My First Book Review

You probably noticed that I haven't been writing a whole lot lately.

It's no coincidence, and yes, I'm still alive. I've just been busy. Besides doing some writing for Divorce 360 and my own blog, Single Dads (although that's been suffering recently - I need to go back to my roots), I've been hanging out with the four year old, working quite a bit, and now... reviewing books. As a member of the website LibraryThing (you'll see the widget over there on the side, there,) I signed up for the Early Reviewers program. It has its perks.

So, here's my first review - that I'm going to put with my first freelance paycheck stub and my first volunteer freelance letter. Be kind, because God knows that I have no idea what I'm doing.

Yet.

But all is falling into place. I think.


--


To say that I fancy myself a poet is not exactly accurate; somewhere in a trunk at home there is a folder with Lord only knows how many pieces of poetry that I wrote in the 80’s and 90’s, when things for me were much bleaker and introspective. I even had some success writing a poem that was published a very long time ago.

Therefore, I looked forward to reading How To Write A Suicide Note by Sherry Quan Lee, a multicultural woman writing about her grappling with suicide, growing up different, and finding herself. To say that I “liked” the series of “poems” (many of which read more like prose than poetry to me – that seems, in retrospect, apt) is not quite the correct word. This was a great series, but in some ways, was so emotional and passionate, that I actually had difficulty reading them. But then again, I’m often dramatic when it comes to topics of this nature.

This was a very good book that I would recommend to people interested in mental health issues, multiculturalism, self-help, poetry or real-life essays, and if you are a parent, read this and learn.

--

Let me know what you think. The curiosity is killing me.

What Does The NYPD Have To Do To Be Accountable?

I suspect that this will not end well.

NEW YORK - Three detectives were acquitted of all charges Friday in the 50-shot killing of an unarmed groom-to-be on his wedding day, a case that put the NYPD at the center of another dispute involving allegations of excessive firepower.

Justice Arthur Cooperman delivered the verdict in a Queens courtroom packed with spectators, including victim Sean Bell's fiancee and parents, and at least 200 people gathered outside the building.

Yahoo News.

Ah.  Brilliant!

I'm not sure if Sean Bell had priors or not.
He might have been drunk.
They might have been in a bad part of town.
But no way does any unarmed person deserve to be shot 50 times and the perpetrators, police or not, do not go to jail, at least not in the America that I know.

Wow.  We all should be SO proud.

Sigh.  I guess I'll have to go back to stockpiling food, water, and ammo.  Actually, strike that ammo part.  But no doubt some people are thinking that way today.

Note to self: for the love of God, avoid the police.  You have a daughter to feed.

Think, Parents!

A cautionary tale for parents, divorced or otherwise.

Yesterday, I was at the park with my daughter, Grace, her half-sister Noelle, and their mother.  It was a gorgeous day, and the playground was relatively close to the kids' school and two other schools, but when we arrived, there were no other children there.  We stuck close and let the kids play in the sand.

I scanned the area.  Nothing particular was out of whack; it was, quite simply, a very simple park, with playground, a port-a-potty (yuck!) and a large, fairly well restored plantation-looking house that I could only assume was some sort of neighborhood gathering place or clubhouse back in the day.

At about the time that I started explaining to Grace that the loud pecking that we heard on the house was simply a very loud woodpecker, I noticed one thing out of place.

One middle aged man in a lawn chair.  Sitting about a block away from us at the other edge of the park looking at nothing in particular.

My parental instincts made a loud buzzing sound.  It was very similar to the sound the inside of my head used to make when a good-looking woman was within some distance of my personal space, but I hadn't seen her yet.  I used to call it a Spider Sense, after the character.

While watching and playing with the kids, out of the corner of my eye I kept looking at this pudgy, middle aged man.

After a while of only having one other kid come to the playground, my ex and I watched as two children, then three, of about third grade or so came from the public school nearby and start playing... with the parents nowhere in sight.

We made plans to leave.  However, I wasn't planning on going anywhere with these kids on the playground, and some grown man across the park, who was still looking... wherever.

