and Crafts in Berkeley. She earned a degree in...

Arianna stretched out on the Florida beach sand. Her new friend, Bubba Two, traced letters on her back, squeezing a bottle of sun tan oil. She asked, "What are your writing?" He whispered in her ear, "Eye-el-oh-vee-ee-y-oh-u." She joins him for bait fishing - netting Spanish sardines - as well as for scuba diving, jet skiing, and all-around fun. She also meets his devilish twin brother, Bubba One. She doesn't like him at all And for good reason.

This is a collection of 77 case studies from life in modern America covering a wide range of human activity in politics, economics, the environment, law enforcement, medicine, and related issues.

Several enterprising young men saw an opportunity. They harvested hemp plants growing wild along fence rows and roadsides in Iowa farmland. They dried it, processed it and blocked it into small units, easy to move. They sold it like cotton candy in New York at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, the three-day, rock and roll, joint toking, Aquarius jam fest of peace and love. Fueled by greed with testosterone for the after-burners, they gathered money in the $1,000s, then the $10,000s. They jumped up to the $100,000s after one bungling run to Jamaica. Only the powerful ganja gods of luck kept them...