Book Review: King & Maxwell, by David Baldacci


King and Maxwell, by David Baldacci. Grand Central Publishing; Hachette Book Group. 2013. p523. $10 I’m probably guilty of generalizing too often, though in this case my generalization may actually be safe. I may be one of a mere handful of people who had never read a David Baldacci book. He even visited one of…

Marvel’s New Muslim Superhero


Comic books and the related publishing industry have been a serious form of cultural expression since before the days of Clark Kent and Superman. Superman, created by Jerry Siegal and Joe Shuster in 1933, was sold to the publisher who would later evolve into DC Comics. Superman became an iconic part of America culture in…

I Need Your Class, I Just Don’t Want to Attend


Students are fickle. They want an online course experience, the ability to work at their own pace, in their own environment, wherever that environment is, home, work, school, beach house, neighbor’s house, or Starbuck’s. In all course evaluations, online students report how they want more contact with faculty, how they don’t get email replies back…

Book Review: No Easy Day


No Easy Day. Mark Davis, w/Kevin Maurer. Dutton Press. $25 Three traits about NED one might want to know about the book. First, most proceeds from the sale of the book are being donated to three organizations: allinallthetime.org, navysealfoundation.org, and tipofthespearfoundation.org. If nothing else is gained from the reading of NED, three worthy organizations have…

The Geography of Blog Readers


I moved my blogging platform from Blogger to WordPress, frustrated by some technicalities of Blogger. And, WordPress caught my eye. I’m still stymied by some functions which only work on a complete, customized WordPress site. But, I like all of the statistics and data WordPress allows me to see about my blog. One of my…

Book Review: Pakistan On The Brink, by Ahmed Rashid


I have grave concerns over the future health of Ahmed Rashid. Pakistan is not friendly towards journalists, aid workers, politicians, business people, or anyone critical of Pakistani leadership. Since 1992, 42 journalists have been killed in Pakistan (CPJ.com.) April 20th, 2012, Mutaza Rizvi was found murdered in Karachi, the southern port city of Pakistan. Rizvi…

Uhoh-istan: Five Years in Afghanistan (2001-2006)


>Afghanistan: Is Victory Turning to Defeat? – Newsweek: International Editions – MSNBC.com It is hard to believe that five years have passed since the U.S. deposed the Taliban in Afghanistan. I remember when the Taliban came to power; the newsworthy anecdote of their ascendancy came when they demolished two 3rd Century A.D. Buddhist statues hewn…