Finally, the man folded up his chair, after sitting in the park for what had to have been an hour and a half, packed it into his van (which I know sounds cliched, but it's true, it was a van) and drive away... after circling the park for a block. 

It wasn't until the van was out of sight until we finally picked up the kids and left.

People.

You might be a single parent.  You might be a couple of parents that both work.  I don't know what scenarios you might have.  However, the lesson here I think is a good one:  pick up your young children from school.  You never know who might be watching, and if that individual - who might have been no more than a person watching cars drive by in the park, mind you - had harmed your children because they were vulnerable and you were simply too busy to pick them up from school on a regular weekday... well, where would you be then?

Just a story with a happy ending.

Today.

How To Weed Out The Truly Stupid

It's quite simple really.  Get them a camera phone, sit back, and see what happens.

BARTOW, Fla. -- On their own videotape, six Polk County girls laughed in another girl's face as they beat her so badly she was hospitalized. Friday in court, they hung their heads in shame.

Not only will the girls be tried as adults for their videotaped attack, they'll also have a hard time getting out of jail. The judge made a pretty strong statement to the kids Friday. Judge Angela Cowden doubled the normal bond for all eight teens.Each is now held on anywhere from $31,000 to $37,000 for kidnapping and battery and Friday many of their parents told Eyewitness News they can't afford to get their kids out.

Really?  Nice.
The sweet, sweet justice is reported by WFTV.com, with a hat tip to Fark.

When the deal goes down, I'm hoping that the judge doles out a little justice to the parents as well.  I wouldn't have said that, but after watching one of the parents of the precious little snowflakes talk about how it was the victims fault on The Today Show the other day, I lost my compassion.

Here's a tip for you parents:
Turn the TV off and pay attention to your freakin' kids, please.

The Question, Ladies And Gentlemen, Is This: Is That A Naked Woman In Dick Cheney's Sunglasses?

To the right of this post, you'll see the picture that has all of the Internet abuzz. To prove my point, try googling "cheney sunglasses". As of this moment, I have over 137,000 hits, mostly from the last 24 hours. Lord knows how many hits there will be by the time that you read this.

The general question that people seem to want to have answered is the question referenced in the title of this post (see the Chicago Sun Times or several hundred locations if you don't believe me).

So, what is that image in Vice-President Cheney's sunglasses, anyway?
I submit these suggestions to what we are seeing in the image:

• Satan bowing down to Mr. Cheney.
• A human soul being sucked from an adult female in order to provide sustenance to the VP.
• The final emergence of Chulthu.
• The experiment has finally worked, and Cheney has finally bred a half-human, half-praying mantis beast. He calls it ManTis. Run!
• The aftereffects of gazing into the Ark of The Covenant (don't look, Marion!).

What this image in Mr. Cheney's sunglasses is NOT:

• A naked woman.

Now. Why were we supposed to care, again?

Back To Bringing The Goods

I took a pretty extended break from blogging for a little bit (my most significant break since, oh, 2004 or so) but after a vacation to SXSW, spending an increasing amount of time with my four-year old (that's about to go up too - more on that later) and trying to concentrate on work, I found the exact article to ease my way back into the writing gig when I saw this this little educational nugget about the public educational system, or lack of it.

WASHINGTON - Seventeen of the nation's 50 largest cities had high school graduation rates lower than 50 percent, with the lowest graduation rates reported in Detroit, Indianapolis and Cleveland, according to a report released Tuesday.

MSNBC gets the cite.

Let's see.  I live in Denver.  It's one of the most highly educated cities in the nation, I've heard somewhere.

Denver:  Denver County School District - 46.3 percent graduation rate.

43.6 percent graduation rate?

So I'm going to have to try to send my daughter to private schools for the rest of her days?

Public education.  My wallet.  I weep for them both.

Protecting The Children Goes Haywire

This simply is not a good time to be a teenager. 

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. - A 17-year-old Sheboygan boy is facing criminal charges after allegedly fathering a child with his 16-year-old girlfriend.

Kou Yang is charged in Sheboygan County with repeated sexual assault of a child. The charge carries a maximum 25 years in prison.

Thank the Star Tribune, with a hat tip to Fark.

