• Using as his jumping-off point Kate Summerscale’s Samuel Johnson Prize-winning book, The Suspicions of Mr. Whicker: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Detective, Ben Macintyre contributes to the London Times a fine essay that sees in that 1860s real-life crime and the publicity surrounding it the roots of modern detective fiction, “the quintessential British literary genre.” Read the whole piece here.
• Having finally solved her site’s technical problems, Angie Johnson-Schmit puts Scottish writer Ian Rankin under scrutiny in her latest In for Questioning interview. As she explains, Rankin talks about “his Inspector Rebus series, the recent explosion in the Scottish arts scene, and how his years in London and France influenced his use of Edinburgh in his books. He also reveals what fictional characters he’d pay good money to see in a cage fight and the weirdest question he’s ever been asked in an interview (and no, it wasn’t one of mine).” Click here to listen.
• The Independent’s Jonathan Gibbs offers an around-the-world excursion, via the sleuths operating in such far-flung spots as Reykjavik, Athens, New Zealand, Honolulu, Montreal, and Havana. It’s hardly an exhaustive list, but is a good starting point for people who like to travel with novels set in the places they plan to visit. Gibb’s piece can be found here.
• AustCrime has the complete list of nominees for this year’s Davitt Awards, named in honor of Ellen Davitt (1812-1879), the first known Australian mystery novelist, and given out annually by the Australian division of Sisters in Crime.
• Jason Starr’s “The Last Bachelor of North Miami” is the latest short story to be turned into a podcast for CrimeWAV.com. You can listen to it here.
• And no wonder John “100 Years War” McCain is trying desperately to come up with something--anything--to change the subject from this week’s media coverage of Barack Obama’s flawless pre-election trip to the Middle East and Europe. Mobbed by “3,000 GIs” in Baghdad? Well, at least McCain got Bush’s dad to wheel him around in a golf cart for the cameras.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
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2 comments:
"John “100 Years War” McCain"
Grow up. Either you're ignorant of what was actually said by McCain or you're actively misrepresenting it. Based on The Reaction blog, it must be the latter.
Oh, please. McCain came out of the Vietnam War still convinced that the United States could have "won," if only we'd committed still more troops to the cause of dying. He sees Bush's Iraq conflict as a second chance to prove that America doesn't ever "lose" wars. What he said, of course, is that he was perfectly willing to keep fighting Bush's ill-conceived war for 50 or 100 years--as long as there weren't significant casualties. But as we have seen, there are and will continue to be significant casualties for as long as the United States insists on inserting itself into what has become a civil war in Iraq. He can't have his war without casualties, and most other Americans understand that all too well. Which is why public support for the Bush/McCain assault on Iraq has plummetted, and why most people want to see our valuable troops brought home.
There is no "winning" this war that Bush lied the country into; the best we can hope for is an arrangement that brings international forces into Iraq to help keep the peace, while the "invading" U.S. troops are reduced in number. Iraqis aren't going to give up fighting as long as they perceive America to be meddling in their nation's affairs. The only solution to the mess Bush & Co. caused is a political one, not a military one.
Unfortunately, McCain--after stating that he'd endorse a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq if an elected Iraqi government asked for such a withdrawal, has now flip-flopped and said he knows better than the Iraqis do what is best for them, and that U.S. forces must continue destroying their nation in order to prove that America can "win." That's the height of foolhardiness and irresponsibility, and proves--if nothing else in McCain's floundering, gaffe-riddled candidacy does--that he is not fit for the presidency.
Once upon a time, McCain might have had the smarts to be president. But he's been kissing Bush's ass long enough that he has lost the taste for reason.
Cheers,
Jeff
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