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Dithering In Doha: We Need To Re-Frame The Politics Of Climate
by Steve Herz
Last week, a full day after it was scheduled to end, this year's United Nations climate negotiations finally ground to an anticlimactic and dispiriting conclusion.
Despite the near round-the-clock endgame and down-to-the-wire drama, negotiators from more than 194 member countries ultimately had precious little to show for their efforts. Yes, they managed to ensure that the Kyoto Protocol would continue for another term. And they tied up some loose ends from previous meetings and made some incremental progress on emerging issues. But on the core issue affecting the fate of the planet — the need to rapidly reduce emissions to have any hope of keeping climate change to manageable levels — progress was nowhere to be found. They moved the process forward, but the problem rages on.
In one sense, this exceedingly modest outcome was no surprise. From the outset, we were warned that this was just an "implementation" or "transitional" meeting; the big issues were not to be discussed. This is because at last year's meeting in Durban, the Parties decided on a three year schedule to negotiate an overarching agreement, and nothing in the climate negotiations happens until the last possible moment. The Durban timetable all but assured that incrementalism and procrastination would rule the day in Doha.
But in another sense, this summer vacation approach to the negotiations was utterly incomprehensible. The urgent need for action was there for all to see. Many delegates came with vivid, heart-rendering accounts of how climate change was already impacting their countries in ways their governments could not address. Not least, President Obama's negotiating team could point to this summer's searing, unprecedented drought in the Midwest, forest infernos in the Rockies, and of course, the over $70 billion worth of devastation inflicted by Superstorm Sandy.
If these calamities weren't a clear enough call to action, informed delegates arrived in Doha with three new hair-on-fire reports in their briefcases that put these impacts in larger context. In November, the global consultancy PriceWaterhouseCoopers and the International Energy Agency both issued papers showing that nothing short of heroic efforts will be necessary to reduce emissions enough to keep global temperature rise below the 3.6°F that most climate scientists believe is the outer bound of "safe" warming. Without such efforts, we'll likely see 7.2°F – 10.8°F of warming by the end of this century. The World Bank followed these assessments with its blockbuster Turn Down the Heat report, which described in appalling detail what a 7.2°F warmer world would actually be like. It's truly scary stuff.
Just as disappointing as the outcome in Doha was the role of the United States in bringing it about. When President Obama first took office, there were great expectations that he would bring about a new era American climate leadership. Instead, the US negotiating posture too often has been characterized by a reluctance to expend real political capital, a hypersensitivity to Congressional extremism, and an unwillingness to lead by example.
Still, there were good reasons to hope that Doha might be the place where the President would begin to fashion a more creative and ambitious negotiating strategy. After all, hadn't President Obama just handily won reelection over an (opportunistically) denialist opponent, and in the flush of victory, affirmed his intent to address the climate crisis in his Second Administration? Didn't superstorm Sandy just drive home the intolerable human costs of a significantly warmer planet in the starkest terms possible? With the election safely behind him and the devastation of Sandy laid out before him, was there ever a fiercer urgency than now?
It was not to be. On every critical issue, the Obama team did just enough to avoid being called out for blocking progress, far less than what was needed, and nowhere near what real leadership required. For example, the US negotiators refused to discuss how the US could ramp up its actions at home, despite the fact that the actions countries have agreed to take before 2020 are not nearly enough to limit warming to 3.6°F, and the US has committed to do much less than other developed countries. The US also made sure that developed countries would not provide any clarity on how they would ramp up climate assistance to developing countries to meet their collective pledge to provide $100 billion a year by 2020.
It has become fashionable to blame the UN process itself for the collective failure to craft an adequate international response to climate change. But the US performance in Doha cannot be attributed to a failure of international politics; it was plainly a failure of politics right here at home. Most of the blame, of course, lies with a Republican opposition that is contemptuous of science, heedless of risk, and beholden to the most regressive fossil fuel interests. But President bears much responsibility as well. Rather than using the power of the Presidency, his high public approval ratings and his peerless rhetorical gifts to change the political dynamics around climate change, he has simply taken the political space as he has found it.
President Obama has two critical opportunities to re-frame America's climate diplomacy in the coming months.
First, he must select a new Secretary of State with a clear sense of the overriding strategic importance of climate change to America's core interests, and the creativity and vision to lead the world towards more ambitious collective action.
Second and more importantly, he must use his State of the Union Address to discuss the stakes and impacts, and explain why an appropriate response is essential for our long-term prosperity and security. He should commit in no uncertain terms that climate change will be a signature priority in his Second Administration. And he should propose a suite of policy initiatives that can swiftly reduce our emissions, and give other nations confidence that we will not shirk our responsibilities.
Together, these actions would go a long way towards ensuring that our climate diplomacy is much more successful in the second Obama Administration than it was in the first.
Steve Herz is a Senior International Climate Attorney with the Sierra Club.
21 Responses to Dithering In Doha: We Need To Re-Frame The Politics Of Climate
It's time to consider bilateral talks with China, India, and a few of the other major emitters, to see if some progress can be made on issues like short lifetime GHGs as well as longer-lived pollutants. The current negotiations are too cumbersome and take too long.
I would suggest that FIRST we should ask them to present the Science the Provable Observable Science . . . that Anthropogenic Gorebull Warming is actually happening.
Of course they can't . . . because it does not exist.
Still the scam carries on . . . CO2 is a rare, benign gas that enables plants to grow . . . and if the entire USA sat in the dark for and did nothing for a year . . . it would change nothing. Anyone that is dumb enough to think that the frauds at the Un can adjust the Climate is smokin crack ! ! !
Why would the US be willing to make concessions in bilateral talks that it's not willing to make in multilateral talks? Progress on short lived gases is great, but the real problem remains how to get the us congress to admit the problem is serious and will require us to spend real money. If Obama did as Herz, suggested it might help the process.
"Second and more importantly, he must use his State of the Union Address to discuss the stakes and impacts, and explain why an appropriate response is essential for our long-term prosperity and security. He should commit in no uncertain terms that climate change will be a signature priority in his Second Administration. And he should propose a suite of policy initiatives that can swiftly reduce our emissions, and give other nations confidence that we will not shirk our responsibilities."
I'm not holding my breath on this one. When you talk about climate change as separate from our economic strength and recovery, then clearly you don't understand climate change and the role it is playing in our national and global demise. Our environment shouldn't take a backseat to the economy. Our environment IS the economy and is the key to rejuvenating our society and supplying jobs & opportunity.
Dale, you have a wonderful sense of humor. I think.
Until a few hundred thousand people show up in DC on the same day to demand action will our elected officials finally realize they have more to fear from us than losing campaign donations from oil companies and banks.
We know what the stakes are.
We know NOTHING else has gotten their attention so far.
Please make this happen. President's Day weekend by signing up now:
A good question, Paul, but it must be true that the degrees of freedom are greater for two parties than for 194. We also need concrete actions NOW, and if the US and China can agree on specific steps that will improve the situation vis-a-vis the status quo (like for short lived GHGs), then it shows that some constructive action is possible. Right now (and for the past 3 years it seems) virtually no progress has occurred at the International level. We can't afford that any more.
Dale, you get one crack at trying to be funny. Then, come back with some common sense or find a sandbox to play in.
In the US, it is still unprofitable and often a net money LOSER to install significant renewable energy development. And for the time being, let's ignore hyper expensive PV, either with or without enormous Federal subsidies that try to allow PV to be sold at grid prices (3 to 5 c/kw-hr). It's the wind, biomass and biogas, and geothermal that will deliver the GW-hr/yr that will allow pollution based natural gas and coal fired generation to be replaced. And heat pump systems – the way to eliminate modt natural gas usage in the US – are essentially beyond affordability for most Americans, especially when the major use for natural gas – residential and commercial building heat – is being subsidized by below the cost of production fracking based gas.
The approach to raise coal based electricity by 9 c/kw-hr and natural gas based electricity by 5 c/kw-hr ("carbon taxes") will be a political kiss of doom for any national politician who even proposes it, let alone gets it installed. And then it will be repealed if by some miracle it gets legislated…. And those are the prices needed to allow onshore wind, biogas, biomass and geothermal to be less expensive (less of a money-loser) – as almost all electricity generators can lose money for a while until the less monied generators go out of business in "market based" systems (that's what is happening with fracking sourced natural gas right now).
Odds are, this will not be controversial among the 194 nations at Doha. In fact, close to 50 of them already have Feed-in Tariff systems that allow that, or monopoly electric systems where differing prices for different generation techniques can be accomodated. But few of those countries have the awesome wind resource of the US….
The environmental community in this country as well as the NGO's that have sway in the enviro community have to get over their bizarre thinking that the only way massive quantities of renewable energy can be installed in a short period of time is with CO2 pollution fees and taxes. They (CO2 pollution taxes/equivalents to taxes) may serve other purposes (including assauging liberal guilt, raising the cost of living and lowering the standard of living and rate of consumption of stuff for MOST (= poor, middle class) people in this country) but they are about as useful as mammary glands on a bull for getting mass quantities of renewables installed at rates that are climatically meaningful.
Nice essay, but you are being far too kind to Obama, portraying him as passive and uninformed.
The evidence from the last four years suggests that Obama is beholden to the oil companies just as surely as if he were a Republican. He has protected their interests more effectively than a Republican would have, throwing us off the track by throwing occasional bones like lower gas mileage standards.
