So I'm catching up on all the bloggy goodness I've missed over the holidays, when what to my wondering eyes should appear...
Seems that Mystery Maven Gerald So, the Fiction Editor for The Thrilling Detective Web Site and moderator of the discussion lists DetecToday, Spenser's Sneakers, and CrimeSeen, has named The Devil's Right Hand one of his Best of 2006:
Rhoades's Jack Keller is the first hero in a long while to walk in the footsteps of Spenser and Elvis Cole and not be overshadowed.
Wow....that's quite a compliment. Thank you, Gerald!
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Dems Refuse to Be Chumps, WaPo Disapproves
Well, one of my New Year's resolutions was not to get as pissed off over what I read in the papers. But it's hard to do when stuff like this is out there to make me crazy.
Today on Washingtonpost.com, the so-called liberal Post takes the Democrats to task for supposedly reneging on pledges of bi-partisanship:
As they prepare to take control of Congress this week and face up to campaign pledges to restore bipartisanship and openness, Democrats are planning to largely sideline Republicans from the first burst of lawmaking...
Instead of allowing Republicans to fully participate in deliberations, as promised after the Democratic victory in the Nov. 7 midterm elections, Democrats now say they will use House rules to prevent the opposition from offering alternative measures, assuring speedy passage of the bills and allowing their party to trumpet early victories.
You know, sort of like the Republicans have been doing since 1994.
Of course, they ignore the possible reasons for this, as set out in this quote from the New York Times:
Republicans are hoping Democrats stick to their guns and allow the minority a stronger voice on legislation. The opposition leadership said it would take the opportunity to put forward initiatives that could be potentially troublesome for newly elected Democrats in Republican-leaning districts who within months will have to defend their hard-won seats.
“There are going to be days when we will offer alternatives in ways that are going to be very appealing to Democrats in districts the president carried just two years ago,” said Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri, who will be the second-ranking House Republican in the 110th Congress.
Republicans see the ability to force tough votes — which they avoided in the majority by stifling Democratic alternatives — as having two potential benefits: It can put vulnerable Democrats on record with positions that might not be popular at home, or it can fracture the untested Democratic majority.
IOW, the Republicans have indicated that they intend to take the olive branch and beat the Democrats over the head with it. But in the minds of the Beltway pundits, it's the Democrats who are being big meanies when they refuse to let it happen.
Today on Washingtonpost.com, the so-called liberal Post takes the Democrats to task for supposedly reneging on pledges of bi-partisanship:
As they prepare to take control of Congress this week and face up to campaign pledges to restore bipartisanship and openness, Democrats are planning to largely sideline Republicans from the first burst of lawmaking...
Instead of allowing Republicans to fully participate in deliberations, as promised after the Democratic victory in the Nov. 7 midterm elections, Democrats now say they will use House rules to prevent the opposition from offering alternative measures, assuring speedy passage of the bills and allowing their party to trumpet early victories.
You know, sort of like the Republicans have been doing since 1994.
Of course, they ignore the possible reasons for this, as set out in this quote from the New York Times:
Republicans are hoping Democrats stick to their guns and allow the minority a stronger voice on legislation. The opposition leadership said it would take the opportunity to put forward initiatives that could be potentially troublesome for newly elected Democrats in Republican-leaning districts who within months will have to defend their hard-won seats.
“There are going to be days when we will offer alternatives in ways that are going to be very appealing to Democrats in districts the president carried just two years ago,” said Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri, who will be the second-ranking House Republican in the 110th Congress.
Republicans see the ability to force tough votes — which they avoided in the majority by stifling Democratic alternatives — as having two potential benefits: It can put vulnerable Democrats on record with positions that might not be popular at home, or it can fracture the untested Democratic majority.
IOW, the Republicans have indicated that they intend to take the olive branch and beat the Democrats over the head with it. But in the minds of the Beltway pundits, it's the Democrats who are being big meanies when they refuse to let it happen.
Monday, January 01, 2007
2007 --The Year In Preview
The Latest Newspaper Column:
OK, I've got all my gear lined up. I've got my Tarot cards, I've got my Magic 8-Ball, I've even got my chicken entrails.
That means it's time once again for your Humble Columnist's fearless predictions for 2007:
January: The new Democratic-controlled Congress takes power.
In the first 100 hours, they enact the security recommendations of the 9/11 commission, raise the minimum wage, enact comprehensive lobbying reform, cut the interest rate on student loans in half, pass a bill to allow the government to negotiate directly with the pharmaceutical companies for lower drug prices for Medicare patients, and broaden the types of stem cell research allowed with federal funds.
The mainstream media pronounce Speaker Pelosi's tenure a "failure" because, explains NBC's Judy Woodruff, "that's just what we do these days. Otherwise, Michelle Malkin and Sean Hannity might get mad, and we can't have that."
