The Other War We Aren't Winning

By Cornelia


The chart below illustrates the homicide rate in the United States from 1900 to 1998. It is important to note that each of the most violent episodes in this century coincide with the prohibition on alcohol and the escalation of the modern-day war on drugs. In 1933 the homicide rate peaked at 9.7 per 100,000 people, which was the year that alcohol prohibition was finally repealed. In 1980, the homicide rate peaked again at 10 per 100,000.
Source: US Census Data and FBI Uniform Crime Reports.


The Canadian Medical Association Journal published research on the impact of a police crackdown on a public illicit drug market in the Downtown Eastside (DTES) section of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The researchers found that:

"We detected no reduction in drug use frequency or drug price in response to a large-scale police crackdown on drug users in Vancouver’s DTES. The evidence that drugs became more difficult to obtain was consistent with reports of displacement of drug dealers and was supported by the significantly higher rates of reporting that police presence had affected where drugs were used, including changes in neighbourhood and increases in use in public places. These observations were validated by examination of needle-exchange statistics.

"Our findings are consistent with those showing that demand for illicit drugs enables the illicit drug market to adapt to and overcome enforcement-related constraints. Although evidence suggested that police presence made it more difficult to obtain drugs, this appeared to be explained by displacement of drug dealers."

Source: Wood, Evan, Patricia M. Spittal, Will Small, Thomas Kerr, Kathy Li, Robert S. Hogg, Mark W. Tyndall, Julio S.G. Montaner, Martin T. Schechter, "Displacement of Canada's Largest Public Illicit Drug Market In Response To A Police Crackdown," Canadian Medical Association Journal, May 11, 2004: 170(10), p. 1554.



Of the 1,846,351 arrests for drug law violations in 2005, 81.7% (1,508,469) were for possession of a controlled substance. Only 18.3% (337,882) were for the sale or manufacture of a drug.
Source: Crime in America: FBI Uniform Crime Reports 2005 (Washington, DC: US Dept. of Justice, 2006), Table 29, from the web at http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/data/table_29.html and Arrest Table: Arrests for Drug Abuse Violations, from the web http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/arrests/index.html last accessed Sept. 20, 2006.

Although people may think that the Drug War targets drug smugglers and 'King Pins,' in 2005, 42.6 percent of the 1,846,351 total arrests for drug abuse violations were for marijuana -- a total of 786,545. Of those, 696,074 people were arrested for marijuana possession alone. By contrast in 2000 a total of 734,497 Americans were arrested for marijuana offenses, of which 646,042 were for possession alone.


A study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University confirms what many criminologists have long known: alcohol is associated with more violent crime than any illegal drug, including crack, cocaine, and heroin. Twenty-one percent of violent felons in state prisons committed their crimes while under the influence of alcohol alone. Only 3% were high on crack or powder cocaine alone and only 1% were using heroin alone.
Source: Califano, Joseph, Behind Bars: Substance Abuse and America's Prison Population, Forward by Joseph Califano, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (1998).



Federal statistics show that a large percentage of criminal offenders were under the influence of alcohol alone when they committed their crimes (36.3%, or a total of 1,919,251 offenders). Federal research also shows for more than 40% of convicted murderers being held in either jail or State prison, alcohol use was a factor in the crime.
Source: Greenfield, Lawrence A., Alcohol and Crime: An Analysis of National Data on the Prevalence of Alcohol Involvement in Crime (Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, April 1998), pp. 20-21.



Most drug offenders are white. Five times as many whites use drugs as blacks. Yet blacks comprise the great majority of drug offenders sent to prison. The solution to this racial inequity is not to incarcerate more whites, but to reduce the use of prison for low-level drug offenders and to increase the availability of substance abuse treatment.
Source: Human Rights Watch, "Racial Disparities in the War on Drugs" (Washington, DC: Human Rights Watch, 2000), from their website at http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/drugs/war/key-facts.htm.



Nationwide, black men are sent to prison on drug charges at 13 times the rate of white men.
Source: Human Rights Watch, "Racial Disparities in the War on Drugs" (Washington, DC: Human Rights Watch, 2000), from their website at http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/drugs/war/key-facts.htm.



