Framing the Dialogue

Archive for December, 2009

Time Flies

Time FliesThis was an unusual book written by comedian Bill Cosbyas he struggles with getting older.  I found the book in the clearance rack at Half Priced Books and since I have always liked Cosby.  I remember listening to his albums (that’s right albums) when we were young. 

Written when he was around 50 years old (1987) and taping his hit television show.  I found Time Flies an interesting, but not really funny book about a man growing old.   Maybe that is because I am nearly his age when he wrote the book.  It may hit too close to home.  I found the book to be a little self indulgent and repetitive.  The version that I read had a 23 page introduction that I had to skip after reading a few pages. 

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The British Are Coming

GoreAs the United States’ Lame Stream Media continues to ignore the Climategate scandal, the Brits continue to be on top of things.  I don’t usually post to simply link to someone’s article, but this expose from the UK’s Daily Express on Natural Climate Change Deniers lists 100 reasons why climate change IS natural.  Take the time to read the list as many of their talking points are debunked.

Here are a few to entice you:

No. 8  The IPCC theory is driven by just 60 scientists and favourable reviewers not the 4,000 usually cited

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Update – True American Hero – Lord Christopher Monckton

Lord MoncktonUpdate – Lord Christopher Monckton has gotten some attention at least on Fox News and other balanced media outlets.  I am still impressed with his love of United States and his passion for pulling back the curtains to expose the man made global warming (AKA climate change) schemes.  Al Gore has still managed to avoid debating anyone of stature and most recently several liberals have suggested Sarah Palin as an adversary.  I love Sarah Palin, but she is not the person I want to put up against Gore. 

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Cream Puff Murder

Cream Puff MurderJoanne Fluke’s Hannah Swensen finds another body in her small hometown of Lake Eden, Minnesota.  This time the victim in not well liked in the town and Hannah, her sisters, and about half the town takes the “case” to solve the crime.  As usual, the novel centers around Swensen’s cookie business and there are lots of references to her cookies. 

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Separation of Power

Separaton of PowerI just cannot get enough of Vince Flynn to satisfy my thirst for “edge of my seat,” thrilling action.  Flynn combines Washington backstabbing (AKA politics) with a world-wide crisis in which most of the world is unaware to keep us up far into the early morning reading.  In my case I was awake until after 2:00 AM reading Separation of Powerstarring CIA operative Mitch Rapp. 

There is a strong connection between this book and Flynn’s previous novel, The Third Option as Rapp works to find out who tried to have him killed.  The intrigue reaches the top of American and foreign governments while the President wrestles with the confirmation of a new CIA director and the fact that Saddam Hussein is close to having three nuclear weapons. 

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Is Blackmail Too Strong A Word?

You can be the judge regarding whether the term blackmail should be attributed to the actions of government officials in the following two stories. 

blackmail ravenstahlThe first story features local politicians in the City of Pittsburgh.  As a little background, the City of Pittsburgh has been in state receivership for a number of years because city officials cannot control their spending.  One of the biggest factors is their underfunded pension funds.  Pittsburgh’s Democrat boy mayor, Luke Ravenstahl, has quite a scheme to raise taxes (it always seems to be about raising taxes) without really ticking off his constituents.  He has decided to impose a one percent tax “tuition” tax on all students attending institutions of higher educations within city limits.  His position is that they receive “services,” but do not pay anything towards them.

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The Third Option

the third optionThis is my second venture into Vince Flynn’snovels featuring spymaster Mitch Rapp “one of the most lethal and efficient killers the CIA has ever produced.”  The Third Option refers to what some might consider the last option when dealing with adversaries.  In this novel, Flynn pulled me in and kept me on the edge of my seat, couch, bed, chair, or wherever I could steal time to read.  This book is so good, I found a lot of time to steal.

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Debt…Deficit…Doubt…Disaster?

credit-card-drowning2Personal Finances:  My wife and I have amassed some decent credit card debt by spending more money than we had available, or deficit spending.  Since we are blessed with a good credit rating, the banks are always willing to raise our credit limit.  They are just so nice about that.  Rather than take advantage of those nice folks’ offer, we are in the process of reducing that debt through a number of means.  We are going to have to spend less, sell some investments, and restructure some debt, but should have it eliminated within the next three months.  Although it will be hard, but we feel that there is a need to eliminate this debt.  

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Christmas Shopping…Dragged Kicking and Screaming

I sent this cell phone photograph to my son from BB&B in a failed attempt to have him rescue me last night. He "claimed" to have to study for one of his college finals.

I sent this cell phone photograph to my son from BB&B in a failed attempt to have him rescue me last night. He "claimed" to have to study for one of his college finals. I had to spend an additional fifteen minutes in the store.

Few words strike fear in me like when my wife says “let’s go to the mall shopping for a little while.”  I really love my wife (please note that I don’t really have to say this as she does not read my postings) and acquiesced even though the mall is torture to me.  The level of torture is proportional to the number of related females in the shopping party. 

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Talk To The Hand

“Yo Taylor!  I’m really happy for you.  Imma let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time.”

Kanye West (as he stripped the microphone from the actual video award winner, Taylor Swift)

Talk to the handUnless you are totally out of the celebrity loop, you have probably seen the video of what may be the quintessential act of rudeness by a person who is quickly amassing quite a resume of ill-mannered stunts.  It is actually rather ironic that the offensive and self-absorbed Kanye West criticized Swift when he seems to rely on Autotune to improve the sound of his voice.  To their credit, most of the crowd booed West and gave a standing ovation to the young Taylor Swift after West left the stage. 

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