EVILUTION by Leigh Lundin Last weekend, friends Steve and Sharon invited me to the movies. Steve suggested Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, saying he’d heard good things about it. I opened the reviews and was surprised that 91% of professional critics– 30 out of 33– gave it thumbs down, only a little less than the average ‘man […]

WHY WON’T JOHNNY READ? by John M. Floyd A pro-literacy phrase that I remember from my childhood was one I never liked, back then. It popped up a lot, in everything from magazines to newscasts: Why can’t Johnny read? I of course didn’t like the question because everyone called me Johnny as a kid, and […]

WHAT’s a STORY, ANYWAY? by Steve Steinbock As this column is being posted to the Criminal Brief webpage, your frumious host is bandersnatching in New York for the Edgar Awards. Among the people I look forward to seeing is Criminal Brief founder, custodian, and grammar cop James Lincoln Warren. A few weeks ago, JLW republished […]

NOT MY REAL FRIEND by Deborah Elliott-Upton Today is not a great day to write. I don’t have time to write anything today and it’s already so late in the day I may miss the deadline. Deadlines are called deadlines because if you have not turned in your column by the designated time, an editor […]