Book Reviews: Seduction of the Innocent

Seduction of the Innocent
by Max Allan Collins

There is always tension among those who want unfettered free speech, those who would urge us to use free speech "responsibly", and those who dismiss the very idea of free speech as a cis-gendered, sexist, heteronormative. capitalist, bourgeois, patriarchal, white supremacist con and imposition on the true expressions of people's feelings and thoughts. 

I tend towards allowing more free speech than less. However, I would agree that there are some themes, thoughts, and pictures that probably aren't suitable for children. That's how I was raised.

Though it appears rather silly from a 2019 POV where a few keystrokes on your internet linked computer can retrieve any sort of filth, at one point in American history we had Senate hearings on the dangers of comic books and horror magazines. 

Some people thought that these publications were contributing to juvenile delinquency. Because of the Senate hearings some publications began having problems with distributors and/or went out of business. Those that remained agreed to enforce self-regulation (censorship). This code included but was not limited to:

• Crimes shall never be presented in such a way as to create sympathy for the criminal, to promote distrust of the forces of law and justice, or to inspire others with a desire to imitate criminals.
• If crime is depicted it shall be as a sordid and unpleasant activity.
• Policemen, judges, government officials, and respected institutions shall never be presented in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority.
• Criminals shall not be presented so as to be rendered glamorous or to occupy a position which creates a desire for emulation.
• In every instance good shall triumph over evil and the criminal punished for his misdeeds.
• Scenes of excessive violence shall be prohibited. Scenes of brutal torture, excessive and unnecessary knife and gunplay, physical agony, the gory and gruesome crime shall be eliminated. No comic magazine shall use the words "horror" or "terror" in its title.

Bill de Blasio Drops Out; Why Was He Even Running?

The real mystery about de Blasio's campaign, is not that he dropped out but rather,what made him waste his time running in the first place? I would say the same of non-entities such as Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand, among others. 

If you don't have a chance of winning, have nothing interesting to say, no ability to push an issue to the forefront, and aren't even someone other candidates might consider for a cabinet spot, then why did you waste time and money running for the Presidency?
EGO.

It all comes down to ego. And apparently de Blasio has an outsized one. Most politicians do. But you also need to know how to count. And I hear he has plenty of issues in NYC to fix. He will have time to do that now.
Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York City who entered the Democratic presidential race on the premise that his brand of urban progressive leadership could appeal on a national scale, said on Friday that he was ending his candidacy.

Mr. de Blasio’s announcement came as it became clear he was unlikely to qualify for the fourth Democratic debate next month, cementing the notion that he lacked the support and funds to sustain his bid.

Three Masked Teens Shot Dead in Home Invasion

Call the coroner!
There's gonna be a lot of slow singing and flower bringing
If my burglar alarm starts ringing
What ya think all the guns is for?
All-purpose war, got the Rottweilers by the door
And I feed 'em gunpowder, so they can devour
The criminals trying to drop my decimals
Biggie Smalls "Warning"

I don't think it's a good thing to be happy when people die, generally speaking. But my eyes are dry when someone who was trying to rob or shoot someone else ends up dead themselves. If the below story is true, if three masked and armed teens really shot at people and tried to invade someone else's home, then I shed no tears for their demise. 

I do believe that the teens could have been cogs in a larger social disaster of de-industrialization, self-hate (ironically something that may have led to the demise of the quoted rapper at the top of this post), fatherless homes, media glorification of criminals and on and on. I do believe that society has to continue to work to make positive changes in young people's lives so that they don't see criminal behavior as worthy. But when someone is pointing a gun at you and trying to rape you, rob you or kill you, the time for empathy and understanding is past. It's time to put them in the ground ASAP.

A Georgia homeowner gunned down three masked teens, at least one of whom was armed, on Monday during a failed robbery that could be an incident of "stand your ground" defense, authorities said. The three boys, one 15 and the other two 16, were fatally shot at 4 a.m. outside a home on White Oak Court in Conyers, Georgia, about 30 miles east of Atlanta, according to Rockdale County Sheriff's deputies.

Michigan vs. Wisconsin Football

On Saturday, September 21, at noon EST, in Madison, Wisconsin, the Michigan Wolverines will play the Wisconsin Badgers in a college football match. At the time of this writing, Michigan, my alma mater, is a 3.5 point underdog. Michigan has lost the last four games it played in Madison. Although the Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has restored the program to respectability and brought in more money, he hasn't really had many signature wins, especially on the road. Michigan hasn't looked very good this year with some mistakes against Middle Tennessee and an overtime dogfight against Army. 

