Wulf C. Krueger

What 107 Days Promised, and What 285 Days Betrayed

When I was a young man, I saw the United States of America as a source of good in the world. I dreamt of migrating there and becoming a hot-shot IT guy in Silicon Valley.

My belief was further fuelled by people like Noam Chomsky, Barack and Michelle Obama, Paul Auster and Siri Hustvedt, Robert Langer, and, last but not least, Kamala Harris.

I feverishly followed those 107 days of Harris’ campaign and loved how she presented her vision for the USA, the world, and herself. Her authentic passion and the joy she exuded gave me hope.

Then the USA elected, for the second time, the racist felon whose Republican administration is now responsible for the death of millions of people around the globe. The current US administration is dismantling everything good about the USA and leaving it as many from my generation have always seen the USA: an imperialist nation that forces other countries into compliance.

Now, my only hope is that the sheer incompetence of said administration will be their downfall: an intellectually challenged president, an oafish backwater turd as VP, a “war” secretary running the Pentagon like a frat house on steroids - a drunken, misogynistic circus where the bar tab is as scandalous as the supposedly secure documents, a self-styled medical maverick who treats science like folklore, spreading conspiracy memes, apologising by text, and claiming no memory of infamy, a blonde right-wing barbie spinning inflated stats, and picking civil rights when they’re convenient - just ignoring the rest of the US Constitution, and a mercurial voice claiming civil liberties, parroting disinformation, shifting ideologies, and cherry-picking minority rights when it fits her brand.

All the more so since Kamala Harris had wonderful ideas and plans. Had she even been able to implement a fragment of what she describes in “107 Days”, ironically, it would have actually made the US great again.

Harris writes engagingly in short- to medium-length chapters about every step along the way. We don’t learn anything really new, but it’s still highly interesting to get to know Harris’ personal points of view and how she actually felt. More often than not, I was in tears when comparing her ideals, her plans, and what she did with what is happening right now.

I agree with almost everything she writes but one major point she’s trying to make: Harris writes that two thirds of the US population did not vote for Trump. She’s being honest in stating that one third simply stayed home instead of voting. This is not a valid excuse, though: the US citizens knew what was at stake - namely their democracy - and they still didn’t vote.

This is why Harris is wrong: You The People are responsible for Trump. You The People are complicit in what your administration is committing. You The People do not rise against the current administration in defence of your democracy.

Instead, you let your modern Gestapo, ICE, randomly arrest people who are not white enough or speak with an accent. Your corrupted Supreme Court is the new Volksgerichtshof the majority of judges of which give all of this their blessings.

What we see in the news daily, this is who you are now, and I promise you: We, The World, may eventually forgive but we will never forget.

Five stars out of five.

Ceterum censeo Putin esse delendam

A thrilling yet tangled chase through secrets, ethics, and emotional turmoil.

This instalment in the Cormoran Strike & Robin series delivers suspense, complexity, and compelling character dynamics, yet is weighed down by convoluted plotting and missed opportunities for clearer development.

This eighth instalment of the Cormoran Strike & Robin series doesn’t quite reach the brilliance of its predecessors. The primary case Strike & Robin are investigating is very convoluted and complicated. At some points I actually had to search for and go back to earlier parts to remember the connections.

As such, this novel was somewhat more challenging to read. It was nevertheless worth it: It was suspenseful, interesting, and - despite the complexity - believable and very, very engaging.

Much room is given to the relationship between Robin and Strike, and countless were the times when I wanted to grab one of them and shake them and shout at them to finally talk to each other. (I confess to loudly yelling at my Kobo to that effect.)

Coming from the previous novel’s ending, I had hoped for, but did not expect, big developments - which may or may not have occurred in this novel…

If you’re a fan of this series, get it from a library to try and make sure the author doesn’t get a dime from you. Do not start the series with this book, though. It’s probably good enough for a stand-alone read, but you’ll definitely be confused by many of the references to earlier books.

»We are all of us, though not all equally, mistaken. - Albert Pike The Liturgy of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry«

Please take note: Rowling is still very much openly transphobic and, thus, I encourage you not to buy her books, but rather get them in a library so that at the very least she won’t profit any more than she already has.

If you’re one of those people who don’t believe who and what she is, here’s an excellent article (permanently updated) that collects Rowling’s disgusting statements and actions:

www.glamour.com/story/a-complete-breakdown-of-the-jk-rowling-transgender-comments-controversy

Roman Polanski, Woody Allen, Bill Cosby, Joanne K. Rowling - they are different kinds of monsters and yet monsters they all are. I recoil whenever I’m confronted with their depravity. And yet, I cannot break from their art. I can keep calling them out, though.

Four stars out of five.

Ceterum censeo Putin esse delendam