Cormac McCarthy’s long-secret muse revealed to be a 16-year-old girl’s
Augusta Britt was just 16 when she met 42-year-old Cormac McCarthy at a Tucson motel pool. At the time, she was in and out of foster care – where she faced a lot of abuse and inappropriate attention from men – and saw some sense of security in McCarthy.

In a recent interview with Vanity FairShe recalls their long-standing relationship, which inspired many of the highly acclaimed author’s stories and characters. Some characters seem to reflect the unfair power dynamics that existed between Britt and McCarthy.

And, despite her slight discomfort in labeling McCarthy a complete groomer – although she called him out twice during the interview, and pointed out that he had been convicted of statutory rape (she was 17 and he was 43) and human trafficking. How the police were after her – she feels like they violated her, at least emotionally.

when he sent her the manuscript all the beautiful horsesShe expressed how sad it felt to see so much of her trauma on the page.

“The first thing I look at, obviously, is the title. And I thought, Oh my God! I started reading it, and it’s so full of me, and yet I’m not. It was very confusing. Very sad to read about Blevins being killed. I cried for many days. And I remember thinking to myself that being such a lover of books, I was surprised that writing about it didn’t seem romantic. I felt kind of violated. All these painful experiences resurfaced and turned into fantasy. I didn’t know how to talk to Cormac about this because Cormac was the most important person in my life. I wondered, was that all I was to him, a train wreck to write about?

“I was trying so hard to grow up and fix what was broken about me. I still thought I could be fixed. And that felt like the opposite of healing to me.

However, McCarthy isn’t the only person who should be looked at with a slant here. overall tone of Vanity Fair The article is closed. At times, it feels like it unnecessarily legitimizes McCarthy’s relationship and attraction to the teenager by saying things like “Cormac McCarthy fell in love with a 16-year-old girl when he was 42”, and It is sympathetic to McCarthy’s “dilemma.” There was “a beautiful 16-year-old runaway” sitting next to him at a motel pool.

It’s been around, and if you want to read the primary interview to see what we mean, visit Vanity Fair, Guardian is also a good summary,


Find more news and stories of interest from the book world Vandalism of books,
Germany, once dominant, is now in despair


Teathat finance The ministry of the southern German state of Baden-Wurttemberg, home to giants like Bosch, Mercedes and zf Not a bad place to check out Friedrichshafen, Germany’s concerns. The country is plagued by fears of de-industrialization as it heads into elections and it looks likely that its Chancellor Olaf Scholz will be forced out of his job if his party does not oust him first. That ministry official, Daniel Buys, is worried that Germany has ruined it “Globalization Dividend” Over the past 15 years, the public sector was underfunded in an era of low interest rates. Now, facing energy shortages, increasing competition from China and the possibility of Donald Trump’s America The minister fears that the country’s business model is “collapsing” due to the imposition of 10-20% tariffs on imports.

Dell, Iron Bow settle False Claims Act case, DOJ investigation continues

“This settlement reflects the Department’s commitment to holding accountable those who pressure the government through collusion or other unlawful conduct,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said in a statement. Let’s put it.’

