"Beastly Things" by Donna Leon

Fans of Donna Leon and her Venetian police detective, Commissario Guido Brunetti, will be pleased to get their hands on her latest,  Beastly Things.

In this case, Guido has little to go on other than the unidentifiable body that was found floating in one of the canals, but with the help of the beautiful and mysterious secretary,  Signorina Elletra , who has an uncanny ability to mine the digital world for all  sorts of information, he and Viannello begin to put the puzzle pieces in place.

In many of the previous novels, Guido in spite of all his best efforts in solving the crime, has to watch helplessly as the Venetian judicial system allows one or more of the "bad guys' to escape any  significant consequences. In this case, Guido manages to control the outcome satisfying his own sense of justice.

At one point in the story, Paola Brunetti recalls that during a financially rocky period, her mother refused to serve anything  but Parmigiano Reggiano, saying "Better nothing than something that isn't good." Although Donna Leon and her character, Guido, have been at this for a long time, the "good" parmigiano she produces just gets better.

The Three Faces of Mitt Romney

Mitt's Etch-a-Sketch
"I shake it and start over."

I had lunch today with my friend Stan, who unlike my other Republican friend, Buck, who has been disillusioned by Mitt Romney, has remained a stalwart GOP supporter. Although we have heated debates about politics, Stan is an old friend and we are able to maintain that friendship in spite of our differences.

Today, when I referred to "The Three Romneys," he didn't seem to know what I was talking about. Therefore, I had to explain to him that the "First Romney" who was running for the governorship of Massachusetts, proposed a liberal agenda to appeal to the voters of a liberal state. His campaign was successful and he implemented a liberal agenda including a health care program very similar to what he calls "Obamacare."

When he ran for the Republican nomination in 2008, he was considered too liberal for a Republican Party co-opted by the Fundamentalists and the Ultraconservatives.

Having learned his lesson, in the 2012 campaign, chameleon Mitt changed his positions to conform to win the support of the extremist right-wing of the party. This was Mitt #2! And viola, he received the nomination. Then he chose Paul Ryan, the disciple of Russian atheist,  Ayn Rand, and was now on the side of dismantling existing social safety networks.

But Mitt #2 could not win the general election with the baggage he had picked up in his quest for the GOP nomination. No problem. As one of his staff in a moment of honesty revealed, we have an Etch-a-Sketch. We shake it, wipe the slate clean and then we reinvent Mitt Romney #3 who can compete in the general  election. This is the Mitt Romney we are seeing now: the Mitt Romney who is protecting most of his tax returns from public scrutiny, agrees with President Obama's foreign policy, tries to deny he wanted the US auto industry to go bankrupt, promotes George W. Bush's domestic policies but doesn't want to be associated with him, and fears to speak out against the crazies in his own party who speak of "legitimate rape."

We know there are three different Mitt Romneys based on the expediency of getting elected. How many more Mitts are there waiting in the wings?

P.S. The problem with my friend, Stan, and perhaps many other voters is that they have conveniently forgotten the earlier Mitt Romneys and have to be reminded how often he has changed his position on major policy issues. I began listing the Romney flip-flops on a napkin, but Stan stopped me at 20 plus.
For some of the major Romney Reversals cf: http://ronstidbits.blogspot.com/2012/08/romney-reversals-cast-long-shadows.html

Whether it is "Romnesia," as President Obama kindly refers to it, or political expediency, the question becomes: Can we trust Mitt Romney?

Politicized Pulpits

A 1954 amendment to the tax code prohibits all tax exempt organizations,  including churches, from "directly or indirectly" endorsing candidates

The Law of the Land is simple: if any  religious organization, "directly or indirectly" endorses political candidates, they have forfeited their tax-exempt status.

If religious leaders, bishops, pastors, ministers rabbis, imams, or any others "directly or indirectly" attempt to influence their followers, they are breaking the law and should lose their tax-exempt status. It's time the IRS enforce the law. Some Catholic bishops and priests, and some Protestant bishops and ministers are blatantly violating the law. It is time for the IRS to begin legal proceedings against these  violators.

