Retiring Guy's Digest: 2025-02-23

Saturday, March 1, 2025

Keeping tabs on authors in LINKcat: Joseph Wambaugh

LINKcat

New York Times, 2/28/2025

Robert D. McFadden writes:

Before Mr. Wambaugh’s era as a writer, which began in 1971, police dramas like the television series “Dragnet” were implausible stories about clean-cut heroes doing good. He shattered the mold with portraits of officers as complex, profane, violent and fallible, sliding quickly from rookie illusions of idealism into the streetwise cynicism of veterans, who might have feared death but who feared their own emotions even more.
Readers discovered an intimacy with Wambaugh’s cops, taking in the gallows humor, the boredom and sudden dangers; being privy to a partner’s bigotry and cruelty, but tagging along for the action and a share of the fatalism about the job — the inevitability of a murder, a rape or a child molested tonight — and then moving on to another sunset shift out of Hollywood Station.

The 50 member libraries of LINKcat

Related posts:

2025

John Carlos Blake. (2/4)

Barbara Taylor Bradford. (1/6)

Nathalie Dupree. (1/19)

Edna Ferber. (1/15)

Christopher Jencks. (2/15)

William Leuchtenburg. (2/2)

David Lodge. (1/6)

Tom Robbins. (2/11)

2024

Best books on politics. (9/2)

Dorothy Allison. (11/13)

Paul Auster. (5/9)

Lynne Reid Banks. (4/10)

Donald L. Barlett. (10/15)

John Barth. (4/3)

David Boaz. (6/13)

Caleb Carr. (5/26)

Shirley Conran. (5/25)

Robert Coover. (10/12)

Frederick Crews. (6/28)

Charles R. Cross. (8/25)

Nelson DeMille. (10/3)

Daniel C. Dennett. (4/22)

Anne Edwards. (2/4)

Richard E llis. (6/1)

Edward Jay Epstein. (1/18)

Helen E. Fisher. (9/6)

H. Bruce Franklin. (6/9)

Sandra M. Gilbert. (11/24)

Ellen Gilchrist. (2/15)

Lesley Hazleton (5/11)

Cristina Henriquez . (3/6)

Gary Indiana. (10/30)

Barbara Howard . (8/8)

Sue Johnson. (6/7)

Barry Kemp. (6/1)

Elias Khoury. (10/4)

Ella Leffland. (10/9)

Hal Lindsey. (12/6)

Alice Munro. (5/19)

Stanley Pottinger. (12/18)

Terry Robards. (6/8)

Thomas Rockwell. (10/14)

Tom Shales. (1/21)

Ross Terrill. (8/14)

Vernor Wing . (4/1)

Dan Wakefield , (3/17)

Alexander Waugh. (8/7)

Westheimer, Dr. Ruth . (7/14)

2023

Martin Amis . (5/31)

Richard Anobile. (3/18)

Russell Banks. (1/11)

A. S. Byatt. (11/18)

Ted Bell. (2/8)

Carol Higgins Clark. (7/13)

Natalie Zemon Davis . (10/27)

Tim Dorsey. (12/10)

Herbert Gold. (11/24)

David Harris. (2/8)

Paul Johnson. (1/15)

Milan Kundera . (7/17)

Harold S. Kushner. (4/30)

Cormac McCarthy. (6/19)

Kevin Phillips. (10/19)

Betty Rollin. (11/26)

Norman Rush. (4/7)

Mimi Sheraton. (4/9)

Charles Simic. (1/16)

Donald Spoto . (2/18)

D. M. Thomas. (3/31)

John Underwood. (5/8)

Fay Weldon. (2/2)

Bill Zehme. (4/1)

2022

Roger Angell. (5/24)

Melissa Bank . (8/7)

Raymond Briggs. (8/20)

Thomas Cahill. (11/16)

Philip K. Dick. (11/20)

Bruce Duffy, (3/13)

Todd Gitlin . (2/8)

Rebecca Godfrey. (11/11)

Ron Goulart. (2/7)

Doris Grumbach . (11/10)

Robert Hicks. (3/8)

Thomas Hoving. (12/19)

Maureen Howard. (3/19)

Dominique Lapierre . (12/11)

Hilary Mantel. (9/26)

Nancy Mitford. (4/4)

P. J. O'Rourke. (2/24)

John J. Osborn Jr. (11/4)

Julie Powell. (11/5)

Thomas Pynchon. (12/17)

Dennis Smith. (1/27)

Susie Steiner . (7/27)

Larry Woiwode . (5/19)

2021

Joan Walsh Anglund. (4/3)

F. Lee Bailey. (6/11)

Katherine Barber. (5/26)

