"Job Creators" and the Tea Party Jihad

Latest Newspaper Column:
I usually don’t read a lot of “celebrity” news, but for some reason, a story in the online version of the British newspaper The Guardian caught my eye.


According to the Guardian story, Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg and Gwyneth Paltrow (who, as it turns out, is Spielberg’s goddaughter) recently got in a little bit of trouble when a motorboat from Spielberg’s 85-meter yacht, the Seven Seas, got a little too close to a beach in Sardinia.


Swimmers were quick to call in the Coast Guard, which slapped a fine of 172 euros (about 247 bucks) on Spielberg for violating Italy’s strict laws about beach safety.


My first thought upon reading this story was, “Heck, he ought to just rename the boat ‘Job Creator’ and come back to America. In this political environment, he could do anything he wanted: run over fishermen, crash into the docks, generally act like the Rodney Dangerfield character in ‘Caddyshack’ did when he got on his boat.”


See, thanks to the no-taxes-on-the-wealthy rhetoric that has been mandated by the fanatical wild-eyed mullahs of the Tea Party Jihad (or Teahadists, as I call them), what used to be known as “rich people” are now “job creators.” And God forbid anyone doing something that might disturb the delicate feelings of the JCs, like asking them to pay their fair share for the running of this country.


According to the speaker of the House, Cryin’ John Boehner, “The mere threat of tax hikes causes uncertainty for job creators, uncertainty that results in less risk-taking and fewer jobs.”


Hear that? Even talking about asking the JCs to pony up a few more shekels is likely to make them curl up like snails into their shells and take the jobs with them. Environmental and financial regulations? Fuhgeddaboudit. We can’t make the “job creators” angry.


This deification of the so-called “job creators” has gotten so entrenched that I’ve actually considered getting a license plate that says “JOBCREATOR” so I could drive as fast as I want and never get my car inspected. On April 15, I’ll just write “Job Creator” on my tax form, send it in, and tell the IRS to go pound sand. And if anyone dares cross me, I’ll threaten to sic John Boehner or Mitch McConnell on them.


The only problem is, the frequently repeated assertion that “if we tax the rich, it’ll kill jobs” is a crock. After all, Bush the Younger was a tax-cuttin’ fool (literally), and The Wall Street Journal (not exactly a bastion of liberalism) called his track record on jobs “the worst on record.”


According to The WSJ, “The Bush administration created about 3 million jobs (net) over its eight years, a fraction of the 23 million jobs created under President Bill Clinton’s administration and only slightly better than President George H.W. Bush did in his four years in office.”


Yet the Teahadists act like Clinton-era tax rates are so heinous an example of government tyranny that they’re perfectly willing, even eager, to suicide-bomb the entire economy to stop them from ever coming back.


As so often happens, neither history nor math is kind to the Teahadist dogma. The Center for American Progress looked at the numbers and found that top income tax rates bear little or no relation to job growth.
In fact, they note, “In the past 60 years, job growth has actually been greater in years when the top income tax rate was much higher than it is now. ... For instance, in years when the top marginal rate was more than 90 percent, the average annual growth in total payroll employment was 2 percent. In years when the top marginal rate was 35 percent or less — which it is now — employment grew by an average of just 0.4 percent.”
Further, “When the marginal tax rate was 50 percent or above, annual employment growth averaged 2.3 percent, and when the rate was under 50, growth was half that.”


Long story short, lower taxes on the wealthy don’t equal more jobs. They never have. That’s just another one of the long cons the GOP is running on people, playing on economic fear to reap more tax breaks for the same fat cats who’ll most likely use the extra cash to give themselves huge bonuses for sending jobs overseas.


Don’t fall for it.

In My Mailbox #16

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. It gives bloggers the chance to appreciate the books they got last week and to meet new people.

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The books that I bought this week:

Marked by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast

Betrayed by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast

Chosen by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast

Untamed by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

My Soul To Take by Rachel Vincent

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Mistwood by Leah Cypess

Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater

I heart you, you haunt me by Lisa Schroeder

The books that I got for review this week:

Heavenly by Jennifer Laurens *

Click: An Online Love Story by Lisa Becker *
* from author, thank you!

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Soooooo many books in one week, this is CRAZY. But I loved this week just because of that. :D Everyday books came into my home and I looove putting new books onto my shelf.

What did you get in your mailbox this week?

