That's horse shit to expose children to that stuff.
"WTF what are you guys doing?" ---They are busting you for being an illegal drug user. Now sit down and take your PWN.
If you don't want to be harassed, don't break the law. Doesn't matter if YOU don't feel pot is illegal. Your country has determined it is, don't agree? Don't live there, or take it up with the courts/congressmen/etc.
missdelite: You don't have any vices, do you? And you don't know anyone close to you who does, right? And obviously, you've never been harassed by law enforcement officers or handed an unfair verdict in court or known someone who has, is this true?
How else to explain your blind faith in the judiciary process and your inability to see an abuse of power when it's right there before you? Just because someone - who believe me, has no vested interest in your wellbeing - makes a ruling, you believe they're doing it to protect your interests.
Bwahahaha! How precious! What kind of glass muthaf@kn house do you live in, anyway??
I'm willing to bet my left butt cheek you're married or related to one of the guys who helped come up with or who actively enforces these Draconian drug laws, and he's holed up in a seedy motel room in Amsterdam right now snorting coke out of a hooker's gash.
How lucky do you feel, you fucking hypocrite?
missdelite: And you know what's funny? Law enforcement wastes precious time, money and resources on these small-time crooks while the kingpins roam free and unmolested.
As long as police chiefs can hold press conferences boasting about their number of arrests, and politicians can line their pockets with more money from taxpayers to fight the "War on Drugs", eveybody's happy.
But what about the kid OD'ed in a derelict warehouse, lying in a pool of vomit and excrement with a needle stuck in his/her arm? Are they just collateral damage from whom everyone else profits? ________________________________________________
Picasso Sells for Record $106.5 Million COMMENTS Even in terms of rich people economics this makes no sense to me. I love Picasso, don't get me wrong, but in todays buyers market I could probably buy a small island, a Gulfstream jet to transport me, and finance my supervillain-esque island compound for that price.
reply: Cash is trash.
Art can be sold overseas, is easily transported, and is untraceable. You can also claim it as assets on a balance sheet.
It's a better investment than something as louche as bouillon.
Art is always valuable as a vehicle for money laundering. Not that I think there's anything wrong with that from an ethical standpoint, it's just that's what it's for.
But in this case, when cubism goes out of fashion eventually, what's a billionaire to do? New art crazes are always happening, but they ain't making any more islands (if Dubai's real estate collapse goes as expected. Just bide your time...).
reply: Eh, eventually, the art market will fall apart, as it always does.
Buyers pick it up for "legacy" and to pad their egos. You're a pretty big pimp among rich people if you have a Picasso. How rich you are stops mattering so much at a certain point.
That's when you start buying art, bankrolling "grassroots" political machines, producing art, running philanthropies, etc.
When cubism stops being cool, you donate the paintings to a prominent museum.
It may also be a symptom of the stimulus boom. The smart money will dump cash when inflation is coming without many prospects for alternative investments.
I mean, it's a pretty fucking sweet deal when you can use ZIRP to buy Picassos for nothing. I'd do that deal many times over.
When political risk is high, it's also a great time to dump your cash reserves into easily smuggled assets.
Remind me to hire you as my accountant and general financial adviser when I attain my empire. You seem like you'd keep a cool head and manage to get me a sweet deal when the revolution overthrows my totalitarian regime. In all seriousness though, your perspective on art as an investment for the super-rich is really intriguing and has educated me as to why these people think a Picasso may be worth 0.1Bn dollars. It makes total sense in the same way that any other stable alternative to cash does.
reply: Accounting, you'd have to find someone else. General financial advisor, sure.
But I'd loooooove to have a Canadian work visa, at least for a time. Canada is the atheist Saudi Arabia with plenty of mines to boot.
More Than 20 People Passed as Homeless New York Man Bled to Death COMMENTS Sorry, but this woman deserves the brunt of the blame here. After getting her ass saved by this guy, she couldn't dial 911 and tell them she was just mugged at knife-point at X corner and get a patrol car to take a look around? Not only is this poor guy dead, but this douche is still on the streets looking for his next victim. (not that they would've necessarily caught him but Jesus, you never know...and at least there's an alert out for other potential victims.) Then again, maybe she didn't want to waste her cell phone minutes. Or have her green card status checked...?
missdelite: A person can jump to a lot of conclusions based on the scant evidence we've been given about this incident, but only an ass would say "this woman deserves the brunt of the blame here". Seriously dude, what are you smoking? Do you really think she gave a fuck about her cell phone minutes after having been robbed at knifepoint?
Obviously, you've never been attacked or traumatized a day in your life, in which case bully for you. I hereby sentence you to 40 days community service at a rape crisis centre to get your empathy back.
Or go punch a kitten, if that's what you're in to.
What am I smoking? What are you smoking? Do you really think I believe she's worried about her cell phone minutes? Sarcasm. Sarcasm. As for being assaulted or traumatized by an assault, yes I've been a victim of it in good ol' NYC, and the only decent thing to do in this instance (assuming the woman herself isn't also stabbed and dead somwhere) is to report this immediately for other women and the community.
missdelite: Sarcasm FAIL.
How wonderful that you're able to function with a level head moments after having been attacked. Of course, all victims are just like you, or else something must be wrong with them.
And this: we don't know for certain she didn't call 911. Maybe she did and the police took their damn time as is often the case. I certainly wouldn't blame her if she didn't, as it's also possible she collapsed at the nearest establishment from shock. Why don't you call all the area ERs and find out whether they got a call for a disheveled woman passed out on the floor of a McDonalds or Starbucks before chastising her for not having done her civic duty?
PS - I don't smoke, but I sure as hell know when it's being blown up my ass.
I hope that if we're ever confronted by a similar situation in the future, that if I come to YOUR aid and get stabbed, that you'll just go lie down in a Macdonald's or Starbucks all disheveled by the trauma. Like Mr. Tale-Yax, I look forward to bleeding out on the sidewalk because YOU were so traumatized. Heh heh, that's rich.
missdelite: What's rich is that you can't conceive for one second how a victim could possibly be in no position to help out another victim just because they were rescued. Somehow, my "collapsed/passed out" became your "just go lie down", as if the attacked woman casually stopped by the nearest establishment to enjoy a moment of rest between sips of coffee, as opposed to actually being caught up in the throes of trauma. How callous of her to ignore his chivalrous act! Why the hell did he even bother if she was going to walk away, huh?
Cause that's what decent people do. They intervene when they see a crime being committed, without looking for anything in return. Unfortunately, this man was a victim of cause-and-effect and he didn't anticipate being stabbed. If there's anyone who should be blamed here, it's the goddamned criminal who probably walked away with 40 bucks and a tube of lipstick.
At least Mr. Tale-Yax died having done something noble. Lord knows, there's no dignity in living on the street, where a guy can get knifed for his shoes and the sidewalk is likely the only place where he can lie down and not catch a serious case of head lice.
I take back my suggestion for you to go work at a rape crisis centre. I thought it might help you get your empathy back, but I see you had none to begin with. And if you see me being attacked, don't bother intervening. The guilt of not having returned the favour would surely kill me. ________________________________________________
10 Dirty Little Restaurant Secrets There's a reason most restaurants keep the kitchen doors closed -- and it's not just because it's so hot back there.
It can be tough for restaurateurs to turn a profit and Slashfood has uncovered some of the ultra-dirty deeds even the best restaurants commit in order to pinch pennies.