February: Sunni and Shiite militias take to the streets in open sectarian conflict, each group seizing command of key government ministries. When asked if this constitutes civil war in Iraq, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow twirls his parasol and answers, "Fiddle-dee-dee! There isn't going to be any war!"
March: Failed Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in a joint awards ceremony with former FEMA Director Michael "Brownie" Brown. "You guys did a heckuva a job," President Bush tells the award recipients. The moment is widely considered the low point in both men's careers.
April: Rising sea levels cause several inhabited islands in the South Pacific to sink beneath the surface of the ocean. In an interview, Vice President Dick Cheney announces that global warming is in its "last throes" before shooting the interviewer in the face.
May: As casualties, both American and Iraqi, reach their highest levels ever in the bloodiest month of sectarian conflict in the Middle East, President Bush does a skit at the National Press Club Dinner where he peers under tables and the podium, chuckling, "No civil war here! No civil war under here!" The national press pronounces it "the funniest thing since the Marx Brothers" and denounces those who call the joke callous and insensitive as "anti-fun nanny-state liberals."
June: In a college commencement address, Sen. John Kerry asks, "How many Bush administration officials does it take to screw in a light bulb? Give up? None! They can't admit that it's dark!" Six weeks of media furor ensue over Kerry's use of the words "give up" and whether he meant that as an "insult to the troops."
July: The National Political Humorists' Guild issues an open letter to John Kerry pleading with him not to attempt any more jokes.
August: A leaked Pentagon report states that Iraq has "definitely been in a state of civil war" since late 2006. When asked about the report and whether the administration has changed its opinion about the Iraqi situation, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow replies that the president hasn't read the report. When a reporter notes that the Pentagon sent the report to the White House in March, Snow accuses him of partisanship. "Everyone knows the partisan bias of calendars, so asking about the passage of time is clearly a partisan question," Snow asserts to the dumbfounded White House Press Corps.
September: A Congressional investigation turns up shocking evidence that Vice President Cheney's staff had, since mid-2006, been cruising the streets kidnapping hobos and bringing them to the vice president so he could shoot them in the face. "After that guy in Texas, well, it just got good to him," one witness testifies.
Republican pundits and bloggers denounce the Democratic Party over the Cheney story, claiming that, while the story is admittedly completely true, the Democrats are at fault for withholding it until September for maximum political effect. "Can you prove they didn't do that?" Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina triumphantly asks Wolf Blitzer. When Blitzer asks McHenry how releasing the story in September 2007 creates any kind of political timing, McHenry rolls his eyes and calls Blitzer "another one of those calendar-obsessed liberals."
November: Sunni and Shiite forces don blue and gray uniforms, pick up muskets, and start marching in line to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "Dixie." The Bush White House finally admits, "Well, maybe you might call what's going on in Iraq a civil war." "Finally!" exclaims radical Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, doffing his wool uniform. "We were beginning to wonder what it would take before those bozos finally admitted it. Oh, by the way, death to America."
December: Melting of the polar ice caps causes Santa's Workshop to plunge to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. George W. Bush predicts that in the future, the death by drowning of Santa and all his reindeer and the subsequent cancellation of Christmas will be regarded by historians as "just a comma."
Well, there you have it. Not a pretty picture, I'll admit, but don't blame me, blame the future. I don't create it, I just predict it.
Now, can someone tell me how to get leftover chicken entrails out of the rug?
OK, I've got all my gear lined up. I've got my Tarot cards, I've got my Magic 8-Ball, I've even got my chicken entrails.
That means it's time once again for your Humble Columnist's fearless predictions for 2007:
January: The new Democratic-controlled Congress takes power.
In the first 100 hours, they enact the security recommendations of the 9/11 commission, raise the minimum wage, enact comprehensive lobbying reform, cut the interest rate on student loans in half, pass a bill to allow the government to negotiate directly with the pharmaceutical companies for lower drug prices for Medicare patients, and broaden the types of stem cell research allowed with federal funds.
The mainstream media pronounce Speaker Pelosi's tenure a "failure" because, explains NBC's Judy Woodruff, "that's just what we do these days. Otherwise, Michelle Malkin and Sean Hannity might get mad, and we can't have that."
February: Sunni and Shiite militias take to the streets in open sectarian conflict, each group seizing command of key government ministries. When asked if this constitutes civil war in Iraq, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow twirls his parasol and answers, "Fiddle-dee-dee! There isn't going to be any war!"
March: Failed Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in a joint awards ceremony with former FEMA Director Michael "Brownie" Brown. "You guys did a heckuva a job," President Bush tells the award recipients. The moment is widely considered the low point in both men's careers.
