Authors and Politicians Appear at Chelmsford Farmer's Market

Throughout the Summer, the Chelmsford Common hosts a Saturday Farmers' Market from 10-2.

One of our local writing groups, the Society of Independent Publishers and Authors (SIPA) has decided to join the fun and set up a table on some Saturdays for authors to sell books. Yesterday was our first time, on an absolutely perfect day weatherwise.

L to R:  Bruce Fottler, Stephen O'Connor, me, Sara Marks

I had my books set up in the racks, but the wind came and blew the books out of them. So had to have a flat display from then on. No worries.

We even had politicians, like Dan Koh, who's running for Congress for the first time, Richard Howe, who's running for Register of Deeds (and is also an author), and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh!

One woman there is putting together an event to address a tragedy. Check out Live for Liv on Facebook for the upcoming Run and Ride.


So a great day meeting new fans and enjoying the much cooler weather. Come on down and check out the Saturday happenings.

Working

July's been a bear of a month, and was so busy, didn't get much writing done. Did plot out a couple of new stories, and set a schedule for getting other things done, but didn't get enough words on paper.

August will be different. I'm going to get at least 31,000 words done, average at least 1000 words a day. Not an easy task with a day job, family, and other committments, but I am driven, and have some goals that need to be met.

It's work. Hard brain sweat. Not digging ditches, but work nonetheless.

Did you see the opening of the Olympics, and the pageant about the workers? Ironic, considering the overwhelming corporate overseeing of everything to do with the games.

And how about that celebration of National Health Care? What an idea-- having a country where people can get seen by doctors without going broke. If only our government would embrace that concept. But they won't-- as long as they have guaranteed health care, paid for by the very people they deny it to. I say they should only get what everyone gets-- that would turn them around fast.

But we have a country where a minimum-wage worker at 40 hours a week cannot afford a 2-bedroom unit rental. In Washington, DC, you'd have to work 140 hours a week. And 2007 was the last time the rich lawmakers in DC raised the minimum wage.

The only jobs are in the cities-- where someone starting out cannot afford to live.

Here's some interesting data on the subject:
http://www.mybanktracker.com/bank-news/2012/05/31/maps-show-grads-screwed/

Benefit to Help a Writer, Spineless Pols

Joe Konrath, the self-publishing powerhouse, once again shows his mensch creds. His recent blog posting is a notice about the plight of writer L.A. Banks, who has cancer and a mountain of medical bills:
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2011/07/benefit-to-help-author-la-banks.html

Once again, it is disgusting that our country has neither the will or brainpower to enact decent healthcare legislation. The spinelessness of politicians can be seen in our current "financial crisis," all because this bunch of crooks can't agree on how to divvy up the money they steal from us, so they can waste billions for wars on the other side of the planet.

Because stupid, pointless, expensive wars are WAY more important than healthcare, safe roads, good schools, food inspection, and real safety, right?

Next election time, remember how they sold out the country-- and vote for ANY third-party candidate. Get rid of all the gutless bastards and incumbent thieves-- replace them with someone not affiliated with big-money machines.

Have you had enough yet? When will you? When the country is bankrupt and you can't feed your kids?

Some days I shouldn't watch the news.

The American Way

This is how bizarre our world has become, when even the comic books understand American foreign policy, while the leaders of the country do not get it.

In case you're wondering about this, the folks responsible for the Superman Action comic are having his character renounce his American citizenship. Yes, the symbol of American strength since the 1930's now understands that we're not the Good Guys anymore.

Here's why-- Good Guys do NOT break the law and systemically torture, kill, and falsely imprison innocent people, which is what our government now openly does, in defiance of human rights laws and the laws of our nation. Our leaders have become war criminals, and are openly operating as the Bad Guys.

To the rest of the world, over 6.5 billion of them, we have become the psychotic bully of the planet, stomping on anyone, for any reason. We'll drop a "smart bomb" into a wedding party of innocent people, and make a whole new crop of enemies out of their surviving families and loved ones. Can you blame them? Would you forgive a foreign government that carelessly killed and maimed your family?

For every enemy we kill, more are created. This lunacy had better stop soon. If we don't do something to stop the criminal actions of our leaders, we're headed for destruction.

Truth, Justice, and The American Way.
Superman might still stand for Truth and Justice, but since The American Way now stands for indiscriminate slaughter of innocents, he isn't going to be part of it. What does it say about us as a people when comic book heroes get it, but we don't?