Having children when you, yourself, is a child?  Stupid.
Being part of a legal system that will charge a child with aggravated sexual assault when the two have been dating for three years?  Unbelievably stupid.

Let's hope that not everyone involved in this case is completely off their rocker.

No, You Can't Have My DNA. My DNA. Not Yours

Yet another idea that seems like a good idea at first glance, but is a terrible idea in practice.

From Diego Olmos-Alcalde, charged a decade after the murder of Susannah Chase in Boulder, to Tim Masters, released after a decade in prison for a murder he apparently did not commit, to Friday's announcement of the apprehension of two suspects, one for a 1976 murder and another for rapes dating to 2004, examples abound of the importance of human DNA in criminal investigation.

So it's hard to argue with Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey or dismiss his call for legislation authorizing law enforcement in Colorado to collect DNA from crime suspects when they are booked rather than waiting until after they are convicted of a felony.

Viva the Rocky Mountain News.

Under no circumstances should a person that's simply booked for a crime be forced to fork over their DNA.  Frankly, they aren't guilty.  If, and only IF, a person wants to give over their DNA, they can, but that is a choice.  But forced to?  No way.  This is an awful idea.  Why?

1.  This encourages police to arrest anyone and everyone for anything.
2.  The person is only accused, and not convicted, of a crime and is being subjected of the most private of their property being seized by government.
3.  People who are not criminals will have their DNA on file with government agencies. 
4.  Unanswered is where DNA records will be stored or kept, or the privacy (meaning non-sale) of the DNA records provided.

This is an overreaction to high profile cases where DNA played a major part.  Ah, fear: the most wonderful of motivators.

One More Reason That Cities Rock

You won't see this happen in the suburbs.

Passengers were left open-mouthed when a group of commuters - including a suited man - got up from their seats and performed the dance featured in Michael Jackson's music video for hit Thriller.

Nice!  The Sun is on the case.

I remember participating in a flashmob several years ago with several hundred other people.  Ah, good times.

By the way, here's the YouTube video of the original Michael Jackson dance.  I can't embed it, because embedding is disabled... mostly because the poster of this video on YouTube is the REAL MICHAEL JACKSON.  Enjoy!

An Entire African Nation, Covered In Post-Its

A growing number of hospitals are giving up Big Pharma schwag for good. Here's one that went the extra mile.

MINNEAPOLIS - When a Duluth-based operator of hospitals and clinics purged the pens, notepads, coffee mugs and other promotional trinkets drug companies had given its doctors over the years, it took 20 shopping carts to haul the loot away.

The operator, SMDC Health System, intends to ship the 18,718 items to the west African nation of Cameroon.

Thanks, Yahoo.

19718 items? Holy bought and sold, Batman! The medical profession is under constant assault.

Here, watch a movie (courtesy of You Tube).

The Consolidation Of Ultimate Power Has Begun

In what can only be bad news for the average consumer, Bank of America is about to grow, one subprime lender at a time.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Bank of America said Friday it will buy Countrywide Financial for $4.1 billion in stock, a deal that rescues the country's biggest mortgage lender and expands the financial services empire of the nation's largest consumer bank.

The acquisition will make Charlotte-based Bank of America Corp. the nation's biggest mortgage lender and loan servicer.

Via Yahoo News.  Egads.

Want more good news?  I suppose that if you have WaMu stock, you should keep it.

Washington Mutual, the U.S. savings and loan slammed by slumping mortgage markets, has held "very preliminary" merger talks with JPMorgan Chase, CNBC has learned.

No deal is imminent but the talks were held fairly recently.

Also on Yahoo.

There was a time, not too long ago, it seems, that a merger could be said to bring economies of scale to the larger company, and that those savings would inevitably come back to the consumer. 

I'm thinking that time is long since past, since the advent of the MegabankTM.  Both WaMu and Countrywide have huge shares of the mortgage market, so both purchases can be interpreted as "market saviour" type purchases.  You can also be certain that in the present regulatory environment, it would be a miracle for either of these mergers to be stopped.  So some might think that in the end, these mergers are good things.

