Lev Raphael's Blog, page 25

Joe Scarborough Thinks He's a Counter-Terrorism Expert

I switch back and forth between CNN and MSNBC for news over breakfast, but usually don't stay at the latter for long because Morning Joe can be such a swamp of narcissism.

Like today. The guest I caught was Malcolm Nance, author of Defeating Isis. Nance is a former Navy intelligence officer and recognized around the world as an expert on counter-terrorism and torture.



But Joe Scarborough thinks he knows more than Nance about those issues.

They got into an argument about waterboarding, wh...

Downton Abbey's Sentimental Farewell Left Barrow Out in the Cold

Downton Abbey wasn't just wrapped up last night, it was swept away in a tsunami of schmaltz. Lady Mary did her Good Deed for the Century and brought happiness to her benighted sister who tried her best to undo it anyway. But despite her weepy equivocating, Edith now has wealth, is a Marchioness, and lives in a home that makes Downton look shabby. Boom.




Edith's Gorgon of a mother-in-law did an about-face which wasted screen time and was utterly predictable. It would have been more surprisi...

Downton Abbey's Sentimental, Homophobic Farewell

Downton Abbey wasn't just wrapped up last night, it was swept away in a tsunami of schmaltz. Lady Mary did her Good Deed for the Century and brought happiness to her benighted sister who tried her best to undo it anyway. But despite her weepy equivocating, Edith now has wealth, is a Marchioness, and lives in a home that makes Downton look shabby. Boom.




Edith's Gorgon of a mother-in-law did an about-face which wasted screen time and was utterly predictable. It would have been more surprisi...

Why Do Smart People Turn Stupid in Thrillers?

For a long time I was the crime fiction reviewer at the Detroit Free Press and I loved my work because I'd been reading mysteries and thrillers for years. I still do, and I have my own series set at a fictional Michigan university.

I usually got one and sometimes two boxes of books every month to sort through for my column. Time after time, I'd be captured by a book and then a smart character would do something really dumb. Like the chic woman investigating a murder who walked into a nasty...

My Facebook Vacation

In January, Facebook was working my last nerve, so I decided to avoid it for a full month (except for a private group with extremely limited posts).

What happened?

I did not miss the people posting fake heartwarming quotations by Hemingway, Oscar Wilde or any other famous writer who couldn't possibly have written them.



I did not miss the clickbait videos of people pretending to be gay or anything else.

I did not miss adorable animal videos (gerbils making friends with giraffes, etc.)...

My Vacation From Facebook

In January, Facebook was working my last nerve, so I decided to avoid it for a full month (except for a private group with extremely limited posts).

What happened?

I did not miss the people posting fake heartwarming quotations by Hemingway, Oscar Wilde or any other famous writer who couldn't possibly have written them.



I did not miss the clickbait videos of people pretending to be gay or anything else.

I did not miss adorable animal videos (gerbils making friends with giraffes, etc.)...

The Finale That Downton Abbey Badly Needs

As the HMS Downton Abbey nears the end of her final voyage, everyone has found a home or is finding one.

Carson has a Mrs. Carson. Daisy has a Daddy and a school career ahead. Edith is bound to have the newly minted Marquess rush back from Tangiers saying he can't live without her despite her being a coward. Noblesse oblige and all that.



Mrs. Patmore has saved her retirement B&B investment with some savvy PR help from His Lordship et al. (and scone power).

The Bitch-Formerly-Known-as-La...

Joe Scarborough: Tear Down Your Walls!

Responding to Pope Francis's remark that "A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian," Joe Scarborough, the master of media mediocrity, tweeted the photo below with this message "Pope Francis, tear down that wall!" #vaticanwalls :





You'd think someone with a staff like his at MSNBC would have found out that the walls at the Vatican don't surround it completely, were built centuries ago, and don't really keep people out....

Joe Scarborough, Tear Down Your Walls!

Responding to Pope Francis's remark that "A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian," Joe Scarborough, the master of media mediocrity, tweeted the photo below with this message "Pope Francis, tear down that wall!" #vaticanwalls :





You'd think someone with a staff like his would have found out that the walls at the Vatican don't surround it completely, were built centuries ago and don't really keep people out. #GoogleIsE...

GOP Threeway: Lindsay Graham, Putin and George Bush

After the most recent explosive GOP debate where Donald Trump called out George Bush on the Iraq war and the lies about Iraq's WMD, Senator Lindsay Graham had some choice words:

This man [Trump] embraces [Russian President Vladimir] Putin as a friend. The market in the Republican primary for people who believe that Putin's a good guy and W. is a liar is pretty damn small.

Given Trump's surging numbers nation-wide and in South Carolina, Graham doesn't seem to know much about marketing. Every...