It's a measure of the esteem in which the late Barbara Seranella was held by the mystery community that dozens of tributes to her have gone up on the 'net and in print since the news of her death was released. Denise Hamilton has written one you should definitely read.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Monday, January 22, 2007
R.I.P. Barbara Seranella
Barbara Seranella, 50, bestselling mystery author and resident of Laguna Beach and PGA West in La Quinta, died peacefully on January 21, 2007, at 4:15 p.m. EST (1:15 p.m. PST) at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, with her husband Ron Seranella and her brother Dr. Larry Shore at her side. Barbara, who died of end-stage liver disease while awaiting a liver transplant, leaves behind her husband Ron, brothers Larry Shore of San Francisco and David Shore of Woodacre, parents Nate and Margie Shore of La Quinta, and stepdaughters Carrie Seranella and Shannon Howard.
Private funeral arrangements are being made by the family. A celebration of Barbara's life is being planned for February; details will be announced later.
Barbara was a class act. I first met her at Bouchercon in Chicago. Even when clearly still weary from the aftereffects of her first two liver transplants, she was unfailingly gracious, generous with time and advice, and funny as hell. I'll never forget her passing out onions with tags that said, "you can have the onions, but I'm keeping the liver." That's Richard Pryor funny, if you know what I mean.
She was also a hell of a writer. Her Munch Mancini books featured a tough female lead, a former drug addict fighting her way back to life with wit and courage. I devoured each one. She was one of those people whose work made me want to be a better writer.
Damn it. This SUCKS.
Well, Maybe the Kid That Got Punched Was a Gangsta
Shop bans Jay, the two-year-old 'hoodie':
A two-year-old boy was told to take down his hood in a corner shop because of a ban on “hoodies”.
Jay Cowper was wrapped up against the cold in a brown jacket with a furry hood when he went into the shop with his grandfather.
His grandmother Brenda, 54, said: “No sooner had they got inside than the shopkeeper said to my husband, Could you ask the little boy to remove his hood?' My husband said, He's only two-and-a- half, I don't think he's going to rob you'. I don't think he could believe it, and my husband refused to take it down as a matter of principle.”
After the incident, at the Monkton Road Stores in York, Mr Cowper had to drive to another shop with his grandson to buy the cigarettes he had gone out for.
Mrs Cowper said: “I can understand their point because a lot of kids cause trouble down there, but when it's a two-year-old it's a bit pathetic and I think most people would just think it's laughable.”
A two-year-old boy was told to take down his hood in a corner shop because of a ban on “hoodies”.
Jay Cowper was wrapped up against the cold in a brown jacket with a furry hood when he went into the shop with his grandfather.
His grandmother Brenda, 54, said: “No sooner had they got inside than the shopkeeper said to my husband, Could you ask the little boy to remove his hood?' My husband said, He's only two-and-a- half, I don't think he's going to rob you'. I don't think he could believe it, and my husband refused to take it down as a matter of principle.”
After the incident, at the Monkton Road Stores in York, Mr Cowper had to drive to another shop with his grandson to buy the cigarettes he had gone out for.
Mrs Cowper said: “I can understand their point because a lot of kids cause trouble down there, but when it's a two-year-old it's a bit pathetic and I think most people would just think it's laughable.”
Non-Viable Strategies For Living III
Man Accused Of Punching Baby:
A 25-year-old man in Mims, Fla., is accused of beating a baby and another young child with his closed fists and threatening to sexually molest the wives of the officers arresting him, according to Local 6 News partner Florida Today.
Darrel Ray Kessinger, of 13 Evergreen Place, was arrested late Saturday and charged with burglary with battery, child abuse, resisting an officer, corruption by threat and resisting without violence, reports show.
Police reports show the incident began about 1:48 a.m. Saturday when Kessinger got involved with an altercation with another man.Witnesses told deputies that Kessinger turned and struck a 3-year-old child and a nine-month-old baby -- with closed fists, Florida Today reported. A woman put the children in a white Ford Tempo and attempted to leave when Kessinger ran after toward the vehicle, reports show.Deputies said he punched out one of the car windows, causing both children to receive glass cuts, and tried to drag the woman out of the vehicle before she rode off.Deputies arrived and chased Kessinger, reports show. Kessinger fought back, threatening the deputies and asking where they lived so he could go to their homes and sexually molest their wives, reports show.
Kessinger was handcuffed and taken to the Brevard County Jail Complex. He remains at the Brevard County Jail Complex without bond, officials said.
What can I say, other than "what an asshole."
A 25-year-old man in Mims, Fla., is accused of beating a baby and another young child with his closed fists and threatening to sexually molest the wives of the officers arresting him, according to Local 6 News partner Florida Today.