Granted, the clergy have the right to free speech as does everyone sitting in the congregation (1st Amendment) , but they do not have the right to use the pulpit for political propaganda. If they insist on using the pulpit as a means of promoting or opposing political candidates, they may do so; but they should be deprived of their tax-exempt status.

It is that very same 1st Amendment which our founding Fathers in their wisdom  chose to separate Church and State. Bottom line: do not mix religious beliefs and politics!

The separation of church and state is uniquely an American concept. Article VI of the Constitution states: "No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican,  was adamant about this provision of the Constitution when he insisted,  in an era of anti-Catholicism, that a candidate's Catholicism was not an impediment to public office.

Ironically, today we have Catholic bishops and priests trying to breach the wall of separation of church and state.by claiming a "Catholic exemption" to health care rules based on their "belief" that contraception is immoral. Meanwhile some of these same Catholic clerics are breaking the law by using their tax-free pulpits to influence votes for or against a particular candidate.

In their role as citizens, clergy have the right, like the rest of us, to endorse or oppose any candidate, but the law prohibits them from using their tax-exempt religious organization to endorse or oppose. Those who continue to break the law should have their tax-exempt status revoked.

There of course is an alternative, The clergy who want to use their pulpit illegally to support candidates have the opportunity to practice civil disobedience in the tradition of Thoreau, Gandhi, Martin Luther King and the Berrigan brothers. They can break the law, and in their case, instead of going to prison,  return the money resulting from their tax-free status to the U.S. government.  Don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen.

Romney Haunted by George W. Bush

After three weeks (I had been on vacation), Buck and I resumed our weekly breakfast at Nick's Diner. I was sporting a sun tan and Buck was wearing a scowl. His greeting: " I hope you scored a shit-load of birdies down there while I had to play golf in in the wind, rain and cold up here in Toledo."

"Give me a break, Buck. You're confusing me with my brother, Jim, who considers pars normal and a birdie here and there as part of a normal round."

At this point, the hostess seated us at our favorite table, and Sara brought us our coffees. "I thought you guys deserted us for that franchise down the road."

"No way!" Buck interjected. "My friend, and I use that term loosely, decided to go to Hilton Head, and I was left to survive on my own."

"Oh you poor baby!" Sara said with mild sarcasm

"May I remind you, Sara, that I am a paying customer and your blatant ridicule could influence your tip.".

"I regret to say this, Buck, but your tips have not set any Guinness records"

Buck ignored that comment and suggested, " Perhaps you would be so kind as to take our orders?

After Buck ordered an "All American Omelette," and I my favorite "Boston Breakfast," I made the mistake of asking whether he had seen the second Obama-Romney debate. "Yes my man, It was the best presidential debate of all time. Two alpha males strutting around the stage and going at it nose to nose. The only thing missing were the boxing gloves."

"Granted the theatrics were mildly amusing, but what about the ideas?"

"What about Romney's refusal to answer a question? A lady asked Mitt to describe how he is similar to and different from George W. Bush, and he turned his back on her and talked about something else. Of course, he's the same guy who told us that he doesn't care about 47% of the country. Obviously this woman is someone he doesn't care about. Although  he is promoting the same failed policies of George W. Bush, his pollsters must have told him that he doesn't want to be associated with George W.In fact I think he must be afraid to look in the mirror in the morning because he might see George W. looking back.  And who can blame him? That has to be really scary, especially the first thing in the morning."

"Well," I said, " he tells us he can create 12 million new jobs and he has 'a binder of women' to appoint to high level jobs. What's wrong with that?"

"You have to be pulling my leg. This is the man who closed American plants and sent jobs over-seas in order to make money for Bain Capital. He even described in detail to his billionaire contributors the terrible working conditions of young Chinese women working in plants that Bain Capital was invested in. As for creating jobs, his party has almost unanimously voted against every job-creating bill in Congress. As they were wont to say, 'It's not about what is good for the country, it's about defeating President Obama.'"

"That's not what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they asked representatives  to swear to promote  'the General Welfare," I said.

"Probably not;  but they would never have envisioned a Supreme Court decision similar to Citizens United., allowing unlimited,  anonymous spending for a political candidate, even if the money is coming from foreign sources."

"It blows my mind that true conservatives would agree with something like that," I said.

