Probably one of the most important articles this year. It’s must read stuff.
In essence, Goldman Sachs have been responsible for every major bubble since the 1920s. They have alumni in every administration. Obama’s is no different.
… with the SILVER dagger of Judas! That’s the MacGuffin in Steven Savile’s new thriller SILVER.
See what I did there? Marketing genius, me.
Featuring a cover quote by some Anglo-Greek who may or may not write this blog, this is Steve’s latest book, not to be confused with his last one because he seems to have one out every five minutes. But this one is special. This one is not Stargate, or Slaine, or Doctor Who. This one is all Steve’s.
Here’s the blurb.
Sometimes the truth is anything but honest.
Sometimes the stories everyone knows by heart are lies.
Sometimes lies are all we have left.
Two thousand years ago, thirty silver Tyrian shekels were paid to secure the most infamous betrayal of all time. Melted down by the grandsons of Judas Iscariot, Menahem and Eleazar ben Jair, in the dark heart of the Sicarii fortress, Masada, the silver was re-forged as a dagger. When the Sicarii zealots committed mass suicide in AD73 the dagger of Iscariot and the truth of his sacrifice were lost.
Until now.
A religious cult calling itself the Disciples of Judas has risen in the Middle East. Its influence is pernicious, its reach long. In thirteen cities across Europe thirteen people martyr themselves in the name of Judas, promising forty days and forty nights of terror. They twist the words of ancient prophecies to drive home the fear. On the last day, they promise, faith will fall. Everything you believe in will be proved wrong. Everything you hold true will fail.
Day by day the West wakes to increasingly more harrowing acts of terror. Fear cripples the capitals of Europe, who will be the next to fall? London? Rome? Berlin?
In a race against time – and prophecy – believing the terrorists intend to assassinate the Pope as part of their plan to bring down the Catholic Church, Sir Charles Wyndham’s team of combat specialists, codename Omigos, tracks a labyrinthine course through truth, shades of truth and outright lies that takes them from the backstreets of London to the shadow of Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin all the way into the heart of the Holy See itself.
Forty days and forty nights of fear.
And today is day one.
Fab eh? Now go pre-order a copy. What are you waiting for?
UPDATE:
They put it back the way it was. Good.
EARLIER:
You ever tried making a movie without a script?
It’s pretty damn difficult. The actors stand around scratching their arses, the director yells “Action!” but nothing much really happens. Not even the sets have have been built because no one knows what the story is about.
And yet, not only are we the lowest paid, least respected part of the above the line talent, now IMDB has decided that we don’t even deserve to be credited properly.
IMDB has moved all writers down the page to “additional” information. So the crap we waded through to get the movie made, which on some movies is months sometimes years longer than the stars or even the director, means nothing.
Cheers IMDB. And you wonder why I cancelled my account with you.
Very exciting news! The original analogue tapes from the Apollo 11 landing have been missing since the week of the landing. The terrible quality pictures that have been shown since then are low resolution versions compressed on the fly. They were never meant to be the final record.
Most people don’t realize just how easy it is for NASA to lose tapes. During the Apollo era there was very little in the way of an organized archival system. There wasn’t the money or manpower to review the tons of information and much of it was piled into boxes and stored. Later, a wealth of information was scheduled for destruction and only exists today because a NASA employee felt strongly enough that she kept the material in her garage until some future NASA finally came to its senses (which it did.)
Anyway, the missing tapes were found in a box in… Australia.
Next month NASA plans to debut the footage.
Anyone? Bueller?
I saw this over at Jonathan Turley’s blog and had to repost.
A homeless man is on trial in San Mateo County on charges that he smacked a fellow transient in the face with a skateboard as the victim was engaged in a conversation about quantum physics, authorities said Wednesday.
At the time, Fava was chatting with an acquaintance, who is also homeless, about “quantum physics and the splitting of atoms,” according to prosecutors.
Keller joined in the conversation and, for reasons unknown, got upset, authorities said. He picked up his skateboard and hit Fava in the face with it, splitting his lip, prosecutors said.
Money quote:
Fava also fell and broke his ankle, although how this happened wasn’t known, authorities said.
Which, I believe, is a perfect illustration of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.
No, this isn’t the plot for some Benjamin Button sequel, ABC News is reporting Brooke Greenberg, a 16 year old girl who is the size and mental capacity of a toddler. I don’t even know where to begin listing the possibilities rattling around in my head.
Brooke weighs 16 pounds and is 30 inches tall. She doesn’t speak, but she laughs when she is happy, and she clearly recognizes the people around her. She has three sisters: Emily, 22; Caitlin, 19; and Carly, 13. All three are bright, active and of normal size and development. They say that Brooke has ways of expressing herself like the teenager she is.
“She looks like a 6-month-old, but she kind of has a personality of a 16-year-old,” Caitlin said. “Sometimes we joke about how she rebels.”
In her first six years, Brooke went through a series of medical emergencies from which she recovered, often without explanation. She survived surgery for seven perforated stomach ulcers. She suffered a brain seizure followed by what was diagnosed as a stroke that weeks later left no apparent damage.
At 4, she fell into a lethargy that caused her to sleep for 14 days. Then, doctors diagnosed a brain tumor, and the Greenbergs bought a casket for her.
“We were preparing for our child to die,” Howard Greenberg said. “We were saying goodbye. And, then, we got a call that there was some change; that Brooke had opened her eyes and she was fine. There was no tumor. She overcomes every obstacle that is thrown her way.”
Brooke’s doctor said the source of her sudden illnesses remains a mystery.
“We love her just the way she is,” Melanie Greenberg said. “We don’t want to change her.”
Added Howard Greenberg, “Brooke is the nucleus of our family. What if Brooke holds the secret to aging? We’d like to find out. We’d like to help people. Everybody’s here for a reason. Maybe this is why Brooke is here.”
I’m immensely proud today. Big Finish in the UK have just published the last of their Doctor Who anthologies called Shot Trips. This one, the 29th, volume is a weighty tome featuring what the editors considered were the best stories from among all 28 prior volumes, and one of mine was included. Checkpoint was first featured in The Centenarian and was actually the first Doctor Who story that I wrote for them. Included is probably the nicest intro anyone’s ever written for me. Thanks Ian, I’m really touched.
Doctor Who Recollections is out now.
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