Picture Books: Picture Books - Old Books

The odds-on favourite might be Michelle Paver, author of Chronicles of Ancient Darkness, a continuing, six-part saga set during the Stone Age.

Paver, a 47-year-old graduate of Oxford University, received a $3.5 million advance in 2003 to write the books. Ridley Scott, director of Blade Runner and the forthcoming American Gangster, opening tomorrow, has optioned the entire series.

Mind you, Paver has eschewed all comparisons to the creator of Harry Potter.

"I'm not the next J.K. Rowling," she told England's Guardian newspaper earlier this year.

"We've got one already. It's flattering to be compared to her. I like her books and loved the first three particularly, but apart from the fact that they've got boys as heroes, they're very different."

None of which is, was, or ever will be true.

I know people who really are rich. Asset rich. They have 20+ million dollars in investments, or more. Those investments kick off enough income to put them in the top 1%, except they don't have to work, ever. Nor do they pay much income tax, not if they have a decent banker; they live on capital gains, tax-free munis and such. Now THAT is rich.

So the truly rich don't care about tax cuts, at least not income tax cuts. And, "rich people" (defined by me as "I am unemployed and I still have a six-figure income, indefinitely") are more likely to be Democrats. About 60/40. Trustafarian? Most likely a dem.

High income people skew more Republican, but not overwhelmingly so. More>>