Mary Catherine Bateson. (1/26)

Rosalind Cartwright. (3/21)

Kim Chernin . (1/10)

Beverly Cleary. (4/8)

Angelo Codevilla. (10/10)

Christina Crosby. (1/31)

Geoff Crowther. (5/17)

Eric Jerome Dickey. (1/9)

Morrie Dickstein . (3/31)

Scott Donaldson. (1/11)

Stephen Dunn. (6/29)

Lawrence Ferlinghetti. (2/24)

James R. Flynn. (1/30)

Larry Flynt. (2/12)

Lucinda Franks. (5/11)

Joseph Galloway. (8/25)

Norman Golb. (2/22)

Lawrence Graham. (3/9)

Charles Grodin. (5/20)

Maria Guarnascheilli , book editor. (2/18)

James Gunn. (2/21)

Tony Hendra . (3/7)

Robert L. Herbert (2/12)

Norman Juster. (3/16)

Donald Kagan. (8/20)

His King . (4/9)

Lyn Macdonald. (5/15)

Janet Malcolm. (6/18)

Peter Manso , (4/10)

Jason Matthews. (5/4)

Margaret Maron. (3/13)

Larry McMurtry. (4/2)

Ved Mehta. (1/12)

Robert Middlekauff. (9/3)

Marie Mongan. (3/22)

John Naisbitt. (4/21)

Sharon Kay Penman. (2/8)

Steven B. Oates. (9/1)

Robert Quackenbush. (7/7)

Deborah Rhode. (1/28)

James Ridgeway. (2/16)

Naomi Rosenblum (3/6)

Donald Rumsfeld. (7/6)

Charles Saunders. (2/4)

David Swensen . (5/13)

Bryan Sykes. (1/14)

Athan Theoharis. (6/14/)

Ed Ward. (5/16)

Michael Thomas. (8/19)

Steven Weinberg. (8/5)

Adam Zagajewski. (3/27)

2020

Patricia Bosworth. (4/6)

Ben Bova. (12/17)

Mary Higgins Clark. (2/4)

Clive Cussler. (2/29)

Betty Dodson (11/11)

David Graeber. (9/6)

Shirley Ann Grau . (8/11)

Pete Hamill. (8/6)

Shere Hite. (9/13)

A, E, Hotchner. (2/18)

Roger Kahn. (2/15)

Randall Kenan. (9/29)

John Le Carre . (12/23/2020)

Johanna Lindsey. (1/15)

Barry Lopez. (12/29)

Alison Lurie. (12/7)

Sylvia Jukes Morris. (1/20)

Charlers Portis. (2/19)

Julia Reed. (9/8)

John Rothchild. (1/22)

Gail Sheehy. (9/3)

George Steiner. (2/6)

Jill Paton Walsh. (11/29)

Charles Webb. (6/30)

Elizabeth Wurtzel. (1/11)

2019

Warren Adler . (4/23)

Kate Braverman. (10/28)

Stephen Dixon. (11/12)

Ernest J. Gaines. (11/8)

And Jenkins . (3/10)

Judith Krantz. (6/27)

Paule Marshall. (8/27)

Robert K. Massie. (12/4)

Martin Mayer. (8/3)

Wright Morris. (7/25)

Toni Morrison. (8/12)

Anthony Price. (6/17)

James I. Robertson. (11/20)

Anne Rivers Siddons. (9/19)

John Simon. (12/1)

Sol Stein. (9/30)

Brad Watson. (8/2)

Lonnie Wheeler. (7/15)

Herman Wouk . (5/20)

Nearly forgotten "sociological megahits" of 1970. (6/18)

2018

Neal Thompson. (6/17)

Barbara Kafka. (6/8)

Weeding or historical sanitization at LINKcat libraries? (6/2)

2017

Aline Countess of Romanones. (12/17)

Kit Reed. (10/1)

Carol J. Adams shares feminist classics from her personal library. (9/8)

2016

E. M. Nathanson. (4/10)

2015

Gunter Grass (1927-2015). (4/15)

2014

Thomas Berger (1924-2014). (7/23)

Peter Matthiessen (1927-2014) (4/8)

2013

Barbara Branden. (12/26)

GET ME REWRITE: Wisconsin GOP Assembly leadership fights to institutionalize white male privilege

Headline: Wisconsin Watch, 2/26/2025

Jack Kelly reports:

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said GOP lawmakers are searching for “grants that are going to local governments that have requirements in them that add extra cost or extra burden that we could look to say we’re not going to allow that to happen.”

Lawmakers are requesting information from local governments because Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has not granted GOP legislators access to state agencies, Vos said.