What Obama has refused to do is a long list, topped by promoting drilling on public lands and the Arctic, maintaining soldiers in the Middle East, and refusing to back a carbon fee of any kind.
Wake up, Sierra Club. Any change that occurs will be because the Democrats were forced by the people to act. And that won't happen until enough pressure is placed on the media to begin to tell the truth, and groups such as the Sierra Club put on a pair of pants.
I seemed to have missed the "re-framing" part of the article. Seems like you're just saying "Obama should care and act!". Re-framing, to me, especially in the context of these negotiations, would be about thinking differently. Or more precisely, reversing one key assumption.
These talks are attended by folks who are mis-taught by economists that reducing emissions is a first mover problem. That they're suckers if they act while others don't.
Re-framing here would be for people to clue in to how this "irrelevant truth" is a tragic distraction by theory. In the real world, there is profit and benefit to gained from actions that happen to also reduce emissions and we should all be racing to take advantage of opportunities, not absurdly stalling in hopes that others go first.
I think we need to have a fresh view on the reasons of the failure of the Climate conferences.
The approach by demanding every country to commit to a CO2 quota (or cap) looks logic, but , if we take some time to think about it, it becomes obvious that this approach cannot be successful, because of the big differences in CO2 emissions. CO2 emissions are directly linked to the wealth of the country , and so the differences are very huge.
Ie, according to the last figures by IEA, an average USA human being emits 18 tons of CO2 per year, when an average Indian emits 1,5 CO2 ton.
What would be the "fair" commitment for the next ten years: that USA reduces down to 12 CO2 tons (huge cut by minus 33%) and that India keeps under 3 CO2 ton per capita (+100% increase)?
Do you think the US Congress will accept this deal as fair? Do you think India will find "fair" to keep restricted at 3 tons while the USA can still emit 4 more times?
Negociating quotas is an impossible task, (not to speak of 200 countries negociating) let'us stop wasting our time on this.
More, the European CO2 market (ETS) doesn't wok actually, because the allowed quotas are too high, and the CO2 ton is at 6,5€, that is 8,5$, and in litre of oil it is nearly 2 cents of $, or 8 cents per gallon of oil.
In Europe this carbon price is far too low to finance any serious project of CO2 reduction, and it would be the same in the USA.
The lesson from the failure of the European CO2 market is that the real driver of change is the PRICE! When the carbon price is too low, nothing happens.
So the fresh idea for the climate conference is to negociate on a carbon price. This carbon price should be payed by the oil producer for every oil barrel, by the gaz producer for every gaz cubic meter, by the coal producer for every ton of coal.
This carbon price would be included in the price of the fossil fuel just when extracted.
This money should be collected by a World wide Climate Fund.
This carbon price has got 2 advantages:
* this price "percolates" through the process of production of every product and services, increasing the price of those with a lot of carbon inside, and favouring the alternatives with a lower carbon content; this makes decrease our CO2 consumption.
* it collects a lot of money for the Climate Fund. This money is needed for redistribution towards low income people, for giving them more money than needed by the carbon price. The money will be also used for funding adaptation projects for poor countries struggling against the global warming we rich people, are responsible of (CO2 emisions is directly connected to the personnal wealth, see the IEA figures, IEA has not been known as a communist organisation)
Last advantage of the negociation around a carbon price. This negociation is neutral. Every one will be hurt by the carbon price, the richer the more we have to pay, the poorer the less to pay.
Progressively increasing this carbon price will show our collective will to seriously reduce our CO2 emissions, as required by the scientific community.
I fully agree with you, the "reframing" part of the article is seriously missing.
Without modesty, the proposal I have just made following this comment, is a clear reframing approach; forget the quotas, it is the price (stupid)!
Yes, everyone will be hurt and few will be helped by this effective tax on CO2 pollution. And until you get to a price of around $81/ton of CO2 pollutant, it will STILL be less expensive to generate electricity with coal in most of the populated portions of the US. Ditto for coal's evil twin, natural gas.And raising gasoline prices by $1.30/gallon from this CO2 pollution fee is going to be REALLY popular, too…
But $81/ton of CO2 will pull a lot of money out of the US economy – around $450 billion/yr, largely out of poor and middle incomes. That means a lot less spending due to this defacto regressive sales tax on fossil fuel energy. Given the poor and insufficient amount of economic demand now in existence, that is totally not good.
There are a lot of Dales out there (and Chips) and they are all convinced that they are geniuses and so 'savvy' that they can spot a lying 'watermelon', UN-loving, 'warmist' scienterrific varmint at one hundred paces. One of the problems with capitalist pseudo-democracy is that they all have a vote.
You knew that nothing would occur as soon as you knew the Conference was to be held in Doha, home of the Qatari despotism, heaviest greenhouse emitters per capita and hydrocarbon peddlers to the world. The small island states protested, some delegates in tears, at the Qataris' sabotage of the talks. Where is the next meeting to be held-Riyadh?
No chance. The continuing refusal of the Hope Fiends to acknowledge the reality of Obamaismo has me completely befuddled.
Millions protested around the world at the destruction of Iraq in an illegal aggression based on known lies, and it made no difference at all.
Well said, Mike. The refusal of the Obamatons to face the facts is simply inexplicable. Fool me once, shame on you etc
Well said, Mike. The refusal of the Obamatons to face the facts is simply inexplicable. Fool me once, shame on you etc
Let us 're-frame' ourselves then we can all hang separately on the wall, next to all those other extinct species.


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Cheers to the [...]]]>
Thanks for a fabulous Fest!
Thanks to all who came out last Saturday for Go West Craft Fest! Mother's Day promises some extra special treats to look forward to on Sunday… Check out these Instagram photos of the event, and feel free to use #gowestcraftfest to share yours.
Cheers to the amazing crafting community that never ceases to inspire, the wonderful performers who shared their time and talent, and all the friendly faces who came out to appreciate them. And of course The Woodlands, our gorgeous venue, with dogwoods and azaleas in bloom.
Hope to see you there next time: October 1, 2016! (Vendors, we will update this newsletter when applications are available, sometime in mid July. You can also follow gowestcraftfest.com or the Go West facebook page for announcements.
VIX is open this Thursday and Friday from 11-7 and Saturday 10-6 for your Mother's Day shopping needs. There are plenty of treats for Moms, like photo frames, jewelry, pottery, candles, soaps, scents and more.
However, we'll be closed on Sunday May 8th to enjoy the holiday, so please plan accordingly. Have a great weekend!
Poster Artwork by Sarah Ryan (a Go West Vendor) sarahdrawsthings.com
Go West Craft Fest is quickly approaching, and we couldn't be more excited! We are planning a great show this Spring, among the cherry blossoms at The Woodlands, Saturday April 30 [...]]]>
Go West Craft Fest is Only 2 Weeks Away!
Go West Craft Fest is quickly approaching, and we couldn't be more excited! We are planning a great show this Spring, among the cherry blossoms at The Woodlands, Saturday April 30 11-5, rain dateMay 1.
Local wares handmade with care, by over 100 vendors. Find jewelry, pottery, stationery, prints and original artwork, clothing, bags, candles, bath & body products, children's items and so much more. Check out their creations on the event's Pinterest board (you might want to set aside some time for this one!)
Free live music and entertainment, fun for the whole family, and did I mention free? Here's the schedule:
11:00 Sing along with Ann from the Green Tambourine, Baltimore Avenue's excellent children's music studio
Free craft activities for children by the Natural Creativity Center and the University City Arts League. Face painting by Naja Meeks.
New this year is a special Kid's Craft section, with some very young creative makers showing their skills!
Oh, and there's FOOD too! Enjoy the season opener of Taco Angeleno, scrumptious vegan & vegetarian comfort food by Black Orchid, fresh nut-buttery fare by PB & Jams, frozen delectables byWeckerly's Ice Cream and the Li'l Pop Shop, and a selection of snacks and kick-ass coffee by the Satellite.
All in the Woodlands' 54-acre green space, picturesque and rich with history. Take a guided tour of the cemetery grounds and learn about some notable Philadelphians eternally residing there; tours begin at the Woodlands table at 12 and 3.
VIX will be closed the day of the Fest, though we'll show a selection of our wares in our booth. We hope to see you there!
One more quick scheduling note: we will be closed this coming Sunday, to attend one of our favorite events of the year: Sakura Sunday, Fairmount Park's cherry blossom festival and celebration of all things Japanese. It's a great way to ring in Spring, you should go if you can!
Go West Craft Fest: Apply Now for the Holiday Edition
Go West Craft Fest applications are now OPEN for the Holiday edition, on December 13from 10-4 at the Rotunda, 40th & Walnut in West Philadelphia. Interested vendors, click here for the online application and more information. We are excited to be returning to the Rotunda, with something new this year…
This year, we intend to use the majestic, sunlit Sanctuary space at the Rotunda, in addition to the main room we have occupied in years past. This historic former church, with its cavernous domed ceiling (80 feet in diameter!), will allow us to include more than twice the number of vendors as last year. Due to its unrestored condition, we had to file paperwork with the city in order to get permission to hold an event in the space. The bureaucratic wheels are in motion, and with any luck, we'll be able to secure the permit and host our biggest, best Holiday Fest yet!
We look forward to perusing all of the vendor applications and being able to feature handmade holiday gifts galore, by a much greater number of Philadelphia's talented artists and crafters. Show us what you've got!
