After many years of anticipation, I finally got around to starting the first in the trilogy, and was deeply disappointed. Too much into the grotesque for my taste. So, I can't give you an unbiased opinion. Bill will probably be able to discuss the books objectively.
I believe I've read the entire trilogy -- certainly the first book. I'd agree with the article writer's description of it as "very strange." Perhaps for that reason I found some of the plot episodes rather disconnected. I wouldn't quite call it a masterpiece but I did find it quite enjoyable. For me, at least. I may be just slightly too intellectual to be truly popular.
“Throwflame, Quinn Whitehead’s company, entered the market in July, adding the drone-mounted flamethrower to its catalog of handheld incendiary devices for professional and recreational use.” Recreational use?!?
“…Public opinion has also moved away from the president. For months, impeachment opposition polled above support. Now, the trend is heading the other way…
The idea that Trump thrives in chaos — that controversy is an asset to his presidency — just isn’t true. Despite his constant bluster, the president can’t take a punch. As soon as it was clear that the House would go after Trump for his actions regarding Ukraine, he panicked — even trying to implicate his vice president in the scandal. “I think you should ask for Vice President Pence’s conversation, because he had a couple of conversations also,” Trump said at a news conference during the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York on Wednesday.
Since then, he (along with personal lawyer and co-conspirator, Rudy Giuliani) has done little more than lash out, using Twitter to send angry messages about his political opponents. “IT WAS A PERFECT CONVERSATION WITH UKRAINE PRESIDENT!” Trump shouted in a Friday morning tweet. “The Democrats,” he added a few minutes later, “are now to be known as the DO NOTHING PARTY!” Noted.
Trump is at his weakest when he’s in this mood — erratic and angry, consumed by striking back at his political opponents. You can see this in the polling. His job approval is at its worst when he’s mired in controversy. If you are a Democrat, and if you are thinking strategically, you should see impeachment as a valuable advantage for the upcoming election, since it pushes Trump into the kind of behavior that has kept him from reaping the benefits of relative prosperity. It keeps him off balance at exactly the moment — a re-election campaign — that he needs to be steady…
Democrats don’t actually have a choice. They have to impeach, regardless of the politics, regardless of where it leads. They have to hold Trump accountable, both on the merits and to set an example for future presidents. And if I’m right, and impeachment sends Trump into new lows (he has already joked about executing spies), then Democrats might help themselves next November by taking this inquiry as far as it can go.”
The Whistle-Blower Knows How to Write [Click] “I can’t tell you what’s going to happen to his blockbuster complaint about the president’s behavior, but I can tell you that the whistle-blower’s college writing instructor would be very proud of him.
As a writing instructor myself for 20 years, I look at the complaint and see a model of clear writing that offers important lessons for aspiring writers.”
Clinton e-mails, check. Whenever The Donald is in trouble, drag out those good ol' trusty Clinton e-mails. They must be getting pretty dogeared by now, seeing as they are used as a combination security blanket and shield.
The News Used to End September 28, 2019 Taegan Goddard
Jeff Greenfield on the Reliable Sources podcast:
“If you go back to Watergate, once Walter Cronkite and co. signed off at 7:30 on the East Coast back then, the next news you got was when the morning paper hit your door. You could watch PBS’s replay of the Watergate hearings but basically that was it.”
“We would not immediately switch to five hours of frenetic analysis or opinion making. We did not have a bombardment of social media and tweets, so the whole process of unfolding the story, of finding out what happened, was in a much more deliberative phase…”
My opinion of George Will is that he is too smart by half, but I consider him a respectable, decent person--which was shown by his parting ways with the GOP. Always someone worth listening to.
The 8 unit housing association we are part of needed some boards replaced and painted at the peaks of some of the units. Wil tried for months to get any handyman to return his calls. He finally got one guy to come by and look at what was needed. Waited weeks for the estimate. No estimate came but one day the guy emailed that he'd come on Sept 26th, so Wil took the day off from work. On the 24th he emailed that he'd come on the 25th instead, in the afternoon. Then he showed up in the morning while Wil was in the shower. But we saw the truck and Wil went over to where they were beginning to work. Sure enough, there was the crew ripping up the neighbor's DECK!!! Wil stopped them, reminded them that never had the deck been part of the requested work, and showed them again what was needed. They put the deck back together and got started on the actual work.