That's not why Harbaugh was hired. He was hired to smash Michigan State into irrelevance, beat Ohio State, win the Big Ten Championship, and compete for National Championships. Harbaugh hasn't done those things yet, although he's paid as if he has. Harbaugh's teams at Michigan have done well but they have lapses in intensity and concentration at precisely the wrong times. Occasionally they can be left in the dust by speedier teams or punched in the mouth by stronger teams.

Unfortunately, Wisconsin may be one of those stronger teams. No one has scored on Wisconsin yet this year. Of course beating the snot out of South Florida and Central Michigan doesn't exactly make Wisconsin a champion contender but it IS what a strong program is supposed to do to a weaker program, which is more than I can say for Michigan at this point. I hope that Michigan was just playing down to their opponents as they are sometimes prone to do. Because I really don't care to hear from Wisconsin fans for another year or realize that yet again a Big 10 championship is out of Michigan's reach.

Book Reviews: Golden Prey

Golden Prey
by John Sandford

This is an installment in a series. If I had known that before I made the decision to purchase it, I may not have bought the book. I usually like to start at the beginning. However, in this case, having read the book I'm glad I did purchase it. Ironically, after getting a strong sense of deja vu while reading the book, I later discovered that I have a few other books in this series. Go figure.

This book was just under 400 pages in hardcover but these days that's short for a novel. I didn't think the story dragged at any point though there were certainly some characters I enjoyed reading about more than others. This book is not lightweight in any pejorative sense of the word. But it is good reading if you are stuck somewhere without anything intellectually stimulating. So if you must spend a few hours in an airport, an auto dealership, a hospital lounge or somewhere similar you could do worse than to have this book by your side. 

One of my cousins got me started watching some of the true crime shows on the cable network Investigation Discovery. This book was like one of those shows put in print. And I very much mean that as a compliment. Lucas Davenport is a former Minnesota cop who saved the life and political career of some national bigshots, including a former first lady who is running for President. He's also wealthy. Cashing in some chips, and still protected and watched over by aforementioned political big shots, Lucas has transferred from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Investigation to the US Marshals service. 

Unusually, in deference to his good deeds and his intelligence, Lucas has been granted the authority to choose his own cases. He also doesn't really have to report to the local US Marshal chief.

Woman Bites Other Woman's Face and Ear in Sexual Assault

No means no, right? That is a ubiquitous and correct message that everyone should hear and understand today. You can ask whoever for whatever but if he or she declines your generous offer then that's it. Move on to someone else. Unfortunately one Allison Weaver, a South East Michigan woman, appears not to have taken that common cultural message to heart. It is important to understand that no means no. It is also important to remember that contrary to some other ubiquitous messaging, not all of the violent sex criminals out there are men.

The Oakland County Sheriff was called to the Lake Village Apartments on Norfolk in Rochester Hills around 1:30 Tuesday morning. A neighbor on the first floor reported hearing someone moaning and calling for help. When deputies arrived, they also heard someone calling for help and entered the upstairs apartment. That's where they said they found two partially naked women in a bedroom, covered in blood.

Deputies say one of the woman had numerous bite marks on her face and other facial injuries, and that part of her left ear was bitten off. The other woman, now identified as Weaver, was hovering over the victim and that they were lying on the floor, deputies said. The victim, a 48-year-old woman of Rochester Hills, was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Birds are Disappearing

At first I thought the numbers in the below article were off. But apparently the numbers are accurate.  What if modern life as we experience it in the so-called First World is actually not good for humans and other living beings?

What if that modern life, which is being eagerly sought after by billions of people in China, Africa, India and other so-called Third World regions or countries is incompatible with continued human existence? If one-third of wild birds have vanished then what replaces their previous role in the world's life cycle? And what impact will that replacement have on us all?

Nearly one-third of the wild birds in the United States and Canada have vanished since 1970, a staggering loss that suggests the very fabric of North America’s ecosystem is unraveling.

The disappearance of 2.9 billion birds over the past nearly 50 years was reported today in the journal Science, a result of a comprehensive study by a team of scientists from seven research institutions in the United States and Canada. As ornithologists and the directors of two major research institutes that directed this study, even we were shocked by the results. We knew of well-documented losses among shorebirds and songbirds.