Darrel Ray Kessinger, of 13 Evergreen Place, was arrested late Saturday and charged with burglary with battery, child abuse, resisting an officer, corruption by threat and resisting without violence, reports show.
Police reports show the incident began about 1:48 a.m. Saturday when Kessinger got involved with an altercation with another man.Witnesses told deputies that Kessinger turned and struck a 3-year-old child and a nine-month-old baby -- with closed fists, Florida Today reported. A woman put the children in a white Ford Tempo and attempted to leave when Kessinger ran after toward the vehicle, reports show.Deputies said he punched out one of the car windows, causing both children to receive glass cuts, and tried to drag the woman out of the vehicle before she rode off.Deputies arrived and chased Kessinger, reports show. Kessinger fought back, threatening the deputies and asking where they lived so he could go to their homes and sexually molest their wives, reports show.
Kessinger was handcuffed and taken to the Brevard County Jail Complex. He remains at the Brevard County Jail Complex without bond, officials said.
What can I say, other than "what an asshole."
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Bush To America: I Just Don't Care
In a TV fundraiser after Hurricane Katrina, rapper Kanye West stunned America when he blurted out that "George Bush doesn't care about black people."
Well, don't feel alone, black people. If there's anything we've learned from Dubbya's recent announcements of troop escalation and his statements in the wake of the backlash against it, it's that George Bush doesn't care about much of anybody, at least when it comes to what they have to say.
He doesn't care about what his generals say. Remember when the talking point was, "If our commanders on the ground say we need more troops, I will send them"? Well, that "let the professionals decide" principle has apparently been jettisoned.
Well, sorry, General. Enjoy retirement. President Bush no longer cares what you have to say.
He doesn't care what congressmen and senators in his own party say.
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine expressed skepticism early on. "My conclusion was that it would be a mistake to send more troops to Baghdad," she said. "I think the sectarian violence there requires a political, not a military, solution."
Republican Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska was even more blunt: "I'm absolutely opposed to sending any more troops to Iraq. It is folly." Even the ultra-right wing Sam Brownback of Kansas said he didn't think sending more troops to Baghdad was a solution.
Which, of course, raises the question: What sort of nasty nickname will the dwindling membership of the right wing Bush cult (mostly radio and TV talkers) try to hang on the Republicans who oppose Bush now? Democrats get dubbed "Defeatocrats," but there doesn't seem to be an epithet for Republicans suffering a sudden attack of sanity. "Cut-and-Runnicans" just doesn't trip off the tongue.
It goes without saying that Bush doesn't care what Democrats say, despite their majority status.
In fact, his preferred method of addressing Democratic suggestions about what to do about the Iraq mess is apparently to pretend they were never made. Last week in a "60 Minutes" interview, Dubbya repeated that the Democrats had "no plan" of their own.
Oh, really, Mr. President? Does the name "John Murtha" strike a familiar note? Back when you were still saying "stay the course," Murtha proposed a plan to redeploy U.S. troops out of harm's way, create a quick-reaction force and establish an over-the-horizon presence of Marines, and finally, to diplomatically pursue security and stability in Iraq. Surely you remember that.
Democrat Joe Biden also proposed a five-point plan to establish separate Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish areas under a central government, share oil revenues among the factions, create a jobs program in Iraq to get people back to work (working people are too tired at the end of the day to riot) and create a nonaggression pact in the region.
Now, you may not like these plans. You may have critiques of them. But if you say that there are no "Democratic plans," then, Mr. President, you are either shockingly ill-informed, outright lying, or deeply delusional. I don't know which is worse.
And speaking of plans, there was a bipartisan commission that spent an awful lot of time and taxpayer money coming up with a plan. It was known as the Iraq Study Group, and a lot of folks pinned their hopes for a solution on them. They came out with a report that advocated a drawdown of troops. Bush didn't care about that, either.
Finally, Bush doesn't care what the American people think.
A CNN Poll from Jan. 11 revealed that 69 percent of Americans polled "disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling the situation in Iraq," 67 percent oppose the war in Iraq, 50 percent strongly oppose the addition of 20,000 or more troops, 66 percent strongly or moderately oppose the so-called "surge," and 66 percent of individuals polled thought that sending more troops would either make no difference in the achievement of U.S. "goals" or make the U.S. less likely to achieve them.
A Gallup poll taken after Bush's speech revealed that 61 percent of the American people not only don't back sending more troops, but also support a congressional resolution to block it.
But hey, we're only the American people. The rabble. Who cares what we think?
Certainly not King George.
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