Telling the Truth is Now Illegal

By now you've probably heard that the governments of the world are moving to crush one man, the guy in charge of the Wikileaks site. They're doing so because he is the most dangerous man in the world in their eyes- he's the guy whose site tells the awful truth about the criminal acts they perpetrate on a daily basis.

Those in power hate public scrutiny, because they know decent people would object to their insanity, and they operate in cover of darkness. Wikileaks has pulled back the cloak of night to show us their dirty doings, and like the cockroaches they are, they're scurrying back under cover. And they're moving Heaven and Earth to destroy the man and the website that embarrassed them.

They commit the crimes, but they're going to put HIM in prison. That, dear readers, means you are living not in a democracy, not even in a republic, but a dictatorship, pure and simple. They can imprison a man for exposing their crimes. We do not live in a country governed by the law. We are governed by a few shadowy criminal powers that do whatever they want, with no oversight, no accountability, no checks or balances. They are power-mad oligarchs and fascists, who work against freedom.

The administration of our curent leader is more interested in pursuing whistleblowers (not just the Wikileaks guy, but many others) than it is in pursuing criminals. How backward is that?

Brings to mind the old saw, "nothing done in secret can ever be good." When it comes to government, it is most definitely true. Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and we've seen how averse they are to public view.

Voting

Did you vote today? Those who didn't should not complain about the abysmal state of the political climate. If you want the rights without the responsibilities, tough. Gotta take part, even if you think it's meaningless. It isn't. Vote against the bastards if you want, but vote. Tell them what they're doing is not acceptable. Vote for "None of the Above."

What baffles me is that many voters cast their vote for the party that works the hardest against their self-interest. Doesn't anyone remember how much horror happened to this country in the years 2001-2008? Remember who was in charge of everything? And some want them back? WTF? How many times do they have to screw you before you get it?

I dislike both parties, and am an independent. I'll vote for most anyone else, except when there's such an egregious A**hole running that I vote for their opponent. We seem to have more than the usual number running in races around the country today. People want a change, but the whack-jobs decided this was their year. We've got Nazis, witches, and certifiably insane candidates running. All part of Democracy.

The ones who get into power represent the will of the people- which should scare the living crap out of you, if you have a brain. People get the government they deserve. When we grow up as a people and decide to act as adults, we'l have better people in charge. But since we act as ignorant fools, we keep getting the same thing over and over.

Victims Must Apologize

In the world of modern-day neoconservatism (which has nothing to do with fiscal sense for the public), victims should now apologize to the ones who victimize them. We have two stellar example recently.

The first example of arrogant self-entitlement is when the wife of Clarence Thomas called Anita Hill after 20 years and asked her for an apology.

This folks, is the definition of “unmitigated gall.” For those fuzzy on history, about 20 years ago Clarence Thomas was nominated for the Supreme Court, despite a lack of sense or jurisprudence acumen. He was an ultra-conservative party hack, who never strayed from the party line, and so was up for his reward.

One brave, lone woman stood up to testify that maybe this wasn't such a good idea, as Clarence was a sexually harassing creep and bully in the workplace. She gave examples, dates, documentation. She exposed this toad for what he was and is. Not one deserving of a seat on the highest court in the land.

Clarence acted with the usual fake outrage, and claimed that anyone against him was a racist, due to his African-American ancestry. Even though the one exposing him also had African-American ancestry.

And in the usual modern-day upside-down bizarro world, Anita Hill was reviled by the right wing pundits and apologizers. She was the one who endured slander, smears, and character assassination. She suffered greatly for having the courage to stand up to this asshole and his counterparts. And she suffered for it, while Clarence went to his reward, and later betrayed the country.

And now, two decades after the fact, his wife wants Anita Hill to apologize-- for telling the truth.
What kind of parallel universe do these people come from?

But oh, this is even topped by another example. A few years back, Dick Cheney was serving as Vice President after five Supreme Court judges (Clarence Thomas among them- see how it works?) overturned the will of the voters and instead gave office to the people they wanted. So Dick was out with his buddies on a private enclave, drinking and whooping it up, and fired a shotgun load into someone else in the party. Coming very close to killing him.

