Latest news with #Thom
Winnipeg Free Press
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Deadly flashbacks
In Peter Swanson's latest novel Kill Your Darlings, We learn pretty early on that Wendy intends to kill her husband Thom. Why, of course, takes somewhat longer for us to find out. It's not just that Thom gets drunk out of his mind almost every night, or that he's a cad who somehow gets many younger women to share a bed, he being a self-important literature professor still dreaming of writing the great American novel. Jason Grow photo Peter Swanson's latest mystery is told in reverse, from the present back into the past through a series of flashbacks. Wendy herself is a published poet, putting her one up on Thom. There's always the possibility, of course, that Thom gets so drunk that he spills the beans about — no, not happening, not going to tell you here. Did we mention they're filthy rich, or that it was Wendy who brought the money to their marriage, thanks to her first husband Bryce? Her late first husband Bryce. We're getting a bit ahead of ourselves here, but fear not, we'll soon be getting behind ourselves. Far behind. Lots of books rely on flashbacks, but what the Massachusetts-based Swanson has done in his 11th murder mystery is tell his story in reverse; he starts with the present, when birthday-sharing Wendy and Thom are turning 50, and follows them back through key and deviously scandalous times, jumping back several years in succeeding chapters, all the way to meeting on a school bus in Grade 8 on a class trip to Washington. If you're familiar with The Exorcist, it will be helpful in following the plot. The term 'fiendishly clever' is often applied to Swanson's novels, and indeed he is devilish in his plotting. His best book is Eight Perfect Murders, in which the FBI is befuddled by a serial killer and turns to the owner of an independent bookstore who's blogged about eight classic real-life mystery novels in which the killer gets away with it. Characters in murder mysteries always harbour secrets, but what Wendy and Thom have are Big Secrets, which bond them more tightly than any marriage vows. Thom used to have a loathsome boss, an arrogant department head who made Thom's life miserable, and who hit on Wendy — an older chap who swam many mornings by himself in an old quarry. He drowned one morning… terrible tragedy. Wendy's former in-laws believe she killed her first husband for his money, which they insist should be their money. Wendy keeps thinking they're having her followed — could that just be her imagination? She and Bryce had a pre-nup that left her penniless if they divorced, but every penny was hers if he died while they were married. Had Wendy really married Bryce for his money? Kill Your Darlings Wendy and Thom don't flaunt their money, though they did buy a nifty house in New England, and Wendy lifted her widowed mom out of poverty and into her own little house. Wendy's dad? An abusive drunken waste of oxygen who managed to drown in his bath one night. Poor Bryce. He had a fancy swimming pool with a really deep end, even if he couldn't swim. What he had every night before bed was a fat cigar and the last of a series of daily stiff drinks, while standing out by his swimming pool. Obviously drunk when he fell into the pool and couldn't get out? Bad luck that Wendy was away at a conference? Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. Early on, Wendy reminisced about having met Thom in junior high. When they met again later in life, it was initially magic… and when was that? Well, the official version was that they bumped into each other by chance, after Bryce was dead and buried. Yeah, sure, your book club is saying. Kill Your Darlings isn't the easiest book to follow. Flashbacks intermittently filling in the story before returning to the present are one thing, telling the entire story in reverse can be quite challenging. And in this case well worth it. It can be a nasty world inside Peter Swanson's head. Go there if you dare. Retired Free Press reporter Nick Martin is grateful to the librarian who explained to him that the author's telling the story in reverse didn't mean starting to read the last page first and going backwards in the book to page one.