Over a period of four years Dell Technologies knowingly submitted high bids on U.S. Army hardware contracts to ensure that its reseller Iron Bow Technologies would win the deal with a lower bid, conduct that violated the False Claims Act and was prosecuted by the Department of Justice. Remains under investigation. , according to court filings.
“Dell submitted bids to the Army that Dell and Iron Bow knew would be higher than Iron Bow’s bid, creating a false appearance of competition,” the civil settlement with the US states. The Justice Department says. “The United States argues that this affected the Army’s source selection process and caused Iron Bow to charge the Army more.”
Dell Technologies and Iron Bow, No. 41 on the 2024 CRN Solution Provider 500Without admitting wrongdoing, it agreed for $4.3 million to settle civil claims that it violated the False Claims Act. Dell told CRN Wednesday morning that the settlement “is not an admission of guilt.”
[RELATED: Dell PowerMax And Dell PowerScale Get Big AI Upgrades]
Iron Bow, which is majority-owned by private equity investment firm HIG Capital, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company, which is also listed on CRN’s 2024 Tech Elite and 2024 MSP 500 lists, won multiple awards from vendor partners including Dell Marketing Partner of the Year in 2023, Cisco Federal Breakaway Partner of the Year in 2023, and the Palo Alto Networks NextWave Diamond Are. Innovator Award.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said in a statement, “This settlement reflects the Department’s commitment to holding accountable those who overcharge the government through collusion or other unlawful conduct ”
On its website, Iron Bow claims to be “the only IT vendor” to have all four CHESS [Computer Hardware, Enterprise Software and Solutions] “Contract” – the primary source of acquiring commercial IT for the US military. CHESS contracts are mandatory for most US Army IT procurements.
Iron Bow also states on its website that it has “proudly served the U.S. Army and DOD [Department of Defense] For more than 30 years.
Iron Bow provided a statement to CRN saying it had not admitted any liability in the investigation.
“Iron Bow settled this case without admission of liability to avoid further delay, uncertainty, inconvenience, and expense of potential litigation. Iron Bow settled this case during Dell’s investigation during Dell’s investigation, according to a qui tam complaint filed by the Department of Justice. Cooperated with and maintained his position throughout the investigation,” the statement said.
As part of its settlement the government is requiring Dell to “fully cooperate” with its investigators as they look into a four-year pattern of conduct involving technology bids to win billions of dollars in sales contracts.
“Fraud in the government contracting process costs taxpayers countless dollars each year,” said Prime F. Escalona, ​​U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama. “We will continue to work with our federal law enforcement partners to investigate and pursue government contract fraudsters.”
In the agreement, the government describes the upcoming investigation and the documents they are seeking to proceed. Dell is expected not to impair the cooperation of its “directors, officers and employees” and to “encourage the cooperation of former directors” for “interviews and testimony.”
“Dell agrees to furnish to the United States, upon request, complete and unredacted copies of all non-privileged documents, reports, memoranda of interviews, and records in its possession, custody, or control that relate to any of the covered conduct.” Also relating to the investigation done, or which is performed by someone else on his behalf.”
The “covered conduct” is the four-year period in which Dale and Iron Bow worked together on the Army’s accounts.
Asked by CRN, Dell did not respond to emailed questions about the investigation or the allegations. It sent this statement to CRN:
“Dell has entered into a settlement agreement because we believe it is in the best interests of Dell, our customers and partners. The settlement is not an admission of guilt or liability,” Dell’s statement read.
Government investigators began tracking Dell following a 2020 civil case filed by a solutions provider in Alabama. Federal investigators took interest in the case and took their own action as a result.
In the initial case, Brent Lillard, CEO and co-founder of Charlottesville, Virginia-based solutions provider GovSmart, alleged that Dell was violating the False Claims Act and had received an unfair pricing advantage when bidding on federal government contracts.
Lillard told CRN on Wednesday that although his initial lawsuit went nowhere, while auditing the facts he presented, investigators uncovered material in the settlement with Dell and Iron Bow.
“I hope that if anything comes out of this, it will be a more fair and equitable system for all of us who are competing in the federal marketplace,” Lillard told CRN.
Lillard said he doesn’t blame Dell. He said the government’s incredibly complex bidding process makes it difficult for businesses to operate fairly when competing for federal bids.
“It’s almost like they put a bunch of honey on the ground for the ants, and they’re just waiting there with the boots on,” he said.
The settlement in the case provides for Lillard to receive a $345,000 share of the recovery from Dell as a whistleblower, court documents said.

Germany Election 2025 Tracker: Who is leading in the polls?