According to the laws of the United States, a shooting must be investigated, and the shooter questioned. But Cheney ignored the law, as usual, and blew off the police until he could sober up and get his story straight, which took him and his cronies until the next day. They also claimed that Dick and his victim were close friends, because in their world, it's better to shoot your friends. This was another blatant lie which went unchallenged by our stalwart press.

Though his victim almost died, this gang of criminals later made HIM apologize in public!
'So sorry, sir, for getting my face in the way of your muzzle blast. I'll try to be more careful.'

And to this day, the victim has not received any official apology. Because these damn criminals have no decency, no honor, and no respect for anything but money and power.

Two shining examples of what is wrong in this country. It's not the immigrants, or religious groups, or poor people, or the boogeyman of the moment, it's the rich, entitled plutocrats who crush everything in their path and then demand we apologize for getting our blood on their shoes.

And you wonder at the fury of the mob in the French Revolution.

We're Obsolete?

Great think piece at this link: http://www.salon.com/news/us_economy/index.html?story=/news/feature/2010/07/27/american_people_obsolete

The author makes some valid points. He could have made an even stronger case by linking the current situation with the tottering Roman Empire. When they were no longer fighting for survival of their country, but mere expansion of empire, as our country is doing now, the Roman citizens rightfully wondered why they should serve in the Legions, to go off and die for nothing in a foreign land that treated them as the invaders and occupiers they were. Far better to hire mercenaries to do the bleeding and dying for you. The US now uses its own brand of mercenaries (contractors) in our empire occupations, and apparently, cannot run without them. Hmmm. We should rethink this, or go the way of the Roman Empire.

The patriotic men and women who serve in our armed forces see the mercenaries get better equipment, pay, and protection than they do. Our troops get injured (physically and psychologically) and then shafted when they don't receive the care they should. And given the numerous Arlington Cemetery scandals, they don't even get proper burial honors. Disgusting treatment from a government that expects them to offer themselves as sacrifices, with no return.

And all we get as news of the occupation are lies. The latest Wikileaks affair reveals thousands of official documents showing the unending insane cluster**** that is our "mission" there. Our troops dying, their civilians dying, an unending cycle of misery and death and waste, all for nothing. This is utter madness.

And then we hear of our "allies" in Pakistan using the money we give them to fund the Taliban. Your tax dollars are paying for our troops to be killed. Wonder if the Tea Partiers will ever protest that little fact? No, they're too busy fighting against overrides to make their local schools better.

As in the Roman Empire, when the rich got super-rich and the poor got progressively poorer, the whole structure was in trouble, and began to fall. We need to take a good hard look at our actions and make changes now, before we become the next empire to fall. When a nation no longer has anyone in charge but the oligarchs, we are doomed. Right now, the super-rich are ruining the nation, and waging war on the middle class. They are sowing the seeds of destruction for us all.

Sites to check out

Two great sites to check out, sent by someone else. Just in case you think I'm a lone looney, Cassandra warning of what's coming.
I'm posting these for you to check out because they say it better than I can.

The first is about seven hard truths. Hard-hitting, for sure, but true.
http://words-of-power.blogspot.com/2010/02/i-sing-body-politic-electric-7-hard.html

The second is about how a company screws the common people who work for it, in this case, FedEx. Make this the start of your research, and find out more. Don't support companies who do business like this.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/02/22-2

Real Fears

My daughter recently told me of a classmate who has succumbed to the boogey-boogey media, and is afraid that terrorists are going to come and bomb her town. I told my daughter the chances of that are less than her friend being struck by lightning while being eaten by a shark, while simultaneously winning the lottery.

It's odd how afraid people are of remote possibilities, while actual likelihoods glide right by their mindset. For example, look at the numerous recalls of contaminated food. Thousands of Americans are being poisoned daily by dirty food, because the government does not have the desire or the will to inspect it, which would cost mere pennies a serving. They have zero interest in keeping us safe from a very real threat, one that kills thousands of Americans every year, each one a preventable death. Every year more people die from bad commercial food than died on 9/11. Yeah. Where's the outrage?

Diane Carmen had an excellent column in the Denver Post, describing how we gobble tainted food, while being paranoid about stupid, near-impossibilities. Here's a quote:
"If 19 million pounds of meat distributed to half this country had been contaminated with a deadly strain of E coli bacteria by terrorists, we'd go nuts. But when it's done by a Fortune 100 corporation, we continue to buy it and feed it to our kids."