Nationwide, one in every 20 black men over the age of 18 is in prison. In five states, between one in 13 and one in 14 black men is in prison. This compares to one in 180 white men.
Source: Human Rights Watch, "Racial Disparities in the War on Drugs" (Washington, DC: Human Rights Watch, 2000), from their website at http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/drugs/war/key-facts.htm.

According to ONDCP, federal spending to incarcerate drug offenders totals nearly $3 Billion a year -- $2.525 Billion by the Bureau of Prisons, and $429.4 Million by Federal Prisoner Detention.
Source: Office of National Drug Control Policy, "National Drug Control Strategy: FY 2003 Budget Summary" (Washington, DC: Office of the President, February 2002), Table 3, pp. 7-9.



According to the American Corrections Association, the average daily cost per state prison inmate per day in the US in 2005 was $67.55. That means it costs states approximately $16,948,295 per day to imprison drug offenders, or $6,186,127,675 per year.
Sources: American Correctional Association, 2006 Directory of Adult and Juvenile Correctional Departments, Institutions, Agencies and Probation and Parole Authorities, 67th Edition (Alexandria, VA: ACA, 2006), p. 16; Harrison, Paige M. & Allen J. Beck, PhD, US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 2005 (Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, November 2006), p. 9.

The United States has the highest prison population rate in the world, some 738 per 100,000 of the national population, followed by Russia (611), St Kitts & Nevis (547), U.S. Virgin Is. (521), Turkmenistan (c.489), Belize (487), Cuba (c.487), Palau (478), British Virgin Is. (464), Bermuda (463), Bahamas (462), Cayman Is. (453), American Samoa (446), Belarus (426) and Dominica (419).

However, more than three fifths of countries (61%) have rates below 150 per 100,000. (The rate in England and Wales - 148 per 100,000 of the national population - is above the mid-point in the World List.)
Source: Walmsley, Roy, "World Prison Population List (Seventh Edition)" (London, England: International Centre for Prison Studies, 2007), p. 1.



"More than 9.25 million people are held in penal institutions throughout the world, mostly as pre-trial detainees (remand prisoners) or as sentenced prisoners. Almost half of these are in the United States (2.19m), China (1.55m plus pretrial detainees and prisoners in 'administrative detention') or Russia (0.87m)." According to the US Census Bureau, the population of the US represents 4.6% of the world's total population (291,450,886 out of a total 6,303,683,217).
Source: Walmsley, Roy, "World Prison Population List (Seventh Edition)" (London, England: International Centre for Prison Studies, 2007), p. 1.; US Census Bureau, Population Division, from the web at http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html last accessed July 8, 2003.



Since 1982 total justice expenditures more than quadrupled from nearly $36 billion to over $167 billion, a 366% increase. The average annual increase for all levels of government between 1982 and 2001 was 8% (table 1).
Source: Bauer, Lynn & Steven D. Owens, "Justice Expenditure and Employment in the United States, 2001" (Washington, DC: US Dept. of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, May 2004), NCJ202792, p. 2.



"- Overall, local police spending represented 30% of the Nation's total justice expenditure, and State corrections accounted for the second largest portion, 23%.
"- Police protection is primarily a local responsibility; accordingly, local governments spent 70% of the total police protection expenditure in the country in 2001.
"- Corrections is primarily a State responsibility, and the State governments accounted for 63% of the Nation's corrections expenditure.
"- Judicial and legal services in the United States were funded primarily by local (42%) and State (36%) governments."
Source: Bauer, Lynn & Steven D. Owens, "Justice Expenditure and Employment in the United States, 2001" (Washington, DC: US Dept. of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, May 2004), NCJ202792, p. 4.



"The total number of State and Federal inmates grew from 488,000 in 1985 to over 1.3 million in 2001. The number of local jail inmates tripled from approximately 207,000 in 1982 to over 631,000 in 2001.5 Adults on probation increased from over 1.3 to about 4 million persons. Overall, corrections employment more than doubled from nearly 300,000 to over 747,000 during this period."
Source: Bauer, Lynn & Steven D. Owens, "Justice Expenditure and Employment in the United States, 2001" (Washington, DC: US Dept. of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, May 2004), NCJ202792, p. 6.



