February 3, 2018 Presentation on Murder Book and Forensic Psychology. The Shoppes of Little Falls. 10:30 to 11:30 am February 5, 2018 Presentation on Murder Book and the writing process. Brainerd Public Library. It’s a “brown bag” event where people are welcome to bring their lunch and enjoy it during the presentation. Frank will sign and sell books at the event. 12:00 to 1:00 pm The Vikings and the Twins both made the playoffs this past season, which is an improvement of the disastrous previous years. The Vikings gave us “the play” we were all able to celebrate and I’m grateful for that. Plus, I really felt they played like a team more than previous years, which made them more entertaining. Prior to the Minnesota Miracle, as the press dubbed it, being a Vikings fan was like being married to Kardashian—you had the sense that it was going to ruin your life. (Lamar Odom went from being a millionaire to a homeless addict, Bruce Jenner changed his sex, and Kris Humphries managed to escape after a couple weeks of marriage…) Kris Humphries' grandmother lives in St. Cloud and Kris came through with an autographed jersey and an autographed basketball for Matt Athman’s fundraiser. Thank you Kris! 2017 Was Really Good for Billionaires: We have the potential to live better than ever, but in a democracy, we always need to be watchful of greed. Here are some interesting financial statistics from last year. 82% of all of the new wealth created in 2017 went to the top 1%. The bottom 50% received no change in income. The world is producing new billionaires at an unprecedented pace, with an average of one more being added every other day, a new Oxfam report finds. There are now 2,043 billionaires worldwide. "Nine out of 10 are men,” Oxfam says in its “Reward Work, Not Wealth” report. “In 12 months, the wealth of this elite group has increased by $762 billion. This is enough to end extreme poverty seven times over." “In the period between 2006 and 2015, ordinary workers saw their incomes rise by an average of just 2% a year, while billionaire wealth rose by nearly 13% a year – more than six times faster.” “Approximately a third of billionaire wealth is derived from inheritance. Over the next 20 years, 500 of the world’s richest people will hand over $2.4 trillion to their heirs – a sum larger than the Gross Domestic Product of India, a country of 1.3 billion people.” The wealth of 500 people is greater than that of the total monetary value of all of the goods and services of world’s 2nd largest country of 1.3 billion people. (There are 7.4 billion people on earth.) At some point we need a leader who is willing to address inequality. We live well, but everyone could live better. A number of wonderful people I know have recently had a baby, or are going to have a baby. Today, in 1985, our daughter Nicolette was born. I was present for the births of Nicolette, Shane and Preston. It’s a helpless feeling, as a father, watching a woman I love and would give my life for, in so much pain, with so much at stake, while I stand there and suggest she breathe differently. It would seem reasonable that she’d strike me with something, but she didn’t. We were offered a room ‘just like a living room’ to have our baby in. I told them I didn’t want to have a baby in my living room. I wanted to have a baby in a room with medical machines that have wavy lines and blinking lights, so if something goes wrong the equipment is right there. Less than a century ago, giving birth was one of the leading causes of death for women because we didn’t have this technology. Babies are miracles. It’s crazy when I consider that a completely new person came out of my wife’s body. It’s sort of like a Sci-Fi movie. It’s wonderful and beautiful, but nothing I’d ever want to film, or even watch again, but I wouldn’t miss it. Despite all the pain, and the fact that another human being had just exited her body, Brenda looked so perfect as she held our children immediately after. I had a better understanding of birth after the first time. No matter what anybody tells you, you’re not prepared for seeing your child born. I remember asking a classmate in high school who had fathered a baby, ‘Who does the baby look like?’ He responded, ‘It doesn’t look like me or her. It looks like an Indian.’ I was better informed, but still surprised. After Nicolette was born there was blood all over. For Brenda’s sake I tried to look calm and undisturbed as I thought, “Holy crap, no wonder people died.” This didn’t happen when Shane was born, so I asked about it and found out Brenda had hemorrhaged when Nicolette was born. No one had informed me that this wasn’t normal. I am thankful for mothers who take care of their babies during their pregnancy and after. Being a parent is the most exhausting and rewarding event I’ve experienced. When Nicolette was born, I taught at a Catholic school in St. Cloud which didn’t offer medical insurance. Nicolette’s stomach wasn’t fully developed and required a special formula which put us thousands of dollars in debt. But Nicolette put it all in perspective for me. When she’d wake up, she just wanted to play. It didn’t make any difference to her if I was a billionaire or a billion dollars in debt. So I had to focus on enjoying those moments, and pray it would work out… and it did. Quotes: During an anti-harassment seminar at work, a person asked, "What’s the difference between harassment and good-natured teasing?" A co-worker shouted, "A million dollars." Wife: I think you only married me because my dad left me a lot of money. Husband: That's not true. I don't care who left you the money. “That would be a good thing for them to put on my tombstone: Wherever she went, including here, it was against her better judgment.” -Dorothy Parker I believe it was Dorothy Parker who once said, “If you took all the women who went to prom at Yale, and laid them end to end, I wouldn’t be surprised.” Thanks for listening, Frank 1994
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AuthorFrank F. Weber is a forensic psychologist specializing in homicide and sexual and physical assault cases. He uses his unique understanding of how predator’s think, knowledge of victim trauma, actual court cases, and passion for writing true crime thrillers. His Award Winning books include "Murder Book" (2017) "The I-94 Murders" (2018) "Last Call" (2019) and "Lying Close" (September 2020). Archives
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