9 Dragons by Michael Connelly is the latest installment in a series of novels focusing on Detective Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch of the LAPD.  There’s a shooting that may involve a Hong Kong triad, a reluctant partner, a detective from the Asian Gang Unit that Harry’s not sure he can trust.  That’s just a typical day for a fictional detective, until the case strikes close to home: Harry’s teenage daughter, Maddie, goes missing and he receives a video from her kidnappers.  She is clearly in danger and there’s every indication that it is tied to the Triad shooting.  Harry is on the next plane to Hong Kong and he intends to bring his daughter back, no matter what. [Read more →]

Tags: books & writing, Lisa Reads by Lisa Hura
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St. Nicholas has become indelibly associated with Christmas, but his actual feast day is celebrated a few weeks earlier, on Dec 6, a date that is also notable for something extraordinary that happened in the history of philosophy. The year was 1274. A Dominican monk known to history as Thomas Aquinas said Mass that morning, as priests do every morning. What happened next, as recounted in the records of the process that led to Thomas’s canonization, is nicely summarized by Josef Pieper in his book The Silence of St. Thomas: [Read more →]

Tags: religion & philosophy, that's what he said, by Frank Wilson by Frank Wilson
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Michael Moriarty, the actor who portrayed the original assistant district attorney on the groundbreaking and very original Law & Order TV program, has written a piece  for http://bighollywood.com denouncing his former show’s producer for allowing the popular program to become increasingly left-wing.

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Tags: politics & government, television by Paul Davis
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Capitalism.  Saying the word is like laying down in a bed with freshly washed sheets and snuggling your nose into the sweetly scented pillows.  <sniff>  Ahhh…  Capitalism.  If political institutions are merely a reflection of the economic system which forms their foundation, then any free man must be a capitalist.  Capitalism is the only economic mode which expects liberty and ownership of property to be the order of the day.  It is the cornerstone of a republican governing structure, and the first thing brought to heel by totalitarian despots.

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Tags: environment & nature, money, politics & government by Mike McGowan
Comments Off on One guy’s thoughts on libertarianism Pt.3

Having spent just about a full semester now studying in the United Kingdom, I’ve reflected a lot on my home country, the United States of America. I’ve learned new Scottish, Irish and English English expressions, and seen my own American English expressions greeted with stares of confusion. I’ve been nearly run over hundreds of times, misjudging traffic on account of the Brits driving on the wrong side of the road. I’ve noticed CCTV cameras just about everywhere, seen a National Health Service physician for a checkup, and been questioned sternly by immigration officials when exiting and re-entering the country (despite my possessing a perfectly valid student visa) — all of this reminding me that as big as government has gotten under Bush and Obama, it ain’t as big as the UK’s. [Read more →]

Tags: movies, travel & foreign lands by Calvin Pollak
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The Sing-Off (Monday, 8PM, NBC) — NBC has decided to finally get caught up in musically-talented reality TV shows (The Singing Bee doesn’t count) and all I can say is Merry Christmas to me. Take American Idol, combine it with Glee and sprinkle in a little America’s Next Dance Crew and you’ve got The Sing-Off… a week long extravaganza which begins on Monday in a 2-hour premiere.

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Tags: Lauren Likes TV, television by Lauren LaBumbard
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Who knew a crayon could be so perilous an instrument? Like the rest of us, WH Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is learning many lessons lately. The hazards of a sharp tongue married to a dull wit were foremost Friday. [Read more →]

Tags: politics & government, trusted media & news by Ken Watson
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There is no arguing the fact that sports are big business in this country. Whether we’re talking about professional or college, the thought that it’s all just fun and games is naive. I love college football. I like to think that the mentality of the people involved in the coaching and management end of college football involves a desire to teach young men and women, beyond what happens on the field. Too often, though, things happen that remind me that I am being a bit too idealistic in my belief. [Read more →]

Tags: bad sports, good sports by Alan Spoll
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10. Big Bag O’ Discarded Hypodermic Needles

9. Balloon Boy Self-Launch Home Kit

8. Easy-Bake Microwave Oven

7. Fisher-Price Choking Hazard

6. Baby’s First Power Stapler

5. Mr. Wizard’s Home Meth Lab

4. Fontanelle Lawn Darts

3. Miss Piggy Swine Flu Inoculation Kit

2. Owie! – The Fall-Off-The-Ladder Game

1. Zhu Zhu Flammable Hamsters
 

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

Tags: Bob Sullivan's top ten everything, ends & odd, games by Bob Sullivan
1 Comment »

Some films you can just watch over and over again.  You’re not sure why, because they are not necessarily the best films ever made.  But clearly there is something that resonates. One of these films for me is Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  Perhaps because it always seems to be on cable, or because Gene Wilder is a genius, I have viewed this movie several times recently and have come across some disturbing things that spill over into real world problems, namely poor corporate governance. 