No.
Be afraid.
Be very afraid.

Sci-Fi Top 25 Moments...?

I noticed that EW.com (Entertainment Weekly) has posted a list of Sci-Fi's Top 25 Movies and TVs moments of all time. 
Unfortunately, in order to read the whole list, I'd have to click through 25 consecutive individual web pages to find out what number 1 is, and I have reading and writing to do and don't have that kind of time to burn.

Frankly, you shouldn't have that kind of time to kill either.

Think I'll ignore that article. 
I hate it when websites do that.

Protect Your Name And Your Reputation

Something that you need to definitely have to do when you divorce is watch yourself, and watch your name. Google it if you have to. I have personal experience with this phenomenon.

My present girlfriend had the wonderful experience of being stalked by her ex. He started a website solely for the purposes of trying to make my girlfriend look bad, put her down, and talk about personal information. He would put pictures on his site and allude negatively towards her work habits, personal experiences, and et cetera. Absolutely a prince, you might say. Eventually, it took a threat from the FBI, local law enforcement, and various websites being pulled from free sites for violations of terms of service to make him cease and desist.

My ex is similar, but does a different kind of stalking. On her MySpace page, (a page that which I read regularly) she describes how miserable she is and attempts to slam me as having a drinking problem and being an irresponsible and deadbeat dad... despite my regular OVER payments for child support - never missing a payment, regular visits, and general overall support. The reason that I am not with her is that we don't get along. I DO want to be with my child 24/7. It's a huge difference, and an emotionally and legally expensive one. Update! After talking to the offending person, she agreed to remove the offending content, which is great. She didn't, and just made her pages private, but hey, that's better than a poke in the eye. We'll see.

Solutions? I'm not sure that I have one, and if anyone has any great ideas, then I'm all ears. I'm already considering legal action. However, if your breakup with your ex was acrimonious, then learn to use Google. Be your best private detective. Keep a journal It can be a little annoying and perhaps may cause you fume a bit, but make sure that you have all the possible information. At least that way, if you decide to follow through, then you'll have all the information. Over at WiredSafety.org, they have a lot of great information about cyberstalking and a number of other Internet crimes.

Here's one that you can write down; despite any odd thing that I might see in her behavior, actions, or choices, you will never see me slam her in print. That's no better than gossip, and despite the fact that our relationship didn't work out, she does have good qualities for someone else. That won't stop me from being the dad of a three year old.

Remember as well; self improvement is the best form of revenge.

Obama Wins In Iowa. In Other News, Hell Still Pretty Hot

Obama won the Iowa caucuses.

I don't know about you, but I think that change is pretty good.  But I refuse to handicap this in his favor yet.
But what a result.

The 50 Most Loathsome People In America

Every year, the venerable Buffalo Beast releases a ranked list of the most loathsome people in America .  Yearly I wait with bated breath to find out which of my favorites have made the list; this year, being the beginning of election season, was a shoo-in to be a fun read.   Some of the highlights this year include Larry Craig (he of the Wide Stance fame), Brittney Spears (famous for being... what?  Previously attractive?), Hillary Clinton (famous for failed heath care plan, being married to Bill) and Fred Phelps (infamous gay basher, all around pathetic scumbag). 

Take a look at the article and laugh.  Bonus:  you don't have to click on ten different pages to get the whole list.  50 cretinous individuals, one handy page.  America.  What a country.

Cloverfield

I don't know what the heck it is yet, but I'm definitely going to go see it.  I do know that someone I know is actually in the movie, and pretty much everything that I've seen has made me more apt to see it in the theater, if just to figure out what the blank is going on in the movie.

I didn't see 30 Days Of Night (yet), but I will see it on video most definitely.

I did see Into the Wild, and I might just do a review for a friend online so that you can see it.  We will see.

But I am seeing Cloverfield.  Hi, TJ!

Absolute Proof That Not All Americans Are Stupid

Figures that the latest proof that Americans are not all completely ridiculous comes from a librarian.

Storytime ceased abruptly when the picture book Eileen Issa was reading her 2 1/2-year-old son surprisingly ended with two men marrying and smooching.