I knew it wasn't a good sign when I first saw the truck with the name printed on the side:
Trump's Ukraine call sparks new questions over intelligence chief's firing [Click]
ReplyDeleteHalf of Stage 4 melanoma patients survive more than five years with immunotherapy [Click]
Clapper, Panetta, other spy chiefs label Trump whistleblower response as “at least” witness retaliation and an “unconsionable abuse of power.” [Click]
NRA acted as 'foreign asset' to Russia before 2016 election, says Senate repor [Click]
Paraic O’Donnell on Wicklow: 'There are 70 to 80 Agas per square mile' [Click] The novelist reflects a bookish childhood, growing up in ‘the Arthurian dreamscapes of the Wicklow mountains.’ Which leads via a link to What makes Gormenghast a masterpiece? [Click] Which sounds most interesting, but is thoroughly unfamiliar to me. Can anyone here comment on Peake’s books?
After many years of anticipation, I finally got around to starting the first in the trilogy, and was deeply disappointed. Too much into the grotesque for my taste. So, I can't give you an unbiased opinion. Bill will probably be able to discuss the books objectively.
DeleteThanks, Cat; I think I will stick to lighter fare. But it is always worth checking on an unfamiliar author.
DeleteQuite the week, eh?
DeleteFirst DT and Ukraine, then the NRA and Russia.
FINALLY what we have long suspected about the players is coming into the light.
I believe I've read the entire trilogy -- certainly the first book. I'd agree with the article writer's description of it as "very strange." Perhaps for that reason I found some of the plot episodes rather disconnected. I wouldn't quite call it a masterpiece but I did find it quite enjoyable. For me, at least. I may be just slightly too intellectual to be truly popular.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bill. That jibes with the synopsis I found somewhere or other.
DeleteWould McConnell Skip an Impeachment Trial? [Click] Interesting thought.
ReplyDeleteThe News Used to End [Click]
As a scandal-ridden presidency lurches towards impeachment, Ben Howe offers valuable insight into how it came to this. [Click] Some very interesting ideas.
'Dragon' drones: the flame throwers fighting wildfires with fire [Click] Certainly quite an advance over the old way of setting backfires on foot with a handheld oil dripper; but there was one bit that gave me pause:
ReplyDelete“Throwflame, Quinn Whitehead’s company, entered the market in July, adding the drone-mounted flamethrower to its catalog of handheld incendiary devices for professional and recreational use.” Recreational use?!?
Recreational use? Hmmm... Along with your AK47? I mean, search me. It sure sounds strange.
Delete😮
DeleteMaybe they make those things that explode in pink or blue as a gender reveal?
Really Dumb Pyrotechnics
Opinion columnist from the New York Times: Trump Can’t Take a Punch [Click]
ReplyDeleteIf the previous link doesn’t work, try this one. [Click] Excerpts:
“…Public opinion has also moved away from the president. For months, impeachment opposition polled above support. Now, the trend is heading the other way…
The idea that Trump thrives in chaos — that controversy is an asset to his presidency — just isn’t true. Despite his constant bluster, the president can’t take a punch. As soon as it was clear that the House would go after Trump for his actions regarding Ukraine, he panicked — even trying to implicate his vice president in the scandal. “I think you should ask for Vice President Pence’s conversation, because he had a couple of conversations also,” Trump said at a news conference during the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York on Wednesday.
Since then, he (along with personal lawyer and co-conspirator, Rudy Giuliani) has done little more than lash out, using Twitter to send angry messages about his political opponents. “IT WAS A PERFECT CONVERSATION WITH UKRAINE PRESIDENT!” Trump shouted in a Friday morning tweet. “The Democrats,” he added a few minutes later, “are now to be known as the DO NOTHING PARTY!” Noted.