We used to regulate food, but Saint Ronnie Reagan did away with that, costing us thousands of dead citizens. The FDA is now completely industry-controlled. As proof, look the the recent "food pyramid" that replaced the easy-to-read informational one. The new one is incomprehensible to the average citizen, as it was designed to be. The bribes of the food industry to those in power worked, and they can shovel garbage at us at their will.

And they can sell us poison, as there is almost no inspection, and any regulation is now voluntary. We are at risk from companies that don't care, because America doesn't give a rat's ass about protecting itself from a real threat. Just the stupid stuff, please, like we see on television, where most people get their information.

A Tale of Two Charlies- Part 2

Now for the second of our Charlies, this one Charlie Wilson, the ex-Congressman who recently passed away. He was the subject of an excellent book (and a movie which I have not seen): Charlie Wilson's War.

Back when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, the rest of the world took little action. Yawn- another indigenous population being slaughtered by an oppressive regime- ten thousand years of "evolution" and the same old story.

Charlie's heart was with the native Afghanis fighting for freedom. He vowed to help, and did. Through misdirection, lying, dirty deals, and criminal activity (he was a Congressman, remember, so quite used to all this), he manuvered money and arms to the Mujahadeen, and garnered them considerable underground support overseas.

He provided them with the means to fight back against the most powerful weapon of the Soviet arsenal, the Hind helicopter. By providing Stinger missiles, the tide turned, and a small team of Afghanis could now bring down a multi-million ruble piece of sophisticated weaponry.

The natives got organized, got trained, and learned to work together to be effective against an invader. Eventually the Soviets got tired of wasting lives and money in a stupid, pointless war, and left. All their efforts got them was a pile of corpses, a pile of debt, and extreme humiliation. Hey, why can't we get some of that?

Fast-forward a few years, when in a spate of unbelievable hubris, arrogance, and stupidity, the government of the United States decides to ignore the lessons of history and occupies Afghanistan. Yeah, we took on the part of the Bad Guys, the Soviets. Even the leader who promised hope and change escalates the war, sending in even more supplies and troops, in an effort to bankrupt the United States and kill off its' soldiers (apparently not enough of them were dying in Iraq anymore).

The Afghanis did not greet us with flowers, but rather with the training and techniques they had learned fighting off previous invaders, partly due to the efforts of Charlie Wilson. And so our men and women (and theirs, and their children) are dying for nothing, in another pointless war that will never end until we get tired of wasting lives and money. And it will have all been for nothing. Murder and slaughter and torture and bloodshed, for no point. Human misery on an unimaginable scale, like nothing we pampered folk safely stateside have ever seen, but which we pay for with our tax dollars. Yup, we make it possible, so we're responsible for the kids getting blown up and shot.

Ah, you say- but we're fighting terror. Well, frequently our best intentions go somewhat astray, and we massacre another group of civilians. And their surviving relatives are understandably upset. A number of them vow vengeance, and so we have created even more opponents. Each year they grow stronger and more plentiful, while we just tool around like ducks in a shooting gallery.

Want to fight against terror over there? Wage peace instead. Educate the populace. Educated people with a real future don't listen to the religious fanatics anymore, and don't want to suicide-bomb themselves. Greg Mortenson (Three Cups of Tea) says he can build over 30 schools for the money it takes to keep one US soldier over there in harm's way.

There is no "winning" that war, unless every person inside the country is dead. They will fight us there until we leave. Many people here complain bitterly about taxes, but they support wasting uncounted billions for the slaughter, and to enrich the murderous corporations that profit from our countries' wars. Among others, the butchers of Blackwater (Murder, Inc) having committed countless illegal murders and other acts in Iraq, are now going to be in the show in Afghanistan.

Charlie Wilson, "good time Charlie" as he was known, was a cheating womanizer, a drunk, and an abuser of the power of Congress and the laws of our country. He got a lot of people killed, a lot of them the ones he wanted to see killed. But I wonder if he ever thought and grew remorseful about the fact that his actions also got Americans killed. Probably not. The ones in power simply don't care about us, and send our men and women into harm's way to profit their campaign contributors.

A Tale of Two Charlies- Part 1

There are two Charlies of note in the news today, and both have an impact on your life, though most people won't give a thought to either of them.

The first is Charlie Baker, a rich hobbyist politico who wants to be the next governor of Massachusetts. The second is Charlie Wilson, the ex-Congressman who just passed away. We'll discuss him later.

