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Interview with Alma Burkhart for Little Witnesses. A book about faith.
Come and join me as I talk with author Alma Burkhart about her children's book on Stories From Unknown Authors
http://blogtalkradio.com/storiesfromunknownauthors at 1 pm EST today.
Publisher: Gypsy Publications (August 23, 2013)
"Little Witnesses," are Endearing stories, full of understanding and faith. These refreshing fictional tales share religious experiences during a child's journey in life. However, not all experiences are easy. Jesus Christ is known for incredible doings, but teaching faith is a hefty task.
Alma Burkhart has been married for 58 years. She has served as a pastor's wife for 39 of those years, mothering one child, and has taught Sunday school for 43 years. She finds passion in religion, and wants to express it in her life and work. Her children's book reflects this ideology. Alma resides in Troy, Ohio.
Book Review for Why? Answers to Everyday Scientific Questions
Why? Answers to Everyday Scientific Questions by Joel Levy
Zest Books
Young Adult Nonfiction Science & Nature General
Reviewer: Renee Hand
Many people wonder about answers to some of life's most basic questions, such as "Why the sky is blue?", which can be answered from textbooks and in science classrooms and seem geared to younger, middle grade readers. Yet there are many more basic yet complicated questions like, "Why does time only move forward?", which need more of an in-depth explanation for understanding.
Why? Answers to Everyday Scientific Questions is an interesting book. It covers a range of topics from geology and psychology, to cosmology and chemistry from the mundane to the esoteric. Readers will find just as interesting as the questions how the author has decided to answer them—by using several layers of explanation to build comprehension bit by bit.
Each answer begins with a one-line explanation before giving more detail and, in some instances, challenging the basic premise of the question. Some answers also incorporate illuminating and fun trivia to help with understanding. There are also pictures and graphs where needed.
This 192-page book is for young adults. Readers who are curious and open-minded will enjoy reading, learning, and sharing the answers to many of these questions. Though the book certainly doesn't cover every possible question and though some explanations are proximate, it does incorporate a variety of captivating information. If this book does nothing else it will encourage readers to ask the question "Why?" more often.
Guest Post by Joe Sergi author of Sky Girl and the Superheroic Adventures
Rules of the Superhero Genre
By Joe Sergi, author of Sky Girl and the Superheroic Adventures
I would to thank you for allowing to come on your site and ramble about my favorite genre—superheroes. I am the author of Sky Girl and the Superheroic Adventures. The book is the sequel to Sky Girl and the Superheroic Legacy. The first book introduced DeDe Christopher, an ordinary teen with an extraordinary destiny to become Sky Girl. Being a teenage girl is hard enough, but for DeDe, it is proving impossible. In addition to cliques, books, and boys, she has to worry about capes, apes, and aliens. When we last left DeDe, she had just adopted the mantle of Sky Girl at the end of her sophomore year of high school. In this book, DeDe must learn what it means to be a heroine as Sky Girl faces the all too real enemies and allies of SkyBoy, including the clever Quizmaster, the beautiful Penny Pound, the enigmatic Jersey Devil, and the magical MissTick. DeDe must also face personal challenges as she discovers the secrets of her late father and his connection to SkyBoy--secrets that will affect Sky Girl's destiny.
Sky Girl and the Superheroic Adventures is technically classified as young adult. However, this book more correctly fits into what is known as the superhero genre. There are certainly challenges to writing in this genre. Traditionally, the superhero genre was limited to the comic book medium. Sadly, while the superhero genre has had great success expanding into movies and television, superhero prose fiction is a hard platform to sell. I find it amazing that while comics has gained exposure as a medium and is no longer limited to the superheroes genre, the superhero genre, itself, hasn't really been able to expand into novels or short stories. And while characters like Superman and Spider-Man tend to do well, original characters are a hard sell. But, I think it's a great genre and believe it deserves a chance to thrive beyond licensed properties.
When I was shopping Sky Girl around, several publishers were interested in the book but ultimately decided that the target audience for prose superhero fiction was too small. I do not believe that and hope that I can prove them wrong with my books. I do not believe that comic fans will avoid my book because it doesn't have pictures in it. Similarly, I don't think young adult, fantasy, and science fiction readers will avoid the book because it is about a superhero. There is a market for fun superhero stories and it does not matter what medium they are presented in, whether it be film, comics or novels. Someday, I hope I am remembered for trying to challenge industry norms in an effort to reach new readers and dispel these misconceptions. I hope Sky Girl is remembered for helping me succeed in that challenge.
So what is the Superhero genre?
Robert McKee, in his great book about screenwriting called Story points out that when writing genre fiction, there are certain rules that must be followed for each genre. For example, a mystery story must always have clues and a solution and, when writing a comedy, the cardinal rule is that the main characters can't really get hurt. In the words of Mel Brooks, "tragedy is when I stub my toe; comedy is when you fall into an open manhole and die." Similarly, superhero fiction has basic rules that apply and that make the superhero fiction genre unique.
A superheroine needs an origin that begins in tragedy. Superman's planet exploded, Batman's parents were murdered before his eyes and Uncle Ben was killed through Peter Parker's inaction. Very rarely does someone wake up and decide, "I have a well-adjusted life, I think I will put on a colorful costume and become a scourge of the underworld." The catalyst of Sky Girl is featured in Chapter 0 of the first book, which sets up the main mystery for the remainder of the series. "What happened to SkyBoy?" The fate of DeDe's father fits directly into that. Does this mean that DeDe is psychologically imbalanced? Of course not. I mean, Clark Kent grew up just fine despite being the last survivor of Krypton (if you exclude Supergirl, the Phantom Zone criminals, the city of Candor, Krypto and . . .well, you get the idea).
Second, superheroes wear costumes. Generally, good guys wear primary colors and bad guys wear purples, green and black. Of course the primary reason for this is that in the early days of publishing, the printing process was not very good. So, it helped if the reader knew that the little red and blue blur was Superman and the purple and green one was Lex Luthor. In my book, Sky Girl's costume is based on her male counterpart SkyBoy and is purple and black. That costume, and the color scheme, was a deliberate choice. Then again, the Phantom, one of the original pulp heroes, wore purple and black, so it could be an homage to him. Plus, the Hulk, himself, is green with black hair and wears purple pants and he's a hero . . . Isn't he?
Superheroes have powers. Firemen, policemen and teachers are all heroes--but, they are not superheroes. This is because they do not possess that metahuman gene that gives them powers. (Except for my sixth grade English teacher, Mrs. Lucas--that woman had eyes in the back of her head!) Some, like Batman, get their powers the old fashioned way, through study exercise; but he is still the world's greatest detective. Others get them through birth (the X-men), environment (Superman), radiation (Hulk and Spider-Man), or drugs (if you think about it, Captain America is the poster child for steroids). And of course, Batman and Iron Man have the greatest superpower of all time: more money than they know what to do with. Sky Girl has several powers, including flight, invulnerability, a skypulse, and sky vision, which she discovers throughout Sky Girl and the Superheroic Legacy, the first book. In the second book, Sky Girl and the Superheroic Adventures, she discovers and trains to use even more of her powers. The mysterious origin of her ever-growing list of fantastic powers will be explored in the third book of the series.
Superheroines also need a mentor. In The Power of Myth, Joseph Campbell explains the hero's journey. Part of that journey involves a wise mentor who helps the hero with her destiny. Luke has Obi Wan (and later Yoda). Daredevil has Stick. Clark had Pa Kent. Billy Batson, on the Saturday morning show Shazam, had Mentor (Saturday morning shows aren't very subtle). Over the course of the story, Sky Girl meets several potential mentors. Some have her best interest at heart, and others have selfish motives. Part of her journey is to determine who to learn from.
A superhero must also overcome overwhelming obstacles. If someone overcomes adversity and defeats the villain, they are a hero. But, to be a superhero, a person must face super overwhelming odds to defeat a supervillain. Batman would just be a man in tights without the Joker. Stan Lee, in the early days of Marvel Comics, added to this by having Spider-Man not only face off against the Green Goblin, but he also needed to make enough money to buy medicine for his Aunt May. Sky Girl is no different. In the first book, she faced off against the villainous Commander Chimp and his Gorilla Army. The new book greatly expands her rouge's gallery of villains. There is also personal challenge for a teenage girl growing up, such as whether to use her powers for personal gain or whether to accept her mother's new boyfriend.
Related to that, a hero is only as good as his or her villains. With a few exceptions (like Venom), Spider-Man's major villains were all introduced in the first year of the book. They still plague him to this day. Batman consistently faces the same insane criminals month after month (as if Arkham Asylum has a revolving door). In fact, the Flash's enemies actually refer to themselves as The Rogues. In Sky Girl and the Superheroic Legacy, we saw that Sky Boy has his own rogues gallery called the Retallion Battalion, which Sky Girl inherits. These are some pretty tough characters and Sky Girl faces off against nearly a dozen of them in the second book. Each of these characters plays a large role in the overall Sky Girl story.
Another aspect of the superhero genre is the existence of a confidant/sidekick. Batman has Robin, but what many people don't seem to realize is that he also has Alfred. The Hulk had Rick Jones. Captain America had Rick Jones. Captain Marvel had Rick Jones. Rom had Rick Jones. (Wow! That Rick Jones gets around). Superman had Ma and Pa Kent, and then Lois, and then not Lois, and now only Ma Kent. Sky Girl has Jason, her comic geek friend. He helps her in her hero's quest and would be proud to be known as her faithful sidekick. In the new book, he also gets a chance to shine.