New Garden by Greensgrow
Our once weed-infested sidewalk garden got a transformation from our wonderful neighbors atGreensgrow West, 4912 Baltimore Avenue. They put in pretty, hardy species like rudbeckia, salvia, sedum, coreopsis and catmint, that have a good chance of withstanding the gritty conditions of an urban sidewalk. Thanks to Tyriq and Lee of Greensgrow for their thoughtful choices and hard work!
New Sunday Hours
At last, we are happy to offer Sunday hours! Starting October 25, VIX will be open 11-3 onSundays for your shopping convenience. Stop by and check out the many new gift ideas, like our expanded kids' selection, photo frames, stained glass suncatchers, kitchen towels, jewelry and more…
The current hours are: Tuesday through Friday 11-7, Saturday 10-6, and Sunday 11-3 (starting 10/25), closed Mondays. We will extend the hours during the holiday season, but for the best selection it's smart to shop now!
But first, a timely new [...]]]>
Happy September!
VIX is back open after our August break. Besides traveling and visiting far-flung family, we also attended the NYNOW show, where we found lots of new American-made treasures. Look for new stationery, soaps, scents and children's gifts in the weeks and months to come.
But first, a timely new item…
Pope Francis T-Shirt
Divinely inspired by both His Holiness's upcoming Philadelphia visit and the 1980s dance hit "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood (and its associated merchandising), we present our "Frankie Say Relax" tee. Printed locally on organic cotton tees in immaculate white, the tee's reverse side reads "Frankie Goes to Philly 2015". We hope it will alleviate some of the stress caused by the crowds and road closures Philly will have to endure on the weekend of September 26th. Available online, at Philadelphia Independents and at VIX, when you wanna come?
SALE on West Philly Nail Colors
Also coming this Fall is a redesigned West Philly Nail Colors collection by Philly Loves Lacquer, featuring larger bottles, new labels and some fresh shades. To prepare, all V1 polishes are ON SALE, $9 each or 3 for $24 (regularly $12 each). This includes all bottles in stock now, including the newest additions: Bartram's Gardens, Dahlak Paradise and Brown Sugar Bakery. As always, the lovely and long-lasting polishes are free of toxins like formaldehyde, toluene and phthalates. Available in-store or online; the 3-piece price will be adjusted after purchase.
Mini-VIX now at Saturn Club
If you're near the Penn campus, you can now pick up a VIX gift at the Saturn Club hair salon, 3426 Sansom Street. We've stocked their shelves with an assortment of hand-picked jewelry, home wares, stationery and prints.
Things have changed on that block since a decade ago – back then, Emily sold gifts in this very same space, when it was The Black Cat, the quirky shop once connected to the White Dog Cafe. Though in a different way, we're so happy to bring unique gift shopping back to our old stomping grounds. Thanks so much to the folks at the Saturn Club for the opportunity – please stop by and see them!
New Neighbor: Snapdragon Flowers
We are eagerly awaiting the addition of Snapdragon Flowers to our block, slated for an October opening at 5015 Baltimore Avenue (formerly Gush Gallery). Operated by long-time Cedar Park residents Tolani Lawrence-Lightfoot & David A. Hatch, Snapdragon will offer fresh and preserved floral arrangements for special events or everyday enjoyment, featuring an array of wild, foraged, local and sustainably grown blooms, pods and greenery. Gifts and cards with a botanical bent will round out the shop's offerings.
Before Snapdragon opens in October, you can check out their offerings at two upcoming events: the Dollar Stroll and Go West Craft Fest…
Go West Craft Fest: the Vendor List is Up
Go West Craft Fest returns to the Woodlands on September 19 from 11-5 (rain dateSeptember 20), with 70+ local vendors, live music, food from local eateries, children's activities, and performances by Tangle Movement Arts' "tinycircus". Find unique, handmade gifts like jewelry, ceramics, stationery, prints, home wares, chidren's items, knitted & crocheted accessories, and more. Check out the vendor list, including some new faces and GWCF veterans as well. And social media users: please join the event on Facebook, and feel free to share and invite your friends.
We are so excited for our 8th Fest at the Woodlands, always a wonderful, community-building event, fun for the whole family.
Dollar Stroll, September 17
This year's second Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll is (re)scheduled for Thursday, September 17. From 5:30 to 8:30, stroll the Avenue from 43rd to 51st street and enjoy $1 specials from merchants and eateries, as well as live music and dance performances. VIX will offer our hand-printed "West Philly" note cards and stickers, as well as some new surprises… see you at the Stroll!
We're back open with regular hours (Tuesday–Friday 11-7, Saturday 10-6) after a relaxing and productive break. We've got some new products arriving and new ideas up our sleeve, including a project on our old Sansom Street stomping grounds, so stay tuned… but in the meantime…
Applications are OPEN for Go West Craft Fest!
Crafty vendors of the Philly region can apply now for the Fall edition of Go West Craft Fest. We're returning to the Woodlands on September 19 from 11-5 (rain date September 20) along with 100 local vendors, live music, food from local eateries, and performances by Tangle Movement Arts' "tinycircus". There is no fee to apply, and the last day to apply is August 7th. Click here for the vendor application and more information.
Also, please keep in mind that VIX will be closed from August 16-25. We hope you are having a great summer!
Thanks for a Great Stroll!
Thanks to everyone who came out for last week's Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll. We greeted many new faces that evening, and sold lots of hand-printed dollar items and other unique gifts. Special thanks to the folks at Fox29 for the interview on live TV! Quincy Harris interviewed a handful of Baltimore Avenue business owners to promote the Stroll. Unfortunately the segment wasn't posted online, but it was a great little look around the shop – what a fortunate opportunity to get the word out about what West Philly has to offer.
If you missed it, you'll have another chance to Stroll on September 17, from 5:30-8:30. Please note, this date has been changed from the one on June's publicity materials, in order to avoid conflict with the Pope's visit during the following week. Hope to see you then!
Summer Breaks
From July 3-13, VIX will be closed for some vacation and some renovation. We'll reopen with our regular hours on the 14th. We'll take another break in August, from the 16th to the 25th, to attend a trade show and visit family. We hope you also have a chance for some rest and recreation this summer.
Go West Craft Fest is Only 1 Week Away!
Go West Craft Fest is just one week away! We've lined up 100 amazing artisans for April 25's fest at The Woodlands. They'll show their wondrous works from 11-5, like jewelry, accessories, ceramics, home accents, soaps & candles, toys, terrariums, prints, stationery and much more.
(For some sneak peeks at what they're working on, follow @gowestcraftfest on Instagram and search for #GoWestCraftFest).
Keep Mom in mind while browsing; Mother's Day is May 10th.
Food will be available from our lovely local eateries: Aksum Mediterranean Cafe, Taco Angeleno, Black Orchid (vegetarian comfort food), Kung Fu Hoagies, Satellite Cafe, Weckerly's Ice Cream and the Lil' Pop Shop.
Here's the schedule of performances:
And the schedule of Woodlands tours:
Kids can enjoy free craft activities provided by the University City Arts League and the 34th Woodland Rangers Scout troop. There will also be free face painting (time TBA).
The Woodlands is easily accessible by SEPTA – take any "green line" trolley [except the 10] to 40th Street. The trolleys run underground east of 40th Street, and it's a free interchange to & from the Market/Frankford and Broad Street lines at City Hall. Street parking is also available. (Please note, the grounds of the Woodlands is closed to vehicle traffic during the Fest.)
Though we are hoping for great weather, the Fest will be moved to the 26th in case of rain. We will send an email and update our social media outlets if this does happen.
Also, a super-special Thank You to the good folks at GRID magazine for highlighting Go West Craft Fest in the current issue, along with 2 other great Philly craft events this Spring. Thanks also to all of the advertisers who supported the special magazine section. Stop by the GRID booth at the Fest, and pick up a copy of Philly's free guide to our local living economy.See the whole issue online here.
Special Saturday Store Hours
A quick note: VIX will be open 10-4 tomorrow, Saturday, April 18 (closing early so we can attend a wedding).
And VIX will be closed Saturday, April 25 — come see us at Go West Craft Fest!
What [...]]]>
Go West Craft Fest is going to be amazing this spring! We've lined up 100 local crafters (some new faces as well as past favorites) for April 25's fest at The Woodlands. With local food, live music and Tangle's TinyCircus, this is shaping up to be the best Fest yet!
What will make it even greater is its upcoming feature in GRID magazine, the Philadelphia region's free guide to all things local and sustainable. GRID's April issue will include a 16-page Local Craft feature, all about Go West Craft Fest and 2 other Spring events, Crafty Balboa and Art Star Craft Bazaar. Its 30,000+ readers will find highlights on selected vendors and performers, as well as general information about all of these community-building events. We are so glad and grateful for this HUGE opportunity to spread the word about Philly's thriving craft scene!
The deadline is Friday, March 6 to be included in this issue, which will hit the streets in early April. We highly encourage participating vendors (of any of the 3 shows), local eateries, arts organizations and entrepreneurs to reserve space in this insert. GRID and its readers are avid supporters of small, creative, independent businesses, which is why VIX has supported them since their start in 2009. Find more details here about this unique media partnership, including (very reasonable) ad rates and contact information.
We can't wait to see the finished product, which will reach throughout the Philly region (and online) and will also be distributed at all 3 events. Don't miss this unique opportunity to get your business noticed by craft devotees, small business supporters and festival-goers.
See you at the Fest!
