Binders, binders, and more binders

Binders full of women

Ok, it’s several days later. All the pundits have had their chance at Mr. Romney’s “binders full of women” comment.

Me, a 50-something woman, two (grown) kids, no job, college-educated and reasonably intelligent still wants to cry. I don’t intend this blog to be political, but this is a comment that just can’t pass. I am part of the generation that had to convince doubting teachers that we could go to college and earn something other than a teaching certificate or nursing license (NOTHING wrong w/ either, but it isn’t what I wanted.) We were knocking down doors in professions and working our way up. So, anything that smacks of “putting women in their place” bothers me.

First, Mr. Romney’s story isn’t completely true. I will use a quote from The Atlantic to demonstrate:

“The Boston Phoenix's David Bernstein says the story isn't true -- that women's groups had been pushing these binders and that they were created by a bipartisan coalition of women's advocates:

What actually happened was that in 2002 -- prior to the election, not even knowing yet whether it would be a Republican or Democratic administration -- a bipartisan group of women in Massachusetts formed MassGAP to address the problem of few women in senior leadership positions in state government. There were more than 40 organizations involved with the Massachusetts Women's Political Caucus (also bipartisan) as the lead sponsor.

They did the research and put together the binder full of women qualified for all the different cabinet positions, agency heads, and authorities and commissions. They presented this binder to Governor Romney when he was elected. …”

The full URL is: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/10/binders-full-of-women-a-meme-that-means-something/263740/

I was living in New England at the time, and dimly (very dimly) recall some group presenting Mr. Romney’s transition team with lists of qualified women for high state jobs.

OK, Mr. Romney was mistaken. Or misremembered the facts. Or was not told the facts. Well, if Mr. Obama can get something wrong, I guess Mr. Romney can, too.

I just wish that politics was about ideas instead of “gotcha.” I also wish that the fight to get 50.8 per cent of the U.S. population (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html) was over.

But it is not.

Private: #1 Suspect

Private: #1 Suspect

James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Ok, the Alex Cross novels are one of my guilty pleasures. So, it was with high hopes that I picked p “Private: #1 Suspect” from my library’s shelves. 

It did not take long for my hopes to be laid low. Wooden characters with more strings than Pinocchio and a contrived plotline, with obvious product placements made this a slog, not a piece of forbidden chocolate.  

Jack Morgan heads a world-wide investigations firm called “Private.” Morgan is a Marine injured in Afghanistan.  His father, just before his death under unusual circumstances, handed him the keys to Private, which Morgan has built up into a world-wide agency. 

Morgan has an identical twin brother who was expelled from the family empire, and has started a firm of his own. This situation has promise.

However, Jack Morgan comes home from a business trip to find a former lover dead in his bed. All evidence points to Jack, who quickly points out that all DNA evidence would be the same for him as his brother. Trouble is, brother has an alibi. He was with his loving wife.

Besides his now dead lover, Jack has an off-again-on-again relationship with an employee and is getting cozy with a client who has had a rash of killings in her oh-so-exclusive Los Angeles hotels.

Add a Mob hit on another Mob’s shipment of Oxycontin, and a young actor accused of murder, and Jack is a busy boy.

Lots of plots. It would have been nice if they had twisted together somehow, but that did not happen. Suffice it to say that Patterson looks to be launching a new series. 

But it has nowhere near the heart of his other books.

Afterwards

Afterwards




Rosamund Lupton



If you are not a fan of “Ghost” or books with a supernatural bent, stop here.


“Afterwards” is a story about love, loss and finding the truth.

Grace Covey is a stay-at-home mom, busy with her teenage daughter, Jenny, who is trying to get into university in the UK, and a younger son. Jenny is working at the school she attended and her brother is currently attending. It’s sports day, and almost everyone is outside.

Then the school catches fire. Grace knows her son is safe, but goes into the building to find Jenny. What happens after that is a combination police procedural and love story, with two of the characters disembodied spirits.

Not everyone’s cup of tea.

But. The author could have let the story become overwrought, but (mostly) does not. Her restraint is admirable. Finding the arsonist, who for some reason wants to make sure Jenny dies, is a process of layering back levels in the family and the school. Is it the oh-too-handsome teacher with a fondness for teen girls? A member of the school’s board who is in financial trouble?

The plots drives on. Three of five stars.