Carina

P.s.: Don't forget to enter my Starcrossed-Giveaway! :)

Because It Makes Me Smile

John Boehner Says I'm Right

Remember a couple weeks ago, I said that some Republicans wanted the U.S. economy to crash for their own political gain?

John Boehner has confirmed it: 

Speaking on conservative radio host Laura Ingraham’s show this morning, Boehner agreed that failing to raise the limit before the deadline would be devastating, and said the “chaos” plan won’t work when asked by Ingraham what’s motivating the recalcitrant Republicans:

BOEHNER: Well, first they want more. And my goodness, I want more too. And secondly, a lot of them believe that if we get past August the second and we have enough chaos, we could force the Senate and the White House to accept a balanced budget amendment. I’m not sure that that — I don’t think that that strategy works. Because I think the closer we get to August the second, frankly, the less leverage we have vis a vis our colleagues in the Senate and the White House.

You know, you can say what you want about Nancy Pelosi, but when the time came, she could deliver the votes. She even got Dennis Kucinich on board to pass a health care bill he said he hated. 

Boehner's an empty suit who can't control the terrorists in his own caucus who want to suicide-bomb the economy. You want to know how nutty these people are? The Tea Party Jihad wants to primary Allen West 

(you know, the guy who abused a  helpless prisoner who he later admitted was probably be the wrong guy then became a Big Damn Teabagger hero for challenging a woman to a fight)  for not being conservative enough.

Meanwhile, David Frum, who I've praised here from time to time as one of the few sane conservatives, is upset because the White House released a picture of Michelle Obama barefoot--in her own house. 

"The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of a passionate intensity"-Yeats. 

We are truly fucked. -Dusty Rhoades

Review: Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

Publisher: Scholastic

Published: July 12th, 2011

Pages: 489

Previous book in the series: 
Shiver - my review | Linger - my review

Goodreads Summary:

In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. In Linger, they fought to be together. Now, in Forever, the stakes are even higher than before. Wolves are being hunted. Lives are being threatened. And love is harder and harder to hold on to as death comes closing in. 

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My Rating: 5.0 / 5

What I thought about it:

I rarely cry when I'm reading a book, but Forever put tears in my eyes and made me feel every single emotion it wanted to convey. It was tragic and then it was beautiful and I'm so sad to see this series come to an end. Maggie Stiefvater's writing was simply amazing and I wish there were a 1000 pages more for me to read. It's one of those books that stays with you and doesn't want you to pick up another one immediately afterwards.

What I loved most about Forever was to watch those lovely characters develop while they also stayed true to themselves. Often characters change completely with nothing of their old selves left behind, but it's different here. They face their problems and their fears, learn new things and become grown-up versions of themselves. The same goes for all the unresolved issues with their parents that are somehow resolved.

Again, this story is told from four different points of view: Sam and Grace, Cole and Isabel. And while all of these characters are so completely different, it's still great to see how they feel, what they think and it's easy to follow the story. I don't want to leave them behind.

I have heard of people who didn't like the ending, because it was too open for them. And to be honest, I usually despise open endings, but with Forever it somehow worked for me. Don't ask me why, because I normally I need closure, something definite that doesn't leave me hanging, but I don't think that there could be a better ending for Forever. It leaves a certain aspect to the reader's imagination although it's not hard to guess what almost everyone will be imagining.

And maybe, just maybe, it might give Maggie Stiefvater an excuse to return to this world one day. But that could be only my hopeful imagination, because I'm really sad to watch this series come to an end.

All in all, Forever was a wonderful conclusion to an incredible series. If you liked the first two books, don't hesitate and pick this up. And if you haven't even started this series yet, please do so. It's fantastic and I'm happy I read it. I can't wait to read more novels by Maggie Stiefvater like The Scorpio Races, which will be released on October 18th.

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Have you read Forever? What did you think about it?
Carina

Defaulting On Your Obligations: The Teabagger Way of Life

Chicago Sun-Times:

Freshman U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh, a tax-bashing Tea Party champion who sharply lectures President Barack Obama and other Democrats on fiscal responsibility, owes more than $100,000 in child support to his ex-wife and three children, according to documents his ex-wife filed in their divorce case in December.

“I won’t place one more dollar of debt upon the backs of my kids and grandkids unless we structurally reform the way this town spends money!” Walsh says directly into the camera in his viral video lecturing Obama on the need to get the nation’s finances in order.