You can still check out our relatively new [online shop] (https://squareup.com/market/vix-emporium), containing all 21 shades [...]]]>
Just a quick note that since schools are closed today, we'll be closed too, to dig our way out of the snow that has blanketed the region. We hope you are staying safe and warm today.
You can still check out our relatively new [online shop] (https://squareup.com/market/vix-emporium), containing all 21 shades of West Philly nail polish, gift certificates, and some picks from around the shop. We add new items often, so please check back regularly.
And a note for local crafters: applications for April 25's Go West Craft Fest are open through this Friday, so if you haven't applied, why not do it today? The Fest is getting a lot of buzz thanks to our partnership with GRID magazine…
Happy Snow Day!
Well… Turns out that last night's blizzard, predicted at anywhere from 6 to 14 inches, turned out to be a mere dusting in our area (while areas farther north were hit much harder). So although Philadelphia's schools and many workplaces are closed, VIX will be open regular hours, 11-7 today. If [...]]]>
We also have plenty of Girl Scout cookies for sale, if you crave a treat to go with your hot chocolate. We have 7 varieties available, including the ever-popular Samoas/Caramel Delites (recently designated as the cookie that best characterizes West Philly).
Crafty vendors can also apply for the Go West Craft Fest, April 25 at The Woodlands. This Spring's Fest will again feature 80+ of the Philly region's finest art & craft, live music, food by local eateries, and acrobatic performances by the Tinycircus. We can't wait to go through all the applications and check out all of the amazing creations.
Have a great day!


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Not sure if this is the right place and sorry if it's not.
I took over a blog for a company when the old administrator left a few years ago. As I was all ready with the company I had my own admin rights on the blog and knew the passwords to do everything in regards to it, or so I thought.
Today I tried to install a plug-in, nothing fancy and it brought up a "Connection Information Screen" with log-in information for Hostname, Username and a Password field. The user is one that doesn't exist on the server and I'm not sure what exactly is going on.
I've never actually installed plugins before so I'm not even sure what the username or password should be. I've tried searching the forums but I can't seem to find anything.
I also looked in the phpadmin databases associated with the blog and for some reason the blog name is different on the backend of cpanel and the phpadmin database name.
All I want to do is install a plug-in and I'm not sure how to go about it with the username issues (or the differing database names). Help?


text: Posted January 14, 2013 I remember watching a game where the other team called a time out right before Brady got the snap off and he got mad and spiked the ball as hard as he could in the direction of the ref. And yet, Cam is the immature one. Please honey boo boo child Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


text:
In This Section
Journal Forum
A Meta-Analysis of High Resolution Audio Perceptual Evaluation - June 2016
2 comments
Synthetic Reverberator - January 1960
3 comments
Sound Board: High-Resolution Audio - October 2015
4 comments
AES E-Library
A Listening Test System for Automotive Audio - Part 2: Initial Verification
This paper describes two listening tests that were performed to provide initial validation of an auralisation system (see Part 1) to mimic the acoustics of a car interior. The validation is based on a comparison of results from an in-car listening test and another test using the auralisation system and recordings of the stimuli used for the in-car test. The music samples for the test were chosen from a database of various CODEC examples from a previous extensive ITU test to validate the ITU-R BS.1387-1 standard.
Click to purchase paper as a non-member or login as an AES member. If your company or school subscribes to the E-Library then switch to the institutional version. If you are not an AES member and would like to subscribe to the E-Library then Join the AES!
This paper costs $33 for non-members and is temporarily free for AES members.
Learn more about the AES E-Library
Start a discussion about this paper!


text:
Mother of battered baby traced, two more arrested
Top Stories
- J&K: Five injured as Pak troops resort to heavy mortar shelling along LoC
- Two women killed, 10 injured in Puri Rath Yatra stampede
- Multi-storey building collapses in West Delhi, many feared trapped
- PM Narendra Modi calls maiden meet of NDA parties ahead of Monsoon session
- Drone shot down by Pakistan 'China made': Chinese state media
The battered baby case turned murkier with police today claiming that her mother, who has finally been traced, was tricked into a second marriage allegedly by a woman and her three children were handed over to other people.
Two women were arrested following investigations into the case yesterday for their alleged role in tricking the 22-year-old mother of Falak, who was admitted to AIIMS after a teenaged girl battered her, into the marriage.
The arrested have been identified as Laxmi, who allegedly handed over two-year-old Falak to one Rajkumar who kept the girl with his teenaged girlfriend, and Kanta Choudhry who "conspired" with another woman Saroj. The latter is yet to be apprehended.
"We are treating the mother of Falak as a victim and not as an accused. Her three children from the first marriage were handed over to separate persons by the trio.
"The mother was tricked into a marriage by the accused who assured her that they were taking good care of her children and she could reunite with them if her second husband agrees," Chhaya Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South), told reporters.
Laxmi managed to persuade the mother to come to Delhi from her residence in Bihar's Muzaffarpur. The mother was fed up with her marriage as her husband is an alleged criminal.
The case which came to light in January last week had its twists and turns with police arresting four persons in a related case. The father of teenager, who brought the child to hospital in a battered condition, was charged with abandoning her while a couple and another women were arrested for forcing her into prostitution.
Falak has been battling for life at the AIIMS hospital, were she was brought on January 18 with severe head injury, both her arms broken, bite marks all over her body and her cheeks branded with hot iron.
... contd.


text:
So the MK7GTI is 700 dollars and the MK7R is 800. The MK6 is still 600 for a tune.
Why the increase?
Type: Posts; User: Voyles
So the MK7GTI is 700 dollars and the MK7R is 800. The MK6 is still 600 for a tune.
Why the increase?
side note: Most folks don't know what a RO RO is. It's a Roll On Roll Off ship. I hardly see it mentioned in forums.
I could see it being 5 days to rail or truck them to non port locations.
Untitled by Voyles, on Flickr
Still have this collecting dust..
make an offer
I did mine last year and it took a a couple hours as well. I removed the air injection pump and pryed the plastic around the AC pump.
Before I stopped taking down mileage..
<img src="http://badges.fuelly.com/images/sig-us/56181.png" width="500" height="63"...
Last year I had my large fan go out. My small one sounded like a jet engine as well. The large fan controls the small one. It was recommended to change both of them.
I ordered both from ECS. It...
I have a picture with gold
First wash of the year by Voyles, on Flickr
I don't have my R32 this year, but you can see my pretty face there!
This is one of my favorite shows the the year. Nothing like kicking back in the shade and talking about dubs with a passion.:P
No vag com setting have to be altered. Since it's tied in via relay, they can be turned on at any time.
I have since parted ways with the R. I can tell you that I tapped into one of the higher watt fuses. Never gave me a problem. Only thing I ran into was having crappy HID bulbs...
I bought a short 14mm bit that I could fit a wrench on and used some engineering to break them loose. I will take a picture of it later. Heck, i haven't used it since I did my rear brakes like two...
I ran the slotted/ drilled rotors for a few years with HPS pads and I never had a problem. My only suggestion is to make sure you have the right triple square BIT that will work to get the rear...
Still here
filter by Voyles, on Flickr
filter2 by Voyles, on Flickr
filter by Voyles, on Flickr
filter2 by Voyles, on Flickr


text:
Let $(\Omega,\Sigma)$ be a measurable space. Denote by $ba(\Sigma)$ the set of all bounded and finitely additive measures on $(\Omega,\Sigma)$ (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ba_space for a definition). Is the set of all probability measures $\mathcal{M}_1(\Sigma)\subseteq ba(\Sigma)$ weak*-closed? The weak*-topology on $ba(\Sigma)$ is the weakest topology such that the maps $l_Z:ba(\Sigma)\rightarrow \mathbb{R}$, mapping $\mu\mapsto \int_\Omega Z d\mu$, are continuous for all bounded and measurable maps $Z:\Omega\rightarrow \mathbb{R}$.
No. The most elementary case is $\Omega=\mathbb N$ and $\Sigma$ the power set. A non-fixed ultrafilter is a good example of a finitely-additive but not countably-additive measure: each set has either measure $0$ or $1$. But such a thing is a limit of fixed ultrafilters, that is, countably additive zero-one measures. Indeed, it is the limit along that very ultrafilter.
Nik seems to think this is too elementary. But there is no reason this should be clear to a non-specialist.


text:
I have been trying to grasp the basics of Support Vector Machines, and downloaded and read many online articles. But still am not able to grasp it.
I would like to know, if there are some
- nice tutorial
- sample code which can be used for understanding
or something, that you can think of, and that will enable me to learn SVM Basics easily.
PS: I somehow managed to learn PCA (Principal Component Analysis). BTW, you guys would have guessed that I am working on Machine Learning.


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({{vm.compare.excursionCount}} of 3)
Starting At:
Port:Half Moon Cay, The Bahamas
Duration:1 Hours
Activity Level: Moderate
May involve varying amounts of activity (long walks, rough terrain, basic water play. May not be recommended for guests with physical limitations. Comfortable, sturdy shoes recommended.
Minimum Age:
6 Years
The Best Price Guarantee
Find a better price for any excursion we offer and we will refund you 110% of the price difference!*
Enjoy an educational encounter with the southern stingrays that make Half Moon Cay their home.
Minimum Age:
6 Years
Enjoy an educational encounter with the southern stingrays that make their home at Half Moon Cay.
On this exciting excursion you will:
Note: Minimum age is 6 years old and guests must know how to swim.
Mask, snorkel, safety vest and aqua shoes are provided. Changing areas and restroom facilities are also available.