Read on for 10 true stories about the subtle, sneaky and sometimes downright disgusting ways restaurants cheat to save a buck -- and how you might be paying the price.
10. Using Cabbage in Place of Seaweed 9. Deep-Frying Everything 8. Substituting Top-Shelf Alcohol with Generic Booze 7. Topping Pitchers of Beer with Seltzer Water 6. Refilling Pricey Bottled Waters with Tap 5. Recycling Baskets of Chips 4. Serving Rotten Meat 3. Using Fake Creamer 2. Serving Caffeinated Coffee as Decaf 1. Souping Up Big Ticket Items
COMMENTS Old Shrimp! No problem , worked somewhere that asked me to soak in bleach to take the nasty smell out of it and then serve it , told them I would'nt. Asked for my paycheck and cut my ties before someone died.
My son worked at a Mexican Restaurant,where they used Red Cloth Napkins. One day he opened up a new bundle to roll up his silverware for the dinner crowd. When he opened up the bundle, roaches started to crawl out. This grossed him out and reported it to his supervisor. His supervisor told him to use them anyway. GROSS!!! Needless to say, I now ask for paper napkins anytime I see cloth napkins on the tables.
I have worked in the industry for many years and in most cases I have not seen anything gross or disgusting..but it does happen..grill cooks licking their fingers before touching the meat for doneness, food picked up off the floor and served, TEA urn spouts that are never cleaned and full of mold and other gross stuff..BEWARE ICE TEA DRINKERS. Cheap cuts of meat sold as expensive ones and once I saw a line cook stick his finger up his BUTT and rub it all over the steak to be served to the owner of the establishment...that was the grossest thing I have ever seen.
I worked in restaurants -- mostly 'fine dining' -- and had an interesting range of experiences, mostly depending on the chef. If a kitchen was run by an upstanding, demanding and interested chef, fewer oddities happened to get served. In one instance, I remember doing a $1000/plate fundraiser where we were supposed to be serving pheasant. When the chef presented me with the meat to trim down, I said: "Looks like chicken to me..." Granted they were very nice capons...
Food cost drives some potentially fatal errors in food prep. If you have allergies...watchout. A regular practice in several of the restaurants I worked in was to feed cocktail shrimp trimmings into the lobster salad. If you happen to be someone with a shrimp allergy you may end up with a bit of a surprise.
That is the tip of the iceberg. More unusual errors can slip by when inexperienced personnel are part of the action.
Knowing what I know never deters me from eating out, but I am careful about what I choose. And while I rarely send something back (once in my life) I can clearly define the issues.
I recently quit a famous New York restaurant owned by a famous Boston chef where I was a server because it was absolutely disgusting in their penny pinching ways and just down right unsanitary practices. First of all I had to fight with the cooking staff to maintain some semblance of respect for people paying big money to eat there. I caught one cook dropping an item on the floor, plating it and expecting me to then serve it. When I told him he actually had to remake the dish, he got indignant and defensive. I might as well as tied a target on my back from there on in.
Most of the time the dishwashers who were on another floor didn't seem to care about replenishing the cups, silverware and glassware so we had to wash those items by hand in the back sink with hand soap. And yes, one fryolator for EVERYTHING. there is a constant bug problem that they just didn't take seriously. The night staff would routinely leave food items like foccacia and pastries out or hidden in little hiding places for themselves and forget about them. Result? Infestation. That's just the tip of the iceberg.
When I have leftovers at restaurants, I pour catsup, hot sauce and salt and pepper over everything. My son (who is in the restaurant business) is very fussy about his kitchen. NOTHING is recycled and if a server is found guilty of any of these "tricks" they are immediately let go.
i worked in the resturant buisness for many years..if you want to eat food from a clean kitchen..STAY HOME..never send your food back to the kitchen because it is not cooked properly..cooks and chefs get very annoyed..theres no telling what will happen to that steak..if you don't want to share your salad with the person before you ..BRING YOUR OWN...my best advice is to buy a steak and a head of lettuce and stay home and cook it yourself
Watch the guy who cleans up the tables at the authentic Mexican restaurants. He is taught to not only reuse the chips, but to put the unused salsa back into the pot, also. I asked the manager when I saw this happen. "The spices in the salsa kill the germs so don't worry. Every Mexican restaurant does this." I checked around town, and it was true. Sometimes they have a bucket on the floor in which they dump the used salsa, but it ends up back on the tables. No more salsa for me unless I either make it from home or buy it from a sealed jar.
This was a common bar trick some bartenders and managers would do. It would save the bartenders extra work and the bar manager money on produce. Under the sink where the glasswasher is there is a basket the glasses are dumped in to remove straws, fruit, etc. At some establishment the fruit would be picked out, rinsed under cold water and reused as a garnish. Just be carefull to check for lipstick and chewing gum.
I spent a good portion of my life working in places that had bad roach problems. I found one in my salad once and in chicken wings ...I eat at home most of the time. If I go out and see any filth ...I'm gone. Bojangles in the south ....dirty as hell.!!!
Twice (in different restaurants) I have been witness to reusing food. In one family-owned restaurant, when the tables were cleared, if there were any unused rolls we were told to put them back in the roll bin to be used by the next customer. What if these were dropped on the floor or played with by a child? When the boss wasn't looking we threw them out. At a Shoney's, one waitress dropped a bowl of melon balls on the floor of the prep area. The manager told her to pick them up, wash them off and put them on the buffet or she would lose her job. That's when I quit. Within a year, they went out of business.
OK, that's it. I am never eating out ever again. I did not know about the "well done" steak trick, BUT it has to explain my experience with City Range in Greenville, SC. I ate there only twice (stupid me, I gave them a second chance), and ordered a well done porterhouse steak both times. Both times it tasted rancid. It was awful. The first time when I told the waitress, she brushed me off. Second time it happened I just decided never to eat there again. And I haven't, and I won't. I also tell everyone of my experience there. They may have saved money serving me rancid cuts of meat, but they lost way more money via future customers, because I always tell people of my experience there.
I worked at a restaurant that served rotisserie chicken. The chicken came in cases of multiple whole chickens. When we didn't use the chicken and they would start smelling bad I would tell the owner the chicken was spoiled and that it was smelling really bad. He would have the cook wash the chicken saying it was just the juice the chicken was sitting in that smelled bad. When we would use the chicken the customers would ask if we were cooking it different because it did not taste the same. The owner would tell them he was trying some new spices.
Went into a well know chicken place many years ago, close to closing and when the worker came through the door to the kitchen, I could see a couple fornicating on the counter in the kitchen. When the clerk asked me what I wanted, I told him I would have some of what the other guy was having. I left without buying any chicken.
10 More Dirty Restaurant Tricks In September, Slashfood wrote about "10 Dirty Little Restaurant Secrets", those ways that restaurants cut corners to save a few dimes. Boy did you readers weigh in. We've culled 10 of the best reader-submitted restaurant tricks from the 468 comments left on the post.
Read on for Slashfood readers' horror stories -- from nibbled-upon entrees to doctored veal cutlets.