Although the ten-year-old me would never admit it, love plays a special role in the superhero genre, especially unrequited love. "If only I could tell Nurse Jane Foster how I feel, but I can't because I am also the Mighty Thor." This theme permeates almost all the silver age books, especially in early Marvel Comics. Daredevil loved Karen Page; Spidey loved Liz and then Mary Jane; Clark Kent loved Lois Lane who loved Superman and then they didn't. I think DeDe (Sky Girl) is a little young for love, but she is certainly interested in Adam Berg, the star quarterback. Unfortunately, he is involved with Nicole Debis, DeDe's rival in every way. The ante is upped when DeDe gets super powers. Given the change in modern heroic fiction, perhaps there is hope for DeDe to find true love. This is especially true after the pair get to spend so much time together in the second book. After all, Superman finally married his Lois Lane and Spider-Man eventually married Mary Jane. And then they didn't.
Another trope of the superhero genre is a superheroic code-name. "Look, up in the sky; it's a bird, it's a plane; it's Clark Kent." That just doesn't have the same oomph. Much the way that criminals would not cower in fear from the Bruce Wayne symbol (even if they are a superstitious and cowardly lot). DeDe's best friend, Jason, spends a lot of effort deciding what the right name should be for DeDe. In the end, there can only be one. In the second book, one of my favorite chapters to write is when Jason tries to teach someone the importance (and copyright ramifications) of a super villain code name.
A super hero needs witty banter. Spider-Man is clearly the master of this. And then he wasn't. But, every hero is responsible for learning how to crack wise in the face of danger. Perhaps these jokes provide a psychological advantage, throwing their adversaries off guard by making them angry. Maybe, the humor is their only weapon against the dark world of evil they inhabit. I did a panel at Balticon about humor in paranormal romance, and someone mentioned that humor is a subtle way to show the strength of the hero—so perhaps that is the reason. Sky Girl is still relatively new to the proper way to converse with the enemy. When the second book opens, DeDe has had the whole summer to practice and train with Jason. She's actually gotten quite good at being a costumed adventurer—except for her banter. She still stumbles through quips causing her opponents to wince. Luckily, Jason is there to show her the ropes and help her with the comic timing. Hopefully, as her confidence improves, so will Sky Girl's banter.
Every superhero needs a catch phrase. Everyone knows that Wolverine is the best at what he does (even if what he does isn't very nice). People know that "it's clobbering time" when the Thing cocks his fist. Perhaps fewer are aware that Psylocke's psychic knife is "the focused totality of her psychic powers" (even though Chris Claremont had her say it every five minutes in Uncanny X-Men). SkyBoy's catch phrase is, "Good golly!" Sky Girl doesn't have one yet, but Jason is working on it and will know it when he finds it. After all, GI Joe fans are aware that "knowing is half the battle." (What they may not know is that the other half is comprised of equal percentages of red and blue lasers).
Most importantly, good heroes always triumph over evil villains in superhero fiction. It is the never ending battle. Everyone who looks forward to their weekly Wednesday comic book delivery knows exactly who is going to win that battle. And no matter how dark the reign gets or even in the blackest of night, the heroes will fight the siege of that final crisis and ensure that they will have their brightest day and enter a heroic age. Things look pretty bleak for the world of SkyBoy at the beginning of Sky Girl and the Superheroic Legacy. Hopefully, Sky Girl can save the day. Who am I kidding? Of course, she can. Can't she?
I hope this discussion has helped flesh out the world of superheroes in general, and Sky Girl in specific. Did I miss anything? Please let me know. And thank you for allowing me to come on and talk about a topic that I love.
Interview with Meaghan Fisher and Guiseppe's Famous Pizza Pies
Come and join me as I talk with author Meaghan Fisher about her children's book Guiseppe's Famous Pizza Pie on Stories From Unknown Authors
http://blogtalkradio.com/storiesfromunknownauthors at 10 am EST today.
Publisher: Gypsy Publications (July 19, 2013)
Giuseppe is a pizza chef in Rome, and customers come from far and wide to watch his antics and get a taste of his famous pies. But what will he do when his trusty vendor's cart breaks down? With help from a new friend, he might just find a solution!
Other new release:
Mousekabitz
Mousekabitz has it made. He's got a safe place to live, a comfy bed, and plenty of food. That is, until he's discovered by the human family he lives with. Now even the lazy dog, Merlin, is after him! Chased from his home, Mousekabitz runs into an unfamiliar hole, but he doesn't know where to go next. And where is that music coming from?
Publisher: Gypsy Publications (October 5, 2013)
Meaghan Fisher is a substitute teacher and a former nanny. She has over ten years experience working with children. Meaghan has a BS in Psychology and a Minor in Women's Studies.
She is a published poet, owns her own publishing company, and is currently working on her first novel. Meaghan lives in Troy, Ohio, with her husband, and two children.
Beverly Stowe McClure's Guest Post for A Pirate, a Blockade Runner, and a Cat
THE CRYPTO-CAPERS REVIEW GUEST POST
MIXING HISTORY, FICTION, AND THE SUPERNATURAL
Pirates, blockade runners, and cats. What on earth do they have in common? A lot, as it turns out. You see, they're all ghosts in my latest tween novel A Pirate, a Blockade Runner, and a Cat. The pirates are also historical figures that actually lived. Anytime a writer uses real people and real events they must be accurate, especially when written for children and teens. Otherwise, the author loses his or her credibility and the reader will stop reading. So, let's take a look at my novel and see if the story is true to history and also to the present, since my main characters are fictional, modern day teens.
Most people have heard of Edward Teach, AKA Blackbeard the Pirate. According to legend Blackbeard was one of the most frightening pirates that ever lived. Another pirate, perhaps not as well known as Blackbeard, is Major Stede Bonnet, AKA the Gentleman Pirate. Since these men, though not the major characters, play a huge role in the novel, I needed to make sure my portrayal of them was accurate. To learn the facts about the pirates, I went to the library, where they ordered books on interlibrary loan for me. Next, I searched the Internet for additional information and found interesting facts to include in my novel.
Then there's the ghost James, former navigator on The Hattie, a blockade runner. James is a fictional character, but the ship really existed. Blockade runners were light, fast ships that snuck past the blockades set up by Union ships during the American Civil War. Since they usually carried much needed supplies for the Southern states the ships played an important role in the war. I attempted to show both the blockade runner and the pirates as realistically as possible, allowing for the fact they were ghosts, instead of live beings, which brought me to the next bit of research for my story.
Can a human see a ghost? Can a human touch a ghost? Can the living talk to ghosts? Can ghosts communicate with the living? Why are they still roaming the earth, instead of resting in peace? These were questions I needed to answer to make the story believable. Articles and books I read about ghosts, along with ideas my teen characters kept planting in my brain, helped me bring Bonnet, Blackbeard, and James to life (well, as ghosts anyway) and the reasons they were wandering as spirits in the between worlds. Thanks, Erik, Star, and Storm.
"What about the cat?" you ask. Okay, you didn't; I'll tell you anyway. Many ships in the 1800s and perhaps in other times, too, carried cats onboard. Dixie is James' cat, yes another ghost. She has unfinished business in her life, the same as Blackbeard, Bonnet, and James do.
Research helped me establish the credibility of the historical characters and facts. Mixing history, fiction, and the supernatural wasn't always easy. It sure was fun, though, and made for an exciting story. Just ask Erik, Star, and Storm. And don't forget Dixie.
Interview with Greg Enslen for A Field Of Red
Come and join me as I talk with author Greg Enslen about his novel A Field Of Red on Stories From Unknown Authors
Ex-cop Frank Harper doesn't want to get involved. Harper is visiting the small Ohio town of Cooper's Mill, trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter and a grandson he's never met. But he finds the town gripped in fear-two young girls have gone missing, taken in broad daylight from a busy street. And the police are coming up blank. But once Harper is drawn reluctantly into the investigation, he'll stop at nothing to find the girls. And he doesn't care who gets in the way.
This book was, like my others, a collaborative effort. If it weren't for the immeasurable assistance of some amazing people, this book would never have crawled its way out of my brain and onto the printed page. This book took about two-and-a-half years to complete, going through several rewrites and revisions until something emerged that I could be happy with. Anything great in this book is probably as a result of a suggestion one of these people made, whereas all the mistakes and miscalculations fall squarely on my shoulders. I'd like to thank the following people for their hard work to help make this book a reality:
My wife Samantha, who had to listen to me talk on and on endlessly about Frank Harper and the other characters;
My parents, Mary and Albert Enslen, for reading and rereading this, along with my father's attention to timelines and details, and marking it up until it was perfect;
My editor, Diana Ceres, who vastly improved the book by giving it a rigorous edit and bringing up a lot of questions that made me think;
And the wonderful folks of Tipp City, Ohio, upon which the fictional town of Cooper's Mill is based.
Kapnick Orchards Apple Umpkin Festival This Weekend For Book Signing Event
I will be at Kapnick's Orchard in Britton for their Apple Umpkin Festival this weekend to celebrate my new release in my Joe-Joe Nut Series, The Secret of the Missing Arch. This is a mystery for children in 3rd grade and above. Also, with every book purchase, readers will be able to enter into a drawing to have me come to their school for a free author visit. Here is the information for my new release. Hope to see everyone there.
The town of Acorn Valley is a buzz with the news of an art fundraiser at the elementary school that will help local animals in need who lost their homes because of inclement weather. With the whole town getting involved, famous area artists like Claude Monet Mongoose, Georgia O' Giraffe, Vincent Van Goat, and Pablo Picasso Peacock all attend so they can each auction off a weather painting coinciding with the fundraising theme. It isn't until Dr. Ced E. Meant's presentation at the Metropolitan Museum before the event where, during a presentation where he discusses his findings concerning the erosion of some area parks, he discovers his research has been stolen, which contains information the world would be interested in knowing. At the fundraising event, truth's unfold that will baffle detectives Joe-Joe Nut and Biscuit Bill leading them to suspects they never thought could have committed the crime. Will they be able to solve the case before Dr. Ced E. Meant's research goes global? Join the detectives on their journey in learning about the topics of weather, erosion and art. Look for various activities in the back of the book to enhance learning.