Many of the shore excursions and watersport rentals on Half Moon Cay require that you sign a waiver release form administered by the Tour Operator. Where required, the waivers will be provided prior to tour departure at the meeting point on the island or at the watersports huts prior to rental.
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text:
Mediterranean Three Bean Salad
Total Time
Prep 20 mins
Cook 0 mins
I made this after being inspired by a wonderful salad served at our favorite local Mediterranean eatery and wanted to be able to make such an easy, healthy and delicious salad at home. You can use fresh, frozen, or canned corn, as long as you adjust the preparation as needed - if frozen, thaw before adding to salad; if canned, drain and rinse before adding. I am labelling servings as a side dish - if you want to serve as an entree, adjust ingredients accordingly.
Ingredients Nutrition
- 1 (15 ounce) can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15 ounce) can butter beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup corn
- 1 large tomatoes, chopped
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1⁄2 green pepper, chopped
- 1⁄2 cucumber, peeled, seeded & chopped
- 1 cup parsley or 1 cup cilantro, chopped
- 1⁄4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lemon, juice of
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1⁄2 teaspoon cumin
- salt and pepper, to taste
- Combine kidney beans, butter beans, black beans, corn, tomato, onion, green pepper, cucumber, and parsley in a large bowl. Mix well.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, cumin, salt and pepper to taste.
- Pour dressing over salad and toss to coat.
Most Helpful
We enjoyed this healthy bean salad for lunch today. I used the cilantro option. DH and I both thought it needed a little more zip, so we added a splash of red wine vinegar to each of our individual servings. I'll enjoy this for lunch tomorrow. Thanks!
I love bean salads-it's the first salad I ever learned to make. Subbed sundried toms
for fresh and a red bell for green. We liked the cumin in the dressing because usually
the bean salad I make has Italian seasoning. A scattering of cotija would have been good
on the salad but alas had none on hand. Will make again in the summer when tomatoes and
especially heirloom tomatoes are in season and plentiful. Reviewed for Veg Tag/February.
A delicious & different three bean salad! I like the colorful presentation & think it would be a nice potluck salad. I made mine early in the day & after marinating the flavors really shined. Thank you for sharing the recipe! :-)


text:
Amazon.com Review
--Jimmy Kimmel
"Reading Adam Carolla is akin to having a horrible illness. Alone with your thoughts, you struggle with whether you want to even go on living. When you're done, you're a stronger, better person."
--Alec Baldwin
"If you're a man, read this book. If you're a man who wears turtlenecks, wise up. Nobody thinks that looks good."
--Seth MacFarlane
"I don't know this guy from Adam, but Carolla's humor—fearlessly crass, shamelessly honest and irresistibly funny—sucks out like liposuction the layers of fatty pride to expose the often warped and wounded psyche buried deep within the modern American male."
--Ken Burns
"If comedy books were big-breasted porn stars, In Fifty Years We'll All Be Chicks would be Christy Canyon."
--Bill Simmons, ESPN columnist and bestselling author of The Book of Basketball


text:
Ecclestone Hid $5 Million Payment to Gribkowsky, Adviser Says
Formula One Chief Executive Officer Bernie Ecclestone ordered a secret $5 million payment to former Bayerische Landesbank Chief Risk Officer Gerhard Gribkowsky, his adviser on the transfer said.
"Ecclestone told me to transfer $5 million of his money to Mr. Gribkowsky by using a special company so his name wouldn't appear," Andre Favre, who worked as an adviser to Ecclestone, told a Munich court at Gribkowsky's bribery trial. "All Ecclestone told me was that he owed Gribkowsky the money."
Favre said he made the payment to the banker through a Panama-based company named Lewington Invest, which was bought for $2,000 or $3,000 by a law firm in Geneva in 2007 on behalf of Ecclestone.
Prosecutors charged Gribkowsky, who managed Munich-based BayernLB's interest in the Formula One racing series, with accepting bribes, breach of trust and tax evasion. They claim he received $44 million in bribes to facilitate the sale of the bank's 47 percent stake in the Formula One to CVC Capital Partners Ltd.
Gribkowsky demanded $50 million from Ecclestone as a reward for approving the deal and threatened to disclose possible tax violations by the Bambino family trust run by Ecclestone's then wife, prosecutors said. Gribkowsky denies the charges.
BayernLB acquired the Formula One stake after the 2002 bankruptcy of Leo Kirch's media group. Gribkowsky clashed with Ecclestone and sued him in a London court over corporate-governance rules the Formula One chief had changed to limit the lender's influence. Ecclestone wanted to push BayernLB out and saw a chance when CVC showed interest, prosecutors said in the indictment.
Ecclestone testified in November that he saw no "alternative" to making payments to Gribkowsky as he feared that Gribkowsky might disclose information to U.K. tax authorities about the family trust that might be "very expensive" for him.


text:
Rowing Machine class works upper-body strength on indoor ergometers; Scull Rowing teaches fundamental moves
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Naperville Kayak
Float on the waters of downtown Naperville's Paddleboat Quarry in a kayak
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Upper Limits Rock Climbing Gym
Climbers of all experience levels learn to scale the rocks in this 20,000-square-foot climbing gym
$49 for a Mid-Day, Happy Hour, or Sunset Cruise for Two from Nauti Cat Cruises (up to an $80 Value)
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Atop the largest commercial sailing catamaran on the Great Lakes, passengers take in the beautiful views and enchanting scents of the bay
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Offshore Adventures
Daytime or sunset Lake Michigan cruises delight with views of the Chicago skyline; passengers can bring their own drinks and playlists
One or Two Full-Day Kayak Rentals with Beginner Land-Based Lessons from Kayak Morris (Up to 52% Off)
Kayak Morris
On-land lesson covers safety and essential strokes before students pilot craft on a nearby beginner waterway for the rest of the day
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Pontoon boats cruise leisurely up and down the Chicago River on a waterfront tour; see Navy Pier fireworks; bring your own food and drinks
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Enjoy a day of river floating and an afternoon at the park, basketball, slip n' slide, volleyball, and an all-you-can-eat taco bar
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Passengers cruise the Chicago River on a luxury pontoon or electric boat
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Glide across the water with a simple pedaling motion on a Hobie Eclipse standup pedal-board, and further explore the waters on a paddleboard
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Fuzzy fleeces, soft feathers, and bristly hides rub against hands at a petting zoo where kids can also ride a pony and milk a cow
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Raging Buffalo Wakeboard School
Lessons begin with instruction in balance and form on dry land before instructors take students to the water for a half-day wake session
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Float on the waters of downtown Naperville's Paddleboat Quarry in a kayak, and learn basic kayaking techniques
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PADI instructors let students try out equipment or lead classroom, pool, and open-water instruction for open-water certification
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Rafting trip includes roundtrip transport, instruction, and white-water rafting down the scenic St. Joseph's River with a stop for dinner
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Renters can choose to cruise the Fox River atop a stable standup paddleboard or sitting on a single-person or tandem kayak
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At Burnham Harbor, board a 34-foot yacht for a nautical adventure on Lake Michigan complete with BYO food and drinks and skyline views
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text:
National Running Day + Global Running Day = Celebrate All Month!
Use code: RUNALLMONTH for 15% off select races.
Read recent articles to keep pace with us
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Things are heating up in Texas and longer distance races are approaching the rear view mirror as the mercury is on the rise. But don't let that stop you from training!
Get out and run on the Luckiest Day of the year.
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Got Sleeves? Check out the FFF5K shirt now!
We are sure you see them, they are everywhere! And if you haven't participated yet, why the hell not?


text:
Checked into this clean Courtyard by Marriott. Location was perfect for flying out of Clearwater airport. The location is also convenient to many shopping establishments and a short drive to the beach. The shuttle to the airport was free and prompt which was a nice amenity for us. The hotel is very clean. The business centre could use some attention, two computers were not working and when I sat down at the third one the screen went off. Normally with my laptop this isn't an issue but when you need a printer it is nice if the computers work. The room itself was clean and had what we needed including comfortable clean beds. There was nothing in this hotel that stood out and screamed "WoW" but there was also nothing that screamed "don't stay here" either.
- Reservation Options:
- TripAdvisor is proud to partner with Booking.com, Hotwire, Priceline, Marriott, Expedia, Hotels.com, Travelocity and Odigeo so you can book your Courtyard St. Petersburg Clearwater reservations with confidence. We help millions of travelers each month to find the perfect hotel for both vacation and business trips, always with the best discounts and special offers.
- Also Known As:
- Courtyard By Marriott St. Petersburg Clearwater Hotel Clearwater
- Courtyard St Petersburg Clearwater
- Courtyard Clearwater
- Clearwater Courtyard
- Clearwater Marriott


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Angels & Demons
by Dan Brown
Mass Market Paperback
220 used & new
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well done, but take with liberal doses of salt.
March 25 2004
This review is from:
Angels & Demons (Mass Market Paperback)
If you liked the Da Vinci Code, you will love this book also. It has a great conspiracy, this time concerning the Illuminati, lots of artistic and historical detail, and also features Robert Langdon, the intrepid art historian from Cambridge.
