Prog writer throws hissyfit

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• So his book comes out a couple days after the Post cleans 0bamuh-uh's clock for being dickish about the whole deal. OT but speaking of fiction, I have a Q for our wise panel (why google when I can cut out all the bs and go straight to the source). In my story if a character is holding hands with somebody who gets Tazered, do they both get zapped?

  • "Do they both get Tasered?" Nope.
    But, dont be touching anyone getting a shot from a defibrillator cause you will get defibrillated (is that a word) also.

    • Yep, I got defibrillated once, back in the 80's. Of course, I don't remember the part where everyone got clear, but it turns out I was one of the weird ones that came to and opened my eyes immediately upon getting zapped, and started asking questions. I guess I've always had the thirst for knowledge.

    • That's what was sticking in my head, everybody stopping CPR and yelling clear. Was trying to weasel an accidental zapping into the story, back to the WordPad brainstorming.

  • Every time I've seen a demonstration of the Tazer, a couple of guys hold onto the one being tazed to lower him to the ground safely. I don't understand it that well, so I don't know WHY they don't get tazed, but it seems they don't.

    When I was a kid, we used to line up a bunch of us, hold hands, and have the guy on one end grab the electric fence. The one on the other end got zapped. Can anyone 'splain?

    • NOTE: If you're putting it in a story, better get it right: It's spelled "Taser." The verb is "Tase." It's a brand name, hence the capitalization.

      Now...

      What about conjoined twins? Hmmm...

      • Well, there's also stun guns, working on the same principle, and they're not a name brand. "Don't Taze me Bro!"

      • That's kinda where I was going Flash, you'd think they would but I don't remember ever hearing about collateral zapping. And thanks RK, I was in a hurry and forgot I knew that. ;) (I knew it didn't look right but sent it any way)

• lol, I had to read the article to find out who he was...MSNBC and Mother Jones. No wonder I never heard of him.

  • He did appear as a regular on the media watchdog show "Fox News Watch" on FoxNewsChannel. But nobody who matters reads Mother Jones, & nobody watches MSNBC, & even less care about either of them. Corn does'nt sell books, people like Ann Coulter, Mark Levin, Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, & other conservatives do move books. David Corn needs to learn that outside of Manhattan, DC, & few college campus dorms, nobody gives a damn.

• "...corporate tells him what books get displays..."

  I don't know how anyone can be so sad for the demise of these hideous brick-and-mortar bookstores. They're nothing but shills for the big companies that buy the floor space. They're just another way to maintain the status quo of the a-hole publishing houses and shut out the little guy. I can't wait till every bookstore employee is out on the streets. We'll just be that much closer to the demise of the major publishers.

  • Yes, there is a renaissance in publishing right now due to the eBook revolution. Many established authors love it because they are sharing in far more of the profits than they ever did before. And many "new" writers are getting paychecks instead of rejection letters. I'm surprised, however, they haven't asked for a bailout yet.

    In the ultimate upset though I think the indie stores will do fine. Books will be like records. Boutique items. But, IMHO, there will always be enough book lovers around to keep local sellers in business -especially if they focus on niche writers that can provide them with hard copies published through lulu or the like.

    • Oh, my. Personally speaking, I will be very sad to see the demise of printed books. My Grandfather was a bookbinder by trade. So I have a special bias toward books. I never highlight or bend page corners or projectmark in the margins. And when I loan books to others I ask them to refrain from those common habits, and they have always respected that. But then student who was rotating through the hospital for her training wanted to borrow it and use it as a referrence for a project she had to do for one of her classes. My colleague (the liberal one) loaned it out to her without asking, and with out telling her my rule about maintaining clean pages. Well guess what....yep, she highlights through out the book. So I was quite peeved. To make it worse, she didn't return the book, I had to ask her instructor to get it from her and bring it back. And it took her instructor over a month to get it from her. (It wasn't a cheap book and I still use it as a reference in my job when complex cases pop up. Doc's sometimes borrow it too.) Maybe I'm too uptight about something that seems so small to others, but I watched my grandfather restore old books, repairing pages that have torn, fixing cracked spines, redoing the goldleaf lettering, making them look brand new. There's an art to it and granpa was a master. Books are simply special to me. (Even if I have to read the same sentence 10 times before I understand it.)

      • Your comments are merely about printed books. I publish printed books myself, and I prefer them. Kids like to buy them from me because they can get my autograph inside. (I can't exactly autograph an e-book!)

        I have nothing against printed books. I have EVERYTHING against publishing houses and bookstores. Even the "mom 'n' pop" bookstores want too much of a cut from me. Going through bookstores, I have the choice of making a nickel per book or selling the book at an idiotically high price. In stead, I sell my books directly to kids through school visits and from my own online shop.

        I've dealt with publishers and they are vile people - vile people who like to smile and pretend they're doing mankind a service, while they screw everyone over. And the bookstores are their little minions. The sooner we cleanse ourselves of them all the better.

        • Hey, I love printed books, too. I don't have as many as I'd like, because I live in an RV, but I've always loved them. But then again, right now, the Kindle app in my phone has 17 books in it. I can't carry 17 books in my pocket.

          For some reason, I'm not allowed to give you a thumb up in the normal manner, drb. So here. THUMB UP!

        • I guess my thing is that when I go on vacation I take my iPod, because I never know what music I'm going to want to listen to at any given time, but I only take one book because that's the one book I'm reading. Therefore, I haven't had any need for an e-book reader yet.

        • When you have a smart phone, Kindle is a free app, and there are thousands of books that are also free, and I'm not talking about just garbage you wouldn't want to read. Since getting my Kindle app, I have read the entire works of Mark Twain, including magazine articles, all of Jules Verne's works, books by the Wright Brothers about early aviation, just tons of things that would be hard to even put together in hard copy.

          Then, if you're willing to part with 99 cents, there's thousands more, on all sorts of topics. I'm studying economics with Mises, Rothbard, and others like them for around a buck a book right now.

• David Cornhole is a demokrat party member in good standing, a douchebag, and a racist (BIRM& BIRM)