Since the enactment of mandatory minimum sentencing for drug users, the Federal Bureau of Prisons budget has increased by 1,954%. Its budget has jumped from $220 million in 1986 to $4.3 billion in 2001.
Sources: US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics 1996 (Washington DC: US Department of Justice, 1997), p. 20; Executive Office of the President, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2002 (Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, 2001), p. 134.



"Despite the investment of more than $5 billion for prison construction over the past decade, the prison system is currently operating at 32 percent over rated capacity, up from 22 percent at the end of 1997. These conditions could potentially jeopardize public safety."
Sources: Executive Office of the President, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2002 (Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, 2001), p. 134.




From 1984 to 1996, California built 21 new prisons, and only one new university.
Source: Ambrosio, T. & Schiraldi, V., "Trends in State Spending, 1987-1995", Executive Summary-February 1997 (Washington DC: The Justice Policy Institute, 1997).



California state government expenditures on prisons increased 30% from 1987 to 1995, while spending on higher education decreased by 18%.
Source: National Association of State Budget Officers, 1995 State Expenditures Report (Washington DC: National Association of State Budget Officers, 1996).



"The most recent figures available from the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) indicate that, in 1999, federal expenditures on control of illegal drugs surpassed $17 billion; combined expenditures by federal, state, and local governments exceeded $30 billion. What is more, the nation's so-called 'drug war' is a protracted one. The country has spent roughly this amount annually throughout the 1990s."
Source: National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences, "Informing America's Policy on Illegal Drugs: What We Don't Know Keeps Hurting Us" (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2001), p. 1.



According to the US Office of National Drug Control Policy, the cost of [pure] heroin at the retail level declined from an average estimated $1,974.49 per gram in 1981 to $361.95 per gram in 2003. At the wholesale level, the drop went from $1,007.60 per gram in 1981 to $139.22 per gram in 2003. The average purity of heroin on the US market increased in that time as well, going at the retail level from an average of 11% in 1981 to an average 32% in 2003, and at the wholesale level from an average 12% in 1981 to an average 46% in 2003.
Source: Office of National Drug Control Policy, "The Price and Purity of Illicit Drugs: 1981 Through the Second Quarter of 2003" (Washington DC: Executive Office of the President, November 2004), Publication Number NCJ 207768, p. 62, Table 5 & p. 63, Table 6.



According to the US Office of National Drug Control Policy, the cost of [pure] cocaine at the retail level declined from an average estimated $544.59 per gram in 1981 to $106.54 per gram in 2003. At the wholesale level, the drop went from $201.18 per gram in 1981 to $37.96 per gram in 2003. The purity of cocaine also went up during that time. At the retail level, it averaged 40% purity in 1981 and 70% purity in 2003, while at the wholesale level cocaine averaged 56% purity in 1981 and 63% purity in 2003.
Source: Office of National Drug Control Policy, "The Price and Purity of Illicit Drugs: 1981 Through the Second Quarter of 2003" (Washington DC: Executive Office of the President, November 2004), Publication Number NCJ 207768, p. 58, Table 1 & p. 59, Table 2.



According to a United Nations report, "Over the past decade, inflation-adjusted prices in Western Europe fell by 45% for cocaine and 60% for heroin. Comparative falls in the United States were about 50% for cocaine and 70% for heroin."
Source: United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, Global Illicit Drug Trends 1999 (New York, NY: UNODCCP, 1999), p. 86.



A study by the RAND Corporation found that every additional dollar invested in substance abuse treatment saves taxpayers $7.46 in societal costs.
Source: Rydell, C.P. & Everingham, S.S., Controlling Cocaine, Prepared for the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the United States Army (Santa Monica, CA: Drug Policy Research Center, RAND Corporation, 1994), p. xvi.