APPLE UMPKIN FESTIVAL
34th Annual Apple Umpkin Festival is Saturday October 12th 9-6 p.m. and Sunday October 13th 10-6 p.m.
Kapnick Orchards
4245 Rogers Hwy.
Britton, MI 49229
Interview for The Gentle Elephant by Amy Kneisley
Come and join me as I talk with author Amy Kneisley about her picture book The Gentle Elephant on Stories From Unknown Authors
Publication Date: July 31, 2013
"The Gentle Elephant" portrays an unusual friendship between a prince and an elephant. They become immediate friends, when everyone else shuns the elephant from the prince's home. The prince and elephant lead an adventurous tale while also finding each other in a time of need. However, the King has final rule, and when he returns home to his castle he will decide the fate of their relationship.
Amy Kneisley lives in Troy, Ohio with her husband, two sons and a dog named Lupe. As a busy mom, Amy still finds time for jogging, hiking and writing poetry. Currently, Amy is working on a series of easy reader books for children, along with a novel, and a book of poetry. Her poetry blog can be found at amyekneisley.wordpress.com.
Interview with Alma Burkhart for Little Witnesses....
Book Review for Why? Answers to Everyday Scientifi...
Guest Post by Joe Sergi author of Sky Girl and the...
Interview with Meaghan Fisher and Guiseppe's Famou...
Beverly Stowe McClure's Guest Post for A Pirate, a...
Kapnick Orchards Apple Umpkin Festival This Weeken...


The Buyer will purchase from the Seller the following goods (the 'Goods'):___________________________________________________________.
The Seller will sell, transfer and deliver the Goods to the Buyer on or before the _____ day of _____________, 20____. The Buyer will pay to the Seller the sum of ________________________ ($0) USD, paid by cash as required in clause 4 of this Agreement.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the parties have executed this Purchase Agreement on this _____ day of _____________, 20____.


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Review: Idiopathy, by Sam Byers
A debut novel portrays the derangements of modern life with blistering satire and gallows humor
As its title indicates, Idiopathy is about what bloody idiots people are. While delivering one laugh-out-loud zinger after another (many of them too raunchy to be quoted here), Byers lampoons, with excoriating wit, the hash we have made of modern life, and the hash it has made of us.
In the English city of Norwich — which may bring to mind Slough from the UK version of The Office — Katherine, Daniel and Nathan compulsively reject the promises of potential intimacy that keep rearing up between them. Meanwhile, Bovine Idiopathic Entrancement Syndrome is spreading through Britain's cattle population. The cows now stare, motionless, into space; and halfway through the book, the disease has spread to sheep. The implication being, we're next.
The novel is a triple portrait, told in smoothly rotating points of view. Daniel and Katherine are ex-lovers who fight ceaselessly and viciously. Nathan, their erstwhile drug dealer, used to provide a point of triangulation for them. Now that Nathan, newly sober, is out of rehab, their old dynamic doesn't hold, but none of them can walk away.
Katherine is having a brutishly impersonal sexual relationship, of which Byers probes every embarrassing corner with surprising insight and humor. When an accidental pregnancy threatens to breach her defensive fortress of rage, she implodes. Eaten alive by bitterness, Katherine is a tricky character to pull off. Like a friend who begins, "You know what your problem is?" and then actually speaks the awful truth, she is part avenging angel, part monster.
For Daniel, rule-bound and incapable of spontaneity, there is only one directive: behave properly. To always behave "properly" is to be false; but to be sincere, one must take risks, and Daniel will risk nothing. Pinned in place by paralyzing cowardice, his life with his cloyingly sweet girlfriend Angelica holds no real pleasure save that of accumulating stuff. "Lacking children as they did," Byers writes, "Daniel and Angelica needed something to tend to or they risked falling into the kind of vapid complacency they both professed to fear but also secretly craved." Bovine entrancement, indeed.
Nathan is getting back on his feet at his parents' house — awkward, since his mother is busily promoting her blockbuster book Mother Courage: One Woman's Battle Against Maternal Blame (with the help of Dr. Dave, personal development guru and author of C.H.A.N.G.E: Calling a Halt to All Negative and Gloomy Experiences). While his mother could be seen as the current face of British parenting, his father, rigid to the point of calcification, seems to represent an older tradition: "He was like an ocean liner: a change of mind was painfully slow and required a complex pattern of braking and turning before thrust could be reapplied." Like so many lines in the novel, it elicits first a laugh, then heartbreak.
Through Nathan's eyes, we come to grips with what it means to acclimatize to society. Familiar surroundings, like the supermarket, are tinged with existential horror when looked at anew. "People ate as they roamed the shop. When their children started to cry, they encouraged them to eat. On every aisle there was at least one child sobbing gutturally through the wilting remains of a Snickers."
Of the three, only Nathan appears not ruled by self-interest; in fact he attempted to destroy his old self at a rave during which he mutilated his body. But as his humanity filters back to him, so too does its dark side. His first impulse of individuation is to steal parents' credit card, in order to purchase his mother's specious books and then throw them in the river. Later, the possibility of intimacy with Katherine provides incentive to let himself slide.
This brings up the issue of whether Byers has written a searing exploration of the engines that drive self-destruction, or merely a funny, pointed satire. In laying bare his character's worst qualities, there are times when he seems to be implementing a scorched-earth policy. We spend so much time exploring his characters' delusions, we barely get a sense of where their essential goodness — if they have any — might lie. On the other hand, it's not an author's job to make us comfortable, and it is clear that Byers is writing from the heart. If he struggles to have faith in our collective kernel of human good, he clearly still trusts in that most human of gifts: gallows humor. And in his deft hands, it is certainly a gift.
Idiopathy will be released in the U.S. on June 4, 2013.
Recommended if you enjoyed: Lionel Asbo by Martin Amis, Great Apes by Will Self, England, England by Julian Barnes
— Jenna Leigh Evans writes fiction in Brooklyn. You can find her here.
The Lit List: May 6–12
May 6	- Electric Literature	Read
The Best Thing About Celebrity Novels Is Scathingly Bad Reviews
We've rounded up the most blistering pans of actors, singers, and models who moonlight as novelists
Mar 30 - Erin Bartnett
Is There Such a Thing as a Good Book Review?
And how in the world do you write one?
Jan 26 - Elisa Gabbert
Maybe It's Time to Do Away with Anonymous Reviews
The latest Kirkus fiasco might not have been such a big deal if reviewers signed their names
Oct 20 - Electric Literature

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Eighteen London Ambulance Service staff are training hard for this year's Virgin London Marathon on 17 April. The runners will be raising money for the Chief Executive's charity, MERU.
A man shocked back to life three years ago when his heart stopped beating at London Bridge rail station gave a talk to dozens of Londoners at a special event last week.


Key and Peele have done it again! They're coming back for a second appearance in Epic Rap Battles of History #38 Muhammand Ali vs Michael Jordan! Coming December 2nd.
Bookmark ERBoH.com and check back soon for ERB previews, spoilers, hints, and more news!
Check out Key and Peele's first ERB: Gandhi vs Martin Luther King Jr.
Talk with other fans about the upcoming Epic Rap Battle.
Wondering how we know Key and Peele are coming back for the next battle?
They told us on Twitter! (They also spoiled their first ERB appearance on twitter).
@KeeganMKey Are you going to do another ERB? Gandhi vs MLK Jr was one of their best!
Today, Monday November 18th, NicePeter and EpicLLOYD along with the entire ERB crew released a battle between "The Joy of Painting" host, and ex-United States Air Force member Bob Ross, vs renowned Spanish artist, Pablo Picasso.
This was the first time there were actual artists in a battle. We have had many musicians and other types of artists before, but not painters. This is also the first time a Spanish character has been used in an ERB.
1. This is apparently a suggestion that they've ''seen a lot lately''.
2. ''A battle of styles.''-Dante. Picasso and Ross have different art styles.
3. ''1 advocates theft The other is 1''-Dante. Bob Ross studied the techniques of a German painter named Bill Alexander who hosted a show called The Magic World of Oil Painting, which Ross basically copied into his own American show, The Joy of Painting. Pablo Picasso is often credited for saying ''Good artists borrow, great artists steal''.
5. ''They 'battle' with hair and their hairstyle (or lack of) is a defining feature for both rappers.''-Dante. Paintbrushes have hair on them. Bob Ross is known for his crazy hair and Pablo Picasso has a ''lack of'' hair.
Here is the battle. It's 2:06 long.
The Behind The Scenes is not out yet on YouTube, but here is the link to it on the ERB website.
This is our first official ERB News article! In the future we'll present speculation, spoilers, hints, and confirmations about upcoming Epic Rap Battles here!


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Anti-Corruption / Sustainable Development News
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About Business in Society
AMD NEWS DESK
Business In Society has an integrated two-fold mission:
1To draw new attention of influential audiences to current macro problems in global society and report on new efforts by business to address these problems.
2To build understanding and commitment to this principle: It is now not only possible, but necessary, to conduct business ethically and responsibly as well as profitably.
Business in Society LLC will pursue this mission by reporting on, and examining, how business is changing our lives – in our homes, the places where we work and in our local, national and global communities. We will view these epic changes primarily through the prism of the new business model called Corporate Social Responsibility or Sustainable Development. This model, being adopted around the world by progressive companies, integrates strategy and operations to achieve both traditional business objectives and societal progress. It is demonstrating, as never before, that attention to the full range of current expectations and demands of twenty-first century stakeholders ("publics") is, indeed, "good business". The model has already demonstrated positive effect on the environment, energy conservation and improved use of human capital. Not without difficulty – and not without critics and some systemic setbacks — it is advancing and improving the quality of life and standard of living globally.
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© 2020 Business in Society LLC.