The political home of Angela Merkel, who served as Chancellor for 16 years until 2021, is the coalition of Germany’s leading centre-right forces Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party, the CSUOften referred to as “union” Christian Democratic Union,CSU Miles ahead in surveys. Its joint candidate, Friedrich Merzbecame the head of Christian Democratic Union In his third bid for the job in 2022. After a long career in politics Mr Merz went on to work as a corporate lawyer in 2009 and as an executive at BlackRock’s German branch as an asset manager, before a surprise comeback in 2018. Mr Merz will rule to Mrs Merkel’s right on migration and other issues, and take a much tougher stance on Russia than Mr Scholz. She is more popular than him spd rival, but is struggling to attract women and young voters.

Utah bans the 14th book from schools across the state

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Kelly is a former librarian and longtime blogger at STACKED. She is the editor/author of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy: 33 Voices to Start the Conversation About Mental Health and the editor/author of Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World. Her next book, Body Talk, will be published in fall 2020. Follow them on Instagram @hackleyjensen,

Utah passed one of the most restrictive book ban laws ever last legislative session and now, we are seeing the continued consequences of that new law. house bill 29 Allows parents to challenge books they deem to have “sensitive content”, as well as ban those books from public schools if they are deemed to contain “objective sensitive content” or “obscene”. goes. per state code In at least three school districts or two school districts and five charter schools statewide. This law means that once a book is banned in three public school districts or two districts and five charter schools, it is added to the statewide list of books banned from all those public institutions throughout Utah. .

The law, which took effect July 1, applied retroactively, meaning each school was required to submit to the Utah State Board of Education titles that were deemed against the law in their district. Now, whenever a public or charter school removes a book deemed to have “sensitive content,” they must notify the State Board of Education. If that book now meets the removal threshold, all schools will be notified and expected to dispose of it.

utah released this Preliminary list of statewide banned books in August. Those thirteen titles included:

Now, the state has added the 14th title to the list.

elizabeth scott’s living Dead GirlAn award-winning book for teens published in 2008. The 16-year-old book would need to be removed from every public school and charter district across the state.

The book was banned after reports of bans were compiled from districts across the state. Scott’s book was banned in Davis, Washington County and Tooele County schools. Everyone Public schools in the state will now have to dispose of the book. It’s unclear how, exactly, the district plans to get rid of the books, as the law imposes two conditions: The books cannot be sold or distributed. It is up to each district to create a policy, but questions arise as to what other methods of disposal will be implemented.

Worth noting is that every title except one on the state’s banned list is written by a woman. The average age of banned books statewide is 14 years old, which is a reminder that the majority of books are being censored across the country and especially in Utah.There are no “new” books anywhere,

Not only is this list a clear statement about the power that can be wielded by some people, it is also a statement about the state of public education. These book restrictions apply Only For public schools, opening those powerful groups to the convenient argument that if other parents don’t like the decision, they can send their students to private school or homeschool them. Utah also passed updated voucher scheme This past legislative session.



Add Amazon Music Unlimited Audiobooks benefit

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Welcome to Today in Books, our daily round-up of literary headlines at the intersection of politics, culture, media, and more.

Amazon makes an audible call

Amazon announced yesterday that subscription Amazon Music Unlimited in the US, UK, and Canada now includes one free audiobook per month From Audible’s catalogue. This is a clear move to strengthen Audible’s market position against Spotify Became the #2 provider of audiobooks That’s just three months after Spotify launched the audiobook benefit for Premium subscribers late last year. I’ve been waiting since January to see when and how Amazon will respond Leaked recording of all-hands call reveals Audible CEO Bob Carrigan’s fears Regarding the new contestant, and I think this drama can tell us some interesting things.