"Expediency, my boy. The Republicans are cashing in  and that's all they care about. Barry Goldwater would be outraged, but this generation of conservative lacks his principles."

When Sara brought our food and asked whether we would like anything else, Buck asked, "Sara, do you believe women and men should be paid the same for doing the same job?"

"Absolutely!"

"Are you familiar with the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act?"

After a brief hesitation, Sara said, "Isn't that the law that allows women the right to file sit against employers who practice gender discrimination?"

"Exactly!  You are on top of things. Would you be surprised to know that Mitt Romney was opposed to that bill?"

"Of course not. He and his Mormon friends think women like me should stay in the house doing laundry and baking cookies."

Buck asked, "You have a problem with that?"

Her eyes riveted on Buck as she stepped closer. "The only reason I am not pouring this hot coffee on your crotch is your senility."

The GOP Attack on Voting Rights

In the 2008 presidential election, there was a record voter turn-out across the country.  One would have thought that everyone would have been happy that so many Americans participated in choosing their leader. Wrong. Since Barack Obama won decisively, the Republicans immediately began laying plans to keep large groups of people from voting, and of course the groups they wanted to disenfranchise were the groups that voted Obama.

First there were all those college students. All of a sudden they were no longer apathetic; they were actually voting and voting for Obama. As a result Republican legislators and election officials were tampering with residency requirements. If students can't vote where they go to school, they will not vote.

Then, of course, there are those inconvenient Hispanics who supported Obama in 2008. Therefore the GOP instituted a variety of voter ID requirements to, as they said, avoid voter fraud. As it turned out there were so few cases of voter fraud as to be insignificant. Their intent was to frighten away Hispanic voters. 

The Associated Press reports: "The combined effects of voter roll purges, demands for proof of citizenship and photo identification requirements in several states may hinder at least 10 million Hispanic citizens who seek to vote this fall, civil rights advocates warn in a new report."

In addition, the voter ID requirements would also disenfranchise that other Democratic group, the black voters. Since a portion of this group is poor, they will not have  a driver's license or a passport and will be denied a ballot.

Then, there are the working poor. The wife and husband both work, maybe several jobs, and have little time on a November Tuesday to stand in line to vote. In 2008 they were able to vote early -- on the weekend. Since Obama received a large share of those votes, Republican officials are doing all they can to prevent week-end voting.

And  there are those old people, disabled , hospitalized and active-duty service women and men. They want to sit in the warmth of their home or barracks and vote an absentee ballot. Since the majority of the absentee ballots favored Obama in 2008, Republicans have tried to restrict those votes.

Then, there are states like Florida in which politicians  play God and actively "purge" the voter registration lists of  undesirables. Worried about fraud? This system is an invitation to  USSR style fraud.

Is it any surprise, then, that citizens of fledgling democracies or autocracies around the world look at what is happening in this election and question our commitment to democracy? Obviously,  true democracy is in jeopardy when  politicians are able to disenfranchise US citizens.

As Michelle Obama has pointed out,  the right to vote has become the nation's most important civil rights issue.

Romney Waiting for a Crisis to Exploit

For the past two year elected Republicans have been pursuing a partisan agenda based on do-nothing obstructionism. How many jobs bills have they prevented  in a time when creating jobs should be  "Job One" for them? They don't want to see a decrease in unemployment rates; they want the country to continue to suffer the effects of the Bush Great Recession in the hope that President Obama is not re-elected. 

In fact two years ago, Republican Senator, Mitch McConnell, told us as much. He said the Republican priority in Congress was to defeat President Obama. Not to do what is best for the country, not to get the country out of the grasp of the Great Recession, not to create jobs. No, their priority is not the general welfare of the country, their priority is personal political gain.

If the Democrats had stated a similar  policy when George W. Bush was President, the Republicans would have been screaming "treason!" and perhaps with good cause. It appears elected public service has reached such a low point that the general welfare of the country is secondary to personal political gain.

