Our Fiction Friday serialized novel, The Killswitch Review, is a futuristic murder mystery with killer sociopolitical commentary (and some of the best sex scenes we’ve ever read!). Written by bestselling sci-fi author Steven-Elliot Altman (with Diane DeKelb-Rittenhouse), it offers a terrifying postmodern vision in the tradition of Blade Runner and Brave New World…
By the year 2156, stem cell therapy has triumphed over aging and disease, extending the human lifespan indefinitely. But only for those who have achieved Conscientious Citizen Status. To combat overpopulation, the U.S. has sealed its borders, instituted compulsory contraception and a strict one child per couple policy for those who are permitted to breed, and made technology-assisted suicide readily available. But in a world where the old can remain vital forever, America’s youth have little hope of prosperity.
Jason Haggerty is an investigator for Black Buttons Inc, the government agency responsible for dispensing personal handheld Kevorkian devices, which afford the only legal form of suicide. An armed “Killswitch” monitors and records a citizen’s final moments — up to the point where they press a button and peacefully die. Post-press review agents — “button collectors” — are dispatched to review and judge these final recordings to rule out foul play.
When three teens stage an illegal public suicide, Haggerty suspects their deaths may have been murders. Now his race is on to uncover proof and prevent a nationwide epidemic of copycat suicides. Trouble is, for the first time in history, an entire generation might just decide they’re better off dead.
(Catch up with the previous installments of Killswitch – see links below – then continue reading after the jump…)
“Like we say in the show, pot smokers are really nice people and fun to hang out with as long as you dont get them started on a story.”
– Doug Benson
I’m willing to admit right now in print that I smoke a lot of pot. It doesn’t overwhelm my life so I can safely advocate anyone smoking as much marijuana as they want. That said, please get high and go see The Marijuana-Logues. It is definitely the funniest show I have ever seen in New York City. The show is written and performed by three veteran standup comedians, Arj Barker, Doug Benson and Tony. It originally began as a satire on The Vagina Monologues but it soon developed a life of its own as the three comedians traveled all over America with the show.
INTO: Rock n’ roll, making out in alleys, air guitar, spying, Bruce Willis movies, wearing sunglasses at night, vampires, Billy Idol, and changing the world.
NOT INTO: Rap, sports, math, boring people, lazy people, or competition.
MAKES ME HAPPY: Friends, family, fat round furry animals, booze, getting stuff in the mail, aging action heroes saving the world (or just fighting for justice in general), the sun is nice, and I love getting what I want.
MAKES ME SAD: Liars, jerks, being taken for granted, and people who are assholes to animals.
HOBBIES: Making out, air guitar, reading, shopping, bonging beer, being a dork online.
5 THINGS I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT: phone, record player, car, old Crue shirt, George Foreman grill.
VICES: Love.
I SPEND MOST OF MY FREE TIME: Fighting crime and breaking hearts.
We’ve been busting out editorial for the SG Blog out of investigative journalist Greg Palast’s NYC office for the past few weeks and the continuing story of BP’s Deepwater Horizon blow-out has literally been blowing up around us after a whistleblower has come forward with damning new evidence against the oil company.
In a previous SG interview with Greg, we learned that the oil rig incident that occurred in the Gulf on April 20, 2010 wasn’t an unforeseen accident, as BP claimed, but was almost identical to a blow-out that occurred on BP’s rig off the coast of Azerbaijan in the Caspian Sea in September 2008. The cause was the same in both cases: the use of cost-saving quick dry cement.
If BP had been more open about the incident in 2008, and had stopped using this “penny-pinching cement process” the worst oil spill in US history would probably never have happened and the eleven oil workers who perished on the Gulf rig as a result of the blow-out would most likely still be alive.
In a post published today on Ecowatch Greg writes:
We have learned this week that BP failed to notify the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) about the failure of the cement. (British companies report incidents as minor as a hammer dropped.) Notification would have alerted Gulf cement contractor Halliburton that the process of adding nitrogen to cement posed unforeseen dangers.
In fact, this past December, BP attempted to place the blame and costs of the Gulf disaster on Halliburton, the oil services company that injected quick-dry cement into the well under the Deepwater Horizon. BP told a federal court that Halliburton concealed a computer model that would show that, under certain conditions, the cement could fail disastrously.
Following the Deepwater Horizon explosion, it became clear that nitrogen-laced mud can leave “channels” in the cement, allowing gas to escape and blow out the well-bore cap. However, that would have become clearer, and risks better assessed, had Halliburton and regulators known of the particulars of the Caspian blow-out.
We have also just learned that the cement casing itself appears to have cracked apart in the Caspian Sea. The sea, we were told, “was bubbling all around [from boiling methane]. You’re even scared to launch a life boat, it may sink.”
This exposed another problem with deepwater drilling. BP had promoted Blow-Out Preventers (BOPs) as a last line of defense in case of a blow-out. But if the casing shatters, the BOPs could be useless.
BP has gone to extraordinary lengths to conceal the story of the first blow-out, and for good reason: If the company deliberately withheld the information that it knew “quick-dry” cement had failed yet continued to use it, the 11 deaths on its Gulf rig were not an unexpected accident but could be considered negligent homicide.
Furthermore, had BP fessed up to the past failure of their drilling methods when seeking permission to expand their drilling operations in US waters, their activities would more than likely have been somewhat curtailed. So instead, they lied by omission to our government under oath:
BP and the industry conducted a successful lobbying campaign to expand deep water drilling. BP’s Vice-President for operations in the Gulf, David Rainey, testified before Congress in November 2009, five months before the Deepwater Horizon explosion that, “Releases from oil and gas operations are rare.” Rainey assured Congressmen that reliable “well control techniques” such as cement caps will prevent a deep water disaster.
Rainey made no mention to Congress of the blow-out in the Caspian Sea which occurred a year before his testimony.
In the two years following the spill, BP has dumped a lot of resources into a public relations effort to clean up their reputation as opposed to the actual ongoing effect of the spill (we’ve all seen those very expensive and slick looking TV ads). It’s therefore no surprise that this week Al Jazeera posted a story about how the high incidence of “horribly deformed” fish found in the Gulf is alarming fishermen and scientists alike. Eyeless shrimp or clawless crab for dinner anyone?
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About Greg Palast
Greg Palast’s reports can be seen on BBC Television’s Newsnight. He is a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow for investigative reporting, and is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Best Democracy Money Can Buy and Armed Madhouse.
Greg Palast and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are the co-authors of a comic-style voter guide called Steal Back Your Vote. They are also collaborating on a new book and DVD entitled Election Games: Billionaires & Ballot Bandits, which will expose the one percent’s attempt to steal the 2012 election through “hidden cash and vote heists.” Support their investigation via Kickstarter here.
Suicide Girls are more than just pretty faces. When they’re not taking their clothes off and posing for pictures (and writing blogs), they’re making music, playing video games, getting dermal piercings, doing their hair, dancing in their undies – and making videos of themselves doing it.
This compilation, put together by Shotgun Suicide, highlights some of the best, the most memorable, and the plain silliest, from the past month. Tune in next month for another “Best Of” compilation.
“Don’t come near me with a knife!”
– Keira Knightley
Keira Knightley is one of the hottest actors in Hollywood. Her most popular roles haven’t given her much of a chance to prove her talent. When the latest film adaptation of Pride & Prejudice is released, Knightley in the role of Elizabeth Bennet, is going to surprise everyone who saw her as an action star in Pirates of the Caribbean and King Arthur.
