from ALAonline via Jesus' General:El Segundo Finds Authors Too Un-American for Its Library

Authors Agatha Christie and Jack London will not be honored by having their names on two new reading rooms at the El Segundo (Calif.) Public Library, thanks to the city council’s rejection of the library’s choices. At a March 15 meeting, council members objected to Agatha Christie because she was British and to native Californian Jack London because he was a socialist at one time.

“I’m a great fan of Agatha Christie. Murder mystery novels is what I read. But she’s a British citizen,” Councilman John Gaines said in the March 18 Los Angeles Times. “And I’m also a great fan of Jack London. I read all his books as a kid. But quite frankly, he was a world-renowned communist.”

The two authors had been proposed for naming two small reading rooms recently constructed with a $321,000 city grant. Library Director Debra Brighton said she was surprised by the council’s rejection, adding that the names were endorsed by library staff, trustees, and Friends who had chosen them from a list of 25 that included Jane Austen, Pearl Buck, and Ernest Hemingway. She noted that London had denounced socialism “in the latter part of his years,” and that Christie’s books have been “only outsold by the Bible and Shakespeare.”

Councilman Jim Boulgarides said the city’s objection was “silly” and advised Brighton to run background checks the next time. “My colleagues decided we needed a political and nationality litmus test,” he said in the March 18 Torrance Daily Breeze. “I didn’t think that was necessary.”

The still-to-be-named rooms are scheduled for dedication March 25.

Jesus' General's ever so slightly satirical response:

John Gaines, Mayor Pro Tem
City of El Segundo

Dear Mr. Gaines,

It's not often that the people are blessed with an elected official with the balls to take on foreigners and communists. The citizens of El Segundo are lucky to have you.

Councilpersons in most towns would have granted their library's request to name rooms after internationalist lackies like Agatha Christie and Jack London, but not you. Instead, you told the librarian that in El Segundo, library rooms aren't named after limeys and pinkos.

I trust that you called in the Red Guard of the Glorious Conservative Christian Cultural Revolution after you made your decision. The subversive librarian must be paraded down Main Street in a dunce cap and subjected to criticism. It's the only way to warn other possible liberal-roaders that we will not allow their kind to interfere with the achievement of Our Leader's glorious vision for America. As Our Leader once said, "By making the right choices, we can make the right choice for our future."

Heterosexually yours,

Gen. JC Christian, patriot

from Informed Comment: The Schiavo Case and the Islamization of the Republican Party

Juan Cole: The cynical use by the US Republican Party of the Terri Schiavo case repeats, whether deliberately or accidentally, the tactics of Muslim fundamentalists and theocrats in places like Egypt and Pakistan. These tactics involve a disturbing tendency to make private, intimate decisions matters of public interest and then to bring the courts and the legislature to bear on them. President George W. Bush and Republican congressional leaders like Tom Delay have taken us one step closer to theocracy on the Muslim Brotherhood model. (more)

via Just a Bump in the Beltway: He Dances

'This has nothing to do with the sanctity of life'
The Rev. John Paris, professor of bioethics, says Terri Schiavo has the moral and legal right to die, and only the Christian right is keeping her alive.

Why is the case bizarre?

In most cases, the court has a theory, you have an appellate review, and that's the end. But this case, the parents keep coming back with new issues -- every time that they lose, they come in with a new issue. We want to reexamine the case. We believe she's competent. We need new medical tests being done. We think she's been abused. We want child protective services to intervene. Finally, Judge George Greer denied them all. He said. 'Look, we have had court-appointed neutral physicians examine this patient. You don't believe the findings of the doctors but the finding of the doctors have been accepted by the court as factual.' There have been six reviews by the appellate court."(more)

from The LATimes: Life, Death and Cynical Grandstanding by Robert Scheer

I cannot remember a time when Congress and the president have acted with more egregious political opportunism and shameless trafficking in human misery than last weekend, leaping into the 15-year-long Terri Schiavo saga at the last possible moment as grandstanding defenders of the defenseless.

Although Schiavo's relatives on both sides of the issue are assuredly acting in good faith, national politicians certainly are not." (more)

The always on target Robert Scheer gets right to the heart of things once again.