This type of political narcissism brings me to what I consider the scariest part of Mitt Romney's "Screw the 47%" speech. In the course of talking to his billionaire cronies, he said:  
"…in the Jimmy Carter election, the fact that we have hostages in Iran, I mean, that was all we talked about. And we had the two helicopters crash in the desert, I mean that's—that was—that was the focus, and so him solving that made all the difference in the world. I'm afraid today if you said, 'We got Iran to agree to stand down a nuclear weapon,' they'd go, hold on. It's really a, but…by the way, if something of that nature presents itself, I will work to find a way to take advantage of the opportunity." (I added the italics.)

It sounds to me that he is just waiting for something bad to happen to the country or Americans so that he can exploit it for political gain.

In fact, he demonstrated that tendency when Ambassador Chris Stevens and three colleagues were killed in Benghazi, Libya.  Mitt was so eager to get in front of the cameras to exploit the situation  that he didn't even have the facts straight. Hardly presidential.

I suspect in the past we have had politicians more concerned about their own gain than the welfare of the country, but the most frightening aspect of the present situation is that an entire political party and its candidates have bought into this agenda.

It is a scandalous state of affairs when U.S. politicians of a major political party are waiting for a crisis they wish to exploit; or, as in the case of the financial crisis, prevent a solution..

Gone Girl, Cool Girl, Bad Girl

Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn's best-selling novel, a witty thriller, is an intriguing walk on the murky side of the the Mississippi River.

While reading, it occurred to me  that there was no character with whom I could sympathize ( with the possible exception of Margot, Nick's sister). They all seemed to have a nasty, mean streak, and the reader soon realizes that no matter how the novel ends, the good guys are not going to win because there are no good guys.

The main characters, Nick and Amy Dunne, are celebrating their 5th wedding anniversary as the story begins; but the day is anything but romantic as we discover that Amy has disappeared, perhaps the victim of a kidnapping. And that is about as much as I feel comfortable revealing. Since the plot consists of so many twists with  the author slowly providing us  relevant information, it would be inappropriate to reveal any of the surprises. Also the reader is lulled into thinking, "I've read this book several times in the past." Not so. You have just been set up by a skillful author.

The two protagonists, Amy and Nick,  are competitors in a game of marriage, and of life. Amy Dunne is a beautiful, clever, conniving alpha-female the reader loves and hates from time to time, based on the information at hand. Nick is an intelligent, handsome, narcissistic boy pretending to be a man and a husband who possesses the ability to not only deceive others but himself as well.

Whether you enjoy  or dislike this novel, I can assure you that you have not read another novel with a similar plot.

Call Me Irresponsible

Irresponsible Moochers?

Mitt Romney has declared 47% of us to be slackers mooching off the federal government, and therefore "irresponsible." I know that I am one of the God-forsaken irresponsible Americans Mitt has decided he doesn't care about, and I am happy about that because I find I am in good company.

You too might be an "irresponsible" moocher if:

• you are fighting for our country in Afghanistan
• your husband or wife lost his/her life in Iraq
• you were seriously wounded in one of Bush's wars
• you are a senior and you are collecting the Social Security you paid for
• your spouse was foolish enough to loose a life trying to rescue people from the collapsing World Trade Center
• you had a catastrophic illness that depleted your life's savings
• you and your spouse lost jobs that your corporation exported to Asia
• you are a college student with a dream, but lack wealthy parents
• you are a teacher, policeman, fireman or EMS worker
• you are on Medicare, a program you paid into
• you have had the misfortune of having a child with a birth defect
• you were born on the wrong side of the tracks
• you work for an agency that protects the environment
• you were evicted from a home you had made payments on for 20years
• you are a scientist working on an NSF grant
• you survived Katrina
• you are an undocumented child
• you can't afford to attend a private school
• you are cared for at a Veteran's hospital

On the other hand,  if you are a millionaire who doesn't pay federal income tax and also receive government contracts or millions in agricultural"subsidies," you are a responsible citizen in Romney's book.  ( Notice the Republican terminology.  If a poor mother gets a few government dollars, it's "welfare," if a millionaire farmer or large corporation receives millions of government dollars, it's called a "subsidy.")

Thr IRS reports that many millionaires and huge corporations pay no Federal Income Taxes.  Romney asks us to believe that he is not one of those tax dodgers, but he refuses to release his tax returns to prove that. He wants us to take his word for it. I guess I would do that if he then believes I am as intelligent as Stephen Hawking, the gifted British theoretical physicist. (But now that I think about it, Mitt would probably consider Dr. Stephen Hawking "irresponsible."-- paralyzed, confined to a wheel chair and subsidized by British government grants.)