Summoned to Switzerland by a strange fax he receives in the middle of the night from the director of CERN, Langdon learns of the murder of Leonardo Vetra, one of CERN's brilliant scientists, who had been working with his daughter, Victoria, on a way to harness anti-matter. Antimatter has astonishing characteristics; a tiny sample about the size of a grain of sand is hypothesized to hold "as much energy as about two hundred metric tons of rocket fuel." They have succeeded in suspending the violent substance in a vacuum. They learn to their horror that a vial of it has been stolen and hidden in the Vatican; it will explode when the battery pack keeping the material suspended runs out. There seems to be a conspiracy of Illuminati supporters to destroy the church. The pope has just died (killed as we later learn - I'll try not to give away too much), and the cardinals have all been called together to elect a new pope.
The Illuminati were supposedly a group of science-minded rationalists who abhorred the church's spiritual basis for reality, hence their desire to obliterate the church. (If I told you what was really going on, it would ruin the suspense, of course.) Supposedly, Italy's most enlightened men of the sixteenth century, physicists, astronomers, and mathematicians banded together to share their concerns about the inaccuracies of the church's teachings. "They feared that the church's monopoly on 'truth' threatened academic enlightenment around the world. They founded the world's first scientific think tank, calling themselves 'the enlightened ones,' " i.e., the Illuminati. Hunted by the church, they were forced to maintain extreme secrecy, but they spread the word through codes and messages and met regularly at a secret location called the Church of Illumination. Lucifer, in Latin, means bringer of light or illuminator.
There is some interesting history of iconography. U.S. currency is supposedly covered with Illuminati symbola. The pyramid on the back of a dollar bill is an occult symbol representing "a convergence upward, toward the ultimate source of Illumination. The eye above it, also emblazoned on Masonic lodges around the world - the Masons were thought to be offshoots of the Illuminati - represented the Illuminati's ability to infiltrate and watch all things. "The shining triangle represents enlightenment and is also the Greek letter delta, which is the mathematical symbol for change." The U.S. Great Seal is thus a call for enlightened, all-seeing change and the wording under the pyramid, Novus Ordo Seculorum, means new secular order. Take all this with liberal doses of salt.
Other pieces of delicious trivia include Pope Pius's emasculation of the male form in statues. In 1857, he decided that the accurate representation of the male form "might incite lust inside the Vatican. So he got a chisel and mallet and hacked off the genitalia of every single male statue inside Vatican City. He defaced works by Michelangelo, Bramante, and Bernini [who plays a very important role in this tale]. Plaster fig leaves were used to patch the damage. Hundreds of sculptures had been emasculated. Langdon had often wondered if there was a huge crate of stone penises someplace."
Langdon explains how the church pictured "satanic cults as devil-worshiping fiends. . .yet Satanists historically were educated men who stood as adversaries to the church," called Shaitan, an Islamic term meaning adversary. "The rumors of satanic black-magic animal sacrifices and the pentagram ritual were nothing but lies spread by the church as a smear campaign against their adversaries. Over time, opponents of the church, wanting to emulate the Illuminati, began believing the lies and acting them out. Thus, modern Satanism was born."
Langdon uses his knowledge of art history to locate the lair where the assassin who has been hired to kill off the four most likely candidates to the papacy is hiding, and has squirreled away the love interest (typical).
Taken with a tablespoon of salt, the story goes down delectably. For those wishing to wander down the path to paranoia, see
[...] Rationalists would find the Mason history more illuminating at [...]
Dark Waters
by Lee Vyborny
14 used & new
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating little known story
March 25 2004
This review is from:
Dark Waters (Hardcover)
No one is quite sure when Admiral Rickover decided the Navy needed a small nuclear-powered submarine that could drive along the deepest depths of the ocean and be used for a variety of missions. The civilian world had been using deep-sea submersibles for some time, but it was not until the Thresher accident that everyone realized the need for a vessel that could remain underwater at the deepest depths for very long periods of time. It was developed and built under conditions of extreme secrecy and was never even designated a warship. It had a variety of bizarre features, including tires on the bottom of the hull that would literally permit it to drive along the bottom, and sideways thrusters fore and aft that allowed it to hover in one exact position.
Lee Vyborny was one of the original crew members on the tiny NR-1, a sub that contained a midget nuclear reactor, which developed a mere 130 horsepower, of which only 60 could be used for propulsion. The crew quarters were tiny, and there was no stateroom for the commander, who would usually sleep on the floor next to the control panel. The reactor was designed so it could be operated by one man because the crew never exceeded eight people, usually only four on duty at any given time.
In an uncharacteristic mistake, Rickover tried to keep the cost of development and building down and required that as many of the ship's components as possible be purchased off-the-shelf. He was under the mistaken impression that the commercial deep sea industry was well developed and the parts standardized. At the same time, he insisted on testing these parts under the most extreme conditions. They had never been designed for the role he intended, and the result was costly failures and time spent to develop alternatives. The early computer they used was a midget and capable of only fourteen simultaneous operations, in contrast to the original PC, which could do many thousands at once.
Rickover's presence was ubiquitous. Everyone was suitably cowed, but he knew the bureaucracy well and how to manipulate them. The story of the two dead mice is illustrative. A habitability team was due for an inspection. Their job was to verify that a new ship was liveable. The NR-1 had so many discomforts for the crew, Rickover knew he might be in trouble, so he sent out an aide to find two dead mice and to hide them in the boat. The habitability team was delighted to find a dead mouse, thinking they would be able to reprimand the famous admiral. Instead, they were the ones on the receiving end. He told them they had done a terrible job and didn't belong in the Navy. "I know there were two dead mice on that boat," he shouted, "I bought them! You only found one! Get out of here!"
When lambasted by the General Accounting Office for the NR-1's cost overruns and asked to explain the excess, Rickover replied with a sarcastic letter, reprinted in full in the book, suggesting their analysis was similar to a review of Lady Chatterly's Lover by Field and Stream magazine. The letter concluded, "A cursory review of the subject report leads me to conclude that its authors, likewise, lack comprehension in the manner of accomplishing research and development. Therefore, I believe no useful purpose would be served by detailed comments on my part."
In order to withstand the enormous pressures at depths to which the little sub was expected to go, the hull had to be perfectly round. The twelve-and-a-half-foot diameter hull could be out of round by no more than 1/16th of an inch. That required special manufacturing processes. The crew had to undergo special psychological tests to see whether they could stand being cooped up in tiny spaces for long periods. Submariners who had been successful at resisting the stresses of a regular submarine wound up in fistfights after just a few days when tested under the conditions expected on the NR-1.
The boat was expected to remain under water indefinitely, but practical considerations limited the length of the voyages: food and waste. The ship had no galley, so the crew subsisted on TV dinners purchased in large quantities and kept frozen until they were needed, and when the waste tank was full, they had to surface.
Ironically, the NR-1 has outlasted larger and more famous mega-submarines. According to the author, it continues to conduct classified missions in addition to being a valuable resource for many universities and research institutes for tamer exploratory searches of the ocean's depths.
The Brethren
by John Grisham
144 used & new
4.0 out of 5 stars
Just good fun. Not to be taken seriously
March 25 2004
This review is from:
The Brethren (Hardcover)
Grisham has to be one of the most cynical authors writing legal fiction today. Everyone is corrupt, thinking only of himself, and money rules.
The "Brethren" are three ex-judges who have been incarcerated in a minimum security federal prison for a variety of avaricious crimes. While in prison, they procure the services of Trevor, a greedy little lawyer who agrees to act as the go-between in a dirty scheme to extort money from gay men who are fearful of being outed. Trevor bribes the prison guards to look the other way while he "smuggles" in forbidden documents and deposits their ill-begotten proceeds in an off-shore bank account. It's all very sordid.
A subplot, that becomes mixed with the affairs of the Brethren concerns Teddy Maynard, director of the CIA, who, appalled by the fall of communism and the concomitant reduction in military spending, conspires to find a candidate of suitable malleability, whom he can groom to be the next president. Aaron Lake, handsome, widowed, a light drinker, with no political baggage, seems the perfect choice. Just to be on the safe side, though, Maynard has Lake followed everywhere. By instigating terrorist actions at the appropriate time, and collecting huge amounts of money from weapons manufacturers who stand to reap huge profits from Lake's sole campaign promise: to double the defense budget; Maynard assures that Lake soon has a commanding lead over the vice-president, the previous front runner. Maynard will stop at nothing, including orchestrating a murder, to realize his dream of controlling the president.
While following Lake, Maynard's agents discover he has a PO Box hidden away. They "borrow" the mail - notice the CIA has already been involved in several gross violations of the law, all in the name of national security - and discover to their horror that their "perfect" candidate is conducting a surreptitious correspondence with a young man looking for a wealthy male gigolo. We know that the young man, Ricky" is really the creation of the Brethren. The Brethren, always careful, learn who "AL" really is, and see a huge windfall in the making. What better extortion candidate than someone running for president. Soon they realize that there is a third party involved, a very powerful group of men, but they are determined to make the most of the situation. The ending, which I won't reveal, is less a blockbuster than a revelation of Grisham's sordid view of the world.
by Gore Vidal
Mass Market Paperback
21 used & new
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Classic
March 25 2004
This review is from:
Julian (Mass Market Paperback)
Julian the Apostate was emperor of Rome from 361-363 CE and the nephew of Constantine. Raised in a strict Christian environment (although of the Arian tradition), he formally announced his conversion to paganism in 361 and became a public enemy of Christianity.
That provides the background for Vidal's excellent historical novel (historical in the best sense in that Vidal tried to use as many actual events and recorded conversations as possible). Vidal is, of course, rather flagrant in rejecting Christianity himself, so it is easy to see why Julian's gradual rejection of what he viewed as a faith filled with contradictions both in belief and behavior would be appealing to Vidal.