All Things Bright and Rapturous

Rapture Ready is the place to go for all your pre-Rapture and Rapture needs and pre-needs, lots of links to rapture 'theorists' and of course, the ever useful Rapture Index which scientifically chronicles the world's headlong rush to the Rapture. Have your Rapture kit ready at home and in your car. Don't be caught unprepared. After all, Jesus is watching.

via the St. Petersburg Times:

Michael Schiavo: 'Come down, President Bush'

By WILLIAM R. LEVESQUE, Times Staff Writer
Published March 20, 2005

PINELLAS PARK - Angered by the latest political developments in Washington, Michael Schiavo said Saturday that it isn't just the Florida governor who should visit his wife to learn about the case.

Jeb Bush's brother, President Bush, should visit Terri Schiavo, too, he said.

'Come down, President Bush,' Schiavo said in a telephone interview. 'Come talk to me. Meet my wife. Talk to my wife and see if you get an answer. Ask her to lift her arm to shake your hand. She won't do it.'

She won't, Schiavo said, because she can't.

He made a similar offer to the governor last week, saying lawmakers interferring in his wife's life know nothing about the case. So far, Gov. Bush hasn't responded to the offer.

President Bush has indicated he will sign any federal legislation to keep Terri Schiavo alive.

Weary after an emotional visit with his wife, Schiavo said he is astonished that politicians want to interfere in such a private matter.

'Instead of worrying about my wife, who was granted her wishes by the state courts the past seven years, they should worry about the pedophiles killing young girls,' Schiavo said, referring to a local case. 'Why doesn't Congress worry about people not having health insurance? Or the budget? Let's talk about all the children who don't have homes.'

He said U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who is leading a charge to extend Terri Schiavo's life, is a 'little slithering snake' pandering for votes.

'To make comments that Terri would want to live, how do they know?' Schiavo said of the members of Congress who want to keep his wife alive.

'Have they ever met her?' Schiavo said. 'What color are her eyes? What's her middle name? What's her favorite color? They don't have any clue who Terri is. They should all be ashamed of themselves.'

Schiavo said he was going to stay at his wife's side through the entire ordeal and said he wouldn't back down in his fight to have her wishes carried out.

'Terri died 15 years ago,' Schiavo said, referring to the collapse and cardiac arrest that doctors say virtually destroyed her brain. 'It's time for her to be with the Lord like she wanted to be."

Bug Bomber DeLay's Ethical Standards

via AlterNet: DeLay's Dirty Dozen
Think Progress. Posted March 16, 2005.

A scandalous round-up of Tom DeLay's flagrant trespasses against decency.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has been a busy man these last few years. Whether bribing congressmen, threatening political opponents, vacationing with lobbyists, or gutting House ethics rules, it's been hard to keep up with all the Hammer's activities. Here are 12 recent highlights from DeLay's illustrious career: (More)

via NBCSandiego.com: Bishop Apologizes For Denying Funeral To Gay Bar Owner

Bishop Apologizes For Denying Funeral To Gay Bar Owner
Friends, Family Express Relief, Surprise

SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego diocese has issued a written apology to the family of John McCusker, a gay man recently denied a funeral for having businesses 'inconsistent with Catholic teaching.'

In a letter to McCusker's family, Bishop Richard H. Brom said, 'I deeply regret that denying a Catholic funeral to John McCusker at the Immaculata has resulted in his unjust condemnation and I apologize to the family for the anguish this has caused. To help rectify the situation, in so far as it can be, I will preside at a mass for the family, in memory of John, at the Immaculata.'

The statement represented a distinct departure from the tone of another letter issued last week, in which Brom said McCusker was being denied a Catholic funeral to 'avoid public scandal.' The church cited the fact that porn stars from X-rated videos were scheduled to appear at McCusker's clubs. McCusker, 31, owned Club Montage, which offered both gay and straight nights, and Rebar in North Park.

The denial of sacraments was an emotional issue for McCusker's family and touched a nerve in the gay and lesbian community. While McCusker was a graduate of the University of San Diego and his family had wanted to hold his funeral services there, they were forced to hold them instead at an Episcopal church. The controversy touched off a flurry of phone calls and complaints to the diocese, NBC 7/39 reported.

A meeting in Hillcrest Monday night was intended as a strategizing session to elicit an apology from the diocese. The fact that an apology had already been issued became apparent, however, when McCusker's mother stood up to read the bishop's letter.

McCusker's friends and relatives said they were satisfied with the apology, and surprised.