They Eat Puppies, Don’t They?

Written by Christopher Buckley

A Review

Humor is a dangerous thing.  Done wrong, if one ingredient is mis-measured, the whole thing falls.

Satire raises the stakes. Political satire is even riskier. Political satire in an election year is an out-of-control neutron bomb in a major city; it will go off if you so much as look at the device.

Oh well. At least the buildings will be standing.

“They Eat Puppies, Don’t They” is a satire that I suspect my great-grandchildren will be reading about in college, with footnotes and learned volumes  giving them the background on the simmering conflict between the United States of America and the People's Republic of China.

At least I hope to have great-grandchildren. Who read some version of English. Or whose Chinese masters have discovered the value of American humor.

Poor things. They are going to miss all the fun.  For them, reading the book (or whatever they will use for books then) will be like reading “Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships” by Jonathan Swift.  In other words, a chore. You will need learned tomes to understand WHY people in 2012 thought it was funny.

For us, this book will not be a chore. Buckley deftly whips us along with “Bird” McIntyre, a mostly-nice lobbyist. The weapons system McIntyre’s company is touting for a client is killed in committee.  

But have no fear: the arms company has another strategy. Foment American mistrust of the People’s Republic. This will allow the company to get another super-duper EVEN MORE SECRET (translated: even New York Times reporters know about it) weapons system through committee.

To do that, Bird is paired up with a fire-breathing neo-conservative bombshell, Angel Templeton. Their mission: to whip up American feeling against China. To do that, the pair spread misinformation that the People’s Republic is trying to kill the Dali Lama.

In China, President Fa Mengyao, is trying to keep a lid on hard-liners in his own government. They think war is a lovely thing. If America wants war, why not oblige? That’s hard when it turns out the Dali Lama is dying.

Chaos ensues. Belly laughs and guffaws will come from behind books, Nooks, Kindles and whatever.

 

Enjoy.

 

 

Ok, going on a limb here, but I for one, am looking forward to election season being over. It's the commercials. The ones that demonize one candidate or another.

Folks, as far as I can see, neither candidate is perfect. Maybe a Yak Herder I follow who practices medicine, but he's not running.

I have not observed, and I think the press would have reported if either (any!) candidate was seen walking on water. I know that bloggers on both sides would be quick to announce such a thing.

Look, the best you can do is make sure you are registered to vote, and then try hard to get copies of the parties' platforms and candidates position papers. Unedited copies of speeches would be nice, too. Being a voter takes work.

Do your best.

Ok, I am going to break a little cover. Ms. Donna lives on the Gulf coast of Alabama. That is more than you need to know, but it does explain why I have been getting a few calls from worried relatives and friends.


You see, there is a storm out there named Isaac. Forecasters say it will be a hurricane soon, and it looks as of this writing to be headed for the Alabama Gulf coast. So people who know us are freaking.


First, this is not the first hurricane Ms. Donna’s family has experienced. This explains why Ms. Donna’s mother (who Ms. Donna lives with) is nervous. Mom lost a lot when Ivan came through, and that is understandable. Right now, this is not Ivan.


This means that we do know (unlike the idiots who party on the beach) how to prepare, and when to flee.


So family, be assured. We are not stupid.


On the other hand, I do have a little spleen for the media people who are blowing this up into Armageddon. Folks, it is not. Sensible preparation is the order of the day. Not hype.


And I have a lot of spleen and anger at the idiots who ARE going to party like it’s 2099 on the beach or in the storm’s path. You will be putting first responders in jeopardy. If someone says evacuate, leave. Stay sober. A hurricane looks exciting on film, with you safe in your seat, but it is awful to feel walls “breathe” in the wind.

Olympics

Now that the Olympics are almost over … Let me congratulate ALL the athletes. NPR said that most of them won’t get a minute of airtime, but they DID work hard to become their country’s representative. I’ve only been a “primetime” viewer, so all I’ve seen is NBC’s stitched-together programs. That means I’ve missed events that don’t have an American contender. Or don’t have enough “glamour.” Or don’t have a story arc that some 20-something assistant producer can’t stitch together. Or attractive people in teeny-tiny and tight singlets, leotards or swimsuits. *sigh* Anyway, congrats to the London organizers and to the people of London. It has been quite an event and thank you for hosting it.