10. Reusing Leftovers 9. The Chef's Special Is the Easiest, Cheapest Dish to Prepare 8. The Waitstaff Nibbles on Your Entree Before It's Served to You 7. The Bartender Puts All the Booze in the Straw of Your Watered-Down Drink 6. Fish Bits Substituted for Shrimp 5. Marrying Half-Drunken Bottles of Wine 4. Passing Pork Off as Veal 3. Stale Hot Dogs Reborn as Corn Dogs 2. Combining Quality Ingredients With Subpar Ones 1. Your Regular Coffee Is Actually Decaf
COMMENTS I have owned a local restaurant for 25 years....my staff would be fired if I ever caught them eating off customers plates or as we call it "bus buckets" dining....
Bosses who deny the above comments are usually the most guilty. They get away with it because the American public has become ignorant of food, drink, and service. Put out a large portion at what seems to be a fair price, and a 48 oz. soda, and most Americans think they have eaten well. We can thank the chains and their idea that management means cost cutting. Restauranteurs used to think quality of product was tied to their reputation, and so strived for high performance. But in the last 30 years more great restaurants have disappeared, even in NYC. Chains serving frozen portion controlled food have popped up like weeds.
I can maybe understand the drinks and the straw. BUT!!! if i ever caught someone messing with my food. I would wait for them out side and XXXX them. So go ahead and take the chance, maybe we're watching you also. Never can tell can you? believe me I wouldn't hesitate to XXXX you or your type.
The most disgusting thing I've ever heard of in a restaurant was a few friends of my son, all working for a very large chain pizza restaurant, claiming that when they received a ticket for delivery, for someone in our town they didn't like, they would "punch down the dough" with their penises. Slapping the dough down that way. The manager was always stoned (was actually selling pot to the kids) and was only semi-conscious most the time and supposedly never noticed as she was in the front and they were in the back unsupervised for the most part. I told the kids off, and have never eaten there or ordered from a pizza place again. There is no doubt in my mind they were telling the truth as I overheard part of it and then demanded to know what on earth they were talking about. I also called the home office and reported the activity and the manager. Nothing was done.
NEVER, EVER, Use the condiments! I used to work at a steakhouse (yes, a major chain) where we were only "allowed" 4 clean towels per night--for over 50 tables! At the end of the evening it was someones job to clean all the A-1, ketchup bottles, ect. They had us wipe the lip of the bottle, inside and out with those dirty towels (I preferred to call the towels "botulism swabs"). Yes, we had to wipe INSIDE the lip of the bottle and the caps with those towels...the same towels that had cleaned every table all night long......
Never order or eat any kind of appetizers, like salsa, bread etc. leftovers are all sent back and dumped in big bowls or cans. think of all the germs you are getting from other people, not to mention the cans are NEVER washed, they just keep adding and reusing.
Being a lifetime restaurant worker who has worked at every level of the business, I hate when companies like AOL put these articles on their main page. Sure, there are some bad restaurant owners out there who have done shady things and workers in those restaurants who are guilty. However, there are millions of people who don't deserve to suffer because people read articles like this and believe everything they see on the internet. There are bad apples in every kind of business, restaurants don't deserve to be singled out like this. The very large majority of restaurant are honestly run businesses and are struggling enough in this economy that they don't need this bad publicity.
I work part time in a local IHOP. NEVER EVER are left overs used for anything! All plates are dumped into the trash, no matter what is on them! The cooks and servers are clean and wash their hands 10 times an hour! Our wiping rags are soaked in a bleach water mixture. NONE of these horrid things happen there or I would NOT work there!
I worked at a popular "DONUT" and coffee chain in Naperville, IL - still to this day, I cannot eat donuts or donut holes...And worst of all, the bucket that we used to mop the floor - was also used to fill the frozen orange drinks and the frozen coffee drinks. Once a customer complained that her frozen coffee drink tasted like bleach. She was right! I DID NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS!!! I QUIT IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE COMPANY GOT FLACK FOR IT. So - there are dozens and dozens of ways that restaurants save bottom on their bottom line!
I've worked at two different Applebee's chains, and I assure you that while we've resorted to a few frozen entrees, Applebee's is the CLEANEST and MOST SANITARY restaurant I've ever worked at. Red Lobster, on the other hand, does not wash their silverware, only soaks it in cold water, then has a special silverware person to wipe it down and roll it.
What is it you think owners do when they discover that the meat or fish was never refrigerated the night before? Or when the food is delivered in a defrosted condition? Do you think they throw it out? These are the same people who corrupt your daughters, fire on whim, and cheat their purveyors, taxes (many a place has closed for failure to pay state tax) and employees. People who deliberately hire illegal staff so they can underpay them, and screw many other employees. Get another job? Many employees need a job that will allow them to go to school or watch their children. To suggest otherwise is being a heartless bast**d. These owners are notorious for keeping three sets of books, one for taxes, one for possible sale, and one for the truth. AS an industry, it is frought with deceit, corruption, theft, and illegal behavior that would never be permitted in any other business. When was the last time you heard of a restaurant CEO going to prison or being fined for their outrageous behavior? It certainly isn't because they are good guys. ___________________________________________________
The Apology Project As I sit down to write my apology I find myself overwhelmed with guilt, shame, and uncertainty. I must admit that when I was first incarcerated I felt more sorry because I was caught than I was about what I had done. I truly did not connect with the pain that I had caused my victims.
The Apology Project, a 1980 conceptual art project, was created by Allan Bridge who employed the pseudonym Mr. Apology. Bridge used an answering machine to record confessions from anonymous callers. More than 1000 hours of confession were recorded, ranging from common confessions to ritualistic murders.
Some of the confessions were published in Bridge's magazine Apology.
Group Hug is a website that publishes anonymous confessions. Readers of the site are encouraged to "confess" using a simple form. All confessions go through a lengthy public screening process before appearing on the main page. The site was launched in October 2003 by Gabriel Jeffrey...
Canada a Top Producer of Ecstasy, Methamphetamine, Says UN [ca.news.yahoo.com - Jne.09]
WASHINGTON - The United Nations' drug czar is urging Canada to take action on a UN report that identifies Canadian gangs as the leading suppliers of ecstasy in North America and increasingly proficient producers of methamphetamine for markets around the world.
"Canada has emerged an important hub for ecstasy and amphetamines," Antonio Maria Costa told a news conference Wednesday in the U.S. capital as he released the agency's 2009 World Drug Report.
Costa said the lucrative underground industry of manufacturing amphetamines has migrated north to Canada since both the U.S. and Mexico banned the chemical precursors used to make the drugs.
"These important measures taken by countries inevitably tend to create a problem somewhere else unless similar measures are undertaken," he said.
"So I am inviting Canada to be equally proactive in taking the measures which are preventive strikes to avoid the proliferation of manufacturing of amphetamines in that country."
An anti-gang bill currently before Parliament is being held up by the Liberal majority in the Senate, said Rob Nicholson, Canada's justice minister.
"Under the new legislation, these people are looking at two-year prison terms as a minimum," said Nicholson, who blamed the holdup on Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff.
"I am asking him to do something, call people, get this bill moving through the system. I am hoping this increases the pressure on him to make this a priority and get this bill passed."
Gil Kerlikowske, U.S. President Barack Obama's drug watchdog, said the UN report isn't likely to lead to any further border security tensions between the U.S. and Canada.
"For quite a while we've exchanged guns going into Canada for drugs coming back," said Kerlikowske, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy and a one-time chief of police in the border cities of Seattle and Buffalo.