'I think a lot of people came in here with a lot of anger,' said Patrick Trotter. 'We were going to do something, hopefully something dignified. We were going to protest and then he apologized and we couldn't have asked for anything better.'

McCusker died on Sunday of congestive heart failure, according to his family."

Well, will the wonders never cease? Someone in the Catholic Church leadership still possesses some decency. I wonder how far up the hierarchy this had to go before enough pressure was brought on Bishop Brom to change his mind.

via the net: Comment on Bush, the Life Giver

Rev. G. SIMON HARAK of War Resisters.org
A Jesuit priest and author of the books "Virtuous Passions" and "Nonviolence for the Third Millennium,"
Harak is anti-militarism coordinator of the War Resisters League.

He said today: "One of the first things we learn is that the more universal your ethical principles are, the more moral force they have. I hear of Bush's flying back to D.C. to sign the Schiavo bill, and I think of him flying back from his first presidential campaign to sign the death warrants of Texas prisoners. I think of Bush signing a bill in Texas to cut off funds for life support for people who want their children to live, but can't afford it. I hear of the government's concern for this individual, tragic case, and I think of the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children whom we diseased and starved to death during sanctions, and now the hundred thousand more Iraqis who have died in this invasion and occupation. How universal, how convincing, is the concern?"

Poem of the Day

31 by Catullus

Paene insularum, Sirmio, Insularumque
ocelle, quascumque in liquentibus stagnis
marique vasto fert uterque neptunus,
quam te libenter quamque laetus inviso,
vix mi ipse credens Thyniam atque Bithynos
liquisse campos et videre te in tuto.
O quid solutis est beatius curis,
cum mens onus reponit, ac peregrino
labore fessi venimus larem ad nostrum,
desideratoque acquiescimus lecto?
Hoc est quod unum est pro laboribus tantis.
Salve, o venusta Sirmio, atque ero gaude
gaudente; vosque, o Lydiae lacus undae,
ridete quidquid est dome cachinnorum.

Of the penninsula of the almost island, Sirmio,
the jewel of the islands and the almost islands,
whatever island either Neptune
carries on lakes or on the vast sea,
how willingly and with what happiness I look upon
hardly myself believing that I have abandonded Thynia
and the Bithyninan fields, and that I see you in one piece
O what is a greater source of happiness, worries having been removed
when the mind puts aside its burden and when we come
tired by foreign work to our household gods
we rest in our having been longed for bed?
This is the one thing that is worth so much work
Hello, o charming Sirmio, and rejoice with the
rejoicing master; and you, O lydian waves of the lake
laugh whatever of laughter is at home.

via Rox Populi: Living Wills

Many have already weighed-in on the L'Affaire du Schiavo. Today, I've been a bit despondent, lamenting the immense cruelty required to allow this circus to continue, despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of Americans think the Federal government has no business getting involved. I used to think that the leadership of the Republican Party was mostly made of good people who simply had a different worldview. Well, no more. Culture of Life, indeed.

I'm not sure I can add much to the debate, except to reinforce the notion that unless you want parasites and sycophants to play kick-the-can with your withering, brain-dead body, you should have a Living Will. If you don't have one, stop right now and check out the U.S. Living Will Registry. According to their website, "each state has its own law, and sometimes, its own form." It took me less than 10 minutes to read the instructions for DC/Maryland/Virginia and fill out mine. U.S. Living Will Registry

The horror of the Schiavo case highlights the need for everyone to discuss their health care choices, choose a decision-maker, and prepare an advance directive. Please, please, if you have not already done so, do so as soon as possible. I would not like to personally know the next family 'Roach Farm' DeLay and his Merry Band decide to save.

from Majikthise: The F Word

The brilliant and sadly missed Tristero returns with this savage commentary on the real agenda behind the Congressional interference in the ongoing trainwreck that is the Schiavo case. If this stands, not a single one of us will ever again be free of the threat of direct intervention by the government into any phase of our lives. A sad, sad day.

Well, it happened.

On March 21, 2005 12:44 am, the extremists in charge of the US Government showed the world that when they don't like a law or a legally valid court decision - ANY law, ANY court decision, for ANY reason, no matter how carefully adjudicated - they are prepared to rip it up. There is a word for this.

The word is fascism.

