Upcoming Events:
Wednesday, 6 May 9 am
Radio Interview with Phil Nee, on “Jim Otis and Smalltown Crime, WRCO Radio, Richland Center, Wis.
Friday, 29 May, 7 pm
Book Talk, Signing and Sale, on “Upstairs and the Jim Otis Series,” Belleville Books, 20 East Main St., Belleville, Ill.
Saturday, 30 May,1-3 pm
Meet & Greet, Signing & Sale of Last Kid Books, at Belleville Books, 20 East Main St., Belleville, Ill.
The Weekly Screed
by David Benjamin “Don’t be afraid, as no life-loving bee wants to sting you. Still, don’t be an idiot; wear long sleeves and pants. Don’t swat. Don’t even think about swatting. If you feel angry, whistle. Anger agitates while whistling melts a bee’s temper. Act like you know what you’re doing, even if you don’t.…
by David Benjamin “July eighth, 1979, all the fathers of Nobel Prize winners were rounded up by United Nations military units… and actually forced at gunpoint to give semen samples in little plastic jars, which are now stored below Rockefeller Center underneath the ice skating rink…” — Jerry Fletcher (Mel Gibson), in Conspiracy Theory MADISON,…
by David Benjamin “Waging war on bronze men doesn’t make your life any more moral or just.” ― Maria Lipman MADISON, Wis. — In eighth grade, when I was plowing doggedly through Moby Dick, I began to glimpse the power and ambiguity of symbolism. The white whale is perhaps the most compelling symbol in all…
by David Benjamin “The president does read… The president is the most informed person on planet Earth…” — Presidential press secretary Kayleigh McEnaney MADISON, Ws. — Among the lesser noticed Top Secret documents that leaked — well, it was more of a flood — from highly placed but fearfully anonymous sources in Washington in the…
by David Benjamin “… Antifa, short for anti-fascists, hasn’t killed anyone and appears to have been only a marginal presence in Black Lives Matter protests. None of those arrested on serious federal charges related to the unrest have been linked to antifa…” — Nicholas Kristof, N.Y. Times “We have to find one, Your Majesty.” It’s…
by David Benjamin “[W]e are the heirs of a past of rope, fire, and murder. I for one am not ashamed of this past. My shame is for those who became so inhuman that they could inflict this torture upon us.” — Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. MADISON, Wis. — For most of my life,…
by David Benjamin “Our morality is based, in large part, on mystical dogma, not reason, our lives are governed by superstition and prejudice rather than knowledge. Self-sacrifice is prized above self-interest and self-esteem. Society is placed above the individual. And the goal of happiness is lost in a labyrinthine maze of emotional responses, self-doubts, self-denials,…
by David Benjamin In July 1968, I was counselor for sixteen kids from Chicago at an art and music camp in East Troy, Wisconsin, operated by Hull House Association. One day, as the Chicago Police were mobilizing for war against Yippies and young people at the upcoming Democratic National Convention, I casually asked my 11-year-old…
by David Benjamin “China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency … I want to thank President Xi!” — Trump MADISON, Wis. — 1) Let’s give the president an iota of credit. A popular perception is that he spends his days — save for…
by David Benjamin “So now do you see why books are hated and feared? They show the pores in the face of life. The comfortable people want only wax moon faces, poreless, hairless, expressionless.” — Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 MADISON, Wis. — The latest illiterate school board to get into the book-banning biz is in…