The book is told from Julian's point of view as a form of autobiography with little side social commentaries of two of his friends. The debate between the supporters of Athanasius (who finally won out) and the Arians is well explained. In the fourth century (see also When Jesus Became God (BT216 .R83 1999), reviewed in an earlier issue, the debate over the divinity of Jesus was of huge consequence. The Arians (basing their case on John 14:25) believed in the doctrine of homoiousios: Jesus was a similar substance to God the father but created by him. The followers of Athanasius adopted that "pernicious doctrine" later codified in the Nicene Creed of homoousius (meaning that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are one and the same).
It was essential for Julian to pretend to be one of the Galileans, as Christians were called then, because it was the declared religion of Rome after Constantine. As a potential successor to the throne, he was subject to all sorts of plots and political machinations, and these dangers form much of the tension of the book, as Julian tries to remain alive posing as a student of philosophy with no interest in politics. Julian's childhood was that of a prince with all that entails, including constant supervision, little access to people besides his siblings, and strict regulation of behavior. Julian's cousin, the reigning emperor Constantius, fearing for his throne, systematically murdered those who might be a threat -- especially his relatives -- so Julian had to tread very carefully. Fortunately, Julian was needed to be the titular head of Gaul, so he was removed from Athens, married to Constantius's sister, Helena, and sent to barbarian Europe. Julian, whom the emperor suspected had no military prowess, surprised everyone with his skill in battle as well as administratively, even though his hands were often tied by Constantius's Florentius, who had a great deal of administrative control. Constantius's attempts to subdue the Persians was to prove his undoing, and when he demanded that virtually all of Julian's troops be sent to him - despite Julian's promise to the troops from Gaul that they would not have to serve outside the province - those troops rebelled and demanded that Julian be appointed Julian Augustus, i.e., Emperor of the West. Helena, by this time, even though she was sister to Constantius, sided with Julian, because she knew that her brother had murdered her two children because he feared them as threats to his throne. Before a civil could result Constantius died.
Julian's (Vidal's?) comments on power and the corrupting role of imperialism are as pertinent today as they might have been two centuries ago: " Wherever there is a throne, one may observe in rich detail every folly and wickedness of which man is capable, enameled with manners and gilded with hypocrisy." "I have often felt when studying history that not enough is made of those intermediaries who so often do the actual governing. . . As a result, factions within the court could form and reform, irrelevant to the nominal power. . . .On the throne of the world, any delusion can become fact." The corruption and greed become palpable in Vidal's words.
Vidal uses a triple narrative technique that intersperses Julian's "autobiography" with comments by two contemporaries, a philosopher and a rhetorician, whose views do not always coincide with Julian's, permitting Vidal to offer disparate views of events. Julian is ultimately portrayed as a pagan philosopher-leader struggling against the hypocrisy of the new Galilean religion and trying to recapture the glory of the lost Hellenistic past.
Julian used his military and imperial rights to revive paganism and subdue the upstart Christian cult, but was killed - Vidal suggests by one of his own men, perhaps at the direction of the bishops - during the war against the Persians.
Vidal has vividly captured the intense political maneuvering and danger of being in line to succeed to the throne. This is historical fiction at its nail-biting best.
Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right
by Al Franken
120 used & new
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not balanced but accurate
March 25 2004
This review is from:
Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right (Hardcover)
This very funny but extremely serious book goes after the deliberate falsehoods perpetrated by the right-wing on "liberals."
As you may know, the Fox Network went after Franken for trademark infringement because he used the phrase "fair and balanced." The judge threw out the suit as completely ludicrous and made several trenchant comments about the inability of the Fox executives to recognize satire when they saw it
Harvard University gave Franken a fellowship to basically do whatever he wanted, but demurred at his idea of having Harvard students write his son's college application, but Harvard demurred. He finally hit upon the idea of having a group of students do research for his book. They bought the idea.
His first target is Ann Coulter, author of Scandal. Franken methodically picks apart her book, revealing it for the inaccurate, if not disingenuous, piece of nonsense it is. He also shows how she has blatantly lied about things. Her Connecticut driver's license shows her birth date as 1961; her Washington DL says 1963. She claims the Washington DL is correct, which means she voted as a sixteen-year-old. On one of the applications she lied about her age. Now, many people have done that, but since the US Patriot Act makes it a felony to put false information on a government ID, she could be whisked away and held without counsel for a long time. I wish they would. Simple charges she makes in her book were never checked. For example, she complains that Evan Thomas, supposedly one of those heinous liberals, was the son of Norman Thomas, four-time [sic] candidate for president on the Socialist party ticket. Actually, he ran six times, and a simple phone call to Evan Thomas reveals that he is not the son of Norman Thomas. Coulter's book is filled with such false details. Either she is extremely lazy or a blatant liar. Franken obviously suspects the latter.
Francken has infuriated that scion of right-wing Fox Bill O'Reilly by publicly pointing out many untruths that O'Reilly has put forth. At Book Expo in Los Angeles, O'Reilly was humiliated by Franken, who categorically listed all sorts of lies O'Reilly had perpetrated on the public. Now, Franken makes clear that occasionally making a mistake on a statistic is hardly a crime, but O'Reilly's customary tactic, when challenged with the correct information from unimpeachable sources is to simply bully and yell at his challenger rather than correct the mistake. The problem is also that he makes lots of mistakes. More from the "sewer of right-wing dishonesty. When he interviewed the son of a worker killed on 9/11 on February 4th, 2003, he became enraged at the son's opposition to the war in Iraq, had his engineer cut off the man's microphone, and sent him packing saying to him after the show's end, "Get out of my studio before I tear you to f*cking pieces."
O'Reilly, who constantly rails at the lyrics of rap songs, wrote a murder mystery in 1998, Those who Trespass (about a serial killer who murders everyone who interferes with his rising television career), that took explicit sex and violence to new heights and the English language to new lows. In one murder, the victim is killed by having a spoon driven through the roof of her mouth into her brain stem. Variants of the "F" word and "B" word are used more than 51 times. Case of the pot calling the kettle black? O'Reilly is not a nice man.
Team Franken took a look at Hannity's (of Hannity and Colmes,) book to verify the factualness of his statements. Examples of disingenuousness and dishonesty abound.
Bush's initial indifference to al Qaeda prior to 9/11 is astonishing. The Clinton administration had developed plans for eliminating Bin Laden, but those plans were ignored. That the Bin Laden family were good friends with the Bush family is well-known, and Franken speculates as to what might have happened to Clinton had he been so nice to the Bin Laden family, permitting a Saudi plane to fly around the country picking up family members for return to Saudi Arabia, while American airplanes were grounded. In the meantime, President Bush has broken all presidential records for the number of days spent on vacation.
The book is often uneven, some parts funnier and some more serious. Should one laugh or cry learning that many of our leaders today, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Perle, Bush, and other chickenhawks who are sending men off to die in war, did everything in their power, having their fathers pull strings and inventing flimsy excuses (shouldn't pick on Limbaugh, I think he was just too fat) to avoid service in Vietnam.
Lost Light
by Michael Connelly
Mass Market Paperback
51 used & new
5.0 out of 5 stars
Can't put Connelly down!
March 25 2004
This review is from:
Lost Light (Mass Market Paperback)
I read (or listen) to everything Michael Connelly writes, and he never disappoints. This is the ninth novel featuring Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch, who remains dedicated to uncovering the truth no matter where it might lead. Harry has retired from the LAPD, disillusioned by his countless battles with police bureaucracy and hypocrisy, but he remains haunted by the sight of a murdered victim's hands that were arranged by the killer in almost a supplication. He decides to track down a few leads to see if he might get somewhere. The case involved the death of Angela Benton, who had worked for a bank that loaned $2 million in cash to a movie company to be used as part of a set during a movie. The cash was taken during a robbery on the set.
In a seemingly unrelated case, Harry has been called to visit a cop who had been paralyzed during a shooting in which his partner had been killed. Harry learns that an FBI agent had been killed in a seemingly separate case, but before she died she had discovered an anomaly in the list of serial numbers of the $100 bills heisted from the movie set. Harry wonders if there might possibly be a connection between the three cases and begins to investigate.
Suddenly he's confronted by stone walls and official FBI and police notice that he stay as far away from the case as possible. After he tries to borrow some files from the paralyzed cop, he's unceremoniously taken by FBI, to facilities they use to keep suspected terrorists under wraps. He learns that the elite Homeland Security Team is involved in the case and is using its dictatorial authority and secret powers to maintain control of the case.
That's when the book gets really interesting, because Harry captures on videotape the FBI manhandling the paralyzed cop. He had originally installed the equipment to check on the cop's wife, who the cop claims has been abusive to him. He uses the video to extort information from the FBI and to retrieve information about the original murders that no one would provide. It's really fun to watch them get manipulated so masterfully.
Power Failure: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Enron
by Mimi Swartz
37 used & new
5.0 out of 5 stars
Must Read
March 25 2004
This review is from:
Power Failure: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Enron (Hardcover)
Ken Lay was the product of a very religious background in a small Midwestern town. During work on his PhD in economics, he became enamored of the world of stocks. He parlayed InterNorth, a small energy company into Enron. He was a rich man, having made $4 million in stock value increases from the merger of Houston Gas into InterNorth, later renamed Enron. He was also the highest paid CEO in the United States. The company's strengths were also its weakness: the constant risk-taking; the high debt load to ward off potential takeovers; "impassioned embrace of deregulation;" constant reorganization; and instant adoption of the hottest new business ideas. They were soon struggling for cash.