As of early this morning, America can no longer maintain the slightest shadow of an illusion that it is a Republic with a flexible and somewhat benign, albeit hegemonic and imperialist, stance towards the world while enjoying a modicum of democratically established liberties for its citizens. Today, my fellow Americans, we woke up in a new United States, a fascist America in which a citizen's rights and liberties are inscribed not in a set of laws but are entirely subject to the whims of the extremists running the Federal legislative and executive branches. A fascist America which barely tries to disguise either its thirst for oil or its demands that all countries must kowtow to its leaders' demands. (more)

from Tristero: The F Word - Day Two

via Majikthise: Read the comments inspired by his article.

from Blondsense, pissed off patricia has a Bitchin' Big Time discussing the politics of it all

from Lawyers, Guns & Money: Scott Lemieux on the constitutional ramifications.

from Abstract Appeal: an indepth history of the legal aspects of the case

from Majiklthise: a thorough debunking of much of the willful propaganda being spread by the right to life allies of the Schindler family (Terri's parents)

via blg.biotheics.net: an article discussing the funding sources for the endless legal maneuvering in the Schiavo case

from Rivka at Respectful of Otters: Terri Schiavo, Part I: The Medical Post, a good scientific discussion of the medical issues in the case

from Rivka at Respectful of Otters: Terri Schiavo, Part II: The Ethical Post, a good scientific discussion of the complex ethical issues in the case

from Alas A Blog: this CT image of Terri Schiavo's brain in comparison to a normal brain.

I hesitate to publish these images. I’ve decided I’m going to, because the physical condition of Terri Schiavo’s brain is essential to any serious discussion of Terri Schiavo’s condition. By including these images, I don’t intend any disrespect to Terri Schaivo whatsoever.
On the left is a CT scan of Terri Schiavo’s brain (source). On the right, for comparison’s sake, is a CT scan of a healthy human brain.
As I understand it - and goodness knows, I’m no doctor - the sparsely detailed dark areas in Terri’s CT scan (both the large dark area in the center and the smaller dark areas around the edges) are where Terri’s brain has been replaced with brain fluid. To quote myself: The conclusion the court came to is that, based on medical testimony and Terri’s CAT scan, her cerebral cortex has basically turned to liquid. The cerebral cortex is the seat of all our higher brain functions. Without a cerebral cortex, it is impossible for a human being to experience thought, emotions, consciousness, pain, pleasure, or anything at all; nor, barring a miracle, is it possible for a patient lacking a cerebral cortex to recover.
Comments to Alas A Blog on the post

UPDATE

from The Rude Pundit: A no-holds barred series of posts on Terri's Law

3/22/2005 Conservatives Drowning In Their Own Bile:
The Terri Schiavo carnival of unending doom continues, and 'conservative' pundits are going nutzoid trying to out-empathize each other and condemn the opposition. It's one of those sad, funny sights, like a morbidly obese guy at a hot dog eating contest, shoving those weiners into his engorged cheeks, his bloated gut undulating as he swallows. The image itself is funny, but it's just pathetic 'cause we know that fat fuck is gonna shovel that shit in until his heart just gives out. And, Christ, the size of the coffin we're gonna need when that happens. (more)

3/21/2005 A Quorum of Savages: Notes from the Debate of the Deluded:
You haven't lived until you've heard Tom DeLay, choked with emotion, trying to erase his image as a vile, unethical sleazebag from the national view, talking about Terry Schiavo: "Mr. Speaker, after 4 days of words, the best of them uttered in prayer, now comes the time for action. I say again, the legal and political issues may be complicated, but the moral ones are not. A young woman in Florida is being dehydrated and starved to death. For 58 long hours, her mouth has been parched and her hunger pangs have been throbbing. If we do not act, she will die of thirst. However helpless, Mr. Speaker, she is alive. She is still one of us. And this cannot stand. . . .Terri Schiavo has survived her Passion weekend, and she has not been forsaken. No more words, Mr. Speaker. She is waiting. The Members are here. The hour has come.(more)

Briefly Noted: "Unanimous" Senate Vote on Schiavo Bill:
So, like, the AP story, the CNN story, the Fox "News" story and others all say that the Senate "unanimously" passed the thank-Christ-we're-not-talking-about-Social-Security Terry Schiavo bill.

Technically, this is true. But all these articles fail to mention what the Miami Herald does distinctly note: "Only three members were on the floor and the bill's prime sponsor, Republican Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida, served as presiding officer."