  [Read more →]

Tags: Joshua Goldowsky blames a fictional character, movies by Joshua Goldowsky
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The article screams “Obama wants stimulus projects to hire more minorities, women”.  One quick glance at that headline tells you pretty much all you need to know about the information presented in the article.  For the people who only read headlines, it’s a pretty good one at communicating the message.  [Read more →]

Tags: money, politics & government, race & culture by Mike McGowan
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I have a house full of books. Every room in the house has bookshelves. Last summer, I put four new six foot tall shelves in the basement and filled them, front and back — that got the books off the floor around the rest of the house. That’s the second time I’ve done this.

So, some people like the clutter of books, as I do. Some love the feel of a nice deckle-edged hardback with crisp paper — some more than others.

I understand, even if I don’t share it, the appeal for some of having all their books in a convenient, portable form. And, undeniably, it’s cool to be able to have instant access to a big library of books. (How big is something I’ll return to.)

But, for me, the Kindle is not that. Look, toilet seats are made of the same stuff that Kindles are (and the comparisons don’t end there). [Read more →]

Tags: books & writing, technology by Christopher Guerin
8 Comments »

Saw this bumper sticker here in Houston this week, and I cannot help but applaud that sentiment. Over the last decade or so, Americans have felt increasingly threatened by Christianity. You would have thought the September 11^th attacks were masterminded by Jack Van Impe, or that we had a few hundred thousand troops in Vatican City, by all the bias and mockery of Christianity in pop-culture and media. [Read more →]

Tags: race & culture, religion & philosophy by Robert O'Hara
9 Comments »

I was going to title this “Van Gets a Divorce.” But then I thought that sounded like an ending. I’d rather we were getting round to the beginning. So, let’s get on with things. I feel required to apologize to the three people who read my previous blogs regularly. I am sorry. I will try really hard to avoid a future block-creating crisis in my life that will cause long absences from the computer. Really hard. Really, really hard, for the sake of all four of us. Thanks in advance for not commenting below with any sort of apologies for the current crisis.

I have been separated since the beginning of September (emotionally before physically). [Read more →]

Tags: family & parenting by Van McO
5 Comments »

Al Gore and others declared long ago that the debate over global warming was over — that it was accepted science, and that all those ignorant enough to defy them were “deniers,” akin to those who doubt the existence of the Holocaust. Unfortunately — despite the nifty ad hominems — the flatearthers refuse to adhere to dogma, especially in light of the so-called “Climategate” scandal. Society must deal with these people in the same manner society in the past dealt with those who challenged science: through an inquisition. [Read more →]

Tags: environment & nature, science by Colin Cohen
28 Comments »

2009 marks the 40th anniversary of many famous things, ranging from the mind-bendingly fatuous (John and Yoko’s bed in) to the truly historic (the moon landings) to the not as good as they used to be (Sesame Street), to the never any good in the first place (Woodstock). But in addition to all of the above, 2009 is also the 40th anniversary of something much less celebrated: a very strange record that only gets stranger with the passing of time, King Crimson’s In the Court of the Crimson King. [Read more →]

Tags: art & entertainment, music by Daniel Kalder
2 Comments »

Tiger Woods collects a particular type of lady, specifically “my wife after she’s been pumped full of collagen and locked in a tanning booth for a weekend.” I’ve wondered, Is this the sort of woman Tiger genuinely desires, or as a married celebrity seeking no-strings sex is this simply the kind of gal you deal with? (Much like if you seek to hang with basketball players, you better tolerate tall folk.) Disturbingly, we’ve learned it’s by choice, as a report suggests Tiger employed at least two whore wranglers. [Read more →]

Tags: sports by Sean Cunningham
1 Comment »

It’s been just over a year since then-candidate Obama mocked Ayn Rand and attacked the core of libertarian philosophy, but it seems his attitudes have changed a bit since assuming the mantle of President.

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Tags: politics & government by Mike McGowan
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The headline on this article says it all:

You won’t believe this new Poll-Obama 47% Bush 44%

…

Public Policy Poll found that on 50% of America would prefer Obama over G W Bush and a whopping 44% would rather have Bush back in the White House over Obama!

The article fails to mention the most important statistic uncovered by the poll:  Only 6% of Americans are sane and capable of rational thought.

(Hat Tip – LoT)

Tags: politics & government by Mike McGowan
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If a tree falls in the woods and there’s no one around to hear it, does it make a sound? Well, that depends on whether it has a Facebook page. Sounds ridiculous, huh? I thought the same thing when I recently applied for a job to be an interactive editor for a news website. [Read more →]

Tags: all work, technology, trusted media & news by Nicole Ball
1 Comment »