On observing birds by Billy Collins
Phantom Prey, by John Sandford
The infiniteenth installment in John Sandford’s “Prey” series finds Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension officer Lucas Davenport butting heads with his superiors over security preparations for the Republican National Convention (which pretty well fixes the story in real history). Davenport keeps telling them that they need to take terror threats seriously, while all his superiors seem to be able to reply is, “Bush is an [expletive deleted].”
This is about as profound an observation on Minnesota politics as I’ve ever read, and I give Sandford full marks for it.
But that’s not what the main plot of Phantom Prey is about. The main plot concerns Alyssa Austin, a wealthy recent widow, whose daughter, Frances, has recently disappeared. The police don’t seem to be giving the case a high priority, so Davenport’s wife Weather, a friend of Alyssa’s, asks him to look into it.
Very quickly Lucas gets shot in the leg by a man accompanied by a mysterious, unidentified, beautiful woman. And people who knew Frances, largely members of the “Goth” community, start showing up murdered, often after being seen with that same woman.
About half-way through, we discover who the murderer is, and then tension rises through watching Davenport try to put the pieces together in time to stop a killer who’s gone completely out of control.
I liked this book better than some of the recent entries in the series, which have dwelt unnecessarily (I thought) on kinky and sadistic sex practices. There was plenty of sex and depravity (and bad language) in this book, but they were kept more offstage. Also one scene took place in Cherry Grove Township, near Wanamingo. This should have been “near Kenyon” (my home town), because Cherry Grove Township is generally considered a Kenyon township rather than a Wanamingo one, but I always enjoy a reference to my childhood stomping grounds under any circumstances.
Also it was a great relief that the New Age religious adherent in the book was not portrayed as wise and possibly in touch with vast, glorious spiritual resources. The New Ager in this book is just plain wrong, and there’s a (faint) suggestion that Christianity might be a whole lot better choice.
So I liked Phantom Prey. A solid, page-turning entry in the series. Recommended for adults.
A Show of Solidarity
In support of Canada’s seal hunters and the Inuit community, Canada’s Governor General Michaelle Jean gutted a seal and ate a slice of its heart. She said in a ceremony on Monday that the Inuit’s seal hunting was not inhumane.
That just has a wholesome warmth about it, doesn’t it?
Friday Fight: A Little Sparing
Perspective on Sotomayor Nomination
From The American Thinker:
If they can stomach it, Republicans should prep themselves for Sotomayor’s confirmation hearing by reviewing tapes or reading transcripts of Judge Janice Rogers Brown’s hearing. Brown was President George W. Bush’s African-American nominee to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Democrats weren’t so smitten with her compelling life story that they were incapable of asking her tough questions.
…
Democrats are counting on Hispanics forgetting that it was Democrats who blocked Honduran immigrant Miguel Estrada’s nomination to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals solely because they couldn’t abide the prospect that President Bush might elevate the first Hispanic to the Supreme Court. Hispanics should be insulted by the race-baiting.
In fact, I heard a Hispanic woman this morning on a talk show express her outrage at the way politicians and pundits talk as if Hispanics cared nothing for ideas and values, only for ethnicity.
Linda Chavez recommends a healthy public discussion about Judge Sotomayor’s statement about being a better judge than a white man simply by being a Latina woman. Senators should talk about “whether a justice should base his or her decisions on the law or on personal experiences and preferences.”
Real-world consequences of “gay” marriage
From Dennis Ingolfsland of The Recliner Commentaries:
Five university law professors and the legal council for the American Jewish Conference have sent a letter to a New York Assemblyman warning of the potential consequences of a New York same-sex marriage bill. Below is a summary of the likely consequences:
Read the rest here.
Teachout After Delivery Room
My modest contribution to the cause of World Peace
(No need to thank me. Your awed silence is thanks enough.)
Imagine there’s no freedom
It’s easy if you try
No place to hide from
Big Brother’s searching eye
Imagine all the people
Living just one way…
Imagine there’s no nations
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to love or stand for
No constitutions too
Imagine all the people
Rocking the boat no more…
You may say I’m a dreamer
I suppose that I might be
I hope some day you’ll join us
And the whole world will think like me
Imagine confiscation
Of private property
We’d all be poor together
Except, of course, for me
Imagine all the people
Doing things my way…
You may say I hate freedom
That I’m against democracy
But it will all be so peaceful
When no one has the right to disagree
The Twilight of Newspapers
NY Times raises prices, could become non-profit to guilt liberals into donating to the cause. In other news dialogue, what will happen to cartoonists when newspapers fold? Doesn’t seem to be a ripe time for a new news organization, a paper, site, or network of some kind? I wish I had a mind for business (at least for a little while).
Storyville Coffee Donates One Month’s Profits to Jusice Mission
Storyville Coffee Company, based in Seattle, Washington, is giving all of its profits for May to the International Justice Mission to help free slaves around the world. Company officials talked to The Christian Post about it:
“The cost of giving everything away for one month felt necessary when we stopped to consider the value of a rescued human life,” explained Ryan Gamble, co-president of Storyville Coffee Company, to The Christian Post.
“At first we considered giving a portion of the profit away, but that didn’t feel right. Then we talked about giving all of the profit away, but that didn’t seem like enough either,” he said. “Ultimately we decided that anything less than everything would not be enough.”
I need to buy some coffee.