The RAND Corporation study found that additional domestic law enforcement efforts cost 15 times as much as treatment to achieve the same reduction in societal costs.
Source: Rydell, C.P. & Everingham, S.S., Controlling Cocaine, Prepared for the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the United States Army (Santa Monica, CA: Drug Policy Research Center, RAND Corporation, 1994), p. xvi.



In 1969, $65 million was spent by the Nixon administration on the drug war; in 1982 the Reagan administration spent $1.65 billion; in 2000 the Clinton administration spent more than $17.9 billion; and in 2002, the Bush administration spent more than $18.822 billion.
Sources: U.S. Congress, Hearings on Federal Drug Enforcement before the Senate Committee on Investigations, 1975 and 1976 (1976); Office of National Drug Control Policy, National Drug Control Strategy, 1992: Budget Summary (Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, 1992), p. 214; Office of National Drug Control Policy, National Drug Control Budget Executive Summary, Fiscal Year 2002 (Washington DC: Executive Office of the President, April 9, 2001), p. 2, Table 1: Office of National Drug Control Policy, "National Drug Control Strategy: FY 2003 Budget Summary" (Washington, DC: Office of the President, February 2002), Table 2, p. 6.



In March 1999, the Institute of Medicine issued a report on various aspects of marijuana, including the so-called, Gateway Theory (the theory that using marijuana leads people to use harder drugs like cocaine and heroin). The IOM stated, "There is no conclusive evidence that the drug effects of marijuana are causally linked to the subsequent abuse of other illicit drugs."
Source: Janet E. Joy, Stanley J. Watson, Jr., and John A Benson, Jr., "Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base," Division of Neuroscience and Behavioral Research, Institute of Medicine (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1999).



The Institute of Medicine's 1999 report on marijuana explained that marijuana has been mistaken for a gateway drug in the past because "Patterns in progression of drug use from adolescence to adulthood are strikingly regular. Because it is the most widely used illicit drug, marijuana is predictably the first illicit drug most people encounter. Not surprisingly, most users of other illicit drugs have used marijuana first. In fact, most drug users begin with alcohol and nicotine before marijuana -- usually before they are of legal age."
Source: Janet E. Joy, Stanley J. Watson, Jr., and John A Benson, Jr., "Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base," Division of Neuroscience and Behavioral Research, Institute of Medicine (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1999).

Maybe it's time to rethink our
national drug policy.

With thanks for statistics and first-cited graph to the good people at the DrugSense organization: http://www.drugsense.org/

Keeping It Real in Hollywood

Paul here.

Are you behind in your reading? Did you vow to read every novel to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, starting with Herman Wouk's "The Caine Mutiny"; in 1952. And you made it as far as Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" in 1953.

Oh, sure, back in school, you devoured "To Kill a Mockingbird," Harper Lee's 1960 masterpiece. And you hit a hot streak starting in 1980 with Norman Mailer's "The Executioner's Song," John Kennedy Toole's posthumous "A Confederacy of Dunces," John Updike's "Rabbit Is Rich," Alice Walker's "The Color Purple," and William Kennedy's "Ironweed."

But admit it. You're way behind, and not just with Pulitzer winners. Books are stacked on your nightstand, piled in the corner of the bedroom, crammed into every nook and cranny in the house. Sure, you intended to read everything. But once you fell behind, later books cut in line like maniac drivers on the Harbor Freeway.

Well, that's my situation. I'm way behind in my reading. How far? Gulp. I finally read "What Makes Sammy Run?", Budd Schulberg's 1941 dissection of Hollywood greed and ambition.


Nobody's ever done it better. And amazingly, the book, set in the 1930's, still rings true. Sammy Glick was a cutthroat careerist, and boy, did he run. He ran "with death as the only finish line...without a single principle to slow him down."

The Hollywood novel seems to be a genre all its own. A partial list includes "The Last Tycoon" (F. Scott Fitzgerald), "The Day of the Locust" (Nathanael West), and more recently, "Play It as It Lays" (Joan Didion), "The Player" (Michael Tolkin), and "Get Shorty" (Elmore Leonard). There are many more, too many to mention, not even counting Jackie Collins' "Hollywood Wives."