The tale about a disgruntled queen who demanded that her son marry a princess looked like the average children's book to the mother of two when she scooped it up along with about nine others at the Lower Macungie Library. She had no idea the book has been the subject of a federal lawsuit and controversy in other parts of the country.

''I saw them at the altar and I said, 'This can't be what I'm thinking,''' Eileen Issa said, recalling illustrations of the prince holding hands with and kissing his new husband. ''I was sick.''

Since that day, Issa and her husband, Jeff, have demanded that the library take it out of circulation.

Wait.  You haven't read the good part yet.

Kathee Rhode, the library's director, said censoring books based on subject matter is the duty of parents, not the library. She said the library strives to provide material representing a spectrum of views and ways of life.

''That's what a public library does, and you make the choice,'' Rhode said. ''We certainly want parents to make that decision for their children -- not one parent making that decision for all children.''

Hold on.  Maybe I misread that.

Kathee Rhode, the library's director, said censoring books based on subject matter is the duty of parents, not the library. She said the library strives to provide material representing a spectrum of views and ways of life.

''That's what a public library does, and you make the choice,'' Rhode said. ''We certainly want parents to make that decision for their children -- not one parent making that decision for all children.''

What?!

I can't believe that I saw that.  We certainly want parents to make that decision for their children -- not one parent making that decision for all children?  That looks suspiciously like common sense.

I applaud. 

Lower Macungie Library.  Today, you win at being the quintessential American institution. 

Hack Your Food

Lifehacker, that wonderful website with so many hints on how to do things in oh-so-many wonderful and simple ways, came up with a list of top ten food and drink hacks.  Among the highlights:

6. Bake no-knead bread

5. Build a fire with chocolate and Coke

2. Chill a Coke in two minutes

I have a personal favorite, which I like to call bringing back two day old bagels.  All that you require is a two day old bagel (meaning hard) and a cup of coffee.  The secret?  Put your bagel in the microwave, with the coffee (or a cup of water, if you prefer), and heat on high for 15-45 seconds.

Your bagel will soften enough to slice and toast, and bonus, if you used coffee for your recipe, it will warm that up a little too.

See?  I'm not so boring.

Two More Drugs To Avoid?

More good news for children this Christmas season. According to a news report released today, apparently the Food and Drug Administration believes that the flu drugs made by Roche and GlaxoSmithKline might have the unfortunate side effect of giving children neurological problems including hallucinations and convulsions. Fortunately, the government is considering warning labels on these items. How appropriate.

I am not a humorless individual, and quite often I can see the underlying humor in a lot of bad news. Unfortunately this is not one of those times. In my new role as an occasional entrepreneur, I think that someone could make a fortune on creating a website where a parent or other interested party could search and locate certain products such as:

• Toys proven to not contain lead,
• Medications that have been proven not to harm children, and
• Child safety items that don't harm children in any way.

I would, as a single parent would sign up for such a Internet site with great relish, indeed.

There are other items that I think would go well in a website such the one I propose, but at the moment, the news that proven influenza medications might make certain children convulse in their beds has dampened my ability to consider additional consumer products that might go on such a site. I will, however, claim "dibs" on such an idea.

And The Winner Is... Netflix

Just because I have them as a sponsor (gaze left), doesn't mean that you have to think that they are the absolutely greatest, but certainly recent results have borne out that Netflix has conquered Blockbuster in the Great Video Wars.  From Consumerist:

We're ready to call Netflix the winner of this battle of the video war, based on Blockbusters remarkably sad third quarter numbers and the flood of pissed off emails we've been getting from Blockbuster's (former) customers.

Blockbuster managed to lose $35 million in the third quarter, and its customers have been writing in to complain about benefits being cut from their "Total Access" packages.

That, to me, sounds kind of bad for Blockbuster.  I wonder what will go in all of those stores, given that most of the mini-malls that have Blockbuster already have a Starbucks in them?  Personally, I like Netflix, even though at the moment I have no time to actually watch movies.  I hope for that to change relatively soon, though.  However, don't let that stop you, who I'm sure have loads of time just piling up in your garage.