Law enforcement agencies on both sides of the border are "absolutely committed to working together, to sharing information, and I know the United States is committed to working hard on those border checkpoints."
The UN report found that since 2003-2004, "Canada has emerged as the primary source of ecstasy-group substances for North American markets, and increasingly for other regions."
Before 2003, Europe was the leading producer of U.S.-bound ecstasy, or methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) - a synthetic, psychoactive drug that produces feelings of increased energy, euphoria and emotional warmth.
But the trade was effectively dismantled, the UN report says, and "Canadian intelligence reports indicate that Canada-based drug trafficking organizations are attempting to fill the supply void, and have drastically increased their ecstasy production and trafficking."
Asian organized crime groups primarily control ecstasy labs in Canada, using chemicals smuggled into the country in sea containers from China.
In 2007, half the ecstasy produced in Canada was destined for markets outside Canada, most of it bound for the U.S., Australia and Japan, the report found.
Japan has identified Canada as the single biggest source for seized ecstasy tablets, followed by the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.
The report also found that Canadian organized crime groups have significantly increased their participation in the meth trade over the past few years.
"By 2006, law enforcement intelligence noted that Asian organized crime and traditional outlaw motorcycle gangs operating in Canada had increased the amount of methamphetamine they manufactured and exported, primarily into the USA, but also to Oceania and east and southeast Asia," the report found.
Australia says Canada accounts for 83 per cent of total seized meth imports by weight; in Japan, the figure is 62 per cent.
"Although only five per cent of domestically manufactured methamphetamine was exported in 2006, by 2007 that figure was 20 per cent," the report said.
The report also found that while global markets for cocaine, opiates and marijuana are holding steady or in decline, some 28 million people are heavy drug users who are likely to be physically or psychologically dependent on drugs.
Opium cultivation in Afghanistan, where 93 per cent of the world's opium is grown, dropped by 19 per cent last year, and there was a 28 per cent decline - the report called it staggering - in production of cocaine in Colombia, which produces half the world's cocaine.
Marijuana, or cannabis, remained the most widely used and cultivated drug in the world and it is more harmful than commonly believed, with more users reporting dependency problems, the report said. Roughly 167 million people use marijuana at least occasionally.
Canada is also a leading producer of hydroponic marijuana, Costa said. There are high rates of domestic consumption as well as exportation south of the border.
"I believe there is a lot of work that needs to be done on these two problems in Canada and elsewhere," he said.
The report , however, found that production and demand for most illegal drugs is declining, except for a rise in amphetamines. Illegal drug seizures were up in 2007, and all drug seizure totals were at all-time highs or close to all-time highs. There are also declining rates of drug addiction, Costa said.
"The drug control regime has contained drug abuse in terms of percentages of the population to a fraction compared to tobacco addiction," he said. "Basically we have not seen an increase; we have seen flat and now decreasing rates."
Costa credits improved prevention and awareness about drug use. "We now know how to deal with it in terms of treatment and in terms of prevention."
The UN report advises against decriminalizing illegal drugs, but Costa said drug addicts must not be treated as criminals.
"We are very strongly in favour of decriminalizing drug abuse," Costa said. "We deal with addicts ... they need to be put in hospital, not in prison."
But that doesn't mean the manufacture and distribution of illicit drugs should be decriminalized, he said, despite suggestions that legalization could help eliminate organized crime and contribute to cash-strapped government coffers if drugs like marijuana were taxed.
"Why should we should unleash a public health problem in potential drug abuse in order to deal with a subject matter than can be dealt with, namely public security issues and organized crime?" he said
"I don't believe there's a tradeoff ... we should deal with both the public security and the public health problem without surrendering one of the two."
Kerlikowske also shut down any talk of decriminalization during the news conference.
"In regards to legalization, it's not in the president's vocabulary and it's not in mine." ______________________________________________
________!!!!!!!STOP TOUCHING THE BABIES!!!!!!!!________
Digital composite of two children playing under the sprinkler [flickr.com]
Swiss Bust Child Pornography Ring [06-28-09] Swiss police say they have uncovered an internet child pornography network spanning 78 countries and involving at least 2,000 IP internet addresses.
Bruns Leaves 'U' in Criminal Case [1999] Thousands of pornographic images were stored on his computer, many of them of children in explicit sexual situations, said DPS Lt. Wesley Skowron...Skowron said Bruns has been trading and downloading pornography since at least late January, receiving as many as a few hundred inquiries a day from others eager to trade child pornography...If convicted of distributing child pornography, Bruns could face up to seven years in prison and a $50,000 fine.
How the Fox News Producer Got Busted for Child Porn [02-10-09] FBI agents and police officers found computers, hard drives, and CDs. A Dell Inspiron laptop contained digital photos and movies "depicting children under the age of ten being sexually abused by adult men and women," according to Palchak's affidavit. Bruns had also taken naked pictures of himself.
***Warning: Graphic content ahead*** Fox Newser in Kiddie Porn Bust [02-10-09] The following is a sample of some of the images and movie files found on the C drive of the Dell Inspiron Laptop:
1. This movie file is approximately seven minutes and five seconds long and depicts numerous female children most under the age of 10 performing oral sex on men. Several of the men in this video ejaculate into the mouths of these children. Some of the children in this video are being vaginally penetrated by adult men.
2. This movie is approximately 5 minutes and thirty seven seconds in length and depicts a female child under the age of 10 sucking the penises of adult men and being vaginally penetrated by adult male penises.
3. This image depicts a prepubescent child sitting in a bathtub nude with her legs spread open being urinated on by an adult male.
4. This image depicts a prepubescent child under the age of 5 with her arms behind her back and bound by duct tape being anally penetrated by an adult male.
5. This image depicts a female child under the age of 5 laying on her stomach with her pants down in a spread eagle position with her legs and wrists bound by duct tape.
Fox News Fires Producer Charged with Child Porn [02-13-09] Fox hired Bruns in 2002, three years after he left the University of Michigan after similar charges of possessing and distributing child porn online.
COMMENTS I'd like to grind a heel into the eye that looked at those babies being raped. Motherfucker.
I want to get together with 1/2 dozen friends - all between 6-0 and 6-10, 270-350. I figure we tie his wrists together and hang him from the ceiling so his feet barely touch the floor. The rule is "No hitting above the shoulders!". We would take lead pipes and SHATTER every bone in this motherfucker's body, from his collarbone to his toes!
Why use a heel for a job better suited to a hammer drill with 3/4" bit? ____________________________________________
"Justice and power must be brought together, so that whatever is just may be powerful, and whatever is powerful may be just." -Blaise Pascal
"If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.” - Niccolo Machiavelli
Iranian supporters of reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi demonstrate
Supporters of Mousavi set burning barricades in the streets and chant slogans as they protest
Holding posters of the late Ayatollah Khomeini and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, worshippers chant slogans, during Friday prayers, at the Tehran University campus
Supporters of Mousavi
Mousavi surrounded by a sea of supporters and cameras, as he addresses the crowd
Iranian women take cover from a cloud of either tear gas or smoke at an anti-government protest in Tehran
Iranian riot police clash with demonstrators
A member of a pro-government Basij militia throws a rock from the group's building in the direction of demonstrators as they approach the militia's base, near a rally supporting Mousavi
Supporters of Mousavi take a break from demonstrating
A screen grab taken on June 21, 2009 from a video posted on YouTube reportedly shows Iranian men trying to help a wounded woman named "Neda" after she was shot in the chest during a protest in Tehran on June 20, 2009. She died only moments later. Neda Soltani has become an iconic figure among supporters of the opposition, her memorial on June 22nd was apparently disrupted by Iranian riot police.