April: Rising sea levels cause several inhabited islands in the South Pacific to sink beneath the surface of the ocean. In an interview, Vice President Dick Cheney announces that global warming is in its "last throes" before shooting the interviewer in the face.
May: As casualties, both American and Iraqi, reach their highest levels ever in the bloodiest month of sectarian conflict in the Middle East, President Bush does a skit at the National Press Club Dinner where he peers under tables and the podium, chuckling, "No civil war here! No civil war under here!" The national press pronounces it "the funniest thing since the Marx Brothers" and denounces those who call the joke callous and insensitive as "anti-fun nanny-state liberals."
June: In a college commencement address, Sen. John Kerry asks, "How many Bush administration officials does it take to screw in a light bulb? Give up? None! They can't admit that it's dark!" Six weeks of media furor ensue over Kerry's use of the words "give up" and whether he meant that as an "insult to the troops."
July: The National Political Humorists' Guild issues an open letter to John Kerry pleading with him not to attempt any more jokes.
August: A leaked Pentagon report states that Iraq has "definitely been in a state of civil war" since late 2006. When asked about the report and whether the administration has changed its opinion about the Iraqi situation, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow replies that the president hasn't read the report. When a reporter notes that the Pentagon sent the report to the White House in March, Snow accuses him of partisanship. "Everyone knows the partisan bias of calendars, so asking about the passage of time is clearly a partisan question," Snow asserts to the dumbfounded White House Press Corps.
September: A Congressional investigation turns up shocking evidence that Vice President Cheney's staff had, since mid-2006, been cruising the streets kidnapping hobos and bringing them to the vice president so he could shoot them in the face. "After that guy in Texas, well, it just got good to him," one witness testifies.
Republican pundits and bloggers denounce the Democratic Party over the Cheney story, claiming that, while the story is admittedly completely true, the Democrats are at fault for withholding it until September for maximum political effect. "Can you prove they didn't do that?" Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina triumphantly asks Wolf Blitzer. When Blitzer asks McHenry how releasing the story in September 2007 creates any kind of political timing, McHenry rolls his eyes and calls Blitzer "another one of those calendar-obsessed liberals."
November: Sunni and Shiite forces don blue and gray uniforms, pick up muskets, and start marching in line to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "Dixie." The Bush White House finally admits, "Well, maybe you might call what's going on in Iraq a civil war." "Finally!" exclaims radical Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, doffing his wool uniform. "We were beginning to wonder what it would take before those bozos finally admitted it. Oh, by the way, death to America."
December: Melting of the polar ice caps causes Santa's Workshop to plunge to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. George W. Bush predicts that in the future, the death by drowning of Santa and all his reindeer and the subsequent cancellation of Christmas will be regarded by historians as "just a comma."
Well, there you have it. Not a pretty picture, I'll admit, but don't blame me, blame the future. I don't create it, I just predict it.
Now, can someone tell me how to get leftover chicken entrails out of the rug?
Sunday, December 24, 2006
The List: Good, Bad and Ugly of the Christmas Season
Latest Newpaper Column:
Well, here it is, Christmas Eve.
Well, here it is, Christmas Eve.
The lights are up, the stockings are hung by the chimney with care, and the hard-working folks at Wal-Mart and Target are getting that haggard, hollow-eyed look, like people who've been under several days of sustained artillery fire.
It's a wonderful season, to be sure. Time with family and friends, good cheer, and celebrations abound. But there's also a fair amount of crassness, commercialism and just plain silliness around this time of year, even more than usual. So, in our usual fair and balanced spirit, we bring you the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of the Christmas Season.
Best TV Christmas Special: I've thought long and hard about this one, and I've got to declare it a tie.
First among equals is the classic "A Charlie Brown Christmas." OK, when you look at it now, I'll admit, some of the jokes are clearly gags from the "Peanuts" newspaper strips shoehorned into the show as filler, the animation is crude, and you can even hear some clumsy splices in the voiceover track.
But I still choke up at that moment when Linus, having recited St. Luke's account of the angels proclaiming "peace on earth and goodwill toward men," picks up his blanket, walks offstage, and says simply "That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."
Sharing the No. 1 spot is "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." It's clear that the Whos down in Whoville don't belong to any Christian sect we'd recognize. They're not even human. I mean, they have antennae, for crying out loud. But that doesn't stop the winsome little critters, even in the absence of presents, from joining hands and singing the immortal Christmas lyrics "Fah-who foraze, dah-hoo doraze, Welcome Christmas, come this way," and so on before they invite the even less humanoid Grinch in for dinner, thus proving that Christmas is truly an inclusionary holiday.
Take THAT, Bill O'Reilly!
Worst TV Christmas Special: There are so many contenders for this one, most of which have fallen by the wayside.
