and here's another cat playing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7xvOXPZdPc

A cute kitten in a Ukrainian (?) folk costume 

New Delhi:  All copies of American scholar Wendy Doniger's "The Hindus: An Alternative History", published by Penguin, will be recalled within six months and destroyed as part of a court-backed settlement with a group that called the 2009 book "insulting to Hindus."

Penguin India reportedly agreed to pulp all remaining copies of the book in a pact signed in a Delhi court with the "Shiksha Bachao Andolan." The contents of that agreement, reportedly signed earlier this month, have been leaked on social media and have provoked outrage.

Penguin has reportedly agreed to stop publishing or distributing the book, described in some reviews as a "vivid reinterpretation of Hinduism."

to read more click http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/penguin-to-destroy-copies-of-wendy-doniger-s-book-the-hindus-481966 

I

Печальный Демон, дух изгнанья, 
Летал над грешною землей, 
И лучших дней воспоминанья 
Пред ним теснилися толпой; 
Тex дней, когда в жилище света 
Блистал он, чистый херувим, 
Когда бегущая комета 
Улыбкой ласковой привета 
Любила поменяться с ним, 
Когда сквозь вечные туманы, 
Познанья жадный, он следил 
Кочующие караваны 
В пространстве брошенных светил; 
Когда он верил и любил, 
Счастливый первенец творенья! 
Не знал ни злобы, ни сомненья. 
И не грозил уму его 
Веков бесплодных ряд унылый… 
И много, много… и всего 
Припомнить не имел он силы! 

II

Давно отверженный блуждал
В пустыне мира без приюта:
Вослед за веком век бежал,
Как за минутою минута,
Однообразной чередой.
Ничтожной властвуя землей,
Он сеял зло без наслажденья.
Нигде искусству своему
Он не встречал сопротивленья -
И зло наскучило ему.

A cat in California has saved a four-year-old boy who was attacked by a dog.

The Law and the Lady is first Collins's book that I didn't enjoy.

I don't mind the not so well fleshed second characters and I'm ready to ignore all coincidences & lack of reason in characters but this book has not aged well. 

However, the main character, while is her time product, is surprisingly strong. 

The 4th book in the series didn't disappoint.

I still adore Whyborne and this book made me like Christine even more and Griffin is a perfect gentleman as always. 

I would love to know more about Griffin but alas the series are written in a limited 1st person point of view. The short story Eidolon gives a glimpse of Griffin pov but it isn't enough. :( 

The adventures of Whyborne and Griffin in London that Whyborne refused to think about are written in a free short story Remnant by K.J. Charles and Jordan L. Hawk

Weak spoilers below.

An urgent telegram from Christine summons Whyborne (and Griffin) to Egypt.

Where* 

Whyborne is kissed by a beautiful woman

attacked by ghuls & gets splattered by blood 

practises more magic

gets a pet camel 

And much more!

Tom Lehrer - So Long Mom (A Song for WW III) - with intro

We have colour TV! 

If you don't like it, leave it Amazon style.

Lots of companies pay their staff bonuses to boost morale, but Amazon has found a less orthodox method: The Seattle technology giant is bribing unhappy staff to quit.

In a letter headed “Please don’t take this offer”, the company has taken the unusual step of offering people who have worked in its warehouse for less than a year $2,000 to walk out the door.

That figure rises $1,000 for every year worked, up to a maximum of $5000.

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/amazon-staff-offered-5-000-172002739.html 

A spoiler-ish rambling.

Am I mad? Yes; all people who are as miserable as I am are mad. 

Before I started this book, I expected that Miss Lydia Gwilt (35) is going to be evil and manipulative as Shakespeare's Iago. And while she definitely lied, manipulated and was ready to commit a fraud and murder, she wasn't evil and not even cruel. Years of poverty, abuse and betrayal had made her an angry, lonely, embittered and desperate woman, and yet she was strong, intelligent and had wicked sense of humour. 

Who cares for the misery of such a woman as I am? who believes in it? 

And her hate towards Allan(22) grows when Midwinter(21) is cold towards her, and when she sees that Midwinter loves him more than her. [...]my mind went back to what he had said to me about myself. In remembering 'the miserable day' when we first saw each other, and 'the better angel' that had warned him to 'fly the sight of my face She is betrayed by her husband and it hurts, and she returns to her plotting. 

*Allan is one of the most irritating characters ever, in Miss Gwilt's words a rattle-pated young fool— one of those noisy, rosy, light-haired, good-tempered men whom I particularly detest. Honestly, I stopped reading this book at 28% and didn't touch it almost for a month because he annoyed me so much. 

I didn't like Miss Milroy(16) She, too, is rosy and foolish; and, what is more, awkward and squat and freckled, and ill-tempered and ill-dressed. In another life she might have become "wicked" as Miss Gwilt. She clearly showed that she isn't as naive and innocent as she acts, but since she acted like that to get a husband, most people wouldn't even notice it, I think. 

*One of the questions Collins's asks in this book is Do the sons bear the sins of the fathers or not? 
Just compare Allan and Midwinter with their fathers, and you have an answer. (Their mothers weren’t better) 

*Did someone else notice that Mr Brock and Miss Oldershaw, and the Pedgifts and the Bashwoods are portrayed as complete opposites? 

*And big kudos to Collins for believing in women rights and creating a cool mixed race character. 

* While reading the last part I listened to Silentium, Arvo Pärt.

What happened in summer 1963? And how it is linked to summer 2013? 

I was eager to read Smith's latest book, as I loved Child 44 and yet I was not sure how much I'll like it because the last book in the trilogy was a disappointment.


The Farm was better than I expected. A well written page turner as Child 44 but also with more layers then that. 

And more personal. Few years ago, Smith's father phoned to tell him he suspected his mum was mentally ill. Hours later, she arrived in Britain.

[...]I hear you beg me to your aid, 
What cause is there to be afraid?
We'll live forever, you and I, 
—But first, my love, you have to die. 

Below the water there's no sound, 
And those that struggle always drown. 

But, oh, my love; 
You look so pretty while you drown. 

Five fairy tale retellings: Deep Blue Nightmare, Clockwork Roses, Quantum Diamond, Iceheart and Blood of My Blood, an epilogue, and five original poems. 

Pleasantly, surprised for gender swap in one of the fairy tales, and for including a homosexual hero in another. 

And poems were awesome, I really liked them. 


art by JesCallie

A beautiful S&M story with plenty of delicious sex scenes. 

What I wanted? Porn with BDSM elements.

What I got? Graphic rape pictures. Rape culture shit. 

FUCK! 

It's not that I'm asking for a censorship, just proper labelling and warning will do. 



Really angry right now.