COMMENTS She died for nothing. They talk about freedom and liberty but it's all still radical Islam with either side in the Iranian elections. So I guess it's the liberty to choose your Islamist oppressor. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. But I guess it's nice that they're going violent on each other rather than the US.
They are only using the election as an opportunity to mobilize for the fight to overthrow the entire regime. They will succeed eventually. You on the other hand, will be an ignoramus for ever.
And you know that how? Because you dreamed a dream? I suppose that those Ayatollahs supporting the protests are really closet liberals.
I know that because I watch the news. There was an interview with a woman explaining she is actually fighting for women's rights. There are messages coming from protesters saying their hopes are to achieve much bigger changes.
I also know it because I have a brain. If you lived under an oppressive regime, wouldn't you want to overthrow it? Why do you think you are better than Iranians?
Finally, I know it because I was in a similar situation myself, while protesting against the election fraud in Serbia under the oppressive regime of Slobodan Milosevic.
Yes, well I also watch the news and have listened to people say they fundamentally support the status quo with light reforms. If I am a religious Muslim perhaps I am not as extreme as the zealots but still respectful of the Mullahs and the regime. As far as I've read the development of nuclear weapons was hugely popular by both hard liners and reformers. As was hatred of America.
Genius, this is Iran not Yugoslavia. There is nothing in common between the two situations.
You have no idea of the strategy and the tactics involved in overthrowing an oppressive regime which has been in the business of brainwashing the masses for decades. I do, because I was involved in it.
Here is something to think about: if you come right out and say you want a total upheaval, you will immediately lose the support of a huge number of people who may simply be afraid of what immediate pain that may bring.
So, you don't want to come out on TV and say "fuck the Mullahs", you come out and say "hey, look, we are asking for reasonable things, and if they won't even give us that much... well draw your own conclusions".
Think of the "Allahu Akbar" chants. While for you it means they are just showing themselves as religious Muslims, I understood it as the same tactic we employed by chanting patriotic Serbian slogans: it's not because we were nationalists, it's to invoke the authority we knew everyone recognized as above the regime, thus planting the seeds of the idea that the regime is not all powerful, as the brainwashed masses might think it is.
It's good tactics. I dig it, even though I am an anti-religious progressive.
Please comment more. It's good to finally encounter a commenter who knows what the hell it is they're talking about.
Thanks. I think what they are trying to do right now is gather the critical mass. This is why the emphasis on mourning, and the emphasis on being quiet and reasonable. You want to show the regime as being the ones who are the mad dogs in this. It will take a lot of time, however. Years. This is a good start though, the seeds of the idea are planted in many people's minds, even if they don't go out in the next days and weeks to show it.
The main problem is how do you get beyond Tehran. In Serbia, the whole thing finally worked when they (I already left the country at that point) started the rallies in the small towns in the heartland, and then marched towards the capital. This has stretched the security forces into thin bands around the entire country, which were then overrun with almost no violence at all. By the time the mass reached Belgrade, there was a feeling of defeat among the security forces, at which point they decided to switch sides.
On the subject of "they just want free elections": they might as well ask for gay marriages, there is exactly zero chance of the regime giving in on anything. This is why you ask for the smallest change that seems like a really basic right: to show the regime as being absolutely unreasonable and therefore ripe for the fall.
David Mirvish Books to Close [Globe and Mail - Jan.09]
One of Canada's oldest and most popular independent bookstores, Toronto's David Mirvish Books, is closing its doors at the end of February.
The store, specializing in books on visual arts, architecture, photography, design and film, was opened in 1974 on Markham St., near the famous Honest Ed's department store. The store, the brainchild of theatre impresario David Mirvish, son of Toronto businessman and philanthropist Honest Ed Mirvish, was first located in a building across the street from its current site. Its present home had been a gallery for contemporary art owned by David Mirvish and a few years after the gallery's closure, in 1975, he moved the store into its premises.
Eleanor Johnston, manager of the store for more than 25 years, said yesterday there was no one reason for the store's Feb. 28 closing. "David [Mirvish] just thought it was time, that the retail world has indeed changed a lot. Of course, it's always changing... There's always been something with the economy, the currency, the chains duking it out. It's not really a question of us not really being able to keep weathering those shifting sands, to mix metaphors. I think we just decided, 'It's just enough, it's time.'"
Johnston, who started as a clerk at the store 31 years ago, said Mirvish will move its out-of-print and rare books on-line and "make them available to the world." But the bricks-and-mortar operation is kaput. She said Mirvish has not yet decided what do with the high-ceilinged room, although the famous 50-foot-long Frank Stella abstraction, "Damascus Gate," will occupy its west wall for the time being.
"It's a problematic space in some respects," she laughed. "It's an event to change a light bulb."
The closing of Mirvish Books will be the second shuttering of a specialty book outlet in Mirvish Village in less than a year. Last fall Ballenford Books, specializing in architecture titles, closed for the final time. It started in 1979.
COMMENTS [thestar.com] The problem with online buying of art books is that you don't get to leaf through the book before you pay the huge price. The AGO bookshop is a shadow of what it was pre-'Transformation'. Buying art history books just got more difficult.
I will miss this book store. Christopher Morley writes of used bookstores as being something of a hub/nexus for the creative people of the world- in my long experience with Mirvish Books, it is one of the few new book stores that has a transcendent feel of the air full of ideas, sparks of inspiration, and a decent dose of bibliomania as per Morley's used bookstores. It is a special, physical place the online cannot, ever, touch.
Word on the street is that Mirvish had no issues with the bookstore, but preferred to turn it into a private gallery for his art collection, which won't even be open to the public. I guess when you own all the buidlings on the block, you can change a neighborhood's dynamic as you see fit. But it's a shame to see a landmark go and staff laid off on a whim. Makes one wonder how long Honest Ed's will last before he turns it into a condo.
What a shame. The architecture and scholastic community didn't come together to help Ballenford out. Now the combined arch/art/photography/design/film community in Toronto is going to let another landmark die. It's sad really, but what's worse are the university arch/art/fine art hist/photography/design/film professors who encourage their students to buy off Amazon rather then ordering en masse from these local retailers. Yes, Amazon has great selection, but local retailers can find you anything as well, AND THEY'RE PART of the COMMUNITY, which means they can do so much more. When's the last time Amazon held a lecture series? Shame.
I remember first coming here as a young designer in the late 1980's to get my art book fix. I've since gone there at least 5 times a year over the last 25 years. I will miss it and their very knowledgeable staff.
David Mirvish Books - Final Moments *sigh* *double sigh* I don't live in Toronto, but when I'm up there, I love checking out some of your indie, smaller book stores. Seeing the pictures, with the smiles, knowing it's ending, makes this even more sad.
I loved this place! I bought most of my UofT art/art history books here :( I didn't even know they were closing! or else I would have gone down there! RIP - I hope they do better online (but somehow I doubt that) because, "It's about coming here and reading and touching and feeling the books." so true
If you're still interested in drooling over and fondling art and design books ... there is always SWiPE, located in the 401 Richmond building.