Trump is at his weakest when he’s in this mood — erratic and angry, consumed by striking back at his political opponents. You can see this in the polling. His job approval is at its worst when he’s mired in controversy. If you are a Democrat, and if you are thinking strategically, you should see impeachment as a valuable advantage for the upcoming election, since it pushes Trump into the kind of behavior that has kept him from reaping the benefits of relative prosperity. It keeps him off balance at exactly the moment — a re-election campaign — that he needs to be steady…
Democrats don’t actually have a choice. They have to impeach, regardless of the politics, regardless of where it leads. They have to hold Trump accountable, both on the merits and to set an example for future presidents. And if I’m right, and impeachment sends Trump into new lows (he has already joked about executing spies), then Democrats might help themselves next November by taking this inquiry as far as it can go.”
Ukraine Envoy to Testify Next Week [Click] If WH doesn’t object, evidently.
ReplyDeleteState Department Intensifies Clinton Email Probe [Click]
Trump Sees Himself as Victim of Historic Proportions [Click] “Victimization always has been core to Trump’s identity…”
The Whistle-Blower Knows How to Write [Click] “I can’t tell you what’s going to happen to his blockbuster complaint about the president’s behavior, but I can tell you that the whistle-blower’s college writing instructor would be very proud of him.
As a writing instructor myself for 20 years, I look at the complaint and see a model of clear writing that offers important lessons for aspiring writers.”
Clinton e-mails, check. Whenever The Donald is in trouble, drag out those good ol' trusty Clinton e-mails. They must be getting pretty dogeared by now, seeing as they are used as a combination security blanket and shield.
DeleteWhistleblower's Complaint ANNOTATED
ReplyDeletehttps://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/09/politics/whistleblower-complaint-annotated/
Oh, that's a good 'un; thanks, listener!
DeleteSpeaker John Bercow summons party leaders to peace talks [Click] Meeting called after multiple MPs raise fears over effect of angry rhetoric in Commons. Boris Johnson declines to attend, will send substitute. It’s considerably worse than I realized. More:
ReplyDeleteJohnson ‘whipping up riot fears to avoid Brexit extension’ [Click] “Labour claims that PM is aiming to invoke emergency powers using the Civil Contingencies Act.”
Holy sh!t! Johnson's not only an idiot, he's a psychopath!
DeleteGOP Leadership Memo Suggests Senate Cannot Block Trial If House Votes To Impeach Trump [Click]
ReplyDeleteOOH!
DeleteThe News Used to End
ReplyDeleteSeptember 28, 2019 Taegan Goddard
Jeff Greenfield on the Reliable Sources podcast:
“If you go back to Watergate, once Walter Cronkite and co. signed off at 7:30 on the East Coast back then, the next news you got was when the morning paper hit your door. You could watch PBS’s replay of the Watergate hearings but basically that was it.”
“We would not immediately switch to five hours of frenetic analysis or opinion making. We did not have a bombardment of social media and tweets, so the whole process of unfolding the story, of finding out what happened, was in a much more deliberative phase…”
Certainly less frenetic and IMO more civilized. This all news, all the time nonsense is very bad for the mental and physical health if you ask me.
DeleteWe have to self-regulate.
Deletehttps://www-m.cnn.com/2019/07/15/politics/donald-trump-george-will-presidency/index.html
ReplyDeleteMy opinion of George Will is that he is too smart by half, but I consider him a respectable, decent person--which was shown by his parting ways with the GOP. Always someone worth listening to.
DeleteThe 8 unit housing association we are part of needed some boards replaced and painted at the peaks of some of the units. Wil tried for months to get any handyman to return his calls. He finally got one guy to come by and look at what was needed. Waited weeks for the estimate. No estimate came but one day the guy emailed that he'd come on Sept 26th, so Wil took the day off from work. On the 24th he emailed that he'd come on the 25th instead, in the afternoon. Then he showed up in the morning while Wil was in the shower. But we saw the truck and Wil went over to where they were beginning to work. Sure enough, there was the crew ripping up the neighbor's DECK!!! Wil stopped them, reminded them that never had the deck been part of the requested work, and showed them again what was needed. They put the deck back together and got started on the actual work.
ReplyDeleteI knew it wasn't a good sign when I first saw the truck with the name printed on the side:
S.M.A.R.T. Handyman
🙄