![]() ![]() ![]() Adam Jentleson a New Book Says the Senate Is Brokenīy Jennifer Szala – New York Times – January 25, 2021Īccording to lore, George Washington came up with the metaphor of the Senate as a “cooling saucer,” tempering the House’s blazing hot cup of tea. Calhoun, the prominent South Carolinian who historian Richard Hofstader called “the Marx of the Master Class” based on his strong advocacy of the sovereignty of the states iunder the Constitution, as a means to preserve the institution of slavery, and creating an uncompromising political schism that led to the Civil War. The author describes Mitch McConnell as the modern version of John C. The author believes that a dramatic increase in the filibuster’s use has impaired the ability of the country to address its problems by preserving power in the hands of a minority that seeks to obstruct efforts to do so. ![]() A new book, “Kill Switch”, by Adam Jentleson, relates the history of the filibuster and other procedural arcana that he believes is at the heart of the dysfunction of the U.S. ![]() With an ambitious legislative agenda, and thin majorities in both houses of Congress, the Biden administration is just beginning to face the full force of organized Republican obstructionism. ![]()
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![]() ![]() I can happily say that I had 2 potential guesses as the culprit(s), and I was correct (which doesn’t always happen). It started out a bit slow for me as the scene was being set, but once the murder happened, it took off in quick force. ![]() From the characters to the setting and the plot to the tone, it’s an intriguing and immersive read. I’ve read ~ten novels by Christie and this one is near the top of the list for me. This was selected as my book to re-read as part of this challenge.Ī solid 4.5 stars for Murder at the Vicarage, the first novel in the Miss Marple cozy mystery series, written by Agatha Christie in 1930. It’s more about books using the same characters but not really connected other than a few fun memories and mentions. I’ve read many in this series, but you can read them out of order. The fourth book up, Murder at the Vicarage, is the first book in the Miss Marple cozy mystery series she’s written. I am hosting an Agatha Christie Readathon on my blog in April 2018 where we are reading one of her books each week. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() It also got banned from at least one public library, ostensibly because of the book’s nudity but perhaps really because it wasn’t considered the sort of book that kids should be wrapping their head around on their own. Solidly within this tradition is Craig Thompson’s autobiographical novel Blankets, which propelled him to stardom in the comics world and won him just about every award that a graphic novel can get. This trend started in 1978 with Will Eisner’s A Contract with God and has only continued through the works of such artists as Chris Ware ( Jimmy Corrigan, Rusty Brown ), Kristen Radtke ( Imagine Wanting Only This, Seek You ), and Alison Bechdel ( Fun Home). Once a genre devoted to bombastic action and over-the-top unbelievability, comics-um, excuse me, graphic novels -have now pivoted to being the ideal platform for tales of personal reflection, loneliness, and isolation. ![]() ![]() People would ask me and I wouldn’t know what to say. Some kids were counting the numbers of authors they met and telling all their friends, “I’ve met two!” or “I’ve met four!” I wasn’t. I never actually thought too much about authors, since I was so accustomed to being around them. My mom writes poetry and creative nonfiction and my grandmother worked for newspapers and wrote feature stories. My grandmother, Elizabeth Williams, was also a writer as is my mom. On my mom’s side of the family there are lots of writers dating back to the late 1800s when my great-great-great grandfather Edward Eggleston published many history books and some novels. Finally, after 15 or 16 books, she’d get me in bed. At night my mom would finish the last page of a book and say, “time to go to bed.” I’d always reply with “one mo” which meant “one more.” It was one of the first phrases I learned to say and my mom couldn’t say no so she read one more book. ![]() Even when I was a toddler, my mom would read and reread books to me, and then from memory I would tell them back while looking at the pictures. My vision for writing books started when I was very young. ![]() |