This move confirms that Amazon is definitely worried that Spotify is coming to eat Audible’s lunch. By May, six months after the audiobook launch, 25% of Spotify Premium subscribers had already joined its audiobook offeringAnd this number can only increase from then on. But they probably aren’t as concerned as they could be because they haven’t yet reached the big gun: Amazon Prime subscribers. Since Amazon is extremely stingy with its numbers, it’s impossible to know for sure, but it’s fair to assume that Amazon Music Unlimited is working with a much smaller user base than it is. Amazon Prime’s around 200 million. If or when this benefit is extended to Prime customers, we’ll know that Amazon has seen some troubling writing on the wall. Competition is good for the market and good for consumers, and personally, I’m glad to see someone finally really giving Audible a run for its money.

reading out of this world

Science fiction and fantasy fans, this one’s for you. Charlie Zane Anders presents a highlight reel 11 Best SFF Books of 2024And whatever your tastes, there’s something for you. If, like me, you’re weak in your appetite for SFF, you’ll find plenty of horizon-broadening options, too. I have an eye on it Our I’m grateful for the reminder of this since its release in February and in time for my year-end catchup reading.

receive your gift

It’s extremely difficult for book lovers to purchase, so we’ll take all the help we can get. ‘vulture’s book gift guide There is a good variety of new releases and new relevant backlist titles.

Power Rankings of Books of 1994

1994: Friend It was the newest show. Forrest Gump And pulp Fiction Competed for box office dominance. OJ Simpson was on trial. Kurt Cobain died and Green Day began DookieOprah’s book club wasn’t a thing yet. Jump in the DeLorean and join me and Jeff O’Neil Power Rankings of Books of 1994,

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Gateway Tops Off – NASA


Gateway’s power and propulsion element is now equipped with its own xenon and liquid fuel tanks.

gateway’s power and propulsion elementsWhat will make the lunar space station the most powerful solar electric spacecraft ever flown has recently acquired xenon and liquid fuel tanks for the trip to and around the Moon.

Technicians in Palo Alto, California carefully install a piece of equipment into which the tanks will be placed. Once fully assembled and launched into lunar orbit, the rolled-out solar array of power and propulsion elements – together about the size of the endzone of an American football field – will activate the xenon gas and launch the Moon’s Gateway. Will use the sun’s energy to generate thrust to reach . in orbit where it will await the arrival of its first crew Artemis IV mission.

The power and propulsion element will also carry the European Radiation Sensor Array science experiment, one of three provided by ESA (European Space Agency) and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). gateway science experiment Which will study solar and cosmic radiation. This poorly understood phenomenon is a major concern for humans and hardware traveling to deep space destinations such as Mars and beyond.

The power and propulsion elements are managed from NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, and manufactured by Maxar Space Systems of Palo Alto, California.

Efficient Candidate Screening in 10 Minutes or less!

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PEI education minister says Kensington school’s decision to remove memorial wall ‘disturbing’

A central PEI school’s decision to remove a tribute to slain students has drawn backlash online and even reached the floor of the Legislative Assembly.

During question period in the PEI Legislature on Tuesday, Kensington-Malpeque MLA Matthew MacKay took issue with Kensington Intermediate Senior High’s decision to remove its memorial wall in an apparent move to avoid upsetting current students.

The wall includes the names and photographs of students who died while attending school over the years.

The decision to remove the wall prompted dozens of social media posts — including from some family members of the students at the wall — as well as an online petition with more than 1,500 signatures as of Wednesday morning.

‘Solution in search of problem’

Mackey asked Education Minister Rob Lantz if he was aware of the school’s decision and what action he planned to take.

Lantz responded that he was only made aware of the situation on Tuesday, but that neither he nor Education Department staff were consulted about the move.

He promised to look into the matter with school staff, and described the decision as “distressing” for the families of those depicted on the wall.

“It feels like a solution in search of a problem. I honestly don’t understand what we’re trying to accomplish with this. It feels like we’re trying to make sure that kids don’t get this May you find nothing unpleasant in life.” Lantz said at the legislature.

“If we’re trying to instill resilience in kids, which we certainly are, there will be obstacles, there will be unpleasant situations. We can’t remove everything.”

Book Riot’s Deal of the Day for November 20th, 2024
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