The Guardian
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Rachel Roddy's recipe for courgette, goat's cheese and lemon risotto
As Venice braced itself recently for another wedding, I had been thinking back to last September, when Adriana and Thom exchanged vows in the cavernous cool of the boathouse belonging to Burano's rowing club. Following the ceremony, the double doors were opened wide, so friends and family could line the ramp all the way to the edge of the lagoon. There, standing majestically at the end of a green gondola, was Adriana's childhood friend Giulia, a champion of voga Veneta, or Venetian rowing, ready to take the couple to the other side of the island for lunch. While Giulia rowed Adriana and Thom around the island, the rest of us walked across it to Trattoria Da Romano, where Adriana's family have celebrated for lifetimes, and it was completely given over to our euphoric wedding party. I am sure I would remember all seven courses (several of which involved more than one dish) even if I didn't have the menu memento stuck to our fridge with a cat magnet. What I remember most vividly, though, is the fish risotto, because Adriana told me to get near enough the kitchen door to see how energetically the chefs beat it, and how soft and rippling the texture was. It was a perfect example of risotto all'onda, which means 'risotto with a wave'. It thickens during the passage from pan to plate, becoming dense and creamy and moving slowly in a sort-of ripple on the plate (I was really taken by the way the waiters tapped the plate to even out the rice). Seeing both the beating and the serving made me realise that I still have much to learn when it comes to getting the consistency right. For now, I find it helpful to think of the consistency as being closer to creamy porridge than to rice: loose but not soupy. With this in mind, this week's recipe is a novice risotto with courgettes, which is also helped by the addition of cream cheese. Serve immediately with very cold white wine. And, for afters, and also inspired by Adriana and Thom, a mixture of lemon sorbet, vodka and prosecco, AKA sgroppino. Serves 4 4 medium courgettes 1.6 litres vegetable brothOlive oil 30g unsalted butter 2 shallots, peeled and finely diced400g carnaroli rice 100g mild goat's or cream cheese 30g parmesan, gratedFinely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon Top and tail the courgettes. Grate two of them on the coarse side of a box grater, and cut the other two into thin slices with a mandoline or sharp knife. Pat the slices with kitchen towel, then rub with olive oil and cook on a griddle pan until tender and marked with lines. Cut the grilled courgettes into thin strips and keep warm. Put the stock in a pan at the back of the stove and bring to a gentle simmer. In a heavy-based wide saucepan, warm two tablespoons of olive oil and 10g of the butter, then gently fry the shallots until soft. Add the grated courgettes and move them around for a minute, then add the rice and stir so it clatters against the sides of the pan for two minutes – it should be glossy and glassy. Add a ladle of broth, stir until it's absorbed, then repeat, adding broth and stirring over a low-medium heat that keeps the risotto barely simmering, for about 17 minutes, until the rice is plump and the consistency is soft and rippling – like a creamy porridge, but not soupy. Take off the heat, beat in the butter, goat's cheese or cream cheese and parmesan, then stir or, better still, jolt the pan so the risotto comes up and over in a wave that mixes the ingredients and also loosens starch. Meanwhile, very quickly reheat the strips of courgette in a pan, then add the lemon zest. Divide the risotto between four plates, bash the sides of the plates so the risotto spreads, and top each serving with a little pile of grilled courgette strips.
Scoop
18-07-2025
- Scoop
Police Crack Down On Unlawful Hunting In Wairarapa
Masterton Police are taking action against unlawful hunters, with a number of people before the courts facing charges relating to illegal poaching activity. A man was taken into custody after a search warrant was executed at a Masterton address on Wednesday 16 July, where firearms and cannabis were located and seized from the property. Wairarapa Area Commander, Inspector Nick Thom, says staff located and seized three firearms, as well as cannabis plants from the address. Wairarapa-based prevention staff were assisted by the Tactical Crime Unit, Offender Prevention Teams and a drone operator. The man, aged 50, is due to appear in the Masterton District Court on Monday 4 August, charged with unlawful possession of non-prohibited firearms, cultivating cannabis and unlawful hunting. A second man, aged 44, was also at the property at the time and arrested on an unrelated matter. He has been remanded in custody and is due to reappear in the Huntly District Court on 15 August, charged with kidnapping and indecent assault. Further instances of unlawful hunting in the Wairarapa This week's arrest comes off the back of the good work that the Wairarapa Rural team have been doing to hold poachers accountable for their offending. 'Poaching is a significant issue for our rural communities, and is often under-reported. Poaching has real effects on the community and any offenders will face real-world consequences,' Inspector Thom says. Two other people have been arrested and charged with unlawful hunting in the Wairarapa region in recent months. In April a 29-year-old man was arrested and charged with unlawful hunting, he is set to reappear in Masterton District Court on 24 July. This was followed by a 30-year-old man being arrested and charged with unlawful hunting and possessing a firearm without a license. He is set to reappear in the Masterton District Court on 24 July. Firearms from both men were seized in warrants that led to their arrests. 'This should serve as a reminder that people should not be shooting from vehicles or targeting deer on private land. 'People must have a firearms license and get permission to hunt prior to going out to do so. You can expect to face enforcement action if you are found to be breaching these rules,' Inspector Thom says. To help Police identify and hold poachers accountable, we ask anybody to report suspicious behaviour to us, including suspicious vehicles or people in your local area, as this could be the piece of the puzzle we need in our investigation. If it is happening now, call 111. If you are reporting information after the fact, call 105 or go online.
