‘Shoot Them in the Leg’ and Other Idiocies
No, If You Have To Shoot, Shoot Center Mass
By David Churchill Barrow
The shooting by a police officer of the knife-wielding teenager in Columbus, Ohio has summoned forth the same absurd comments by media and politicians who know nothing about firearms – and their use in adrenaline-filled situations – that we heard from Joe Biden more than once during the campaign: Perhaps the words of wisdom Miyagi gave to Daniel-San should be given unto them: “You… too much TV.” Since they do watch TV, and presumably the movies shown thereon, perhaps the most famous gunfight in the history of the United States would serve to drive the point home: If you have to shoot, put your target down.
October 26, 1881 – Tombstone, Arizona Territory. All of the participants in this fight were skilled with the powerful weapons they possessed; i.e. .44 and .45 cal. pistols, a 12 gauge double-barrel shotgun, and Winchester rifles. Some of the participants had killed men before this fight, and would kill again afterwards. When the fight commenced, the combatants were only about six feet apart in an empty lot next to Fly’s photograph studio. (Some of the “cowboys” had come through the back entrance to the OK Corral nearby, but that is its only connection to the fight.) The shooting lasted only thirty seconds, but in that time about thirty shots were fired. Consider that for a moment – six feet apart, thirty seconds, thirty shots. What were the hits?
An Interview with Author Tony Andarian
By Tamara Wilhite
Tony Andarian is the author of Sanctum of the Archmage. He published his first novel in 2017 before reworking it and preparing to re-release it, and is developing plans to continue it as an epic fantasy series. Tamara Wilhite: What led you to rework and release your first novel in the Sanctum of the […]
Real Coffee with Scott Adams: A Review
By Tom Weiss
Nothing about Scott Adams’ daily news and analysis show, Real Coffee with Scott Adams, should work.
Not especially telegenic (said the pot to the kettle), Adams would blend right in at an Upper Midwest accountant’s convention. His lilting voice – something he lost for a number of years – isn’t remarkable, and he is incapable of pronouncing some names. His show features no production value or set design to speak of. Bare wooden home office shelves adorned only with copies of his books form his backdrop.
And yet, once you start listening, it’s hard to stop.
Ken Burns Presents Hemingway as Bull
By Audie Cockings
PBS offered a three part series last week that my husband recorded so that we could sit in bed each night hoping to learn more about Hemingway’s freshwater fishing exploits in Michigan, now that we are living only minutes away from those very same Holy Waters.
After we put the four kiddos to bed, he poured us a glass of Oban Little Bay Scotch (less peat and therefore more to my liking). We got comfy in a mess of bedding and pillows with our two German hunting dogs piled on top like a sundae. We simply don’t have much time to watch TV together and are almost never interested in the same programs. But, “Hemingway,” a new PBS documentary by Ken Burns, was something we had both been anticipating for months.
An Interview with Dr. Michael Rectenwald
By Tamara Wilhite
Doctor Michael Rectenwald’s most recent book is the dystopian sci-fi novel “Thought Criminal” which I read as part of the Unsafe Space book club. “Thought Criminal” is his first science fiction novel, but it is far from his first book. He’s the author of eleven books including “Google Archipelago: The Digital Gulag and the Simulation of Freedom” and “Beyond Woke”. And I had the pleasure of interviewing him.
Biden’s ‘Major’ Problem: The Challenges and Benefits of Owning a German Shepherd Dog
Behold the samurai of dog breeds!
By David Churchill Barrow
The Biden family is to be commended for rescuing a shelter dog, but “Major” has been involved in breaking the President’s ankle, and bitten people twice on White House grounds. In some jurisdictions and under certain circumstances, that would mean a death sentence. The Bidens already have a older GSD named Champ that they have had for years, and Joe Biden claims he knows how to train them. It is clear enough, though, that due to his infirmity and/or his schedule he is unable to put what he knows, or thinks he knows, to use in socializing Major.
Book Review: Disarmingly Great
By Tom Weiss
According to Publishers Weekly, somewhere between 1.5 million and 18 quadrillion books are self-published every year. Technology (read: Amazon) has so lowered the publishing bar that anyone with some spare time and a Pinot-fueled hallucination can see their book listed for sale within a day or two. I’ve sampled my fair share. My Kindle library is littered with self-published stories sold at a steep discount – or free – as authors fight for eyeballs and struggle to make a name for themselves.
The overwhelming majority of these are either awful (but not in a satisfying Showgirls way) or forgettable (but not in a compelling Clive Cussler way). If I finish one, it’s out of curiosity and not the result of a compelling narrative. And I never, ever find myself thinking about one of these novels over a year later.
Enter Disarming.