(We recently caught a performance of David Mamet's sly yet searing "Speed the Plow," a theatrical look at duplicity and mendacity in Hollywood).

All of which leads me to a new release this week. My friend, Bill Bryan, a witty and wily TV comedy writer, is out with "Keep It Real," a savagely funny look at reality television.


In its review, Publishers Weekly proclaimed that Bryan has "a real gift for satire." I second that notion. Bill's first signing will be here in town, at the incomparable Dutton's in Brentwood Friday at 7 p.m. Then, he'll be at Village Books in Pacific Palisades Saturday at 5 p.m. and next Monday at the venerable Book Soup in West Hollywood at 7 p.m.

This is Bill's first novel, so this weekend has got to be both exciting and terrifying. I published my first book, "To Speak for the Dead," in 1990. My first signing was at Books & Books in Coral Gables, FL. The place was packed; all my friends came; some bought half-a-dozen books to give as presents. A year later, my second book, "Night Vision," came out. Most of my friends, feeling they'd already done their duty, stayed away. So, enjoy this weekend Bill! A first novel only happens once.

(I see on Amazon that an unsigned, "like new" first edition of "To Speak for the Dead" is selling for $60, or triple its original price. My guess is that it'll be on the shelves for a while).

*************************************************************
LINES WE WISH WE'D WRITTEN

My second favorite movie is "Chinatown." Robert Towne's dialogue is masterful in conveying character by saying a lot with a little. Here's the villain, millionaire Noah Cross (John Huston) speaking to Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson):

"'Course I'm respectable. I'm old. Politicians, ugly buildings, and whores all get respectable if they last long enough."

And my favorite movie? "Lawrence of Arabia." But we'll save that for another time.

**************************************************************
THIS JUST IN...

Sylvester Stallone pleads guilty to unlawfully bringing vials of human growth hormone into Australia.

In a related development, Baseball Commissioner Bud (Lite) Selig announces he can't make up his mind whether he'll go see any more Stallone movies.

Paul

Charmed and Dangerous with Malice

Patty here…

Malice Domestic

First, I want to thank James Grippando for filling in for me on Monday with his always wise and pithy comments. I wasn’t here, because last Thursday I flew to Arlington, Virginia to attend the Malice Domestic mystery fan convention. I ‘d never been before, so I wanted to check it out. My friend Rochelle Krich was Guest of Honor and our own Jacqueline Winspear was nominated for the Best Novel award, so I had to be there.

Rochelle and Our J

Three of the Best Novel Nominees Nancy Pickard, Our J, and Julia Spencer-Fleming

After two and a half years of being a published author I finally know a few people. In fact, Malice seemed like old home week not to mention an opportunity to renew acquaintances and traipse from one party to another. I had lunch with my editor, the brilliant Kristen Weber. I attended a dinner hosted by NAL/Penguin for all of its authors. I spent way too much time in the cocktail lounge. My liver is still drying out. After the banquet on Saturday night, Our J and I sat at the bar and toasted the cosmos with a glass of champagne.

Kate Flora, Sandra Balzo, Marcia Talley

A few other California writers were there, including Linda O. Johnston, Gay Toltl Kinman, Sheila Lowe, and Susan Kandel. I also spent some time with Alex Sokoloff who ran the Malice Go Round gauntlet with me. Alex blogs over at Murderati with our good friend Louise Ure. And I finally got to meet the lovely and talented Nancy Martin from The Lipstick Chronicles.

Julia Spencer-Fleming, Nancy Martin, and Moi

I was on a panel on Sunday morning called “Don’t give Up Your Day Job: Suitable Jobs for a Sleuth?” moderated by Kate Grilley with fellow panelists JoAnna Carl (Eve Sandstrom), Sharon Short, Linda O. Johnston, Jess Lourey, and John Lamb, our token male, a former homicide detective who is man enough to admit he collects Teddy bears. Naturally, we were all charming and witty.

And guess who else was there?!!!! Heidi Vornbrock Roosa. Here we are looking overexposed but very sassy.