There was, for instance, the plethora of horrific Kathie Lee Gifford efforts. But the absolute worst, the Lead Standard by which all bad Christmas specials are judged, is George Lucas' "Star Wars Holiday Special."
This one's making the rounds again on Internet sites such as YouTube, despite LucasFilm's desperate efforts to get it taken down as fast as people upload it.
You can hardly blame Lucas. I'd be embarrassed to have anyone know I had anything to do with this piece of crap, too. It starts with Han Solo trying to run the Imperial Blockade to get Chewbacca back home to his family for "Life Day." (Yes, Chewie has a family, including a son named -- are you ready for this? Lumpy.)
And it goes downhill from there, reaching its nadir with Bea Arthur as an intergalactic barmaid. Singing. It was really, really bad. Back in 1978 when it first aired, I was a major "Star Wars" fan, and even I could tell it stank up the screen.
Best Christmas Song, Traditional: "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing," mostly because of its association with the above-referenced Charlie Brown special.
Worst Christmas Song, Traditional: "The Little Drummer Boy" is pretty annoying, but it gets edged out by the maddeningly insistent "Carol of the Bells."
"Oh how they pound, raising the sound." Exactly.
Best Christmas Song, Modern: Bruce Springsteen's version of "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town," featuring the Big Man, Clarence Clemons, on saxophone and backup vocals.
Worst Christmas Song, Modern: Again, there are so many to choose from here. I have to give the nod to "Jingle Bell Rock," mainly for the way it tries to tack "jingle" on to everything. "Jingle-hop," "jingle-horse," etc. I'm sorry, it just sets my teeth on edge.
Thing I'll Miss Most When the Season is Over: As always, the tree. I love bringing the tree home. I love hanging the lights and decorations. I love having the tree all lit up in the living room. It's always a depressing day when it comes down, sometime in June.
Thing I'll Miss Least When the Season Is Over: The "Peace Love and Gap" commercials, aka "Holiday in Your 'Hood." As my son has observed, "Yes, when people think Gap, they think immediately of the 'hood."
Running a close second are all those jewelry store commercials with women who are supposed to be gazing off camera looking raptly romantic over their new trinkets, but who actually look more like the result of a botched lobotomy.
So, dear readers, let me close with my holiday wish to you: May you treasure the good things about this and every other season, and may you always be able to laugh at the bad. Whatever holiday you celebrate, have a joyous one.
Dusty Rhoades lives, writes, practices law and celebrates Christmas in Carthage.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Thank You, Graham Powell!
Let me join my fellow bloggers and extend my warmest thanks to Graham Powell, whose most excellent site CrimeSpot.net brings together the best of the crime-writing blogosphere, and this site as well. When I check the site stats, way over half of the people who come here come from CrimeSpot. It's a great resource for us all, and a true labor of love on Graham's part. Thanks, Graham.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
What Rough Beast?
Virgin dragon prepares to give birth : "CHESTER, England - In an evolutionary twist, Flora the Komodo dragon has managed to become pregnant all on her own without any male help. She is carrying seven baby Komodo dragons.
'We were blown away when we realized what she'd done,' said Kevin Buley, a reptile expert at Flora's home at the Chester Zoo in this town in northern England. 'But we certainly won't be naming any of the hatchlings Jesus.'
Other reptile species reproduce asexually in a process known as parthenogenesis. But Flora's virginal conception, and that of another Komodo dragon earlier this year at the London Zoo, are the first time it has been documented in a Komodo dragon.
The reptiles, renowned for their intelligence, are native to Indonesia. They are the world's largest lizards and have no natural predators — making them on par with sharks and lions at the pinnacle of the animal kingdom.
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
'We were blown away when we realized what she'd done,' said Kevin Buley, a reptile expert at Flora's home at the Chester Zoo in this town in northern England. 'But we certainly won't be naming any of the hatchlings Jesus.'
Other reptile species reproduce asexually in a process known as parthenogenesis. But Flora's virginal conception, and that of another Komodo dragon earlier this year at the London Zoo, are the first time it has been documented in a Komodo dragon.
The reptiles, renowned for their intelligence, are native to Indonesia. They are the world's largest lizards and have no natural predators — making them on par with sharks and lions at the pinnacle of the animal kingdom.
"Komodo dragons seem to be able to switch ways of reproducing to deal with a shortage of suitable boyfriends," said Dr. Rick Shine, a professor of evolutionary biology at the University of Sydney, Australia. Shine was not involved with the Nature paper. In contrast, other lizard species that reproduce asexually cannot mate normally.
That might give Komodos a distinct survival edge. Only about 4,000 dragons remain in the wild, of which 1,000 are female. Concerns about dwindling Komodo dragon populations might be allayed by Flora and Sungai's recent self-induced motherhood.
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
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