And those three members proudly raised their voices, and yes, technically the bill passed unanimously, just as technically Terry Schiavo is still "alive."

More on this nightmare later today.

3/18/2005 Terry Schiavo Must Die:
The time has come for the inevitable end of this story, this miserable lot of the last fifteen years for Terry Schiavo. Brain-damaged and rubber-boned, barely human anymore, Schiavo has the indignity of having her nerve-reflex smile paraded out every time the moment comes close for her to have to sink or swim, to learn quickly to feed herself or starve. She is the unfortunate child of narcissistic parents who have pathetically deluded themselves into believing that, at some point, the rock that rolls around in her head will once again become a brain. She sadly lives in a culture so driven mad by religion that people will gather and pray for her to go on "living" (if by "living," you mean "devolving into a gelatinous mound with a nerve-reflex smile"). Anyone even barely touched by the rationality that is supposed to mark us as the most advanced creatures on the planet know this to be true: She must die.(more)

And special thanks for the pointer to Sideshow, Avedon Carol's essential reality based blog.

via Circadia: The beneficial powers of darkness

Artificial light illuminates our lives, allowing us to work or play through the night. But, we toy with our body clocks at severe risk to our wellbeing

For many of us, night has become day. We work, travel, shop, exercise and socialize in hours that used to be reserved for relaxation and sleep. Time is a limited resource and, to make full use of it, the night has been illuminated and occupied. Even when we do sleep, street lamps and security lights pierce the darkness.

But our freedom from the natural constraints of day and night may have come at a price. According to a growing band of scientists and doctors, many of us are no longer getting enough darkness in our lives. The theory is based on a simple premise. Our biological rhythms evolved in a time before artificial light, to take advantage of both bright days and dark nights. By succumbing to the temptations of 24-hour living, and ignoring or reducing our natural dark time, we could be putting our health at risk. (more)

via BoingBoing: Drug took Stevenson face to face with Hyde

THE Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde was written by Robert Louis Stevenson under the influence of a hallucinogenic drug similar to LSD, according to new research.

Doctors believe the Scots author wrote the classic exploration of good and evil while being treated with a derivative of ergot, a potentially deadly hallucinogenic fungus. (more)

Landover Baptist | Where the Worthwhile Worship. Unsaved Unwelcome.

Sweet Jesus, I Love these guys!

via Tild ~: Return of She-blogger

'Nuff said!

Poem of the Day

Sonnet VII by John Keats

O Solitude! if I must with thee dwell,
Let it not be among the jumbled heap
Of murky buildings; climb with me the steep,—
Nature's observatory—when the dell,
Its flowery slopes, its river's crystal swell,
May seem a span; let me thy vigils keep
'Mongst boughs pavillion'd where the deer's swift leap
Startles the wild bee from the fox-glove bell.
But though I'll gladly trace these scenes with thee,
Yet the sweet converse of an innocent mind,
Whose words are images of thoughts refin'd,
Is my soul's pleasure; and it sure must be
Almost the highest bliss of human-kind,
When to thy haunts two kindred spirits flee.

via Big Brass Blog: Fascism 101

Reporting for the BBC, Greg Palast reports (via Skippy) that the Bush administration made plans for Iraq’s oil…before 9/11 even happened. And while that should certainly put to bed any further dismissals of “No War for Oil”-chanting anti-war demonstrators as touting little more than radical Lefty hyperbole and the accusations against bloggers who suggest the Iraq War was about oil of promoting unsubstantiated conspiracy theories, I have bigger fish to fry at the moment (emphasis mine):more

Shakespeare's Sister goes on to discuss Palast's article and to draw out the strong pattern of corporatist corruption that marks the Bush administration. Well done.

from SignOn SanDiego.com: Dangerous Visions

Harlan Ellison is fearless, and a fearless writer
By Arthur Salm


'I place ethics and courage way way above everything else'


He's shouting again, but that's just Harlan.

"LOOK IN FILE CABINET NUMBER ONE, NEXT TO THE PHOTOCOPIER, IF YOU CAN GET THE STUFF DOWN OFF THE SHELF WITHOUT EVERYTHING FALLING DOWN. IT'S IN DRAWER NUMBER TWO, UNDER 'REMARKS.' "

Author and life-force Harlan Ellison, 70, is seated in his art-deco/curio-shop kitchen calling out to his wife, Susan. His voice carries well, and it has to: The Ellison residence, once a simple tract house in the hills overlooking the San Fernando Valley, has over the years rambled up and out.