Charlie Baker is mentioned in today's Boston Globe. The guy who has already publicly shown his contempt for the voters of this state has been repeatedly asked his views on global warming. As a running-for-office wannabe, it's a fair and expected question. The answer matters a lot to the people of this state, because we have a great deal invested in green technology. And if it turns out that Charlie is a naysayer to the vast majority of the scientific community, we're up the rapidly-rising creek without a paddle.

However, this gutless wonder refuses to answer, choosing to weasel out of it with a lawyer's wiles. He won't answer because he's the usual political coward, afraid to lose any potential votes. He knows that to get elected in this state, he must kiss ass of people of both political parties. He hopes to smile and wave and tap-dance long enough for the deluded suckers to vote him into office. Then he can ride around playing Important Man.

Sorry, Charlie. If you want to be a leader, you have to state your views when asked. It's part of the deal, see? Otherwise, it's the equivalent of lying to us. We like to know what we're getting in advance, not get unpleasantly surprised once you take office. We don't need your politics-as-usual brand of celebrity, where you talk out of both sides of your mouth, depending on which crowd you're in front of.

So Charlie stands on the deck of the Titanic, refusing to say whether there's an iceberg out there. He'd rather keep you guessing. Don't guess- pin this chickenshit down!

He wants to play at being Governor, a damned difficult job in this state. It takes more than a smile and a sound bite, Charlie, and you don't have the guts, the spine, or the chops. Go back to your mansions and play with some other toys, than the lives of the people of this state. We're not all as stupid as you think we are.

Supreme Court Treason-2

Apparently there are those in this country who think turning our political system over to those with the most money is just a peachy idea. Wow.
Okay, let's take a hypothetical. Say there's these big corporations that profit when this country is at war (like Kellogg, Brown, & Root (a Halliburton subsidiary), or the now renamed Blackwater). After all, killing people and stealing from the American taxpayer don't matter to them, as they've proven. So they put up a few hundred million and buy themselves a President and some Senators. Those paid-for shills then embroil this country in yet another war or two, and the corporations see a major return on their investment. So if you think the wars we have NOW are endless and bankrupting, imagine what happens when the people that can profit the most realize this and pour their money into elections.

But hey, it's not just me acting like Cassandra here. Check out these links:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-mckay/icitizens-unitedi-a-week_b_436164.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#34985508

Remember the names of those "judges" who sold out this country: Alito, Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Kennedy. When the trial comes up, those names will be on the docket. They are enemies of all that this country purports to stand for, and they must be held accountable, and their shameful treachery must be reversed. May these rotten corporate whores pay for selling us out.

Supreme Court Treason

The plutocrats have openly declared war on America: its laws, customs, and people. Up until now, it's was obvious only if you were paying close attention, but this latest move is so blatantly offensive, it's out in the open.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/21/supreme-court-rolls-back_n_431227.html

What the Supreme Court has done is commit an act of treason. Look it up:
1 : the betrayal of a trust : treachery
2 : the offense of attempting by overt acts to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance

Well, it sure was a betrayal of America, it sure was overt, and it sure will overthrow any pretence at democracy in this nation. Politics has been already been thoroughly corrupted by money, but this latest edict opens the door to outright public purchasing of our legislators. From now on, they might as well walk around with price tags displayed.

This is disgusting, this is definitely treason, and it should be stopped and reversed. The five Un-Justices who supported this must be removed from this land's High Court, as they no longer even pretend to support the law of this land, or anything this nation stands for. They are puppets of the plutocrats, and we will be completely ruled by the rich, who will overtly control high offices. Some would say we already are. This cements the deal.

I'm not advocating bloody revolution, but this is egregious and cannot go on. Those in power have completely discarded the notion of representative democracy. They have broken the law, and must be held accountable. It is war--they have told us we don't matter. If we do nothing, they will be right.

Politics, but something good nevertheless

The famous quote goes: "People get the government they deserve."

How horribly true, and what a damning indictment of our times.

Ah, well, enough about corporate bribery and lunacy.

Let me tell you of a good thing that happened, where a short time ago I took the time to speak with someone about fixing a medical problem, and gave them assistance. Today the person came back and said they were pain-free, after doing the proper things. Their life was greatly improved, as was their mood and outlook, all from a simple thing. So you never know when you can make a difference with a few encouraging words and deeds.
Do something today to make someone else'e life better.