The Guardian
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Rachel Roddy's recipe for courgette, goat's cheese and lemon risotto
As Venice braced itself recently for another wedding, I had been thinking back to last September, when Adriana and Thom exchanged vows in the cavernous cool of the boathouse belonging to Burano's rowing club. Following the ceremony, the double doors were opened wide, so friends and family could line the ramp all the way to the edge of the lagoon. There, standing majestically at the end of a green gondola, was Adriana's childhood friend Giulia, a champion of voga Veneta, or Venetian rowing, ready to take the couple to the other side of the island for lunch. While Giulia rowed Adriana and Thom around the island, the rest of us walked across it to Trattoria Da Romano, where Adriana's family have celebrated for lifetimes, and it was completely given over to our euphoric wedding party. I am sure I would remember all seven courses (several of which involved more than one dish) even if I didn't have the menu memento stuck to our fridge with a cat magnet. What I remember most vividly, though, is the fish risotto, because Adriana told me to get near enough the kitchen door to see how energetically the chefs beat it, and how soft and rippling the texture was. It was a perfect example of risotto all'onda, which means 'risotto with a wave'. It thickens during the passage from pan to plate, becoming dense and creamy and moving slowly in a sort-of ripple on the plate (I was really taken by the way the waiters tapped the plate to even out the rice). Seeing both the beating and the serving made me realise that I still have much to learn when it comes to getting the consistency right. For now, I find it helpful to think of the consistency as being closer to creamy porridge than to rice: loose but not soupy. With this in mind, this week's recipe is a novice risotto with courgettes, which is also helped by the addition of cream cheese. Serve immediately with very cold white wine. And, for afters, and also inspired by Adriana and Thom, a mixture of lemon sorbet, vodka and prosecco, AKA sgroppino. Serves 4 4 medium courgettes 1.6 litres vegetable brothOlive oil 30g unsalted butter 2 shallots, peeled and finely diced400g carnaroli rice 100g mild goat's or cream cheese 30g parmesan, gratedFinely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon Top and tail the courgettes. Grate two of them on the coarse side of a box grater, and cut the other two into thin slices with a mandoline or sharp knife. Pat the slices with kitchen towel, then rub with olive oil and cook on a griddle pan until tender and marked with lines. Cut the grilled courgettes into thin strips and keep warm. Put the stock in a pan at the back of the stove and bring to a gentle simmer. In a heavy-based wide saucepan, warm two tablespoons of olive oil and 10g of the butter, then gently fry the shallots until soft. Add the grated courgettes and move them around for a minute, then add the rice and stir so it clatters against the sides of the pan for two minutes – it should be glossy and glassy. Add a ladle of broth, stir until it's absorbed, then repeat, adding broth and stirring over a low-medium heat that keeps the risotto barely simmering, for about 17 minutes, until the rice is plump and the consistency is soft and rippling – like a creamy porridge, but not soupy. Take off the heat, beat in the butter, goat's cheese or cream cheese and parmesan, then stir or, better still, jolt the pan so the risotto comes up and over in a wave that mixes the ingredients and also loosens starch. Meanwhile, very quickly reheat the strips of courgette in a pan, then add the lemon zest. Divide the risotto between four plates, bash the sides of the plates so the risotto spreads, and top each serving with a little pile of grilled courgette strips.
The Hindu
12-07-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
What is the state of inequality in India?