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Home » Egg producers, humane society propose federal legislation for layers
Poultry Welfare / Egg Production
Egg producers, humane society propose federal legislation for layers
Law would be first federal legislation addressing treatment of animals on farms
The United Egg Producers and the Humane Society of the United States have partnered to work toward the enactment of federal legislation that would set national standards for hens involved in U.S. egg production. The proposed standards, if enacted, would be the first federal law addressing the treatment of animals on farms.
The proposed legislation would:
require conventional cages (currently used by more than 90% of the egg industry) to be replaced, through an ample phase-in period, with new, enriched housing systems that provide each hen nearly double the amount of space they're currently allotted. Egg producers will invest an additional $4 billion over the next decade and a half to effect this industry-wide make-over;
require that all egg-laying hens be provided, through the new enriched housing system, with environments that will allow hens to express natural behaviors, such as perches, nesting boxes and scratching areas;
mandate labeling on all egg cartons nationwide to inform consumers of the method used to produce the eggs, such as "eggs from caged hens," "eggs from hens in enriched cages," "eggs from cage-free hens" and "eggs from free-range hens;"
prohibit feed- or water-withholding molting to extend the laying cycle, a practice already prohibited by the United Egg Producers Certified program adhered to by a majority of egg farmers;
require standards approved by the American Veterinary Medical Association for euthanasia for egg laying hens;
prohibit excessive ammonia levels in henhouses;
prohibit the sale of eggs and egg products nationwide that don't meet these requirements.
The two groups will jointly ask Congress for federal legislation which would require egg producers to increase space per bird in a tiered phase-in, with the amount of space birds are given increasing, in intervals, over the next 15 to 18 years. Currently, the majority of birds are each provided 67 square inches of space, with roughly 50 million receiving 48 square inches. The proposed phase-in would culminate with hens nationwide being provided a minimum of 124–144 square inches of space, along with the other improvements noted.
If passed by Congress, the legislation would supersede state laws including those that have already been passed in Arizona, California (Proposition 2), Michigan and Ohio. The agreement to pass comprehensive federal legislation for standards of egg production puts a hold on planned ballot measures related to egg-laying hens in both Washington and Oregon.
United Egg Producers, humane society support layer hen legislation
Egg producers, humane society reach agreement on layer housing standards
United Egg Producers, humane society agree to extend welfare agreement
Proposed federal egg layer legislation gains support
Top US egg producers 2013-2018
Top US broiler producers 2008-2018
Key personnel at leading US broiler, turkey producers


Given the clear public interest in this matter, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is providing an update on its investigation into Carillion. The main areas of focus for the investigations of KPMG's audit of Carillion (2014 – 2017) and of two finance directors Richard Adam and Zafar Khan are: contract accounting; reverse factoring; pensions; goodwill and going concern. Good progress with the investigation is being made by the FRC's team of lawyers and forensic accountants.
FRC investigations are often complex and extensive and any findings may be challenged by experts, lawyers and, if applicable, Tribunal members. This requires detailed and rigorous legal and evidential analysis. The FRC will complete the work relating to Carillion as quickly as possible.
The speed of the FRC's investigations may also rely on the level of cooperation of those under investigation, audit clients and third parties (for example: other regulators and liquidators). The Carillion case is one of the largest the FRC has investigated. The FRC will not cut corners to conclude its investigations as that may compromise the integrity of any enforcement action.
The FRC confirms that no member of the Conduct Committee declared an interest in relation to this decision.
In relation to enforcement matters, the FRC is the independent, investigative and disciplinary body for accountants and actuaries in the UK dealing with cases which raise important issues affecting the public interest.To meet its responsibility as the competent authority in respect of audit enforcement, the FRC operates the Audit Enforcement Procedure. This procedure applies to the investigation and sanctioning of breaches of the various requirements of the statutory auditors of Public Interest Entities (PIEs) and any other cases retained by the FRC including AIM companies with a market capitalisation in excess of €200m.


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← Building a post-West world order of sovereignty, international law, and mutual respect — Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Munich Security Conference, February 18, 2017
To help refugees, stop arming terrorists – Rep. Tulsi Gabbard →
'Spilling American blood' to whip up the public and trap the President
It can happen anytime and anywhere. It can be civilians or military. Americans are poor in reflective capacity and quick to 'support America', whatever that means. The worsening narcissism, functional illiteracy, societal disconnection and dis-cohesion, and lack of moral grounding converge with extreme levels of U.S. militarism. Are Americans capable of sanity?
From David Swanson
Has Van Jones Lost His Mind, Or Are Sane People Missing the Point?
A rational and moral person might think of the recent U.S. raid in Yemen this way. Here's one small incident out of a war consisting primarily of a massive bombing campaign that has slaughtered innocents by the thousands and is threatening to lead to the starvation of hundreds of thousands. In this one incident some 30 people were murdered, some 10 of them women and children, one of them the 8-year-old sister of a 16-year-old American boy whom President Obama had earlier murdered just after having murdered his father. There wasn't some Very Important Thing accomplished, such as learning the cell phone number of someone suspiciously Muslim or whatever, that an immoral hack could try to claim justified this incident. This was mass murder.
In the course of this mass murder, one American taking part in it was killed.
The first paragraph above is of virtually no interest to the U.S. media. The second paragraph above is of intense and passionate interest. But there is a very different point that this interest misses. Much of the media coverage suggests that the One American being killed was a very negative thing for Donald Trump. I'd suggest that it was a very negative thing for the man killed and his family and loved ones, but not necessarily a bad thing for Donald Trump or Lockheed Martin. Here's why.
When Van Jones appeared to lose his mind and declare Trump some sort of deity because of his Very Solemn treatment of the death of the One Person Who Mattered, Van Jones was following a long tradition of treatment of the sacred sacrificing of lives to the God of War, the feeding of troops to the Holy Flag. Only lives that matter can be used in this ritual. Only lives that have been lost and that mattered can be used to justify hurling more lives after them. President Polk knew this when he got U.S. troops killed in Mexico. So did those war propagandists who "remembered the Maine." The mast of the Maine still stands at the Naval Academy in Annapolis as a monument to the fundamental rite of lying about dead people who mattered, in order to remove all constraints on behavior.
As Richard Barnet explains, in the context of Vietnam:
"The sacrifice of American lives is a crucial step in the ritual of commitment. Thus William P. Bundy stressed in working papers the importance of 'spilling American blood' not only to whip up the public to support a war that could touch their emotions in no other way, but also to trap the President."[i]
Who was William P. Bundy? He was in the CIA and became an advisor to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. He was exactly the kind of bureaucrat who succeeds in Washington, D.C. In fact he was considered a "dove" by the standards of those in power, people like his brother McGeorge Bundy, National Security Advisor to Kennedy and Johnson, or William Bundy's father-in-law Dean Acheson, Secretary of State for Truman. The war makers do what they do, because only aggressive war makers advance through the ranks and keep their jobs as high-level advisors in our government. While resisting militarism is a good way to derail your career, no one seems to have ever heard of a D.C. bureaucrat or CNN news reader being sidelined for excessive warmongering. Pro-war counsel may be rejected, but is always considered respectable and important — even proposals to murder Americans directly, like Operation Northwoods or Dick Cheney's scheme for Iran.
How can being responsible for getting People Who Matter killed trap a president into killing lots more of them?
This is not about logic. You have to stop thinking, and start observing the behavior of Van Jones' audience. When People Who Matter have been killed, it becomes important to kill more of the Enemy even — or perhaps necessarily — through means that also kill many more of the People Who Matter. The flag's appetite has awakened.
This is not the only way in which the U.S. media is treating this Death That Matters. Some commentators are even suggesting that it was a life lost in vain. Not in mass murder, but in vain. We should be aware, however, that the insanity Van Jones is tapping into is a powerful current with a long record of horror and destruction behind it.
http://davidswanson.org/node/5462
[i] Stavins et alia, Washington Plans an Aggressive War, p. 206.
Tagged American blood, David Swanson, Van Jones, Yemen
One thought on "'Spilling American blood' to whip up the public and trap the President"
americaforyemen
It took the soldier dying in the raid to get Yemen trending in the US on Twitter. I have to wade through story after story about this raid or be very specific in my searches to get to other news happening there. Before the raid, I didn't have to do that. So much bad is happening and this is what people and media are focusing on. I've seen people call those murdered children terrorists and we have to get them all because how dare they kill our Navy SEAL. 😦 I feel sad for our soldier too, but jeez. It's crazy!


Any history lover, or lover of Dumas' adventure stories, knows of the original eminence gris Francois Leclerc du Tremblay, the Capuchin right hand man of Cardinal Richelieu, called 'Father Joseph' in the Dumas novels.
More recently the epithet has been applied, at various times, to Peter Mandleson and John Macdonall (who are, despite all the carping, real politicians) and Frank Underwood and Malcolm Tucker, who are not. (Peter Capaldi will keep cropping up, however, having played both Cardinal Richelieu and Malcolm Tucker on the BBC, before he left the dark side and became Doctor Who.) The character of the back-room, conniving councillor manipulating his or her way to power and influence through someone else ( in modern times, someone elected ) is alive and kicking.
That's not surprising, though the rise, in UK politics, of the SPAD or 'Special Political Advisor' to Ministers, is a relatively new phenomenon. There have always been academics or specialist experts who have advised government ( those whom the British people have, supposedly, had enough of ), but it was Margaret Thatcher who really imported the idea from the U.S.. This despite the Civil Service playing a very different role in the UK and, historically, new administrations did not bring with them a whole political staff and set of appointees.
This seemed to reach its apogee with the Blair administrations, though it was in the Cameron Coalition administration that 'chums' abounded (one Cabinet Office SPAD had, it was rumoured, got her appointment because she owned the house next door to George Osbourne's country retreat). It was profitable for the SPADs and the patronage seems to have continued with the appointment recently of Ed Llewellyn, David Cameron's Chief of Staff, as Ambassador to France, formerly a Foreign Office diplomatic appointment. As of 2010, there were 68 SPADs. In 2006-07 the cost to the tax payer was almost £6m per annum.
