7 posts tagged “culture”
I like mysteries and tales of intrigue and espionage, so I picked up a paperback copy of The Machiavelli Covenant. I mean, heck, Machiavelli was certainly an intriguing character and covenants are all mysterious and stuff, right? Wrong. In the interest of saving my fellow readers a few shekels I feel compelled to share my opinion that this was one of the most poorly written and edited books I have ever read. I really don't even know what the story is about because I
It's possible that The Machiavelli Covenant is an engaging story if you can get past the bad editing, although I don't really see how. The characters seem to have stepped out of a D-list soap opera--lots of drama and allusions to mysterious pasts, but no true depth or development. Another pet peeve of mine is condescending authors who don't trust their readers to work out subtle allusions to features of character and instead blast them with a two-by-four so as to leave no doubt about who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. Sheesh. Even Ian Fleming managed to endow his cartoon villains with some recognizably human traits. Folsom's bad guys might just as well have had stickers on their foreheads that read "Mr. Sinister," "Captain Conspiracy," and so on. I found it hard to care about what happened to any of his characters and since for me characters are the story, I found it hard to care at all about the story.
Must admit, in an effort to spare my walls from any untoward book- throwing violence, I did not finish this book, so it could be that the last half was remarkably better than the first. If this is the case, my sincere apologies to Mr. Folsom, Mr. Sinister, Captain Conspiracy and all of their fans.
It is only the most intentionally obtuse among us who would deny that a bias exists in law enforcement in this country, but sometimes the evidence is so egregious and disturbing it defies belief. Take for example this case from Phoenix
and this unbelievable example from Ohio (h/t to Jesus' General where I originally read Nez's piece). Lately it seems like even the thin veneer of civility and the lip service we payed for decades to the importance of civil rights have all but disappeared. Really ironic when you consider that this is the first time in history that a Black man has a real shot at the White House. So why the paradox? Why, when a majority of Americans may well decide that they trust the judgment, intelligence and morality of an African-American man more than that of any of his White counterparts, would we continue to accept different standards of justice for different races? There was a time when authority figures would at least have had the common decency to pretend they thought racism was wrong and they would have declared themselves "appalled" by the brutality and injustice visited upon their citizens. They don't even bother to pretend anymore, being unabashedly and publicly supportive of race-based justice (see "Jena Six").
Fairness and justice are not qualitative values. You can't be "kind of" fair or "sort of" just. You either apply the standard equally or you don't have any standard at all.
Who promptly suffocates under the weight of her name.
Vox only allows five permanent links (see sidebar) for now. Hopefully, they will expand linking capability soon (PLEASE!), but until then, I'll keep a running list of some sites I particularly like in a regular post format:
Fun and Entertainment:
Cute Overload--A daily "must" for anyone who likes animals--or who just likes to smile.
Go Fug Yourself--Hilarious fashion (and social) commentary from the Fug Girls. I have followed this site for years and believe it has some of the best satirical writing in any media--an opinion apparently shared by the New York Daily News who recently gave column space to the Fug Girls.
The Onion--Before the Daily Show and the Colbert Report, there was The Onion, a wildly popular satirical "newspaper" created by students at a Wisconsin college that went mainstream a few years ago. Not entirely the same as when it started, but still comes through brilliantly often enough to keep it relevant.
Gallery of Regrettable Food--Because, in America in the 50s and 60s, there was no problem that couldn't be solved with Jell-O. This hysterical look at advertising and graphic illustration from the era that marked our indoctrination into the world of processed food is hosted by James Lileks, columnist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Arts & Letters Daily--Truly "one stop shopping" for the best in intellectual, topical and just plain interesting writing on just about any current issue you can imagine. The site consists of links to hundreds of sources and is maintained by the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Crooks and Liars--Need a daily dose of outrage? If you want a recap on the shenanigans, malfeasance and just plain B.S. perpetrated on the unsuspecting (why are we still unsuspecting, BTW?) public by our government and its representatives, there is no better spot than C & L. Generally very well-sourced, although the "comments" sections aren't nearly as fun any more since they've been taken over by by right-wing trolls and reactionary, rather than thoughtful lefties. Still, it's addictive and I need a C&L fix several times a day.
Amitai Etzioni--One of the last and best of dying breed, Amitai Etzioni is a public intellectual in the old-fashioned sense of the term. You probably have not heard of him or seen him (ad nauseum) on Sunday morning talk shows or weekday screaming festivals. That's because, in the true spirit of "public" service, he shares his insights and encourages the free flow of ideas to enrich public discourse rather than his private pocketbook. He's been a professor, author and lecturer since the late fifties, but I first came across his work in the early 1990s when I read The Spirit of Community.
James Wolcott's Blog--Wolcott, a contributing editor for Vanity Fair Magazine, covers political topics from a humorous, left-leaning perspective.
Jesus' General--An officer in the culture wars, the General serves by pointing out the foibles of extreme thinking frequently in the form of satirical open letters to the most intellectually-challenged among us. Plus, his wife's name is "Ofjoshua." Got a love a man who has his wife in line.
What this country needs is a well-written, beloved fictional character to restore our sense of honor, decency and humanity. I nominate Atticus Finch, the hero of To Kill a Mockingbird and the man who, unintentionally, formed my impossibly unrealistic standards for the ideal man back when we were first introduced in junior high English class. The main roadblocks to his acceptance of this nomination are his innate humility and, of course, the fact that he does not exist.
Hallelujah! It appears that fate has provided us with a surrogate! The Florida Bar Foundation has awarded its Medal of Honor to 66 year-old attorney Hamilton Cooke for "Atticus Finch-like" work. This is the highest individual honor given by the Florida Bar. It's about time Mr. Finch's work was recognized--even by proxy! Congrats to Mr. Cooke for this well-deserved accolade. He will no doubt be contacted by campaign managers of the "Atticus Finch for President" movement, headquartered in cyberspace on a Facebook page.
There is a lot of debate over whether the cruel comments and juvenile, bullying laughter of Idol judges constitutes victimization of contestants. While pretty much NO ONE disputes that this format is cruel and hurtful, the general argument in favor of the program is that it can't be victimization if the participants willingly agree to appear on the show. The fact that they are talentless and unware of it makes them fair game for the judges. However, in many cases it is this very lack of self-awareness that should raise a red flag among civilized people that these folks might not be operating on a equal standing with the rest of us and may not have the ability to make informed decisions about participation. We have already seen the shoddy treatment of a young man with autism. Like many with his disorder and other pervasive developmental delays, this young man had a tenous grasp of normal social interaction. He would probably not be allowed to sign legally binding contracts because of his disorder, but for Idol producers he is fair game for exploitation to entertain the masses. This is just ugly--there is no legitimate justification for making fun of people with impairments whether they be physical or mental--and the excuse of "they knew what they were getting into" just doesn't hold water.