....

Before getting elected, he had told Laura Walsh that because he was out of work or between jobs, he could not make child support payments. So she was surprised to read in his congressional campaign disclosures that he was earning enough money to loan his campaign $35,000.

“Joe personally loaned his campaign $35,000, which, given that he failed to make any child support payments to Laura because he ‘had no money’ is surprising,” Laura Walsh’s attorneys wrote in a motion filed in December seeking $117,437 in back child support and interest. “Joe has paid himself back at least $14,200 for the loans he gave himself.”

...

Keith Liscio, who said Walsh hired him to be campaign manager — Walsh disputes that — has sued Walsh for $20,000 in salary he said Walsh owes him. Both sides are trying to settle that case.

Staffers learned during the campaign that Walsh was driving on a suspended license. His license was suspended twice in 2008 for his failure to appear in court, and he was cited in 2009 for driving on a suspended license, according to the Illinois Secretary of State.

Walsh’s energetic Tea Party politics are making him the darling of cable TV.

Yeah, I'll just bet they do.

Now here's my question. One of many, actually, but let's start here.

Anthony Weiner texts racy pictures of himself to consenting adults. It's the lead story for days. Shock! Horror! He must resign!

This hypocrite who beats his chest and swears he'll not let his kids have to deal with "one more dollar of debt" stiffs those same kids to the tune of 100k, not to mention not paying his staff, and oh, by the way, drives with a suspended license (which is an actual CRIME), and what we hear from the national media is...the sound of crickets chirping. The only place I've seen this story is in the Sun-Times (his local paper) and the liberal blogosphere.

Do you honestly think that if any of this stuff had come out about, say, Harry Reid, we wouldn't have Weinergate all over again? Can anyone with a remaining brain cell still claim that the media has a 'liberal' bias?

Cover Comparisons #16: The Demon Trapper's Daughter by Jana Oliver

Living in Germany gives me the perfect opportunity to compare original covers with the ones German publishers choose. Sometimes they're gorgeous, sometimes they make me cringe, but it's always interesting to see different covers for the same novel.

Cover Comparisons is a weekly feature here at Fictional Distraction.

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The Demon Trapper's Daughter by Jana Oliver

To be honest, I can't decide which version I like better. There is still the UK version out there which is pretty as well, so over all the only thing I can say is that The Demon Trapper's Daughter got quite a few pretty covers.

The only thing I don't like too much about the German version that the colors might be a little bit too "quiet". In comparison to the other covers it's somehow pale, although not in a truly bad way.

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Which version do you like better?
Carina

P.s.: Read my review of this novel here.

Waiting on Wednesday #17: Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

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Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles
Publisher: Walker Books
Expected Publication: August 16th, 2011
Pages: 336

Goodreads Summary:

Luis Fuentes is a good boy who doesn't live with the angst that his big brothers, Alex and Carlos, have always lived with. Luis is smart, funny, and has big dreams of becoming an astronaut. But when he falls for the wrong girl, Luis enters a dark world he's never known, and just when he thinks he's got life all figured out, learns some disturbing news about his family that destroys his positive outlook on life. Will that Fuentes bad boy streak come out with a vengeance and lure Luis to live on the edge like his new girlfriend and his own father? 

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I definitely love these novels! Simone Elkeles has such a wonderful style of writing that makes me devour her books within a few hours. I can't wait for this companion novel of Perfect Chemistry to be released.

Also check out my interview with Josephine Angelini, where I'm giving away a copy of her wonderful novel Starcrossed.

What are you waiting for this Wednesday?

Carina

Teaser Tuesday #16: Hereafter by Tara Hudson

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

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Grab your current read.

Open to a random page.

Share two (2) "teaser sentences" from somewhere on that page.

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

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My teaser:

Hereafter by Tara Hudson - p. 197

The kiss crashed over me, wave upon wave of fire. The ache exploded across my chest like an atom bomb, incinerating everything in its path. I let it burn me; I let it consume me.

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Carina

Review: Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
Publisher: HarperTeen / Pan Macmillan (UK)
First published: April 5th, 2011
Pages: 514

Goodreads Summary:

Set on the island of Nantucket, STARCROSSED tells the tale of Helen Hamilton, a young woman whose destiny is forever altered when she meets Lucas Delos and tries to kill him in front of her entire high school. Which is terribly inconvenient, not only because Lucas is the most beautiful boy on the island, but also because Helen is so achingly shy she suffers physical pain whenever she is given too much attention.