Whatever one thinks about SPADs and the creeping politicisation of appointments, at least the SPADs are known. Yet there are plenty today who reach for power and influence but remain, relatively, unknown. George Monbiot's recent article discusses the U.S. mega-rich who have been pouring money into 'Alt-right'¹ think tanks and lobby groups since the 1980s.
There are a number of web-sites which seek to report on who funds what, like the excellent Transparify,² which rates the extent to which think tanks publicly disclose where their funding comes from and publishes freely available reports on findings.
In the UK think tanks are, in fact, becoming more transparent, but, in 2016 three still score a zero on the transparency index ( no relevant or up-to-date information ). These are the Centre for Policy Studies, the Institute of Economic Affairs and Policy Exchange. The Adam Smith Institute gets a one star ( some donors listed, but not exhaustive or systematic ). Take a look at the June 2016 Report if you're interested to see how the UK stack up against the rest of the world.
These bodies crop up regularly in the media, as experts. Some cursory internet research yielded the following information, showing that 'he who pays the piper calls the tune'.
The Institute of Economic Affairs or iea, was founded in 1955 to promote free market economics by businessman Alan Fisher. It has a neo-liberal corporate-supporting agenda and is known to have received substantial funds from Big Tobacco while attacking the World Health Authority's anti-smoking stance. It is one of the industry's 'preferred' think tanks³.
The Centre for Policy Studies was founded by Margaret Thatcher and Keith Joseph, as a free-market right-wing think tank. Bath University's Tobacco Tactics web-site lists links with Big Tobacco, including funding, while CPS luminaries have been lobbying government and arguing in the press for less regulation of cigarettes. N.B. The web-site is an interesting read in itself.
Policy Exchange was set up in 2002 by a group including Michael Gove ( he who advises that the British have 'had enough of experts' ) and Francis Maude. Until recently Charles Moore, Editor of the Telegraph was its Chair. The BBC, the Guardian, The Independent and The Times newspapers have questioned the methodology and honesty of PE's reporting. Its events last week include, 'Parliament and the Prerogative; From the Case of Proclamations to Miller' by Professor Timothy Endicott, as part of its Judicial Power Project. Needless to say, this project argues that the judiciary and Parliament do not have the right to interfere in executive power. The Supreme Court hearing of the government's appeal against the Miller verdict ( that the executive does not have the right to conduct EU exit negotiations without recourse to Parliament ) began last week.
Grey eminences indeed. But paid for, and we don't know who is paying them.
¹News at the weekend that at least one news agency, Associated Press, is re-thinking its use of this term.
²Transparify itself is a U.S. based, not for profit organisation funded by Open Society Foundations, which was set up by George Soros.
³As described in documents from Philip Morris and BAT.
This entry was posted in Political comment, Publications and tagged Political comment by juliej. Bookmark the permalink.


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Ordet maxim har flere betydninger eller specialiseringer:
 Maxim (magasin) – et magasin for mænd.
  Max (navn) – en forkortelse af drengenavnet Maximillian.
 Maxim's – en berømt restaurant i Paris.
 Maxim (maskingevær) - et af de tidligste maskingeværer, det første fuldautomatiske maskingevær.
 Maksim Gorkij, kaldenavn for det sovjetiske propagandafly Tupolev ANT-20, verdens største flyvemaskine ved sin introduktion, opkaldt efter forfatteren Maksim Gorkij.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
/Content
SHARE The Great Shortcut To Wörthersee
The Great Shortcut To Wörthersee
3rd May 2018 13 Comments
Next Chapter >
It is one of the great automotive happenings.
A quiet lakeside village with the most stunning backdrop imaginable hosts the show that isn't really a show. Well, there is a show but I don't know anyone who has ever actually attended it.
For so many within the VW scene, Wörthersee is an absolute mecca. The tradition of road-tripping from all across Europe (sometimes from even further afield) is shared with tens of thousands of enthusiasts and is undoubtedly the highlight of the year for so many.
For 2018, I had the full intention of driving Project GTI (still a thing) from Ireland to Austria – a return journey of over 4,000km (2,485mi) and some 46 hours, provided you don't stop. Time is in surprisingly short supply this year, so a plan needed to be hatched that not only got me to Austria, but got me there while still retaining that feeling of adventure. It's not Wörthersee if you just land at the local airport and pick up a hire car. That's essentially cheating.
After some back and forth emails with a newfound friend of Speedhunters, Dr. Rouven Mohr (you'll be reading more about him shortly), a plan was put in place that impressed even this bumbling idiot. I would fly from Dublin to Münich in southern Germany, or about 80% of total distance. Münich happens to be quite near another German city which you might be familiar with: Ingolstadt.
Again, it would have been all too easy to swing a contemporary press car, but that's not very Wörthersee either. Speedhunters' community manager, and maybe my favourite human at this moment in time, Mark Riccioni, piped up with the idea that maybe we should ask for something more vintage for the trip. Anyone, within reason, could rock up in an RS6, but who's going to arrive in an '80s Audi quattro?
The idea was put forth, and in a turn of events that surprised even me, Audi agreed.
Not only that, but Audi Tradition would meet me at Münich Airport and convoy down to Austria in a brand new RS3, just so I didn't feel lonely. Which was nice. After a quick greeting at the arrivals hall, I ventured outside to find the cars parked right in front of the doors. With the obligatory paperwork completed, we immediately started our journey south.
Just before we set off, I was asked not to over-rev the car and to keep things relatively sensible. It's a completely original '88 Ur-quattro with just 86,780km (around 54,000mi) on the clock and it is immaculate. However, 'sensible' obviously has a different meaning in Germany as I tried to keep up with their RS3, which was my only source of navigation. At this point, I don't think I'd even used the brakes yet, so as you can imagine, my anxiety levels were quite high.
For a 30-year-old car, however, it is a pleasure to drive. With zero interest in listening to random Europop or German-speaking radio stations, I spent the entire journey in relative silence with just the gentle hum of the inline-five for company. The non-power-assisted steering is a joy, and the brake pedal feel is second to none. There were no rattles, squeaks or any other imperfections which one would reasonably expect of a car of this vintage.
The interior is pure '80s brilliance, complete with a digital dashboard and a comprehensive OBC. The voltmeter and oil temperature gauge are simple, elegant LED-based inclusions. And they all work.
The journey itself was without incident, thankfully. We made up as much ground as possible through Germany before adhering to the strictly-enforced Austrian speed limits. Austria remains the only country in the world that has successfully caught and fined me for speeding, so I was keen not to have history repeat itself.
There was a sense of urgency to our trip, as the Ur-quattro was required at what I was told was a 4:00pm photoshoot for Audi themselves. I had visions of the car sat peacefully by the lake for a typical PR shoot that would ultimately be forgettable. Still, Audi had done me the kindness of loaning me one of its heritage cars, so the very least I could do was ensure it arrived on time.
Which we did, with just minutes to spare. But instead of pointing the car towards the lakeside, though, we were directed into an underground carpark in Velden itself. "Go all the way to the bottom and knock on the red door – they're expecting you," a mysterious lady instructed us on the street, in a strangely cryptic manner.
As it happened, this wasn't an ordinary occasion. If anything, it might have been one of the most random and impressive impromptu meetings that I've ever come across.
In saying that, I'll have to catch you up tomorrow. Don't worry, our Wörthersee adventure is only just beginning…
Instagram: pmcgphotos
Twitter: pmcgphotos
paddy@speedhunters.com
Wörthersee on Speedhunters
CAR SPOTLIGHT
The Evolution Of An Audi Quattro Time Attack Monster
September 12, 2022 / 25 Comments
CAR FEATURE
Achieving VIP Status, By All Means Necessary
Rushing & Restless: Wörthersee The Speedhunters Way
by Oldest
by Best by Newest by Oldest
3:07 amMay 3, 2018 Jay Soh Tsu Chung
Man, the ur-Quattro itself looks so awesome!
+3 Share
3:10 amMay 3, 2018 Fabi
How long are you going to stay at the Lake? Maybe I can meet one of the guys that write these nice speedhunter features! Me and my friends are heading from Ingolstadt to the Wörthersee on saturday. I am from Ingolstadt but had never the opportunity to take a ride in a Ur-Quattro, so, have fun!
10:41 amMay 3, 2018
I'm leaving on Saturday, but maybe next year?
11:00 amMay 3, 2018 Fabi
Oh no, that's unfortunate.. Then maybe we meet next year! I'll be there!
7:47 amMay 3, 2018 allan ngo
ohhhhwww come on now.... more more moree...... ^ ^
It's on the way
12:34 amMay 4, 2018 allan ngo
thanks man, its my daily dose of cars plus a tumbler really cold coffee.
10:26 amMay 3, 2018 Ben Chandler
Paddy, this is the stuff of dreams. The Ur Quattro. It's difficult not to dislike you.
The only question is how do we do it better next year? I have ideas...
12:24 amMay 4, 2018 Max
Partner up with JP-Performance, they got great ties to Audi, having gotten to drive a couple of concept cars.
Maybe they can hook you up with a REALLY special car (either from Audi or from their own fleet)
10:59 amMay 3, 2018 DahRidlah .
Man , one could be so jealous but .... just happy to see the next content
And Dr Mohr : This Man is a true petrolhead and crazy ,what he makes happen for the car enthusiast is incredible
A small some up of a lot bigger story he made possible:
https://youtu.be/BJyH3lPQR3U?t=1m1s (just
2:09 pmMay 3, 2018 Omer Carrothers
Of course everything worked in an antique German car; unlike we Yanks, the Germans tend to pay attention to service intervals, warning lights, and every squeak and rattle.