Related posts:

2024

Wisconsin GOP legislative leaders take their cue from the man in the robe. (5/8)

GOP uses state budget to make reactionary political statement. (3/4)

Check out the diversity, equity and inclusion of Wisconsin's GOP legislative leadership. (1/8)

2023

Robin Vos continues his fight against Diversity Equity and Inclusion. (12/12)

Sugar pie, honey bunch: Robin Vos can't help himself (diversity, equity and inclusion edition). (11/14)

Wisconsin GOP leadership puts a pox on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. (6/11)

Wisconsin GOP legislative leaders show their true colors with efforts to defund campus diversity offices. (5/21)

2022

Wisconsin GOP shows off the diversity of its legislative leadership. (12/21)

GET ME REWRITE: Colorado GOP welcomes Nazi-salutin' Steve Bannon with open arms to its annual fundraising dinner

Photo and headline: Colorado Times Recorder, 2/26/2025

Eric Maulbetsch reports:

Just days after the Colorado Republican Party announced that longtime Trump advisor Steve Bannon would headline its annual fundraising dinner next month, Bannon made international news by concluding his speech at the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) with a Nazi salute. While Bannon denies that he was invoking Hitler, the “wave,” as he called it, was enough to cause the leader of France’s far-right National Rally party, which was founded by Nazi collaborators, to cancel his own CPAC speech in protest. [emphasis added]

Jordan Bardella was scheduled to speak the following day, but instead issued this statement:

“At this podium yesterday, while I was not present in the room, one of the speakers allowed himself, as a provocation, a gesture referring to Nazi ideology,” said Bardella, “Consequently, I made the immediate decision to cancel my intervention scheduled for this afternoon at the event.”

COLORADO GOP CLOWN SHOW: Homophobic Freedom Father wants LGBTQ books removed from library. (8/27/2023)

El Paso County Colorado GOP boogies its way to doomsday. (2/6/2021_

Say goodbye to Hong Kong Cafe, one of Madison Wisconsin's oldest Chinese restaurants

Photo by Retiring Guy

Badger Herald, 2/7/2025

Shannon Hare reports:

But now, the future of the restaurant is unknown. The owners made the difficult decision to put Hong Kong Cafe up for sale, cemented by the lingering financial and operational struggles brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, including an increase in food delivery app purchases and an increase in property taxes, according to Channel 3000. The building was listed in December 2024.
The restaurant, owned by a group of siblings, has become more than just a place to grab a meal — it has been a living archive of community memories, with framed newspaper articles and heartfelt letters from customers lining its entrance, according to Channel 3000.
The entire property is priced at $4.8 million, including the storefront, business, inventory and the two apartments above the restaurant, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.

Yellowstone Apartments affordable housing project on Madison WI far west side (February 2025 construction site visit)

Photos by Retiring Guy

From this....

....to this

Google Maps aerial view (orange box indicates project location)

Previous site visits

What's the matter with Iowa? GOP transphobia reaches a mad froth

Headline: Des Moines Register, 2/28/2025

Stephen Gruber-Miller and 2 others report:

Transgender and nonbinary Iowans will no longer be shielded by state law from discrimination in housing, employment, education and more after Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a law Friday removing gender identity as a protected class in the Iowa Civil Rights Act.
The signing makes Iowa the first state in the country to take away civil rights from a group it has previously protected in law.
"It's common sense to acknowledge the obvious biological differences between men and women," Reynolds said in a video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. "In fact, it's necessary to secure genuine equal protection for women and girls."

Related posts:

2025

GOP doubles down in its transphobia. (2/25)

Rampant GOP transphobia. (2/21)

Rampant GOP homophobia. (2/13)

2024

Kimmi, its homophobic, one-woman clown-show of a governor . (4/1)

2023

Iowa voters smack down Kimmi the Clowns book banning and anti-LBGTQ crusades. (11/9)

Transphobia run amok. (9/13)

GOP in-your-face racism and homophobia. (9/2)

Sexual Aversion Disorder and homophobia is running rampant within the ranks. (4/20)

Hiring a sex worker in the name of the Lord (#100 in a series)

Screengrab: Institute for Catholic Formation

Headline: NBC New York, 2/28/2025

Melissa Colorado writes:

Eguino was ordained a priest in 2015 and was appointed a chaplain in the NYPD in Aug. 2021, according the unit's website. He is a pastor at the Church of St.Anselm & St.Roch on Tinton Avenue in the Woodstock neighborhood, the NYPD chaplain unit's page stated, and was a spiritual director for the department's Manhattan, Bronx, and Staten Island Holy Name Society.

"Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire." (Jude 1:7)