Well, all I see are people complaining they can't go browse anymore. Maybe if more people actually bought the books, they'd stay open. It's a business, not a library. Use it or lose it.
DM books didn't close because too many people were "fondling books". It wasn't because they were financially in the hole, or the rent was too high. The Mirvishes have deep pockets, and paid no rent as they own the building. David hasn't been involved with the book business for years, and it's no secret that he's re-focused the Mirvish biz on the theatre district. I recommend everyone do themselves a favour and start fondling some books at SWIPE - their stock is phenomenal, they could use the extra business, and the owner is a really great guy.
As I repeatedly circled around Richmond and Adelaide in search of the new location of Swipe Books, I began to wonder how a store so difficult to find could have any chance of survival. After about four loops in my car and the utterance of just a few expletives, I had the radical thought that maybe I should double-check my notes to confirm the address. Suffice to say, I might have kept circling all day had I not had that vague (and not altogether rare) feeling that, despite my annoyance, maybe it was me who was the idiot. After all, it's pretty hard to find a store located at 401 Richmond when searching desperately for 410 Richmond.
Once I had the correct address, it was a cinch to find Swipe. In fact, the building in which it is located is one that I've walked through a number of times in the past (before the store's arrival). A restored tin factory that houses a vibrant mix of studios, galleries and a few commercial spaces, 401 Richmond might just be the perfect location for a store that specializes in books on graphic design, architecture and the built environment. That is, if it weren't for that fact that the building offers no street-front space. Wrong address or not, I probably wouldn't have continually missed Swipe if it had a street presence, a point that's not lost on the store's owner, David Michaelides. One of his chief worries when he moved into the current space in May 2008 was that the location within a larger building might cast Swipe both out of sight and out of mind.
This, of course, begs the question: why did he move in the first place? Typically, his reasons had to do primarily with survival. As he frankly explained to me, "at the end of a lease cycle, pretty much all independent bookstores have to move." He should know; he's been in the book business coming on thirty years. And even when they're pretty successful, he continued, "they just can't afford to renew." For sad proof of this, consider the collective fates of Ballenford Books, Pages, and David Mirvish Books, all of which are closed or closing. One of the great difficulties, according to David, is that even when a bookseller has been astute in his choice of an up and coming area, he's still inevitably priced out of the market when the neighbourhood becomes established. In other words, you're damned if you do find a great location and damned if you don't.
So what to do? Well, despite the doom and gloom, the very fact that Swipe is still with us speaks to the viability - however precarious - of independent booksellers. But, to maintain their presence throughout the city, David muses that we might need to radically rethink how such bookstores operate and the nature of services that they provide. While they're clearly commercial enterprises, it might be more accurate to liken these stores to art galleries (most of which are also commercial, lest we forget). After all, where else is one so welcomed to loiter? And beyond this, having something of a patron figure can help to keep the doors open. Without getting into financial specifics, Margaret Zeidler, the owner/landlord of the building has been supportive of Swipe, believing not only in the concept of the store, but what it brings to a building occupied primarily by private galleries and studios.
I like this idea. When I go to bookstores, the experience is similar to the one I have at art galleries: a sort of meandering walkabout with plenty of time for contemplation. And hey, as expensive as some books are, they're cheaper than most pieces of art. Speaking of which, Swipe in particular seems a good example of this mix between gallery and store. Over the eight years it's been open, Swipe has gradually carried more and more non-book items in the form of exemplary pieces of design that range from the idiosyncratic and cheap (think egg-timer), to the sophisticated and pricey (think stainless steel juicer). There's also a well-stocked children's area, including books and toys. These items account for about half of the store's revenue, which might be high for a place that still characterizes itself as a bookstore first and foremost. But, that's just the nature of profit margins.
For all the promise that David sees in the new location, he still uses a rather apt screen analogy to summarize what it's like in the independent book business. Most will remember the famous opening scene from Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark in which Harrison Ford narrowly escapes being crushed by a massive stone boulder. David likens his position to this frantic attempt to escape a boulder that is already in motion. What I find worrisome about this analogy, however, is that though Jones does indeed escape the cave (and the boulder), when he tumbles into the outside world, he is greeted by his archaeological nemesis, Belloq, who relieves him of his prized artifact. Left with nothing to show for his ingenuity and heroism, Indy must once again thwart death as he runs to his escape plane. But, alas, it doesn't matter because he isn't in it for the profit, but for the adventure. For better or for worse, this may be the case for David, too. And when was the last time you saw a blockbuster about a bookseller? (And, no, You've Got Mail doesn't count!)
COMMENTS [blogto.com] David's an incredibly entertaining guy to talk to - I spoke to him on the day it was announced that DM Books was shuttering. If you want to get into a heated yet jovial conversation about the current state of the book industry, I recommend you go up and introduce yourself to him. It should also be noted that there are plans to expand the current space - David mentioned that this would happen within the next few months. I think their new space is absolutely beautiful, and I can't wait to see how it evolves.
I've shopped at sw pe for years, from the DX to Richmond to the 401. I like the fact that i can go in look at stuff that inspire me as a designer. The fact I can pick things up and examine them as to just looking at a picture of it online makes a difference to me. I will always support sw pe, we need more business like this it's what makes living in Toronto so great. I hate to think of the alternative like what is happening just up the street on Queen St.
David Michaelides, owner of Swipe
The rumours are true, Swipe has opened a second shop in a beautiful, high-profile suite on the ground floor of 401 Richmond Street West. BUILT, Books on Architecture is hoped, in the fullness of time, to fill the void left by the (really, really depressing) closure last year of the venerable Ballenford Books. For more than 30 years a succession of Susans served the community with a commitment and a level of expertise that we cannot hope to match, at least in the short term. In fact, so as not to make matters worse for our colleagues, Swipe avoided architecture as a subject area altogether for as long Ballenford was in business, with the result that we now feel embarrassingly ill-prepared and uninformed. So … um … help!
E-mail us and let us know what you need, want, or would just like to see at the new shop. Or drop by and see what’s here and what’s missing. We’re open Monday to Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm and we’ve even got windows! Please help us to make this your community bookstore. [swipe.com] ____________________________________________
The Best Bookstores in Toronto Operating a bookstore in Toronto may not be the most lucrative business these days. The dominance of mega-chain Chapters Indigo, online retailers like Amazon.ca and the rise of the Canadian dollar have resulted in a permanent shift in the industry dynamic. The good news is that the many popular book sellers who remain have made their stores better by distinguishing themselves on features like the quality of their selection, helpful service and ties to the local community.
With so many diverse independent bookstores in Toronto, it's difficult to narrow the offerings down to the ten best. Science fiction fans might lament the exclusion of Bakka-Phoenix. Children and their parents might not forgive us for overlooking Mables Fables. And playwrights might hunt us down on the account of our omission of TheatreBooks. And that's just the tip of the snubbed-list iceberg.
Ultimately our list of Toronto's best bookstores came down to the nominations and votes from our readers. Perhaps to nobody's surprise, perennial favourite Pages Books & Magazines secured the top spot. Among other qualifications, Pages has been a long-time supporter of local and independent publishers and hosts the widely-successful This is Not a Reading Series. Below we present our top ten bookstores in Toronto. To discover more Toronto bookstores click over to our bookstore section.
