Under the heading "Protect Your Witness"

This is probably good advice for any DA who wants to secure the assistance of a witness against a murder suspect.

Don't put your witness in the same cell as the guy he testifies against. Maybe it's just me, but that seems like a no brainer.

Check this link out to see exactly what I mean.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,509231,00.html

Cell Phones - A New and Present Danger

As Facebook and Myspace begin to clamp down of criminals who target their victims through the computer, a new threat is emerging. Predators are getting to their victims via cell phones. This ominous bit of news, from the Howard Scripp News Service, should frighten parents who think nothing of giving a twelve year-old a cell phone but wouldn't dream of letting them on a computer unattended.

Check out the following link to read more:

http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/40901

Get out of Jail...by reading?

A creative way to reduce taxpayer expense on new prisons may have been found. Judges are starting to sentence minor offendors to read a book, in order to avoid jail time. A bit unusual, but I have to say that I like the idea, as long as we don't offer this to persons who have been convicted of violent offenses. And a preliminary study shows that participants repeated their crimes only half as often as non-participants (granted, it was a small study).

It's worth a try, considering we have almost three million Americans in prison. What do you think? You can read the article at the NYT link below, then decide for yourself.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/books/review/Price-t.html?ref=books

Edgar Allen Poe 200 Year Celebration

The New York Times has created a slideshow to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of his birth, and it's well worth looking over. Most of the images come from the Berg Collection of the New York Public Library. Who knew that New York had such an amazing collection? Perhaps they deserve a piece of Poe.

Check it out here:

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/01/16/books/eapoe-SLIDE-SHOW-01-17-2009_index.html

Need gift book ideas? Ask an author.

Penguin Publishing has hit on a novel idea (no pun intended) to help people fill out their holiday shopping lists. They've posted a page on their website showing what books their authors are giving (and hoping to get). The recommendations are excellent and they include a nice mix of classics (Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice, George Orwell's 1984) and recent releases (Stephen King's Just After Sunset ).

You can see the entire list here:

http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/features/whattogiveget.html

Pleistocene Park? For 10 Million Dollars, Maybe

It's a shame that Michael Crichton passed away recently, because I think he would have found this latest discovery of great interest. Scientists are very close to decoding the entire genome of the Wolly Mammoth, using hair fibers. What's more, they believe it may soon be possible to recreate the extinct species, and that someday mammoths could roam the earth again.

Although Jurrasic Park may still be a long, long way off, we could in our liftime see prehistoric creatures like the mammoth, dire wolf & sabre tooth tiger roaming a Pliestocene game reserve.

Almost makes me wish I was a kid again. You can read more about it here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/science/20mammoth.html

and here:

http://www.livescience.com/animals/081119-ap-mammoth-dna.html

Are You a Konrath Fan? Take This Test!

As readers of this blog may have figured out for themselves, I'm a big fan of mystery/thriller writer JA Konrath. In fact, if backed into a corner, I'd probably admit that I'm his Number One Fan.

But, am I really?

Well, there's one way to find out. Read through this list. If you find yourself agreeing with every one of these signs, you may indeed be Joe's Number 1 Fan, or at least a hardcore fan, like me.

Top Ten Signs You're A Hardcore Konrath Fan

10. You tell everyone you meet that you are Joe Konrath's # 1 Fan.

9. You're wife tells you, "If I hear one more word about what a great writer Konrath is, we're getting divorced."

8. You get divorced.

7. You send Konrath so many fan letters, his lawyer sends you a restraining order. You frame it and hang it in your office, because Konrath autographed it.

6. You bribe the hotel clerk at the writer's conference to put you in the room next to Konrath, even though the room is actually the janitor's closet.

5. You get your first book published and the publisher sends you 20 free copies. You send one to your mom (of course) and 19 to Konrath.

4. At your first book signing, you take Konrath's latest novel instead of your own, because, after all, he's a better writer than you.

3. You shower with your right hand outside the shower curtain for six weeks, because Joe shook it at the last writer's conference you both attended.

2. You write a good review of Konrath's latest novel and post it on your blog, and you don't even get paid for it.

1. The only non-Konrath novel you own is Stephen King's Misery!