The story so far: A recent report by the World Bank has generated significant debate with regard to the true picture of inequality in the Indian economy. The report outlined a number of salutary outcomes; not only had extreme poverty reduced drastically, inequality had reduced too. The Gini coefficient — a measure of inequality that ranges from 0 to 1, with 1 indicating extreme inequality — had fallen from 0.288 in 2011-12 to 0.255 in 2022-23, making India an economy with one of the lowest levels of inequality in the world. What followed? This finding was highlighted by the government as a vindication of its growth policies and economic management. However, as plenty of commentators have pointed out, the facts highlighted by the World Bank do not provide a true picture of inequality in the country. While inequality in consumption may be low — which is in itself a contested fact — income and wealth inequality in India are extremely high and have increased over time, making India one of the most unequal economies in the world. What is consumption inequality? The inequality figures detailed by the World Bank are not of income or wealth, but of consumption. This is problematic for several reasons. First, inequality in consumption will always be lower than inequality in wealth or income. A poorer household will spend a majority of its income on the necessities of life, and will have very little savings. If its income doubles, consumption spending will not double, since the household will now be able to save some amount of its income; its consumption levels will not rise in the same proportion as their incomes. Thus, consumption inequality will always be less than income or wealth inequality. Also Read: Does inequality lead to growth? | Explained Second, there are certain problems with the use of databases for the calculation of inequality. Data on consumption spending comes from the Household Consumption Expenditure Surveys (HCES) of 2011-12 and 2022-23. These surveys may provide accurate information on low levels of expenditure, but are unable to capture extremely high incomes, thus providing an under-estimation of inequality. Furthermore, there have been significant methodological changes between the two surveys that render them incompatible, and do not allow for a comparison of inequality levels over time. This has been pointed out not just by several researchers, but the official release of the HCES for 2022-23 also cautions against simple comparisons. What are the levels of income and wealth inequality? The low Gini mentioned by the World Bank, therefore, relates to consumption inequality, and cannot be compared to levels of income inequality worldwide. What is the true level of income inequality? Calculating the actual level of income and wealth inequality in India is extremely difficult, since official surveys tend to miss out on extremely high levels of income and wealth. However, researchers at the World Inequality Database (WID), led by Thomas Piketty, have analysed several sources of data, including national-level surveys, tax records, and published lists of the extremely rich in India, estimating more accurate indicators of inequality. These estimates provide a more sobering look at the state of inequality in India. The Gini coefficient for pre-tax income for India in 2022-23 is 0.61; out of 218 economies considered in the WID, there are 170 economies with a lower level of inequality, making India one of the most unequal economies in the world. The picture is not much better when considering wealth inequality. India's Gini coefficient for wealth inequality is 0.75, implying that wealth is far more concentrated than income or consumption. Even though wealth Gini is high, other countries have far greater wealth concentrations; there are 67 countries with a lower wealth Gini than India. As shown in the figures in Table 1, the Gini coefficient for income has shown a significant rise, from 0.47 in 2000 to 0.61 in 2023. Wealth inequality has risen in a lower proportion, only because levels of wealth inequality have been so high to begin with. The Gini for wealth inequality rose from 0.7 in 2000 to 0.75 in 2023. Either way, the picture of low and falling inequality as outlined by the World Bank does not characterise the current reality of India. In fact, the use of the Gini understates the sheer concentration of wealth occurring in India today. The Gini coefficient is an aggregate measure, and takes into account the entire range of observations. It does not provide information on the relative share of wealth or income held by a fraction of the population. When considering wealth concentration of the top 1%, India emerges as one of the most unequal economies in the world. According to data from the WID, in 2022-23, the top 1% of adults in India controlled almost 40% of net personal wealth. There are only four economies with a higher level of wealth concentration — Uruguay, Eswatini (Swaziland), Russia and South Africa. Is a reduction in consumption inequality on expected lines? The story over the past few decades is one of rising incomes and inequality, and not a reduction. In fact, a reduction in consumption inequality is not unexpected in such a scenario. As incomes rise, assuming that there is no fall in real incomes of the poor (an outcome which some authors such as Utsa Patnaik assert has actually happened), the consumption of the poor would rise in a greater proportion than middle and upper classes, who would be able to save much more out of their rising incomes. The higher incomes of upper classes would allow for greater levels of saving, which can then be transformed into greater levels of wealth. Consumption inequality can reduce even when income inequality and wealth inequality rise; all these outcomes characterise the Indian economy today. What is of significance is the extreme concentration of incomes and wealth that have accompanied growth in India today, making it one of the most unequal economies in the world, an outcome that has consequences for future growth prospects of the economy. Rahul Menon is Associate Professor in the Jindal School of Government and Public Policy at O.P. Jindal Global University.