Making matters worse, Helen is beginning to suspect she’s going crazy. Whenever she’s near Lucas or any member of his family she sees the ghostly apparitions of three women weeping bloody tears, and suffers the burden of an intense and irrational hate. She soon learns that she and Lucas are destined to play the leading roles in a Greek tragedy that the Three Fates insist on repeating over and over again throughout history. Like her namesake, Helen of Troy, she’s destined to start a war by falling in love. But even though Lucas and Helen can see their own star-crossed destiny, they’re still powerfully attracted to each other. Will they give up their personal happiness for the greater good, or risk it all to be together? 

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My Rating: 4.5 / 5

What I thought about it:

To my shame I have to admit that I put off reading Starcrossed for a while after reading a few reviews about how this is like a second Twilight. But let me tell you: I enjoyed this novel a lot more than Twilight.

Starcrossed is a fantastic story full of mysteries and loveable characters that make it hard to put this novel down and you will constantly wish that you could read faster so you’ll know if everyone will be okay in the end. And then, when you finally know how this novel ends, you wish you could already possess the sequel Dreamless. 

What drew me in about this story, was the fact that this is based on Greek mythology and I really, really love it. There is just something special about those stories of ancient gods, goddesses and their heroes that never fails to fascinate me. And Josephine incorporated this perfectly into the story and whenever I read a name that was familiar, I squealed like a little girl.

I admit that in the beginning it seems to be a little similar to Twilight. You have a huge, mysterious family and a very shy, young girl and some quite dangerous aspects to the love story. But once I got into the story, I realized how much more detailed this is, how carefully built this novel is and how much I really love it. 

It has fantastic characters (I can't get enough of Hector and I deperately hope that there will be a lot more of him in the future!) and a storyline that got me hooked. Helen and Lucas' love story is beautiful and with every page I turned I hoped that they will be able to find a way to be happy. They're both very intriguing and well written characters and I'm looking forward to read about how they'll deal with their situation.

While the third person narrator made it a little bit hard in the beginning to identify with the characters, it soon turned out to be the right decision: You get to see the whole story from different point of views which is incredibly interesting.

All in all, Starcrossed is a fantastic debut novel and if you like Greek mythology, starcrossed lovers and fabulous characters, you have to get a copy of it.

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Tomorrow I'll post a small interview with Josephine Angelini where she talks about authors she likes, the sequel Dreamless and more. And I'll give away a copy of Starcrossed. So be sure to stop by!

Have you read Starcrossed? What did you think about it?

Carina

Our Hopes Once Flew So High

Latest Newspaper Column:

This past week, as the mud wrestling in the U.S. Congress over the debt ceiling continued and people began to wonder just how deep the slime pit in Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp actually goes, a couple of events seem to have gotten pushed to the back of people’s minds. The events were (1) the 42nd anniversary of man’s first walk on the moon; and (2) the landing of the final mission of Atlantis, the last space shuttle. The space shuttle’s last hurrah got some passing mentions throughout the week; it seemed the moon-walk anniversary barely got noticed at all.

That’s a shame. Maybe if we were paying a little bit more attention to these two events, they might remind us of just how far our aspirations can go and the great things we can accomplish if we try.

As I watch the old videos of the moon landing today (courtesy of YouTube), I can still remember that sense of wonder as I sat in the darkened living room of the house I grew up in and watched the grainy pictures being beamed back to us from so far away.

I remember the tension in the room as Eagle, the tiny, buglike lunar exploration module, descended toward a lunar surface that appeared to be littered with boulders the size of Volkswagens.

I remember being impressed by the cool, almost drawling way astronaut Buzz Aldrin called out altitude and velocity as mission commander Neil Armstrong guided the vehicle down, while an increasingly tense voice from Mission Control called out their rapidly dwindling fuel supply (“Sixty seconds. ...THIRTY SECONDS...”). Even at 7 years old, I knew this was huge.

Then, of course, there was that amazing moment when a ghostly figure dressed in a bulky white space suit gave a little hop off the ladder and set his feet, for the first time, on the surface of another world, saying, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

It wasn’t until years later that I realized that really didn’t make sense. Later I read that Armstrong admitted he’d blown the line, that it should have been, “one small step for [a] man.” Since he’d been up for 24 hours and was, you know, on the freakin’ moon, he can, I think, be forgiven.