It now comprises a bewildering warren of rooms – some of them accessible through intricately carved wooden Hobbit doors just a few feet high – that contain, among, many, many, many other strange and marvelous things, dozens of framed movie posters ("Die Monster Die," "The Brides of Fu Manchu," "The Mummy"), hundreds of classic cartoon-and comic-strip-character juice glasses (a small room off the kitchen is devoted to them), at least that many pipes, a pool table somewhere beneath neat stacks of magazines, a skittles table (Ellison demonstrates the game with glee) and enough geegaws (e.g., Goofy figurines) to populate a one-tenth scale theme park. (more)

Recent profile of Harlan Ellison. Aside from crediting Harlan with single handedly rescuing SF from the so-called schlock of sixties, it's nicely done.

via Buck Hill: Two Profiles the King of The Rapture, Tim LaHaye

from Rolling Stone: Reverend Doomsday: According to Tim LaHaye, the Apocalypse is now
By Robert Dreyfuss

It might seem unlikely that the commander in chief would take his marching orders directly from on high -- unless you understand the views of the Rev. Timothy LaHaye, one of the most influential leaders of the Christian right, and a man who played a quiet but pivotal role in putting George W. Bush in the White House. If you know LaHaye at all, it's for his series of best-selling apocalyptic novels. You've seen the Left Behind novels everywhere: aboard airplanes, at the beach, in massive displays at Wal-Mart. In the nine years since the publication of the first novel, the series has sold 60 million copies. Next to the authors of the Bible itself, who didn't get royalties, LaHaye is Christianity's biggest publishing success ever. (more)

from Harpers: The Apocalypse Will Be Televised By Gene Lyons

But when a Man’s Fancy gets astride on his Reason, when Imagination is at Cuffs with the Senses, and common Understanding, as well as common Sense, is Kickt out of Doors; the first Proselyte he makes, is Himself, and when that is once compass’d, the Difficulty is not so great in bringing over others; a strong Delusion always operating from without, as vigorously as from within.

—Jonathan Swift,
A Tale of a Tub

After living in the Bible Belt for more than thirty years, I’ve learned several things about our fundamentalist Christian brethren: First, theirs is an embattled faith, which requires an ever evolving list of enemies to keep its focus. It includes Satan worshipers one year, “secular humanists” the next. Panic over backward masking on phonograph records yields to fears that supermarket bar codes harbor the Mark of the Beast. Some years back, Procter & Gamble was forced to deny widespread rumors that a moon-and-stars logo on boxes of soapsuds symbolized corporate diabolism. More recently, purging school libraries of Harry Potter’s witchcraft has emerged as a cause. As if the real world weren’t scary enough, chimerical threats must be found. It often appears that no form of occultism is too arcane or preposterous to provoke alarm.(more)

As a long time SF fan and a recovering born again (I escaped over 40 years ago at age 13), I find LaHaye's work particularly frightening. I well remember the intense psychological anguish brought on by the tales of the horror of the apocalypse. During "Revival Meetings" the fear in the air was almost physical. This almost unbelievably intense communal pressure was then granted instant relief by the offering of an opportunity for the group acceptance of "Christ into our hearts". Classic brainwashing at its best.

This effect is the reverse of the feeling of wonder that comes from reading a really good SF or fantasy tale for the first time. Our participation in this willful suspension of disbelief results in an endorphin buzz engendered by the expansion of horizon and imagination. It is participatory, not manipulatory. It is one of release, not capture.

Tim LaHaye's cleverness lies in adapting this experience to the promotion of end times mythology. The horror of the apocalypse so earnestly desired by his readers is given a softer edge thanks to those same readers' identification with the hero figures in action. See, she thinks that will be me, smiting the Lord's enemies. We will prevail.

It is all accomplished by a set of characters who would give a bad name to any grade of cardboard and would certainly be an insult to the concept of stereotyping. Motivations need not be questioned. Suspense need not be built. And as to the plotting, well, that's already been done for us in Revelations and elsewhere anyhow.

Sadly, LeHaye's writing does not even rise to the level of third rate hackdom. But it doesn't have to. All his readers are searching for is confirmation of known truths in any case.

The Final Volume of the Left Behind series will arrive in June. I wonder if they're trying to tell us something.