Charmed and Dangerous

On Sunday afternoon I hitched a ride with Sue Ann Jaffarian and Diana James to Annapolis, Maryland to do a book signing at the Barnes & Noble store with a group of women dubbed “Charmed and Dangerous.” The event is the brainchild of Marcia Talley and included Sue Ann, Sharon Short, Kate Flora, Denise Swanson, and me. Elaine Viets was supposed to sign with us, but as many of you know she had a stroke several weeks and is still recuperating. Nonetheless, her books were on the table and she was with us in spirit.

Left to right: Kate Flora (off camera), Sue Ann Jaffarian, Marcia Talley,
Patricia Smiley, Sharon Short, and Denise Swanson

12th Annual Festival of Mystery

That night Kate, Sharon, and I had a slumber party at Marcia’s house. The next morning we set off for Oakmont, Pennsylvania to attend a library tea, followed by the 12th Annual Festival of Mystery sponsored by Mystery Lovers Bookshop. Imagine this—four women on the road for six hours, each of whom has a quirky sense of humor and a vivid imagination. Be afraid. Be very afraid. And when you meet Sharon Short ask her about the walleye.

Here we are at in front of the gift shop at the Jean Bonnet Tavern in Bedford, PA
Marcia, Kate, Sharon, and me

When we arrived at the Festival, which was held in the Greek Orthodox Church Social Hall, fans were already snaking along the sidewalk to buy books from the 50 participating authors. Thanks to the fabulous Mary Alice Gorman and Richard Goldman, owners of the Mystery Lovers Bookshop, the event ran like a fine Swiss clock. Twelve hundred books were sold in four hours. Richard introduced all of the authors to the audience and did an in depth interview of newbies like me. One of the highlights of the evening was having the opportunity to chat with my friend Karen Olson who blogs over at First Offenders. I also met the fabulous Diane who admitted to being a regular lurker on Naked Authors. Go Diane! If you want autographed copies of any of the books wrttien by attending authors, you can order them here.

The following morning I got up at 4 AM to catch my flight back to the US of CA to do a library event in Pasadena with the charming and funny Harley Jane Kozak. So move over Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, and Mel Gibson. I’m ready for rehab.

Friends of NakedAuthors New Blog

James Lincoln Warren, a friend and frequent commenter on NakedAuthors has just joined the blogosphere. Last Monday he launched Criminal Brief. The line up of authors is as follows: James writing Mondays, Tuesdays belong to Melodie Johnson Howe, Wednesdays will feature Robert Lopresti, Thursdays we'll hear from Deborah Elliott-Upton, Fridays from Steve Steinbock, Saturdays will feature a guest blogger, and Sundays will be the soapbox of new author Leigh Lundin. Congratulations to all of these fine writers and welcome to the madness!

Happy Monday!

How do I phrase this?

What phrase do you use?

Each of us has our little sayings and phrases we use regularly. Some are adopted in childhood, some are fresh, some are old standards and some make little or no sense. You hear them on TV, read them in books and hear them in songs. Some of us even write them into books. Many are regional or local and mean one thing in one place and something completely different in another.

Working as a cop in Florida, I have a unique perspective that I try to put in my books as well. Unlike the northeast or much of the south, Florida has a mix of cops working here. I often run across former N.Y.P.D. cops who have a unique way of phrasing things. I run into a lot of Florida-born rednecks who have their own way of looking at things and expressing them. This is one of the few places in the country where southerners and northerners live together in such vast numbers. I try to incorporate much of this into my novels.

For instance if someone were going to threaten another person with a beating you could tell by the phrasing where someone is probably from. If one says, “I’m gonna kick your ass.” He or she could be from just about anywhere. But if it’s phrased, “I’m gonna whip your ass.” That person is from the south.

The phrase “on the job,” which many people use to say they’re a cop is from the New York Police Department. It’s been adopted by many areas but it’s a northern phrase. A more recent, urban phrase is “Five-O” to denote the police, however I’ve only heard one guy actually say it and he was an idiot. In Paul’s day they used to say “Fuzz”. I prefer to go with the bland but accurate, “Police.”

