Mugger: "Give me all your money."

Muggee: "Do you know who I am?"

Mugger: "No."

Muggee: "I'm the Chairman of Goldman Sachs…

Muggee: "Ok, so give me all my money.

Romney's got a new commercial out  titled “Where Did All the Money Go?”, and it essentially accuses Obama of engaging  in so-called “political payoffs” while in office.The ad lays thick text over images of burning cash ... “Friends, donors, campaign supporters, special interest groups,”  “Where did the Obama stimulus money go?”  
Suspect it'll be effective too.  Keep wishing the Dems would get wise to the fact that the public has been insufficiently schooled on the realities of the Stimulus package(s).  I don't think most people understand how it works and how it's not about money but about faith--faith in the health of credit. What are they afraid of?  Or do they not understand what it is that the general public doesn't understand?  Obama is a great communicator, but I haven't heard him explain it in lay terms a la Roosevelt and LaGuardia who used similar talents to connect the dots for those of us who need a little TLC, even if it is candy coated and truth free. Must be hard for those who really know how the game works cause they probably also know that the shrewd bastard Ford was right...if people knew, there'd be hell to pay. 

Last week Sunday  Times Crossword (Sept. 9) was a real stinker- Not particularly clever theme  and nothing playful about it.  Using one clue to apply to two separate answers can be fun only if the relationship between the two provides some kind of guidance as to how they are related or at the very least have something clever in common ...but in this case it was almost literal minded and I struggled for a bit because I kept assuming some element of irony or whimsy was present ...and it wasn't.   And my Saturday morning happiness is dependent on a good Sunday puzzle!  So hey Will Shortz...get your synonym for poop together. 

Reading this novel for our men's book group--our group's founder knows author De Jonge, and we often try to choose books written by authors willing to join us for dinner where we can then pepper (him/her) with questions that do more to spotlight our ignorance and naivete than stimulate meaningful dialogue. But good time is usually had by all and no one goes home hungry.  
While reading this witty,street wise and deceptively well crafted book I was reminded that there's no substitute for strong plot, compelling characters and smart "real world" observation.  This book may be considered light formulaic genre reading to some (though "Literary" is a genre too) but I'm enjoying every page and turning them enthusiastically--which is something I can't say I've done with the work  produced by the "heavyweights" like Franzen, Foer, Diaz, DeLillo...et.al.


  

Who came up with this standard Security Check question they ask at airports?

“Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge?”

Maybe the question originally was something like:  " To the best of your knowledge, has anyone...."  and due to lax training and low standards it has morphed into incomprehensibility like a message in a game of Telephone....OR...
 It's intentionally worded that way in order to induce a state of metaphysical confusion (rendering us more likely to reveal our deadly secret plans)  as we ponder the notion of having knowledge of something for which we have no knowledge!

And how about:

Do you have anything in your bag that could be used as a weapon? 

You mean other than using the bag itself which could be swung in such a way as to result in lacerations, momentary disorientation or even a concussed cranium? Hmmm?  Well I could use my phone charger cord as a garrote and my pens are potentially  lethal  and could conceivably be laced with poison ink. My books can, if skillfully handled, cause damage if wielded and/or thrown with sufficient force and  my assorted  paper products could  produce  cuts with depths adequate to induce bleeding.  Also,  my dental floss could easily be more than enough to disable an unsuspecting victim not familiar with the tenacious strength and durability of the seemingly benign twine--and my eyeglasses could quickly and easily be transformed into  shards of glass sharp enough to sever a major artery...but other than that, no I don't think so.