The end of the space shuttle program marks the end of another amazing chapter in human history. At its initial roll-out in the late ’70s, the concept — a reusable spaceship that could take off, land on Earth, and then do it all over again — seemed both revolutionary and completely familiar, at least to us science fiction readers.

It was intended to be a cheaper and more practical way to haul humans and cargo into orbit, and it was going to be vital in the construction of the first truly international space station. Not only did the program accomplish that goal of giving us a toehold in space, but it also launched satellites that, among other things, have let us look deeper into the universe than ever before.

One unintended consequence of the shuttle program, however, was that it made space travel seem almost routine. Back in the day, we used to get pulled out of class to watch the “moon shot,” as we used to call it. Networks would cancel other programming to follow the progress of the moon missions.

Eventually, however, shuttle launches and landings got mentioned way down around the 15-minute mark on the network news and “below the fold” in most newspapers — unless something went terribly wrong, as it did on two dark days when shuttles and their entire crews were lost.

Maybe that’s why a lot of the public seems to have lost its fascination with space exploration and its own sense of wonder at the spectacle of men and women riding into the sky atop pillars of fire, on voyages of discovery that even Columbus could never have imagined.

There was a time when we looked to the stars. A time when we tried to accomplish great things, not, as President Kennedy said, because they were easy, but because they were hard. Now, it’s all about what we can’t do, what we can’t afford. Aspiration and the ambition to do great things, to take on seemingly impossible challenges as a nation, have become something to sneer at.

I hope, someday soon, we can start looking up again. We need it. Not just as a country, but as a human race.

In My Mailbox #15

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. It gives bloggers the chance to appreciate the books they got last week and to meet new people.

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For review I received this week:

thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for sending me an ARC of

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

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Not much for me this week, but my very first printed ARC. I'm sooo grateful I got this and can't wait to start reading it. 

And I'm still waiting for quite a lot of books to arrive next week, so next weeks IMM will definitely be larger. :)

What did you get in your mailbox this week?

Carina

Book Blogger Hop #04

The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Jen at Crazy-For-Books.com.

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This week's question:

"What’s the ONE GENRE that you wish you could get into, but just can’t?"

Until one or two years ago it actually was the paranormal / fantasy genre that I just didn't like. And even though I'm no longer a fan of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, I have to thank her and her vampires for making me get into it. :)

Today I'd say that the one genre I can't get into is crime / thriller. I have a friend who loves this kind of novels, but whenever I try to read a book that she liked a lot, I just can't finish them.

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What genre can't you get into?
Carina

Review: IRREGULAR CREATURES, Chuck Wendig

Irregular Creatures by Chuck Wendig

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I've been a fan of "Terrible Minds", Chuck Wendig's high-energy and hilariously profane writing blog, for a while now. So when I finally got my very own Kindle, this was one of my first purchases.

Irregular Creatures is a small collection of short stories in what I'd call the modern fantasy/horror genres. Some of them are quite strange, some are downright nasty, all of them are great fun to read. Wending combines the wild imagination of a Neil Gaiman, the squicky sensibility of a Clive Barker, and the direct, blunt-object-to-the-skull prose style of a young Harlan Ellison. Absolutely worth the download.


View all my reviews

Review: BECOMING QUINN, by Brett Battles

Becoming Quinn - A Jonathan Quinn Novella by Brett Battles

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


One of the coolest things about the e-book revolution is that it's provided more openings for the shorter literary forms, like the short story and the novella. I've always enjoyed the novella form. It's a quick read, but there's more time to develop character and more chances to crank up the suspense than you can usually found in the short story.

Becoming Quinn is the novella done right. It's short, tightly written, full of action, but at the same time it gives you the opportunity to really get to know and to care about the main character as he makes his journey from idealistic cop Jake Oliver to become the hard-edged "cleaner" Jonathan Quinn.

Brett Battles also has the one indispensable gift for a thriller writer: he makes events that you would normally find absurd seem not only possible, but inevitable.

This book's a lot of fun. Check it out.



View all my reviews

Default Will Destroy the Economy? Dude, That's What They WANT.

Latest Newspaper Column:

One of the more famous quotes of the Vietnam War era came out of a press conference when reporters questioned a U.S. Army major about the decision to use air strikes and artillery against a little town called Ben Tre, which was full of civilians as well as Viet Cong.

