Since I've actually known Ron Powers for a decade, can I offer a little speculation as to his intentions? Ron is a professional writer. I expect his main intention was to make some money. He made a boatload off of Flags of Our Fathers. Like every other writer, he wants people to actually read what he writes. Like everyone who is on this list, he fancies himself a bit of a Twain. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. He is a complex person. He grew up in Hannibal and has a natural affinity to Twain. You cannot live here without being irradiated by Twain. Lastly, and I apologize for the utilitarian nature of this analysis, but Vicki and I think his editors asked him to do it. P.S. to David: "Borat-like"? You bitchslap Powers for popular cultural references then all you can come up with is the present number-one movie at the box office by an MTV comedian? Even a sophomore engineering student could have come up with Swiftian. As my mother used to holler down the basement in 1970, "You kids quit smoking that stuff. It'll make you crazy." Terrell