10:36 amMay 4, 2018 Godfrey Mashongwa
OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS


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Rudy's Bizarre Adventure (Recollection Remix)
#DimensionTrump | #WhatTheyVotedFor
The intersection of #DimensionTrump and coming right out and saying it is itself a futile endeavor; something can easily go here about parallel lines, overlap, and single tracks. Meanwhile, there is a no longer confidential memo from John Dowd to Robert Mueller, in January, and it is worth reconsidering the last several months of presidential simmer and tantrum in light of what we learn. Steve Benen tries, today, explaining one particular aspect:
This was the first time Trump World acknowledged the president's direct role in dictating the wording of his son's statement to the New York Times. In fact, the president's legal team and White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders specifically told the public, on multiple occasions, that Trump had nothing to do with crafting that statement. Those denials, we now know, were plainly false.
Over the course of the last year, Trump and his team have already changed their story about the purpose of the meeting—more than once—and these new revelations take the evolving narrative in an even messier direction.
Asked about the contradictions, Rudy Giuliani told ABC News yesterday, "This is the reason you don't let the president testify. Our recollection keeps changing."
And there you have it. Something, something, mumble, murmur only goes downhill from there. Or not. Giuliani could stand at the bottom of a giant sinkhole and tout the merits of natural engineering, and for some reason people would try to take him seriously.
Posted in #DimensionTrump, #TrumpSwindle, #WhatTheyVotedFor, alt-Right, Beltway, Congress, Conservative, Crime, Ethics, Government, History, Justice, Law, Liberal, Mental Health, Politics, Psychology, Punditry, Republicans, Strange, US House of Representatives, US Senate, White House and tagged #DimensionTrump, #TrumpSwindle, #WhatTheyVotedFor, ABC News, absurdity, adventures, Advertising, alarming proposition, alternative facts, American people, ashamed, assertion, bizarre, boasts, Chas Danner, clusterdiddling, CNN, come right out and say it, confessions, confidential memo, Daily Intelligencer (blog), delusional, Donald Trump, former U.S. Attorney, fundamental acknowledgment, guilt, harangue, hilarious, hilarity, impeach, impeachment, indictment, John Dowd, jury, laughable, lie, lying, monumental, MSNBC, Mueller probe, New York Magazine, parallel lines, personal attorney, political argument, politicians, President of the United States, public opinion, Robert Mueller, Rudy Giuliani, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, sincerely held beliefs, single tracks, sitting president, spectacle, spygate, State of the Union (TV), Steve Benen, stubborn, The New York Times, This Week (TV), unvarnished truth, voter enthusiasm, witnessed, working politics on 2018.06.04 by bd. Leave a comment
The Pruitt Watch (#swamped)
#DrainTheSwamp | #WhatTheyVotedFor
The list from Steve Benen might, 'twixt now and Monday, have become obsolete; it's hard to tell, some days.
1. The EPA's inspector general is investigating Pruitt's controversial travel habits.
2. The House Oversight Committee is also exploring the EPA chief's use of public funds for first-class travel.
3. The EPA's inspector general is investigating Pruitt's behind-the-scenes talks with the National Mining Association.
4. Pruitt's exorbitant spending on an around-the-clock security detail is the subject of three inspector general investigations.
5. The House Oversight Committee is also examining the EPA chief's security expenditures.
6. The Government Accountability Office has already investigated Pruitt for exceeding federal spending limits when he bought a $43,000 phone booth for his office.
7. The White House Office of Management and Budget is also investigating the phone booth.
8. The EPA's inspector general is investigating Pruitt's use of funds set aside for the Safe Drinking Water Act and diverting the money to give generous raises to two of his top aides.
9. The EPA's inspector general is investigating Pruitt's four-day trip to Morocco late last year.
10. The Government Accountability Office is investigating Pruitt's ouster of scientists from the EPA's science advisory committee.
11. The Government Accountability Office is investigating whether Pruitt broke lobbying laws with comments he made to the National Cattleman's Beef Association.
12. The House Oversight Committee is investigating Pruitt's living arrangement at a lobbyist's condo.
13. And as noted above, the EPA's inspector general is now also taking a closer look at Pruitt's time at that condo.
Before the day was out, the msnbc blogger found himself adding to the list, sort of, noting a "controversy that should become the 14th" in a Reuters report describing a financial hardship waiver Pruitt's EPA granted to an Oklahoma facility for a company owned by former Trump administration hand Carl Icahn:
The waiver enables Icahn's CVR Energy Inc (CVI.N) to avoid tens of millions of dollars in costs related to the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program. The regulation is meant to cut air pollution, reduce petroleum imports and support corn farmers by requiring refiners to mix billions of gallons of biofuels into the nation's gasoline and diesel each year.
And it does, you know, just keep going downhill.
Posted in #DrainTheSwamp, #TrumpSwindle, #WhatTheyVotedFor, alt-Right, Beltway, Business, Congress, Conservative, Corporate/Business Culture, Democrats, Environment, Ethics, Government, History, Justice, Law, People, Politics, Republicans, Strange, Television, US House of Representatives, US Senate, White House and tagged #BABF08, #DrainTheSwamp, #TrumpSwindle, #WhatTheyVotedFor, accused, aides, Albert Kelly, banking violation, Carl Icahn, chief of security, Chris Prentice, committee posts, condo, conservatism, conservatives, Coral Davenport, corruption, Dallas, endures, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), EPA Administrator, EPA Inspector General, exorbitant, expenditures, finance industry, first-class travel, foreign governments, former banker, fundamental, Government Accountability Office (GAO), hazardous waste sites, House Oversight Committee, inappropriate, inherent, investigated, investigations, Jarrett Renshaw, Jason Andrew/Getty Images, lifetime ban, lobbying client, lobbyist, lucrative favor, lying, Morrocco, MSNBC, National Cattleman's Beef Association, Oklahoma, ouster, Pasquale Perrotta, phone booth, problematic, Reuters, science advisory committee, scientists, Scott Pruitt, security detail, soundproof, Steve Benen, Superfund, testimony, Texas, The Mansion Family (episode), The New York Times, The Simpsons (TV), Three Stooges Syndrome, travel habits, Trump administration, Trump supporter, Tulsa, under oath on 2018.05.02 by bd. 1 Comment
One of Those Moments Spent Wondering What the Hell Is Wrong With President Trump
This is the sort of question that might well remain beyond any definitive answer:
President Donald Trump twice gave James Comey an alibi for why a salacious report about the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow couldn't be true: He never even spent the night in Russia during that trip, Trump told the former FBI director, according to Comey's memos about the conversations.
Yet the broad timeline of Trump's stay, stretching from Friday, Nov. 8, 2013, through the following Sunday morning, has been widely reported. And it's substantiated by social media posts that show he slept in Moscow the night before the Miss Universe contest.
Now, flight records obtained by Bloomberg provide fresh details. Combined with existing accounts and Trump's own social-media posts, they capture two days that, nearly five years later, loom large in the controversy engulfing the White House and at the heart of the Comey memos, which the Justice Department turned over last week to Congress.
(Silver)
In all of history, given every stupid gaffe and inadequate excuse we might ever hear from politicians, what part of this was worth lying about, and by what measure would anyone expect to get away with it? The social media aspect is itself ridiculously damning. That is to say, it is perhaps possible to imagine a circumstance whereby someone like Donald Trump might not even bother to think about whether or not flight records can be ultimately hidden, but, you know, posing for promotional pictures and then saying one was not actually there is one of the tougher sells. True, Trump voters will generally be okay with it because whatever Trump says is #WhatTheyVotedFor, but for the rest of society, regardless of any other mystery about the #TrumpRussia debacle, this one just shines.
Image note: Donald Trump attends the Miss Universe 2013 competition at Crocus City Hall in Moscow, Russia, 9 November 2013. (Photo: Alexander Aleshkin/Epsilon/Getty Images)
Silver, Vernon. "Flight Records Illuminate Mystery of Trump's Moscow Nights". Bloomberg. 23 April 2018.
Posted in #TrumpSwindle, #WhatTheyVotedFor, alt-Right, Beltway, Business, Conservative, Corporate/Business Culture, Crime, Ethics, Geopolitics, History, International, People, Politics, Psychology, Republicans, Social Media, Strange, Stupid, Travel, White House and tagged #TrumpRussia, #TrumpSwindle, #WhatTheyVotedFor, Alexander Aleskin/Epsilon/Getty Images, alibi, Bloomberg, Comey memos, Crocus City Hall, debacle, Donald Trump, excuse, flight records, former FBI director, gaffe, inadequate, James Comey, lying, Miss Universe 2013, Moscow, mystery, rest of society, Russia, salacious, slept, social media posts, spent the night, substantiated, Trump voters, Trump White House, Vernon Silver on 2018.04.23 by bd. Leave a comment
Not Exactly Subtle
#PutiPoodle | #WhatTheyVotedFor
This is all ritual, right?
When asked—three times—at a White House press briefing about Russia's link to the poisoning or any possible repercussions for the country from the U.S., Sanders carefully did not say "Russia"—or otherwise address who may have been responsible for the attack. She characterized it as an "indiscriminate" attack, although British authorities have concluded that Skripal was clearly targeted.
"We've been monitoring the incident closely, take it very seriously," Sanders said. "The use of a highly lethal nerve agent against U.K. citizens on U.K. soil is an outrage. The attack was reckless, indiscriminate and irresponsible. We offer the fullest condemnation."
"So you're not saying that Russia was behind this?" a reporter asked.
"Right now, we are standing with our U.K. ally," Sanders said again. "I think they're still working through even some of the details of that."
Pressed a third time, an annoyed Sanders answered, "Like I just said, we stand with our ally and we certainly fully support them and are ready if we can be of any assistance."
(Papenfuss)
That is, just to be clear: We put up with the lying farce that is the Trump administration every day according to some pretense that we all recognize what is happening and it ought to be over, eventually, when Mueller and the American Way of Truth and Justice finally come through.