The hapless major eventually blurted out, “We had to destroy Ben Tre in order to save it.”

The quote was widely regarded as the perfect example of the lunacy of that war. But now, it seems that a group of Republican radicals is taking “we have to destroy it in order to save it” as their mantra. Except this time, it’s not an obscure hamlet in Southeast Asia that’s about to get flattened; it’s the American economy.

Think I’m exaggerating? Last week, South Carolina GOP Sen. Jim DeMint, discussing the recent debate on raising the debt ceiling, told Fox Business network that he was willing to accept “serious disruptions” in the U.S. economy to get what he and other conservatives want: tax breaks for the wealthy, cuts for the rest of us.

When CNBC host Carl Quintanilla asked Michele Bachmann, “Does it strike you that as the unemployment rate goes up, your chances of winning office also go up?” Bachmann replied with uncustomary honesty: “Well, that could be. Again, I hope so.”

A few days later, according to an article in The Washington Post, “hundreds of senior company executives and groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable” sent a joint letter to the president and every member of Congress, urging them not to let the country default on its debt.

“A great nation — like a great company — has to be relied upon to pay its debts when they become due,” the letter read. “Treasury securities influence the cost of financing not just for companies but more importantly for mortgages, auto loans, credit cards and student debt. A default would risk both disarray in those markets and a host of unintended consequences.”

The letter did not, it should be noted, ask for any increase in the debt ceiling to be linked to tax or spending cuts.

Sen. Mitch McConnell also advised his party not to allow such a default. Not because such a thing would be a catastrophe for the economy, but because it would be politically bad for the Republicans.

“I refuse to help Barack Obama get re-elected by marching Republicans into a position where we have co-ownership of a bad economy,” McConnell told right-wing talk show host Laura Ingraham. “If we go into default, he will say Republicans are making the economy worse. … That is a very bad position going into an election.”

It’s not a bad economy that bothers McConnell, you see. He and his rich buddies will be doing fine whatever happens. But the possibility that it might affect their election chances — that really makes him sweat.

So, in a crass display of pure politics, McConnell proposed a plan that wouldn’t require tax or spending cuts. What it amounted to, basically, was, “We’ll let Obama raise the debt ceiling with a stroke of his pen while we shake our fingers at him disapprovingly, then run off to make attack ads about it.” It was a nakedly cynical ploy, but at least it would keep us from defaulting.

Nope, said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, current figurehead of the radicals in the House. “Currently, there is not a single debt limit proposal that can pass the House of Representatives,” Cantor said in a statement Wednesday. This, after President Obama made such sweeping offers of cuts, including cuts in entitlements that had previously been regarded as taboo, that his own party was screaming blue murder.

The offer would, in the words of conservative columnist David Brooks, create “trillions of dollars in spending cuts in exchange for a few hundred billion dollars of revenue increases.” Brooks called accepting the proposals “the mother of all no-brainers.” Not only have the House Republicans said no, but they’ve also lied and claimed that the president hasn’t even proposed a plan at all.

So it’s clear that default, and the “serious disruptions” that will come with it, are what nihilists like Bachmann, Cantor and DeMint want. Unlike McConnell, they’re gambling that a wrecked economy will reap electoral benefits for them in 2012. They truly are ready to destroy the village in order to “save it.”

Problem is, that village is where we live, and you and I aren’t the ones they’re talking about saving. We’re going to be the collateral damage.

Review: THE PARADISE PROPHECY by Robert Browne

The Paradise Prophecy by Robert Browne

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A tough and savvy female intelligence operative teams up with a brilliant but burned-out academic to investigate the unexplained fiery death of an international pop star. They discover a plot by a crew of fallen angels who are scheming to open the gates of Hell itself and bring on the end of the world. The key to mankind’s survival lies in the seven missing pages of a book known as the Devil’s Bible--and in a mysterious entity known as the Telum.

In lesser hands, this could have been a really silly book. But Rob Browne keeps the story moving at a rip-roaring pace as his protagonists chase the mystery around the globe and beyond, up to a final climax that goes about as big as you can imagine.

There is, by the way, a rather interesting cosmology here. It’s not quite what you may have learned in Sunday school, but I have to admit, it fits the available data.