How Romney Gets His Kicks

For those who have tired of "The Fifty Shades of Romney" and "Romney Masters Etch-a-Sketch," I am offering a pleasant, albeit meaningless,  diversion. It's time we put behind  us the 328 changes of position Mitt has experienced. I mean, how many times can a man reinvent himself for political gain? We can't continue to beat him over the head with that. After all, give the man credit for being flexible. And his mendacity? Everybody lies at some point; and it's possible that Mitt and Paul Ryan are victims of CLS -- compulsive liar syndrome.

Let's give the man a break. It's time we focus on his "fun side."  His wife assures us that not only does he have a personality, he actually has a fun side. So let's take her word for it and concentrate on Funny Mitt. What does this guy do for a good time? Since he is a Mormon bishop I doubt that he kicks back with a six-pack of Budweiser and enjoys watching a football game with the guys. He probably doesn't play any three-on-three basketball; that's a little too "ethnic" for someone who wants to be called Mitt. He is not going to go skinny-dipping in the Sea of Galilee as did one of his GOP congressmen. And he is definitely not going to throw himself a hedonistic orgy as is the wont of Italy's right-wing Silvio Berlusconi.

Nonetheless,  Mitt does find ways to have fun -- at least it's fun in his world view. To get his kicks, Mitt Romney:

• counts his money
• fires his gardener
• reads the Book of Mormon
• ridicules public employees
• sails his yacht in the Cayman Islands (Good to be near your money.)
• searches the streets of Salt Lake looking for undocumented immigrants 
• observes a pirouette at a dressage competition (Nap time!)
• listens to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (More nap time.)
• re-applies Grecian Formula to his carefully styled hair
• watches his chauffeur wax one of the Cadillacs
• takes his dog out for a drive in the country
• shreds some documents from his days as governor of Massachusetts
• listens to an inebriated Clint Eastwood  talking to inanimate objects
• skips Eisenhower Dollars across the Green River
• drinks a Diet Coke (Sorry Mitt, Mormons can't have coffee or tea.)
• insults 47% of Americans -- a bunch of irresponsible slackers and moochers
• buys and shuts down companies for a profit
• watches videos of home evictions
• studies George W. Bush's economic and  foreign policy manuals (2 pages each)
• re-buries his Federal Income Tax returns (Seamus had dug them up.)
• politicizes U.S. ambassador's assassination
• discovers a new tax loop hole

And you thought Mitt didn't know how to enjoy himself.

Writing Skills in a Texting World

Observing teenagers adeptly texting, tweeting, posting on Facebook and writing emails, many of us who grew up with toxic lead pencils and yellow Goldenrod tablets were hoping that the new technology would improve the writings skills of this generation. Apparently we were mistaken.

Using laptops with a spell-checking program, "Nearly three-quarters of the eighth graders and 12 th graders failed to achieve proficiency on a national writing test, according to a U.S Government report released Friday." (Toledo Blade, 9/15/2012). Those lacking proficiency had trouble organizing ideas, using paragraphs, writing in complete sentences, and using correct grammar.

Upon reflection, this should be of little surprise. When one reads email messages or posts of teenagers on social media sites, one finds unintentional sentence fragments, incorrect grammar, punctuation mistakes, improper usage and even spelling errors to be abundant.

Spelling errors with spell check? Frequently true. Either teenagers ignore spell check or their understanding of basic English usage is deficient. Spell check programs can't tell you whether you should be using "to," "too," or "two."  And many teenage writers simply don't know the difference between "there," "they're," or "their."

Writing skills are important in this age of technology; and teenagers need to learn to use correct grammar and proper usage; or they will be presenting themselves to the world as second class citizens.

Although many question a traditional liberal arts college education these days, competent writing skills are more necessary than ever. Unfortunately, for those looking for the easy way out, competent writing skills are a basic requirement. Google does not hire people who lack such  fundamental skills.

(Yes, I know I have used sentence fragments in the above paragraphs. Also I am not finding fault with texting abbreviations. WTF, B4N.)