The second in a five-part series on a Mississippi man being held hostage in Lebanon  (click for link) By Walker Harris This week marks five months that Michael Wells has been held in captivity in Lebanon. Late last year, the Vicksburg native was captured in Beirut and has been held for ransom by a radical extremist group. For the duration of is captivity, his wife, Lainie Wells, has held on to the hope that her husband would be freed - that his time would come.  From her home in the Audubon Hills area of Vicksburg, she described what the ordeal has been like.  "I seldom get any information," she said, "and everyone is doing their job, but it is not making any difference." Lainie has spent her adult life observing nature, and the preternatural stillness that she has developed as a wildlife biologist is on full display during the interview.  As a seasoned journalist, I have to admit that it is a little unnerving to hold a conversation with someone who moves i...

By Walker Harris  “Everyone assumes that it's not their place to take direct personal responsibility for what happens; that level of vested individual power is part of the previous almost feudal version of responsibility. The deindividuation is actually to a certain extent the desired outcome, though its negative consequences are not.”  ― Nick H arkaway, The Blind Giant “This government is using every ethical means to bring your husband back to you.” The US State Department employee stared over the shoulder of Vicksburg resident Lainie Wells as she recited the words. Ellen van Oss is a trim, tall, intense woman, wispy blond hair pulled back into a tight bun. Her words are delivered in a staccato manner, perfectly matching the bureaucratic script that she recites.  I watch as Lainie’s jaw tightens, a momentary betrayal of the emotion that she normally keeps under a placid façade. I have watched the interactions between Lainie and Ellen for several months no...