COMMENTS [blogto.com] Really enjoying all your Best Ofs, but you've missed the boat on this one. Most of this list reads like it was compiled 5 years ago. Ben McNally Books is a far superior bookstore, actively involved in the literary and publishing communities, and it has a far larger selection than most of the bookstores listed here, especially boutique Type and This Ain't the Rosedale Library, which seem more interested in promoting graphic novels than books without pictures.
Totally agree with you, James. Ben McNally is a one-man bookselling institution in Toronto, and has been for more than 15 years. Nicholas Hoare is another perennial favourite.
No way. Monkey's Paw. #1. _____________________________________________
I feel a confession is in order at the outset of this profile: these days I buy almost all my books online. It didn't used to be so. There was a time when I was addicted to bookstore hopping, when I loved the possibility of finding hidden gems tucked away in the used shops across the city, and when searching out books was as much about chatting with the clerks or owners as it was about actually buying anything.
I share this bit of guilty nostalgia because I get the feeling that there are others out there who have also slipped into such a habit, almost unknowingly, and sometimes it's good to remember why bookstores can be such stimulating places. But, of course, it's easy to romanticize things like this. Not all bookstores are created equal, the prices online are certainly cheaper, and those characteristics that I'm so fond of in great stores are becoming harder to find. It's for all these reasons that I was excited to drop by Ben McNally's Books and chat the owner up about his store's relatively recent opening and the state of independent booksellers in general. Maybe, I thought, a conversation with someone who's been in the business for forty years would inspire me to get back to my old book-buying ways.
Although the store that bears his name only opened in September 2007, many Toronto bibliophiles know Ben from his long time as the manager of Nicholas Hoare Books. In getting to know about his new venture, the first question that I was eager to ask was why he chose the Financial District as his location. When I think of independent booksellers, I tend to associate them with more residential areas, like BMV and Book City in the Annex, or Type and The Monkey's Paw in and around Dundas West.
But, as Ben explained, there is an obvious logic to why he chose Bay and Richmond to set up shop. Because he tends to stock a high percentage of first-run hardcovers, a well-to-do clientele is an obvious bonus (if not necessity). Not only that, based on the hourly traffic in the area, he can close the store at an early 6pm (and on Sundays), which allows for a variety of events to take place in 2500 square foot space after hours.
McNally's doesn't really specialize in any one genre, but if there's a focus on a particular type of book, it'd be on what Ben jokingly calls " the good ones," those nice looking hardcovers that people tend to want to keep around for the long haul, whether it be history, biography or fiction (genres in which he's well stocked).
As the bookseller for the Harbourfront Reading Series, he also has quite a number of signed editions from some of the authors who've participated over the years. In keeping with this desire to cater to those who collect books, the store itself is a warm, wood-paneled space that's reminiscent of an old library. Not overly cramped, it tends to invite patrons to browse through the various sections scattered throughout the room. It might even be fair to say that based on its size and decor, this is an independent bookstore that doesn't look like an independent bookstore.
I wonder, however, is that enough? Yes, the space is nice, and so too are the books. But, the other main question I had for Ben was how he would distinguish his store from the big chains and online retailers. His answer was surprisingly honest. If, he mused, the customer knows exactly what he or she is looking for, those other options do make a lot of sense.
But, on the other hand, for those who don't already have a title in mind, who'd like some hands-on guidance or recommendations, Ben's happy to help. It's the interactive experience that independent bookstores build their reputation on. While this may seem obvious, it's clear that Ben takes pride in helping people with their book selections, noting, for instance, how many regular customers he has and how often he consults with people participating in book clubs.
As I was leaving, we spoke briefly about the economic downturn and how it was impacting the book business. Although he said it was too early to tell in relation to his business, he did leave me with a statement that I think paints a good picture of his attitude in general. "Books should be a haven in hard times, because when you think about it, they're really an amazing value."
COMMENTS [blogto.com] Hurrah for Ben McNally, who exemplifies what independent bookselling is all about. And while it may be cheaper to buy online and to hit up chain stores for deep discounts, it is an entirely different and rewarding experience to walk into a store like his. It's the Church of Book Lovers. (As is Pages and Nicholas Hoare).
Ben is probably the best individual bookseller in the city, maybe the country.
Columbine by Dave Cullen In the tradition of Helter Skelter and In Cold Blood, Columbine is destined to be a classic. A close-up portrait of hatred, a community rendered helpless, and police blunders and cover-ups, it is a compelling and utterly human portrait of two killers. [benmcnallybooks.com]
QUOTE Don't rush the healing.
REVIEW Not since Capote's In Cold Blood do we find such a thoughtful, illuminating, riveting, and disturbing portrait of the criminal mind. Columbine doesn't just explode the myths of what happened that day and why. Instead the book carefully dissects our biases, revealing a populace eager to blame this tragedy on poor parenting, Satan, rock music, or goth kids because it is simpler and more convenient than hearing the truth.
And the truth is that Eric Harris was a born psychopath and Dylan Klebold was clinically depressed, eager to please, and clawing for an escape hatch. Together they formed a rare and volatile combination known as a criminal dyad, a coupling of an egomaniacal control freak and a doting, depressed side-kick. Like Bonnie and Clyde and the D.C. snipers, the duo had a push-me pull-me effect that spun both kids out of control and down a dangerous path that now seems well-worn and obvious as we trace it back.
Cullen's coverage of the tragedy is remarkably broad and deep for a book that doesn't even run 400 pages. The entire scope of the Columbine shootings are covered with almost no wasted space. The book is agonizingly well-researched and brilliantly end-noted. Cullen was one of the Colorado journalists covering the event as it was happening, and has been following the aftermath for the past ten years. He has become one of the most informed minds to wrestle with the shooting, and one of the few to draw the right conclusions.
The layout and pacing in Columbine is also ingenious. Instead of pretending that this was a tidy moment in history that can be covered from beginning to end, Cullen pays homage to the frustrating way that details coalesced into a final picture. Jumping back and forth from Eric and Dylan's lives before the event to the tragic consequences that reverberated after, Cullen gradually paints a full portrait of the two men in much the way that they revealed themselves to investigators. There is no pretension here that this is a subject with an easy beginning, middle, and end. Any other method of relating this story would not do the popular confusion justice, nor would it result in such a vivid understanding of what these two boys were like, and what damage they wreaked on their community.
Another impressive touch is the complete lack of images presented in the book. The center clump of photographs, a mainstay of good non-fiction, is conspicuously absent. You will not find a single picture of the killers nor their victims. It took some time for me to appreciate this classy move by the author and publishers. There is no sensationalism here. This is an outstanding work of journalism that is not only the authoritative account of what happened at Columbine high school, it is also a glimpse of criminal psychosis that I believe will be held up as a classic in years to come. This isn't just a good book, it is an important book. It is not just about the past, and not just about this one event, it is about a sad fact of the human condition, and a call for forward-looking vigilance, not backwards-glaring vengeance. [...]
The Trench Coat Mafia and a massive conspiracy involving many other participants led many people astray, including investigators. The idea that these were unpopular geeks who were picked on by bullies led to a national campaign against something that played no role in the tragedy. Eric and Dylan more often played the role of bully than they did bullied. And implications that music, movies, goth lifestyle, Hitler, or videogames inspired their actions are as false as Michael Moore's assertions that they bowled on the day of the shooting.