This is one of those books that hooks you and pulls you along with it right to the end. Think The DaVinci Code, except with good writing and characters who act and talk like actual people. I highly recommend it.

View all my reviews

Casey Anthony Outrage, Part II: Now They Tell Us

 From what's sure to be only one of hundreds of "how did this happen" articles...


The government failed to establish how 2-year-old Caylee Anthony died and they couldn't find her mother's DNA on the duct tape they said was used to suffocate her. There was conflicting testimony on whether the putrid smell inside the family's car was a decomposing body or simply trash, and it was never quite clear why chloroform was so important.

Now, as I said below, I haven't been following the coverage of the trial...but were any of the media pointing this out before the verdict? Because that stuff seems pretty important, especially not being able to establish cause of death. I'd venture to say there's no way to get a murder verdict without that.

Like I said before...if they were so anxious to spin the "guilty, guilty, guilty" narrative that they didn't report that, then maybe it's the reporters you should be mad at for not doing their damn jobs (not to mention the prosecutors who tried a weak case they should have pled).

Oh, well. On to the next outrage. 

Why I'm Not Outraged at the Casey Anthony Verdict

When you're an attorney, especially if you do criminal law, people are always asking you: "what do you think of the [insert name of latest high profile defendant here] trial?" It's been especially intense for some reason during this latest blockbuster trial, that of Casey Anthony, who was charged with killing her daughter Caylee. The question is often followed up with "you can't possibly think she's innocent, can you?"


 My answer, as always, is: I have no idea. I haven't heard any of the evidence.  I've seen trials, then seen coverage of those same trials.   And I know for sure that, if your only knowledge of the case is what you've seen on TV or read in the paper, you haven't heard all the evidence. It's impossible. Trials go on for days, sometimes weeks, and what you see in the mass media is a thirty second, at most, glimpse of what went on. Unfortunately, those tidbits you're fed are  picked by someone who's looking, not for the most important facts, but for the most dramatic or sensational ones. 


The media are not interested in justice; they're interested in eyeballs on the page or screen. For that reason, frankly, they often do  a piss-poor job of  covering criminal trials. Reporters  make up their minds early on, construct a narrative around their preconceptions, and the decision on what to tell you is invariably bent around that narrative. And they've all apparently decided that "guilty! guilty!  guilty!" is the narrative most likely to sell, unless a case falls so completely to pieces and starts to stink so bad  they can't ignore the stench  any longer. 


 I'm not just talking about Nancy Grace, who's only the most egregious example. Court coverage in general is abysmal, and I haven't seen any yet that even bothers to give lip service to the concept of "innocent until proven guilty." 


 This is why I never follow the latest "trial of the century." I know I'm not getting all the information I need to make a decision. I'm getting only those parts of the story that some reporter thinks will get tongues wagging around the water cooler the next day so you'll come back that evening and watch some more.  


The only people who heard all the facts in that case are the people in that courtroom. What they found important may have been light-years removed from what some reporter or paid "legal expert" on the news found important  enough to tell you. So none of us are in a position to be screaming that the jurors were stupid or that justice was not done. That's why I'm not outraged that Casey Anthony was acquitted, because I can't decide on whether she killed her daughter or not based on what's on TV. 

Review: THE MIDNIGHT ROAD, by Tom Piccirilli

The Midnight Road by Tom Piccirilli

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


During an investigation of a child abuse complaint, Social Worker Flynn finds a scarred, mentally disabled man kept in a cage in the basement. In the ensuing attempt to get the man and the child away, Flynn wrecks his car, dies, and is brought back to life. Now, a dead bulldog is following him around talking to him and people are being killed in front of him for no reason he can see.

I really loved Tom Piccirilli's The Cold Spot, but I just couldn't get into this one. Maybe it's because I know too many actual social workers to really believe in a gun-toting, brawling Child Protective Services worker like Flynn. In any real CPS organization, he'd have been out on his ass years ago. (I have the same problem, BTW, with most "legal thrillers"--my ability to suspend disbelief only goes so far). So maybe the problem is me.

On the up side, while the revelation of who the mysterious antagonist is shouldn't be any real surprise to anyone paying a bit of attention, once he's out in the open, he's one of the scariest and downright creepiest villains I've ever read.

So, the book has its points. But I'd recommend reading The Cold Spot instead.


View all my reviews

Your Annual Summer Vacation Guide

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Another summer is upon us with a vengeance, complete with the eyeball-melting heat and humidity we Southerners all know and love.