Posted in #DimensionTrump, #TrumpSwindle, #WhatTheyVotedFor, alt-Right, Beltway, Christian supremacism, Christianity, Conservative, Crime, Ethics, Family, foreign policy, Geopolitics, Government, History, International, Justice, Law, People, Politics, Religion, Republicans, Strange, White House and tagged #PutiPoodle, #TrumpSwindle, #WhatTheyVotedFor, American Way, assassination, attack, awful, closely, condemnation, Donald Trump, Evan Vucci/AP Photo, family values, family values platform, farce, futility, highly lethal, incident, incompetent, indiscriminate, justice, Kellyanne Conway, lying, Mark Peterson/Redux, monitoring, Mueller investigation, nerve agent, poisoning, refuses, repercussions, Robert Mueller, Russia, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, seriously, Special Counsel's Office (SCO), surrender, swindle, Trump administration, truth, unimaginable, United Kingdom (UK), White House press secretary on 2018.03.13 by bd. 1 Comment
A Memo to Conservative Voters
#earmarks | #WhatTheyVotedFor
To: Conservative Voters
re: Come up for air
Once upon a time, earmarks were a big deal. Or, rather, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe nobody ever had anything to say about the issue, ever.
The Republican-led House is being somewhat overshadowed by the nomination fights engulfing its Senate counterpart. But on the GOP side of the aisle, one of the issues that will start heating up in the coming weeks is the debate about bringing back earmarks.
The House Rules Committee will hold a series of hearings before making a decision about whether and how to soften the current earmark ban.
Rules Chairman Pete Sessions said members are frustrated by the House's lack of control over spending priorities because of the earmark ban, noting that it's approximately $18 billion of appropriated funds that the administration gets to decide how to spend instead of Congress.
(McPherson)
See, after a while, the Republicans you elect prove the point: Whatever vaunted principle you're invoking about this, that, or the other, and evil Democrats and blah blah blah? You do realize the only reason anyone should believe you is pretentious ritual and societal code?
No, really: After all this cry-wolf, the words coming out of your mouths simply are not believable. And the thing is―and this is key to understanding and addressing the #trumpswindle―the basis of that pretense is an asserted standard that it should somehow be impolite to simply presume that, because you are advocating conservative politics, you are necessarily aiming to swindle people. To the other, at some point your neighbors need some believable suggestion that all your fretting and wringing and bawling about principle isn't just an eminence front.Do you think, just maybe you could ask your elected Republicans to not prove the lie?
Posted in #TrumpSwindle, #WhatTheyVotedFor, alt-Right, Beltway, Bigotry, Christian supremacism, Christianity, Civil Rights, Congress, Conservative, Culture, Democrats, Feminism, Government, History, Homophobia, LGBTQ, Liberal, Misogyny, People, Politics, Psychology, Purity/Family Values (culture), racism, Rape Culture, Religion, Republicans, US House of Representatives, White House and tagged #TrumpSwindle, #WhatTheyVotedFor, bathroom bills, bawling, chairman, Chicken Little, Congressional leadership, congressional Republicans, conservative, conservative voters, corruption, cry wolf, dishonest, Donald Trump, earmark ban, earmarks, email scandal, eminence front, fake principles, fretting, Hillary Rodham Clinton (HRC), House GOP, House leadership, House Republicans, House Rules Committee, impolite, Lindsey McPherson, lying, memo, memorandum, neighbors, not believable, Pete Sessions, presume, pretentious, principles, prove the lie, prove the point, Republican Congress, Republican voters, revive, ritual, Roll Call, sky is falling, societal code, special interests, swindle, transgender rights, Trump administration, Trump voters, trustworthy, TX32CD, white supremacism, wringing on 2017.02.03 by bd. Leave a comment
#DimensionSteve
A day in the life―a.k.a., #DimensionTrump―quotably courtesy Steve Benen of msnbc:
• #AlternativeFacts: "If only that made sense, it might be easier to take the White House press secretary seriously."
• #Priorities: "It's worth pausing to appreciate the fact that Trump can apparently be baited into doing almost anything."
• #Spicy: "I have no idea if Spicer was lying or simply ignorant, but either, his defense is completely at odds with the facts."
• #Ironicish: "Given the circumstances, it seems the obvious Democratic response is simple: They should promise to be every bit as constructive and cooperative as McConnell was when there was a member of the opposing party in the White House."
• #Prerogative: "As a rule, people who are eager to dismiss specific, quantifiable economic measurements tend to believe the 'stats' will be unflattering for them."
• #AlternativeFactsRedux: "Smith's bizarre speech from the floor of the House serves as a reminder: for much of the country, the fact that Trump has been caught telling ridiculous lies isn't a fact at all."
• #AlternativeFactsReduxSequel: "Maybe everything will be fine."
• #AnotherBrickInTheWall: "Or put another way, the president now plans to have a plan to someday have a wall that Mexico will someday pay for."
• #WhatTheyVotedFor: "I remember when Trump ran against Goldman Sachs".
It is possible to let the game show host take up too much of one's time, except it's President Trump, these days, so … yeah, y'know … make the adjustment, get used to it, whatever. Or perhaps it's worth taking a moment to recall, if we can, the number of unbelievable escalations we witnessed during the Obama presidency. That is to say, if Republicans were willing to take it that far over the last eight years, maybe we should consider ourselves lucky if these are the days for the next four.
Image note: Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images.
Posted in #DrainTheSwamp, #TrumpSwindle, #WhatTheyVotedFor, alt-Right, Beltway, Congress, Conservative, Corporate/Business Culture, Culture, Democrats, Economics, Ethics, Family, Feminism, Geopolitics, Government, Health, History, International, Internet, Journalism, Law, Media (culture), Parenthood, People, Politics, Psychology, Purity/Family Values (culture), Republicans, Strange, Texas (culture), US House of Representatives, US Senate, White House and tagged #alternativefacts, #DimenisonTrump, #DrainTheSwamp, #WhatTheyVotedFor, America's Rape State, bait, baselines, bizarre speech, border wall, bricks in the wall, Donald Trump, Goldman Sachs, House Republicans, ironicish, irony, Lamar Smith, lying, Mexico, Mitch McConnell, MSNBC, obstructionism, prerogative, press secretary, priorities, quantifiable, redux, reproductive rights, Sean Spicer, Senate Democrats, Senate GOP, Senate Republicans, sequel, spicy, state media, state-owned media, state-run media, Steve Benen, Team Trump, Trump administration, TX21CD, unflattering, unvarnished truth, Voice of America, Win McNamee/Getty Images, women's marches on 2017.01.25 by bd. Leave a comment
The Donald Trump Show (Pants on Fire)
At this point, it's so damn ridiculous we could go on like this all day today and tomorrow and not feel any better even after Hillary Clinton wins, because, really, the Donald Trump presidential nomination is one of those American wild somethings in the whatnow that we really ought not try again, and I won't say anything about swamp eels.
Damn it. Okay, anyway, it is easy enough to get distracted by the tale of the twitless wonder, but we might also take a moment to raise a glass to the one and only Steve Benen, who took a moment amid his own astonishment at talk of Donald Trump's vengeful ways to appreciate a great symbol of the Republican nominee's gaslit campaign, coming as it did while the team rallied to capitalize on James Comey's clodhopping bombshell. Or, as the New York Timesα put it:
But they insisted that to truly exploit it, Mr. Trump needed to do something he had been incapable of in the past: strictly follow instructions, let a story unfold on its own and resist the urge to endlessly bludgeon his rival.
They headed to a fleet of cars that whisked them to the Radisson Hotel in downtown Manchester, where a crowd of thousands was waiting for the candidate to take the stage.
But his aides needed time to sketch out what Mr. Trump should say―and not say. They sent Michael T. Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general, onstage with a mission: stall.
As the aides agonized over which words to feed into the teleprompter, they become so engrossed that a hot light set up next to the machine caused Mr. Bannon's Kuhl hiking pants to begin smoldering.
"I think my pant leg is on fire," he said after noticing the acrid smell.
Yes, apparently, really.
Wouldn't it be nice to say this is one of the silver linings we get from having suffered the Donald Trump Show? After all, what better emblem of the emblematic? This is, unfortunately, the sort of experience for which there really is no excuse. And it is easy enough to say we all have played our part in American society and its reinforcement of some terrible aspects about our human frailty, but let's face it, this time it's pretty much all on conservatives themselves. They're already trying to blame Democrats for Donald Trump, and the election technically hasn't happened, yet.β
α And hoist again for the four reporters required to bring us this heady glimpse inside Donald Trump's existential uncertainty: Maggie Haberman, Ashley Parker, Jeremy W. Peters, and Michael Barbaro.
β Is there a rule about putting a footnote on the last sentence? In the moment, it seems like there ought to be. Nonetheless, it seems necessary to remind that the 2020 Republican presidential nomination contest is already at least informally underway; it has been since, well, before the Republican convention was over, and we even got the fun little joke last month about Kellyanne Conway pitching her credentials toward the next cycle. And, you know, it is possible Ted Cruz has already lost. Republicans are amazing, sometimes.
Image notes: Top ― Donald Trump announces his candidacy. (Photo: Justin Lane/EPA) Right ― Trump/Pence 2016 campaign CEO Stephen K. Bannon. (Photo: Carlo Allegri/Reuters
Benen, Steve. "Driven by vengeance, Trump is eager to 'punish his enemies'". msnbc. 7 November 2016.
Haberman, Maggie, et al. "Inside Donald Trump's Last Stand: An Anxious Nominee Seeks Assurance". The New York Times. 6 November 2016.
Rozsa, Matthew. "The big loser in Donald Trump's war against the GOP is Ted Cruz somehow". Salon. 11 October 2016.