In the meantime, Lay had created a new culture at Enron. It was his belief that all one had to do was hire the best and the brightest, provide a free environment, and things would take care of themselves. He also had trouble saying no to anyone. He hired an old friend to be the "bad guy," but it soon became apparent to all that if you made money for the company you could get whatever you wanted.
Watkins was hailed in 2001, following the collapse of Enron, as a heroine for her "whistle-blowing." Whether her actions actually constitute that appellation is open to question. Certainly she was an insider, and her account reveals a great deal more of the financial shenanigans in greater detail than the previous book I reviewed, Anatomy of Greed. She interacted constantly with Lay, Skilling and Fastow, and if she got really nervous about what she was seeing, perhaps whistle-blowing was just a way of protecting her posterior.
What started out as a new paradigm, a different way of delivering energy, soon became a case of the blind leading the blind, or a corporate version of Dumb and Dumber, as the board and Enron employees began creating numerous new ways of hiding losses, even making losses look like revenue. It was a huge, ever-increasing house of cards.
Watkins is an accountant and naturally had a strong sense of the financial improprieties the company had embarked upon, but the impending doom she warned of in her now-famous memo to Lay should have been obvious to everyone. Enron's own head of research said presciently, "Every era gets the clowns it deserves."
If they ever make a movie of this book, it will have to be a comedy. It is astonishing how stupid many of the "best and brightest" graduates of American business schools were, as they bellied up to the trough of corporate greed. Sherron made an attempt to meet with Ken Lay, but first she had to convince his personal secretary to arrange a meeting. The secretary informed Watkins that "Ken gravitates toward good news. . . ." It did not bode well for the meeting. Another insider told her to make the presentation as simple as possible and eliminate any accounting jargon. She obliged and reworked her presentation so that her two-year-old daughter could understand it. The meeting was a flop, and it was clear to her that Lay could not understand - or perhaps did not want to understand - a thing she was talking about.
Ironically, Osama Bin Laden's exploits barely dented the US economy. Lay's machinations and the subsequent stock free fall provided a vicious slambang.
Dynamite Road
by Andrew Klavan
28 used & new
4.0 out of 5 stars
March 25 2004
This review is from:
Dynamite Road (Hardcover)
Scott Weiss, ex-cop, now owner of a private investigation agency, sends Jim Bishop, one of his operatives, to a small airport in northern California. Ray Grambling, part owner of the FBO, has concerns that one of his pilots, Chris Wannamaker, may be involved in some kind of very shady deal with Bernie Hirschorn, the other FBO partner.
Bishop, operating undercover as Frank Kennedy, enjoys living on the edge He pushes Chris to the limit by seducing his wife and spreading rumors about his drinking in hopes that he (Bishop) will be hired to replace Chris as the pilot for the big job that Hirschorn has planned.
In the meantime, Ben Fry, whom we later realize is also know as the Shadowman, has gone to great lengths (even to implanting a device under his skin that won't show up in strip searches) to get himself imprisoned in the most secure prison in California, one reserved for incorrigibles and extremely violent offenders.
Weiss, during the course of another investigation, realizes that several people have been killed or have disappeared in seemingly unrelated events, and he finds a startling connection. They are all related to Whip, a man who specialized in creating new identities for criminals, identities so secure that once created, no law enforcement agency has been able to penetrate them. Whip, having knowledge of who became whom, is terrified that he may also have become a target, so he is placed in deep protective custody in a maximum security prison (guess what's coming?).
The book is a little unusual in that we see the story evolve from three points of view: Bishop's, Weiss's, and the first-person narrative of another Weiss employee. He stands in awe of Weiss's understanding of human nature. The narrator, whose name we never learn, inadvertently solves the Case of the Spanish Virgin and discovers some key elements of the case against the Shadowman. If this all sounds a little hokey, I suppose that's because it is. Still, a very entertaining read.
Bitter Harvest
by Ann Rule
Mass Market Paperback
58 used & new
4.0 out of 5 stars
Rule rules
March 25 2004
This review is from:
Bitter Harvest (Mass Market Paperback)
Rule is well-known for her true crime writing and justifiably so. Ever since Truman Capote popularized the form in In Cold Blood, true crime has become a popular genre.
This harrowing book tells the story of Dr. Debora Green, a very bright Kansas physician whose life unraveled into a nightmare of murder and virtual insanity. After her trial for the murder of two of her children and the attempted murder of her husband, Michael Farrar, psychiatrists attempted to answer why something like this could have happened. Their diagnosis was that Dr. Green had a limited ego, was a very immature person with the emotional responses of a small child. Ostensibly, she was able to function quite well, until her marriage and the pressures of raising a family began to stress her life. She had an IQ of 165 and had zipped through medical school, married a brilliant cardiologist, and borne three children. The family lived in a large house in the Kansas City suburbs.
By the end of the story Debora had become a violent and irrational monster who had driven away her husband, as she descended into a maelstrom of alcohol, drugs and invective. In hindsight, a house fire that destroyed an earlier home was probably her doing. The final straw was apparently her husband's affair with Celeste Walker, a nurse whose physician husband had committed suicide. The family had returned from a long-awaited vacation to South America, when Mike became deathly ill. He could keep no food down and suffered constant diarrhea. His condition puzzled the clinicians because the symptoms did not seem to match anything in their knowledge base. The only thing they could think of was that perhaps Mike had picked up some kind of virulent bug while traveling, but none of the others who had been on the trip had suffered anything beyond the normal traveler's stomach problems that quickly disappeared.
Bouts of his illness always seemed to come after he had been released from the hospital and had eaten food served by his wife. After what seemed - to me - an interminable period he began to suspect that perhaps Debora might be trying to poison him. One afternoon when she was out, he searched her purse and discovered several packages of Castor beans. Warnings on the package labels revealed that these beans contain a very toxic poison called Ricin. Normally, the beans could be swallowed whole without much difficulty because they had such a hard shell, and the beans would pass through the system without causing any ill effects, but if crushed, they could be terribly destructive. Mike also realized his wife had just finished an Agatha Christie novel in which the murder is committed using Ricin.
Several months later, a fire, clearly arson, broke out in their house. Mike had moved out in preparation for a divorce. Two of the children died, trapped in their bedrooms by a fire, fed with accelerants, that blocked access to the hall and the stairs. The responding police and firemen were immediately struck by the mother's bizarre behavior, talking of her children in the past tense, even before anyone knew whether they had been killed or not. Eventually, she confessed to all charges and escaped the death penalty with a guilty plea.
A truly tragic story spellbindingly told by Rule, a master of the genre.
Private Sector
by Brian Haig
39 used & new
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love wisecracks
March 25 2004
This review is from:
Private Sector (Hardcover)
I just love wise-cracking protagonists; they have a skill I've never been able to develop. Sean Drummond is the JAG attorney creation of Brian Haig, son of Alexander (you know, of "Don't worry, Alex is here. I'm in charge, so nothing to worry about" fame), but I won't hold that against him.
Major Drummond has been asked to spend a year working for a private law firm - Culper, Hutch, and Westin - that represent some of the District of Columbia's most respectable institutions, as an experiment in army/private sector cooperation. The fact that he is unpopular with his army superiors for his sharp tongue and insubordination might also have had something to do with it. Drummond begins irritating his stuffed shirt bosses from the moment he arrives. He figures if he makes himself sufficiently unpopular, he can get himself kicked out of the program, where he follows in the footsteps at the law firm of Lisa Morrow, another JAG officer and Sean's erstwhile old flame.
Lisa had been killed in the Pentagon parking lot just before a dinner date that Sean hopes might rekindle some of the former embers. Her death is followed by three others, all the ostensible work of a serial killer whose modus operandi appears very similar to that of the LA Killer of several years before, i.e., the victims' necks had all been snapped. There was no apparent connection between the victims.
Sean, in the meantime has become embroiled in an audit of Morris Telecommunications, a company that has retained his law firm. Sean discovers some unusual financial arrangements, but he has no reason to suspect anything particularly nefarious until his brother, a financial wizard with spreadsheets, points out that several "swaps" on Morris's books put Sean's firm in some financial jeopardy. (Swaps are what sank Enron. Basically, two entities get together to show revenue on their books for the largely insubstantial use of each other's services. It's a way of propping up income statements to keep stock prices up, all legal according to generally accepted accounting principles, but another reason to shoot the accountants before going after the lawyers. :)) ) Drummond also begins to realize that the firm's attorneys might be capitalizing on his inexperience with corporate law to set him up as a fall guy. They to reckon without his long experience as a criminal attorney for the army.
In the meantime, Janet Morrow, Lisa's sister and assistant district attorney in Boston, has decided to follow the investigation into her sister's death from close up. She and Sean discover that Lisa's emails had been hidden and quarantined in the firm's network behind a secure firewall. Sean is accused of malfeasance by the firm, but by some not-so-subtle pressure on the privates of his boss (in a very funny scene), Sean extorts the help of the firm's computer expert to examine Lisa's emails. It's there that he discovers a link between the victims. Lisa had known all of them.
Soon Drummond is snared in a mesh of conflicting loyalties, as he discovers that some governmental agencies are involved in some very secret business. A fun read. Drummond is a great character who ranks with Nelson DeMille's wiseacre CID investigator.
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