Even the words for “redneck” are different. I’ve heard “hick”, “hilljack”, “bumpkin” and a number of more offensive terms. I don’t mind being called them unless it is not in fun and not by someone who could be considered a redneck themselves. I often point out that some of the biggest rednecks I know are from New Jersey.

Certain writers use the same phrases frequently. Science fiction bestseller Harry Turtledove uses, “The next time would be the first time” or variations to describe something that has never happened before. He uses the phrase in most of his numerous series.

The venerable Robert B. Parker uses “We’d be fools if we didn’t” or something like that, in all the Spenser novels.

I’m currently trying to read the classic Atlas Shrugged and one of the phrases used by characters in the book is “Who is John Galt?” I’m still not sure who the hell he is and not entirely certain I’ll understand the book when I’m done. The projected date of completion, by the way, is sometime in the summer of 2009.

We each have our favorite phrases. One of mine used to be “Holy Shit” which I converted to “Holy Moses” when I started raising kids. I know it’s a little corny and tired but now I can’t help but say it when I’m
surprised. It really looks cool for a tubby cop to look down at a gun shot victim and say “Holy Moses that’s a lot of blood.” What are you gonna do? That’s real life.

What are your favorite phrases? Ones you say, ones you hear, ones your write. I’d really like to know.

20/20

By Cornelia

Here are twenty questions to get your day started right. My mom learned these while working as a summer camp counselor on Squam Lake in the late Fifties:

1. You have two coins (U.S. currency), the total value of which is fifty-five cents. One of them is not a nickel. What are the two coins?

2. In South Dakota, is it legal for a man to marry his widow's sister?



3. A doctor gives you three pills and tells you to take one every half hour how many minutes will the pills last?



4. Do they have a Fourth of July in England?



5. Some months have thirty one days. How many have twenty eight?

6. You are inside a rectangular house, and all sides have a southern exposure. You look out the window and see a bear walking by. What color is the bear?

7. There are three apples and you take away two. How many apples do you have?



8. How many two-cent stamps are in a dozen?



9. How many birthdays does the average person have?



10. If you had only one match, and entered a dark room containing an oil lamp, some newspaper, and some kindling wood, which would you light first?

11. Imagine you are driving a bus. When you start your trip there are an old lady named Johnson and a long-haired kid on the bus. At the first stop the lady leaves and a businessman enters. At the next stop Frankie, a young boy, enters with his little sister. Then three old ladies who have been shopping in the mall get on. After a short trip the long-haired kid leaves the bus and a man and lady enter. Paul with his dog Blue gets on, while Frankie and his sister get off, and, finally, the bus arrives at the bus station. What is the name of the bus driver?



12. If Mr Smith's peacock lays an egg in Mr Jones' yard, who owns the egg?



13. What was the (American) President's name in 1960?

14. An electric train is moving north at 100kph and a wind is blowing to the west at 10kph. Which way does the smoke blow?

15. How many animals of each sex did Moses take with him on the ark?



16. How much dirt is there in a hole 3 ft deep, 6 ft long and 4 ft wide?

17. In a large western city, 80% of the phone numbers are listed, 20% of the phone numbers are businesses, and 20% of the phone numbers start with the numeral "2". If you were to take a random sample of 1000 phone numbers from the city's phone book, how many numbers would you expect to be unlisted, non-business phone numbers that start with a numeral other than "2"?


18. How far can a dog run into the woods?



19. A woman gives a beggar 50 cents; the woman is the beggar's sister, but the beggar is not the woman's brother, how come?



20. There is a horse tied to a rope. The rope is 10 feet long. There is a bale of hay 23 feet in front of the horse. The horse is able to eat the hay, yet does not break the rope. How is that possible?

Here's a bonus question:

21. A man walks into a train station in London. A cat sits on the ledge just outside the ticket window.



The man looks askes the ticket seller, "Manx cat?"

The ticket seller shakes his head and says, "No. 9:42 express."

Explain his answer.