Framing the Dialogue

Archive for June, 2015

Rock N Taxes

taxmanThe news this week featured a squabble between singer Taylor Swift and Apple over Apple’s plan to allow users to listen to Swift’s music without paying her.  Swift took Apple to task and they blinked.  Not only is she adored by millions of fans, but many other also no respect her for her business sense.

Rockers it seems are very protective of their hard-earned money.  A recent article in our local paper by economics professor Ralph R. Reiland highlighted this issue.  Reiland recounted the many efforts by old school rockers to protest high taxes and uproot themselves and move to other countries to avoid oppressive tax burdens.  Here are a few quotes to entice you to read the entire article which is linked above in blue.

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The Breach

the breachRecently out of prison, Travis Chase, decides to leave his family behind and reset his life in the wilds of Alaska.  Alone in the wilderness on a camping trip Chase struggles with his decision;

“Up here, sometimes, he just wasn’t that guy anymore.  And damned if that sensation wasn’t getting stronger by the month.  All of that would end, the hour he set foot in his old world again.  For that reason, if for no other, he thought he knew which way he was leaning…he wandered to the drop-off overlooking the valley, its depths now revealed in the crystal air.  He stopped.  For a moment he could only stare, too disoriented even to blink.”

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Cry No More

cry no moreTry to imagine spending time with your new husband in a strange country as he dedicates his services as a doctor to those in need.  Imagine the joy of giving birth to your first child, a son, and sharing this with the man that you love more than anything.  Finally imagine how your life would change when something precious is taken from you.  How long would you search for answers?  Five years? Ten years? Cry No More by Linda Howard is a story, not so much about heroine Milla Edge, but about her journey to recover her life where she ends up creating a new life when she meets a mysterious stranger.

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The Path Between The Seas

image“Yet they [the locks] were something much more than monumental; they did not, like a bridge or a cathedral, simply stand there; they worked.  They were made of concrete and they were made of literally thousands of moving parts.  Large essential elements were not built, but were manufactured, made in Pittsburgh, Wheeling, Schenectady, and other cities.  In a very real sense they were colossal machines, the largest yet conceived, and in their final, finished form they would function quite as smoothly as a Swiss watch.”

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The Last Rebels

pbj sandwichesDaisy Luther wrote this great article (linked here) listing 25 things we did as kids that would get someone arrested today.  I have list a few here that were my favorite and that I did (the statute of limitations has been reached).  Take the time to reminisce and mostly to realize how simply insane our world has become.

  1. Leaving the house after breakfast and not returning until the streetlights came on, at which point, you raced home, ASAP so you didn’t get in trouble.  [We actually could see a very large ALCOA clock from our neighborhood and never could claim we didn’t know what time it was.  My mother always told me what time dinner was and if I wasn’t home by then I’d be on my own.  I often chose to play and started to learn to cook.]
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The Hit

imageAlthough David Baldacci is a rather prolific and popular author, I had not read many of his novels.  I usually feel that when an author puts out that many books they are either written by someone else or if written by the author they may not be his best work.  That’s just my gut feeling.  I think my first book by this author was a few weeks ago, Memory Man.  It was decent, but wouldn’t drive me back again and again to this author.

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Something Missing

image“The ideal client was a two-income couple who earned enough money to own nice things but simply did not have the time to enjoy them.”

In Something Missing you meet Martin, an OCD career thief who’s “clients” are the victims and he is so good he does not leave a trace.  Author Matthew Dicks leads us to Martin’s world and develops our relationship with Martin and we a pulled into the story further as Martin is compelled to break his rules to become a bigger part of the personal lives of some of his clients.

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Radiant Angel

imageJohn Corey is back fighting for the safety of the United States against a new enemy who is actually an old enemy. In Radiant Angel Corey faces a diabolical plot when he is on what he thinks is a routine surveillance operation. Author Nelson DeMille creates a spellbinding race against time to stop a plot that could kill millions and bring the country to its knees.

this is the seventh book in DeMille’s John Corey series and it lives up to the standards previously set.  There is a minor backstory regarding his wife who was more prominent in the previous novels that makes me look forward to the next novel.

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