Posted in alt-Right, Beltway, Bigotry, Business, Capitalism, Conservative, Conspiracy Theory, Corporate/Business Culture, Culture, Democrats, Election, Ethics, History, Journalism, Justice, Law, Liberal, Masculinity, People, Politics, Psychology, Republicans, Sexual Behavior, Social Media, Strange, White House and tagged 2016 GOP presidential nominee, 2016 Republican presidential nominee, 2016 U.S. general election, 2020 GOP presidential nomination, 2020 Republican presidential nomination, acrid smell, Ashley Parker, blame Democrats, bludgeon, bombshell, capitalize, Carlo Allegri/Reuters, clodhopping, Comey letter, Donald Trump, Donald Trump 2016, Donald Trump Show, Donald Trump teleprompter, emblem, emblematic, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), follow instructions, Gaslighter in Chief, gaslighting, GOP 2016, hat tip, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton 2016, Hillary Rodham Clinton (HRC), hoist, human frailty, James Comey, Jeremy W. Peters, Justin Lane/European Pressphoto Agency, Kuhl hiking pants, liar, lies, lying, Maggie Haberman, Manchester, Matthew Rozsa, Michael Barbaro, Michael T. Flynn, MSNBC, New Hampshire, pants on fire, punish enemies, Radisson Hotel, raise a glass, resist the urge, revenge, Salon, silver lining, somethings, stall, Steve Bannon, Steve Bannon pants on fire, Steve Benen, swamp eel, symbol, Ted Cruz, Ted Cruz 2020, Ted Cruz loser, teleprompter, The New York Times, toast, Trump/Pence 2016, vendetta, vengeance, vengeful ways, whozat, wild hair, wouldn't it be nice on 2016.11.07 by bd. Leave a comment
What Law Enforcement Calls Justice
This is what it gets us:
Currently, the Defender Association of Philadelphia is seeking to have more than 500 convictions involving Officer Christopher Hulmes reopened and tossed out. In 2011, Hulmes admitted to lying in open court in a drug-and-gun case against two black men who claim they were framed. He did so in front of a judge and prosecutor. But he was not charged with perjury until this April ....
Reporter Daniel Denvir brings to Salon reporting he has been working on all year, including an April article for the Philadelphia City Paper explaining:
Last Thursday, District Attorney Seth Williams announced that Philadelphia Police Officer Christopher Hulmes, a narcotics cop who admitted in open court to lying under oath, had been charged with perjury and other offenses.
It only took more than three years.
During that lapse, Hulmes continued to patrol the city's bustling drug markets and to testify in criminal trials that likely sent many defendants to prison. Some of those convictions could end up being overturned and costing the city in civil settlements.
That Hulmes admitted in 2011 to lying multiple times in a drug-and-gun case is without question. But precisely what he intended to cover up, and why it took an August 2014 City Paper investigation to prompt prosecutors to file charges, is much more complicated.
It always is.
More complicated, that is.
Posted in Civil Rights, Crime, Culture, Ethics, Government, Human Rights, Journalism, Justice, Law, People, Police/Law Enforcement (culture), Politics and tagged admitted, Christopher Hulms, City Paper (Philadelphia), confessed, corrupt cop, corrupt prosecutor, Daniel Denvir, Equal Protection, excuses, investigation, law enforcement dangerous, lying, perjury, Philadelphia, police corruption, police dangerous, price of trust, prosecutorial corruption, prosecutorial cover, Salon, special rights, untrustworthy on 2015.12.28 by bd. Leave a comment
The Marco Rubio Show (Elephant Gore Pioneer)
This is the Marco Rubio Show:
Speaking before dozens of influential Jewish Republicans here last week, Marco Rubio lashed out at President Obama's foreign policy and vowed, "When I am Commander-in-Chief, I will fortify our alliance with Israel."
Applause filled the room and Rubio sought a deeper connection. "As speaker of the Florida House," he said, "I pioneered what became a national effort by requiring the Florida pension program to divest from companies linked to Iran's terrorist regime."
It was groundbreaking, but Rubio had nothing to do with creation of the legislation.
(Leary)
We have before noted that the junior U.S. Senator from Florida has shown himself something of a dim bulb in the foreign policy pack; everything from his campaign slogan to his understanding of history to his comprehension of nation-building is borrowed failure―he is a walking rehash of bad ideas and, apparently, empty bluster and braggadocio.
Here is a fun irony: With Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) palling around with terrorists, did Marco Rubio just have an "Al Gore moment"? Hindsight suggests they might actually be trying to do this; the only rational argument otherwise is the reasonable―even otherwise convincing―proposition that such endeavors require way too much effort for the payoff. But, really, can Republicans be any more ironic right now?
You know, don't answer. Something about the elephant in the room goes here.
Posted in Beltway, Bigotry, Christian supremacism, Christianity, Congress, Conservative, Culture, Democrats, Geopolitics, History, International, Islam, Liberal, Neoconservative, People, Politics, Religion, Republicans, Strange, Stupid, Tea Party, US Senate, War, White House and tagged #GOP47, 2016 GOP presidential nomination, 2016 Republican presidential nomination, adult in the room, Al Gore moment, anti-Muslim, bad ideas, basic reality, bluster, borrowed failure, braggadocio, catch phrase, comprehension, consistent failures, dishonest, elephant in the room, embellish, establishment favorite, establishment Republicans, expectation, foreign policy, GOP 2016, GOP establishment, Iran, irony, Islamophobia, Islamophobic, Liam Neeson, liar, litany, lying, Marco Rubio, Marco Rubio 2016, Marco Rubio Show, Mark Lennihan/Associated Press, metrics (political), misleading, nation building, Neeson Doctrine, New American Century, Obamacare, P5+1, palling around with terrorists, political candidate, PPACA, quality, Republican establishment, Republican extremism, Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), Rubio fib, Rubio flub, Rubio gaffe, Rubio untrue, strange vantage, surveillance, Ted Cruz, Ted Cruz 2016, Ted Cruz endorsed by terrorist, understanding, walking rehash, xenophobia on 2015.12.14 by bd. 1 Comment
The Ben Carson Show (False Witness)
The joke would be to say that Dr. Ben Carson is the gift that keeps on giving, but what if it's, you know, giving people cancer?
The lede, from Kyle Cheney of Politico:
Ben Carson's campaign on Friday admitted, in a response to an inquiry from POLITICO, that a central point in his inspirational personal story was fabricated: his application and acceptance into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
So it would seem the good doctor, who has spent the years between his fame as a neurosurgeon and his infamy as a presidential candidate hawking books to Seventh-Day Adventist and other churches, lied.
Dr. Carson, calling himself a Christian, went before Christian congregations and bore false witness.
For profit.
At this point, it's true, we're not surprised.
Posted in Books, Christian supremacism, Christianity, Conservative, Culture, Education, Ethics, Family, History, People, Politics, Religion, Republicans, Stupid, Tea Party, White House and tagged 2016 GOP presidential nomination, 2016 Republican presidential nomination, bearing false witness, Ben Carson 2016, Ben Carson Christian, Ben Carson disgrace, Ben Carson dishonest, Ben Carson false witness, Ben Carson fraud, Ben Carson liar, Ben Carson Show, Ben Carson swindler, Brennan Linsley/AP Photo, fabrication, fake autobiography, false witness, fiscal irresponsibility, flat tax, Gifted Hands (book), GOP 2016, hypocrisy, Kyle Cheney, lying, MSNBC, National Prayer Breakfast, politicize, Politico, Seventh-Day Adventist, Steve Benen, U.S. Military Academy, Westpoint, what God wants on 2015.11.06 by bd. 2 Comments


Stop trying to hack NoDo. Start hacking Mango.
As I briefly posted on my blog Monday, Mango will no longer support the deployment of XAPs containing the ID_CAP_INTEROPSERVICES flag. This means you won't be able to deploy your web servers, root tools, and other assorted unsupported hackery.
With our sanctioned, dirt cheap unlock service around the corner, trying to jailbreak NoDo (without upgrade hacks) is a waste of time. I believe the ROI on time spent on hacking this interop limitation is much greater.
This limitation is implemented in PacmanInstaller.exe (on the phone); it scans the manifest for the flag and bails with HRESULT 0x81030120.
I'm interested to see what ideas you guys have!
How does Microsoft even explain this? What's the point in allowing your unlock officially and then blocking the very functionality we unlock devices for?
Maybe this is a temporary problem?
As far as Microsoft is concerned the new Unlock variant is for people who want to develop for their devices but without intention to publish the results to the Marketplace, e.g. people who want to play around with things.
If you're a Nokia Dev today you get the unlock for free - allowing people to access undocumented APIs is not what Microsoft wants to happen but more to make people experiment with the platform and then perhaps publish their work to Marketplace later on - but that would not be able to happen if those experiments used COM-Interop which is not allowed on the Marketplace.
Well, this way, from an end user perspective, unlocking is useful only for piracy. Getting sideloading without extended capabilities is a weird proposition.
Re hacking Mango, I guess people need to get it on their phones somehow to begin with.
In the other thread I requested that everyone who upgrades makes a wireshark log and post it here, so we can tear it apart. I also left some instductions there.
Plz also let know if apps with native code survive the upgrade and if the chevron unlock with prevent relock survives the update.
mfw i already found out a possible solution how to bypass this.
>Trusted people i can tell, sry.
Thanks for sharing this secret, but up to this moment, Ansar way (flashing stock ROM, then using advanced configuration utility to avoid relocking) is the only effective way.
One could write an application for NoDo, for example a ChevronWP7 Homebrew Enabler, that uses native APIs to modify manifests of homebrew applications found on the phone. Then upgrade to Mango.
There are lots of upgrade scenarios but we have to remember -- new phones will only ship with Mango.
yeah lets tell rafael and his ms homies how the people here try to hack mango, so that he can tell ms to fix it before mango released to everyone.
Really? Rafael informs us of an important issue that we should try resolving, and your response is "OMG he's in bed with Microsoft let's ostracize him"? That saddens me.