On the bright side, summertime is vacation time. And vacation time means time once again for our annual compendium of wild, wonderful and wacky tourist attractions.

For the tourist who's always had a fascination with James Bond or Jason Bourne, there's the International Spy Museum, located in Washington, D.C. There are exhibits on espionage throughout history, including displays of real spy gear and lectures about true-to-life spies.

At least they claim to be true. You never know. If they're into complete realism, they'll be lying to you. For a couple of hundred bucks, you can even sign the kids up for the museum's "Spy in Training" program, which includes, among other things, a two-week summer camp in which the budding spooks learn about "fingerprinting, handwriting analysis and cryptography," while "meeting real former spies and running missions in some of the city's most prominent attractions."

Of course, if the kids are nabbed by Homeland Security, the museum will deny all knowledge of their actions. That's how the game's played.

I was astounded to learn that the great state of Connecticut has not one, but two museums devoted to garbage.

The Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority runs two "award-winning" museums, one in Hartford and one in Stratford, with "unique exhibits and programs on the many challenges and solutions of waste management." Additionally, "each museum has a viewing area where visitors can observe the working regional recycling center." Wheeeee!

As if that weren't spine-tingling enough, the site in Stratford features "Trashasaurus," a giant dinosaur figure made of exactly one ton of refuse, supposedly about the amount each person throws away every year.

I guarantee you, if you take the kids to this attraction, they'll talk about it for years. I can't guarantee they'll talk about it with anything other than complete outrage and disbelief that you dragged them to a trash pile in the middle of summer, but they'll surely talk about it. You better hurry, though; due to budget cuts, the museums may have to close their doors, and Trashasaurus will be as extinct as his non-rubbishy brethren.

As I've mentioned in earlier columns, I fear robots. So I was reluctant at first to recommend RoboWorld, an exhibit at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum that advertises itself as "an exhibition so exciting it'll fry your motherboard."

But when I read the description of how kids can shoot basket against Hoops, "a basketball-shooting industrial arm," play air hockey against a robot, discover how robots can read facial expressions, and "explore the future of robots in this one-of-a-kind robotics experience," I realized that this is the perfect opportunity.

Our children do need to learn these things, because they will most likely be the ones fighting those soulless mechanical demons for possession of the planet. Know your enemy and all that. Just be sure to sit the kids down afterward and explain to them that while Andy, the robot guide at the exhibit, may look friendly and cuddly, someday he and billions just like him will attempt to exterminate them and everyone they love. They'll thank you for it later.

"But Dusty," you say. "All of this cultural and educational stuff is fine, but what about what we really want to hear from you? No, not your rendition of 'Free Bird.' What about your guide to the nation's freakishly large objects?"

Fear not, dear friends. Hear now the story of the 20 Foot Rabbit of Gainesville, Georgia.

In the latter half of the 20th century, Gainesville began billing itself as "Poultry Capital of the World." They even erected a pillar to commemorate it, sort of like Nelson's column in London, if Admiral Nelson had been a barnyard fowl.

This didn't sit too well with the town's older residents, who recalled that the place used to be known as "Rabbittown," due to a number of ranches in the area where farmers raised herds of the critters for food. (The din at branding time must have been horrific). Thus, they erected a 20-foot rabbit statue, with, according to Roadsideamerica.com, "the soft lines and awkward alert pose of a chocolate Easter bunny."

But don't try to take a bite out of it. It appears to be made of concrete.

Wherever you go this summer, I wish you cool breezes and safe travels.

New Covers!

Jeroen ten Berge has done it again! Check out the cool new covers for the Kindle editions of  Good Day In Hell and Safe and Sound: 

Letters, Oh I Get Letters

Today in The Pilot:

Dusty Rhoades’ petulant column attacking Michele Bachmann and Mitt Romney (June 19) displays a prepubescent proclivity (for name-calling), when rational, cogent analysis would be the most powerful way to pose one’s argument.

Indeed, character assassination is the last refuge of a mind sadly bereft of ideas.

Dixie Chapman

Pinehurst

I always love the people who write in, excoriating a satirical column for not being serious enough.

Hey, Dixie, I do cogent analysis and argument, but for a hell of a lot more money that The Pilot pays me. For these prices, snark and mockery are what you get.

In conclusion, let us remember the immortal words of Sgt. Hulka: