Florida Post-Modern, Scandinavian
Detectives, A Fabulist's NYC, and BoucherCon . . .
More Than Wallander: Zack O'Yeah drop in to the Swedish Book Fair in Gothenburg for a look around and discovers that Mystery novels have become almost a cottage industry there.
# An interview with and portrait of Florida writer Padgett Powell who was a student of the late Donald Barthelme by Dan Halpern.
# Paul Constant reviews
Jonathan Lethem's latest novel: Chronic City.
# The Rap Sheet's coverage of
the Bouchercon Mystery Convention.
...
Saturday, October 24
Friday, October 23
Cheshire Book Controversy (3#) -
The book makes it worse?
Some residents of Cheshire, Conn. want to banish
a book from their town's public library which is
about a murder that took place there.
Why would residents want to do that?
One of the rationalizations being used is that they want to protect the feelings of the surviving spouse who still resides there.
It's also possible that some may be trying to protect their real estate values, since the story involves a home invasion.
The library board plans to meet again
Nov. 16th to announce a decision.
:: Greg Landgraf, ALA :: - - - :: LISnews ::
...
Some residents of Cheshire, Conn. want to banish
a book from their town's public library which is
about a murder that took place there.
Why would residents want to do that?
One of the rationalizations being used is that they want to protect the feelings of the surviving spouse who still resides there.
It's also possible that some may be trying to protect their real estate values, since the story involves a home invasion.
The library board plans to meet again
Nov. 16th to announce a decision.
:: Greg Landgraf, ALA :: - - - :: LISnews ::
...
Thursday, October 22
Toxic Comment Clusters (2#) -
Why are they found
at one location, but not at others?
Prof Greenslade devotes his column at the Standard this time to the topic of Freedom of Speech. It's unusual in that most articles on this topic which are published by the MSM are written by lawyers.
"But it is also recognised, except by the most fundamentalist of libertarians, that the exercise of free speech carries with it certain responsibilities."
On a somewhat related note, Melanie Phillips writes
a commentary about the Comment is free problem:
"they were erupting into a
human lava flow of bile and bigotry in outrage"
We've had a similar problem locally with the comment threads at the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel newspaper. Recently, they changed their comment system, but I haven't investigated whether any improvement has occurred since the change.
I mostly ignore and avoid it, but it does render the public commentary worthless because the perps just keep parroting the same trite drivel over and over again.
MEGO factor notwithstanding:
Q - Who came up with the 6 million figure?
A - The murderers themselves. They meticulously documented what they were doing because they were proud of it. The court transcripts are available for public examination on the Internet.
By coincidence, I happened to link to a Holocaust Denial news story yesterday, but I tried to be careful about providing the instigator with publicity. I should add that it was a well-written story. I didn't bother to check the comment thread there.
I think a legitimate question
needs to be raised about this problem:
Why here and not there? Why do these two toxic clusters exist at these two locations, but not elsewhere? Perhaps these two organizations are doing something or not doing something different from the rest. If so, what exactly is it in their practices which differentiates these two from the others?
This is an ongoing struggle: the dynamic interplay between freedom and boundaries or constraints. It's like gardening: it's never finished; it's a continuous process.
As usual, there are both similarities and differences between the UK and the US. Prof Greenslade is dealing with the BNP problem on TV over there. We don't have that particular problem here. Instead, we have the Clear Channel Company problem on the Radio over here.
The toxic comment cluster issue at the two newspapers is a difficult problem for which, alas, I cannot provide a facile solution here.
:: Greenslade ::
Getting balance between free speech and censorship.
:: Melanie Phillips ::
-- Intolerable provocation...
...
at one location, but not at others?
Prof Greenslade devotes his column at the Standard this time to the topic of Freedom of Speech. It's unusual in that most articles on this topic which are published by the MSM are written by lawyers.
"But it is also recognised, except by the most fundamentalist of libertarians, that the exercise of free speech carries with it certain responsibilities."
On a somewhat related note, Melanie Phillips writes
a commentary about the Comment is free problem:
"they were erupting into a
human lava flow of bile and bigotry in outrage"
We've had a similar problem locally with the comment threads at the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel newspaper. Recently, they changed their comment system, but I haven't investigated whether any improvement has occurred since the change.
I mostly ignore and avoid it, but it does render the public commentary worthless because the perps just keep parroting the same trite drivel over and over again.
MEGO factor notwithstanding:
Q - Who came up with the 6 million figure?
A - The murderers themselves. They meticulously documented what they were doing because they were proud of it. The court transcripts are available for public examination on the Internet.
By coincidence, I happened to link to a Holocaust Denial news story yesterday, but I tried to be careful about providing the instigator with publicity. I should add that it was a well-written story. I didn't bother to check the comment thread there.
I think a legitimate question
needs to be raised about this problem:
Why here and not there? Why do these two toxic clusters exist at these two locations, but not elsewhere? Perhaps these two organizations are doing something or not doing something different from the rest. If so, what exactly is it in their practices which differentiates these two from the others?
This is an ongoing struggle: the dynamic interplay between freedom and boundaries or constraints. It's like gardening: it's never finished; it's a continuous process.
As usual, there are both similarities and differences between the UK and the US. Prof Greenslade is dealing with the BNP problem on TV over there. We don't have that particular problem here. Instead, we have the Clear Channel Company problem on the Radio over here.
The toxic comment cluster issue at the two newspapers is a difficult problem for which, alas, I cannot provide a facile solution here.
:: Greenslade ::
Getting balance between free speech and censorship.
:: Melanie Phillips ::
-- Intolerable provocation...
...
Wednesday, October 21
SoFlo: Snow Bubbles Spiked (5#) -
And Other Rambles in the New World . . .
A cocaine kingpin was sentenced today in Miami Federal Court to 45 years in prison. He came from a wealthy family which owned successful coffee farming, cattle raising and bus line businesses in Columbia and helped inflate the cocaine-fueled Real Estate Bubble in South Florida.
Over the course of his criminal career, Diego Montoya Sanchez exported an estimated 1.2 million pounds of cocaine to the U.S.
# There was so much cocaine in the securities office operated by Bernie Madoff that it was referred to as The North Pole, according to Jose Martinez at the NY Daily News.
# A lawsuit has been filed in Broward County Circuit Court against an 80-year-old Pembroke Pines woman, Irene Weisberg Zisblatt, alleging that her autobiographical book of Holocaust memoirs is a fraud designed to spread hatred against non-Jews.
# A transcript of Yoani Sanchez's videotaped dialogue with a Cuban official who will not give her a travel permit has been posted online. The Cuban government refuses to disclose any reason for the ban.
# Uruguay has just introduced the Plan Ceibal program in which the government is providing a laptop for every child attending public primary school.
...
A cocaine kingpin was sentenced today in Miami Federal Court to 45 years in prison. He came from a wealthy family which owned successful coffee farming, cattle raising and bus line businesses in Columbia and helped inflate the cocaine-fueled Real Estate Bubble in South Florida.
Over the course of his criminal career, Diego Montoya Sanchez exported an estimated 1.2 million pounds of cocaine to the U.S.
# There was so much cocaine in the securities office operated by Bernie Madoff that it was referred to as The North Pole, according to Jose Martinez at the NY Daily News.
# A lawsuit has been filed in Broward County Circuit Court against an 80-year-old Pembroke Pines woman, Irene Weisberg Zisblatt, alleging that her autobiographical book of Holocaust memoirs is a fraud designed to spread hatred against non-Jews.
# A transcript of Yoani Sanchez's videotaped dialogue with a Cuban official who will not give her a travel permit has been posted online. The Cuban government refuses to disclose any reason for the ban.
# Uruguay has just introduced the Plan Ceibal program in which the government is providing a laptop for every child attending public primary school.
...
Tuesday, October 20
Mez: Sonnenrad (2#) -
Meredith Kercher Murder Case -
Charles Mudede has posted a commentary on the Slog pointing to the sun wheel tattoo on Amanda Knox's back pictured in the same First Post article by Tim Edwards I referred to in my previous entry earlier today. In the course of Mudede's informal riffing, he notes:
"But what is truly amazing about this tattoo is its absence from the stream of news reports that began to flow into the English-speaking world two years ago..."
That sun wheel tattoo is apt to be a very hot potato in Europe and especially in Germany. I don't think the MainStream Media wants to touch that with a barge pole, because it could be interpreted by some as an esoteric reference to the Wewelsburg Castle.
When Germany outlawed the swastika, some Nazis and neo-Nazis replaced it with a sun wheel, which was understood to be a reference to the Wewelsburg Castle, known as the "Vatican" of the Nazi SS. It is nicknamed The Black Sun for occult reasons.
Of course, the sun wheel tattoo on Knox's
back could be just a random coincidence.
:: Mudede :: - - - - :: Black Sun ::
...
Charles Mudede has posted a commentary on the Slog pointing to the sun wheel tattoo on Amanda Knox's back pictured in the same First Post article by Tim Edwards I referred to in my previous entry earlier today. In the course of Mudede's informal riffing, he notes:
"But what is truly amazing about this tattoo is its absence from the stream of news reports that began to flow into the English-speaking world two years ago..."
That sun wheel tattoo is apt to be a very hot potato in Europe and especially in Germany. I don't think the MainStream Media wants to touch that with a barge pole, because it could be interpreted by some as an esoteric reference to the Wewelsburg Castle.
When Germany outlawed the swastika, some Nazis and neo-Nazis replaced it with a sun wheel, which was understood to be a reference to the Wewelsburg Castle, known as the "Vatican" of the Nazi SS. It is nicknamed The Black Sun for occult reasons.
Of course, the sun wheel tattoo on Knox's
back could be just a random coincidence.
:: Mudede :: - - - - :: Black Sun ::
...
Mez: Flying A Loose Noose -
Meredith Kercher Murder Case -
An American lawyer has been making
frothy assertions about the case in the
British Internet magazine The First Post.
Normally, I understand, it is illegal for the Press in Britain to cover a trial in progress, but because this prosecution is being conducted in Italy, the British Press has been able to slip through the international loophole.
Laws governing the Press differ in the US, UK, and Italy; the Press has occasionally exploited the jurisdictional gray zone in which this case is taking place.
The expression of his beliefs, however wild or fantastical, is probably protected by the First Amendment or other laws governing FoE.
Among other things, John Q Kelly claims the Prosecution has no evidence, which is ultimately up to the Court to decide.
I expect we're going to see more cases taking place in this journalistic gray zone because of the increase in international travel.
:: Lynching Slam :: by Tim Edwards at TFP ::
...
An American lawyer has been making
frothy assertions about the case in the
British Internet magazine The First Post.
Normally, I understand, it is illegal for the Press in Britain to cover a trial in progress, but because this prosecution is being conducted in Italy, the British Press has been able to slip through the international loophole.
Laws governing the Press differ in the US, UK, and Italy; the Press has occasionally exploited the jurisdictional gray zone in which this case is taking place.
The expression of his beliefs, however wild or fantastical, is probably protected by the First Amendment or other laws governing FoE.
Among other things, John Q Kelly claims the Prosecution has no evidence, which is ultimately up to the Court to decide.
I expect we're going to see more cases taking place in this journalistic gray zone because of the increase in international travel.
:: Lynching Slam :: by Tim Edwards at TFP ::
...
Iran: City Scholar Condemned (3#) -
Iranian-American academic Kian Tajbakhsh has been sentenced to "more than 12 years" in prison, according to his lawyer, Houshang Azhari. He holds a doctorate in Urban Planning from Columbia University.
:: Reuters :: - - - :: Bloomberg ::
A controversial pro-democracy program for
Iran has been cut by the Obama Administration.
Some Iranian critics believe that the program focused the authorities' attention on NGOs and Human Rights activists, making them targets of allegations that they were acting as U.S. agents to overthrow the current system of government there.
Most of the activists have been advocating
Reforms, rather than systemic change.
...
:: Reuters :: - - - :: Bloomberg ::
A controversial pro-democracy program for
Iran has been cut by the Obama Administration.
Some Iranian critics believe that the program focused the authorities' attention on NGOs and Human Rights activists, making them targets of allegations that they were acting as U.S. agents to overthrow the current system of government there.
Most of the activists have been advocating
Reforms, rather than systemic change.
...
Monday, October 19
Weekend Snags (5#) -
Some Bloggers these days write from Closed Societies; they are now beginning to get recognition and even honors from the Mainstream Media . . .
Istanbul: Iranian journalist Delbar Tavakoli accepted the 2009 Mohamed Amin Award from Reuters Friday on behalf of Iranian Bloggers for their efforts to cover the disputed presidential election in their country as citizen journalists.
# Putting in the by-now standard virtual author tour appearance, Havana Blogger Yoani Sanchez accepted a Maria Moors Cabot Award from Columbia University for her Blog.
In a weirdly recursive article at The Miami Herald, Mirta Ojito describes the circumstances of the ceremony. The Herald does not publish a column by Sanchez.
:: More :: about the Cuban Bloggers ::
# Holden Frith reviews the movie version of The Men Who Stare at Goats, which recently made its debut at the London Film Festival.
...
Istanbul: Iranian journalist Delbar Tavakoli accepted the 2009 Mohamed Amin Award from Reuters Friday on behalf of Iranian Bloggers for their efforts to cover the disputed presidential election in their country as citizen journalists.
# Putting in the by-now standard virtual author tour appearance, Havana Blogger Yoani Sanchez accepted a Maria Moors Cabot Award from Columbia University for her Blog.
In a weirdly recursive article at The Miami Herald, Mirta Ojito describes the circumstances of the ceremony. The Herald does not publish a column by Sanchez.
:: More :: about the Cuban Bloggers ::
# Holden Frith reviews the movie version of The Men Who Stare at Goats, which recently made its debut at the London Film Festival.
...
Sunday, October 18
Iran & Hoder Updates (4#) -
General Nur-Ali Shushtari, the deputy commander of the Iran Revolutionary Guards, and several senior officers were killed in an attack early Sunday in the south eastern region of the country.
# Newsweek report Maziar Bahari
has been released from prison after posting bail.
# Hoder: "Blogger Housien Derakhshan arrested last year, spent 8 months in solitary under pressure & torture. He was under pressure to give false confession, was threatened with sister & parents arrest. Last month in court Derakhshan told the judge that his confessions were taken under pressure."
# Twas brillig and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble.
...
# Newsweek report Maziar Bahari
has been released from prison after posting bail.
# Hoder: "Blogger Housien Derakhshan arrested last year, spent 8 months in solitary under pressure & torture. He was under pressure to give false confession, was threatened with sister & parents arrest. Last month in court Derakhshan told the judge that his confessions were taken under pressure."
# Twas brillig and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble.
...
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