Columbine replaces these falsehoods with an account of two kids that simply hated the world and its occupants. Everyone was beneath them. These were not kids cast out by society; they were misfits by choice. They fled the robots/zombies/sheep with eagerness and disdain. They celebrated the fact that they did not belong. Nobody pushed them away or ridiculed them, in fact they were just as popular in their own clique as any other kid, and just as invisible to most kids as we all were to people outside of our social circle. The kids who were not respected were Eric and Dylan's peers. The duo were able to look down on them from such a height of hubris as to be able to dehumanize them. Making them something outside of their scope of empathy. Easy enough to dispatch. [...]
Possibly the most shocking myth stripped down in the book is that this was a school shooting by design. The event became the poster for gun restrictions, which may be a noble cause, but it misses the intentions that Eric and Dylan had that day. By all accounts, the attack was a dismal failure. The massive bombs that they rigged up did not go off as planned. They had a low body count estimate in the hundreds, but hoped for thousands. They wanted to start a worldwide revolution. And they hoped they could do this all without devastating their parents. In every possible way, these boys failed. They failed their society, their peers, their parents, and thank goodness, they failed themselves.
These failures continue to cast ripples today. Cullen devotes a good chuck of his book to the horrible aftermath of these events. An investigation that became disgustingly political included cover-ups and foot-dragging. There were copycats, pranks and bomb-threats. Survivors went through physical and emotional re-hab. Some people tried to profit from the shooting. The school had to be rebuilt, along with the student body and the surrounding community. Some relationships were bonded for eternity, and some shattered. Depression and post-traumatic-stress were prevalent and devastating. Lawsuits were filed. The entire town seemed to be cursed, with normal bad luck ascribed to the ghost of Columbine. Cullen captures all of this with stunning detail and respectfulness. There is no stone that he does not peek under, describe, and then return with loving care. That he pulled this balancing act off for the entire book, detailing an event with so many scars and controversy, is absolutely stunning.
The end result is a book that should be required reading for every teacher, guidance counselor, clinical psychologist and parent. Columbine unmasks universal and innate tendencies that a small portion of our population harbors. And what makes this minority dangerous is that they have no empathy for the rest of us, and a genius for hiding this flaw. The signs of their disease are usually there, but they are murky due to our faith in nurture conquering nature.
Columbine is not just an account of an American tragedy, it is a guide for preventing future ones. We must begin by accepting that much of who we are is the dumb luck of genetics, but that this does not exculpate our actions. Sure, we can dream up more pleasant realities for us to operate within, where free will plays a larger role, and loving someone enough will make everything all right, but fantasy is never a solution for improving our existence. It is just the comforting blanket we tragically suffocate ourselves with.
What You Never Knew About Columbine I know more about the Columbine story than most of Cullen's audience: I was Cullen's editor at Salon 10 years ago, on that awful day when the cable networks told us teenagers were dying in Littleton, and he told me over the phone he'd head there immediately. Little did either of us know then that he'd still be at Columbine a decade later.
So I can't be dispassionate about this book. I will point to raves from Time and Newsweek before offering my own personal observation: I knew Cullen was a dogged reporter and a terrific writer, but even I was blown away by the pacing and story-telling he mastered in "Columbine," a disturbing, inspiring work of art. [...]
What you won't learn, except in the footnotes, is that it was Cullen who broke most of the crucial Columbine myth-debunking stories and expanded on others. He was an army of one against the dozens sent by large national dailies, the news magazines, and local and national television networks. But he had key advantages: He lived there, he's charming and ingratiating, he's got an instinct for bullshit, and he's got a heart bigger than most hearts I know. He suffered through the Columbine story with the locals after the national stars went away; he also had the distance from local politics that a national outlet provided him. Still, what got him the story was his passion and smarts and sensitivity — he knew how to wrangle information out of traumatized teens and families and investigators because he was traumatized, too; I'll never forget some of our conversations when he talked through his own despair at what he was seeing.
As journalists debate the role of citizen storytellers and others who have a stake in the news we report, Cullen offers an interesting window — he was absolutely a trained professional who nonetheless never hid his devastation at the loss of the young lives at Columbine, or his place in the grieving community. He shows what someone with remarkable skills but even more remarkable compassion and judgment can do to break a good story. It was my honor to be his editor — and to discuss this book with him. [...] ______________________________________________
Monkey's Paw is unlike any other bookstore in Toronto. There's no Harry Potter or Suzanne Somers Eight Steps to Wellness here. Instead, the shelves are a treasure trove of the rare and the bizarre with titles like Indian Police Today, Why China Has No Inflation, Artificial Impregnation, Cocaine Changes and Understanding Japanese Bantings.
Located in the old Carte Blanche digs on Dundas, just west of Ossington, Monkey's Paw was opened in March 2006 and named after a cheesy early-20th century horror story by W.W. Jacobs. The moral, or message, of the story is Careful what you wish for.
Owner Stephen Fowler figured that at a shop like Monkey's Paw, you'd never find the book you were looking for; but you might well find the book you didn't know you were looking for. Get it? So, don't go here looking for anything. Just go, browse the shelves and be amazed at what you'll find.
Even when the store is closed it's worth a visit. Fowler regularly rotates some of the most random titles in stock in the front window. Definitely makes for an interesting conversation piece after stumbling out of nearby Communist Daughter at 1am.
He also updates the store's blog on a weekly basis with some of the new and strange titles in stock. Customizing Your Van circa 1983 anyone?
For more details on the store, keep reading for my short Q&A with owner Stephen Fowler.
What distinguishes Monkey's Paw from some of Toronto's other bookstores? We stock primarily odd, obscure, overlooked, and forgotten books. Other stores usually attempt to carry established classics; we look for books which are specifically NOT classics. We select our stock according to an aesthetic formula: the beautiful, the arcane, the macabre, the absurd. We try to make sure that every book fits one of these descriptions...and the ideal Monkey's Paw title fits all four. We also take into account the books' artifact value. In other words, we look at old books as not just texts, or collections of images, but as cultural artifacts in their own right: snapshots of their cultural moment, printed on paper, and gathered in bindings. We try hard to offer good service...no bored, condescending staff. We'd like to convert the uninitiated, rather than exclude them.
Who is your typical customer? We get lots of graphic designers, artists, journalists, grad students, and info-damaged postmodernists. Most are younger than the shop's proprietor.
What sort of events do you have at the store? We've had a site-specific poetry contest (the "Detournement Tournament," where participants were challenged to compose texts using only the titles of books in the shop); a site-specific art show; and a few parties. We've also had a garage sale (thousands of books, nothing over $2) for the last two summers.
Anything else you'd like to a share? A friend of mine who works in academic publishing said of my shop, This isn't a bookshop, this is a gift shop that sells books. This was probably meant as a slight dig, but frankly I'm comfortable with the characterization. Very likely the same statement could apply to any solvent bookshop in the 21st century; and I for one am honored to help discover a new role for old media in people's lives. Besides, who wouldn't be delighted to receive as a wedding present a 1940s clothbound edition of Van de Velde's Ideal Marriage, Its Physiology and Technique?
(1961) Master class in sensationalism: "Here are the swindlers and the swells, the babes who scheme and the pimps who outsmart them -- all conning their way in the greatest shell game on earth."
(1988) Considering a career change? This study is so richly detailed, it could serve as a practitioner's guide to the hustling life. [mo-paw.blogspot.com] __________________________________________
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