Electronic Writer

When I began the Electronic Writer blog back in 2004, I did not have the forward vision to see it progress this far into the future.  When it began, I knew that I wanted to be blogging, and Electronic Writer seemed like the perfect place for that expression.

Of course, around the time of the last Presidential election, the subject matter of Electronic Writer almost completely devolved into the realm of politics.  On a previous Presidential election, I volunteered to make phone calls to Ohio.  (I know there is a strategic importance in the undecided Ohio voters, but damn—both parties seem to shellac them with phone calls every election because we need the block of Ohio votes.)

While I dialed the numbers on the list they handed me, I realized that I could contribute more if I wrote and blogged about the political process.  Making phone calls wasn’t the best usage of my talents.  I have blogged through two Presidential elections since working the phone bank, and after this last one, this blog has been largely dormant.

Perhaps I was just sick of making posts to the world.  Or, more likely, perhaps I had sailed into a hole and couldn’t find any wind to get back out.

It would seem that a puff of wind has filled the sails and we are moving once more.  Once we get set back into the full brunt of the wind and get moving, there will be a course correction.  Specifically, my subject matter is going to be a bit different.

I completely understand the necessity of political discourse as part of the Democracy that we have here in the United States, but it is not my intention to solely write about politics.  Frankly, it is exhausting for me to write about it.  There are so many layers of complexity.  The greed is so naked.  The extremes are so audacious.  The truth has become so obfuscated.  To make things even worse, the discourse has become so extremely caustic that I feel a little bit burned simply being around it.

Of course, there will be politics here—it is an inevitable part of the country and world where we live, but . . . Literature, and writing, and authors, and my literature, and sailing, and life around me are what this blog used to be about.  It is simply time for me to return to writing about those subjects.

Course Correction—Be Advised.

There are lots of reasons to really feel the doom-and-gloom of the day: Republican obstructionism is at an all-time high, right-wing Tea-Baggers, ratings-chasing media organizations, and their governmental enablers are fomenting revolutions, we are still losing human lives in the Middle East, and right now, an oil rig is burning and sinking to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico–and, spilling 300,000 gallons a day of oil.

But, there is a bright spot in the news today. A 99-year old woman is able to read and write again using a smart, new piece of technology–an iPad!

Don’t you just love technology?

JD Salinger

JD Salinger, my writing hero since 1990, has finally passed away from natural causes. Although a recluse, his writing that he actually published had far-reaching implications in my world.

He was the absolute master of what I call, “the two-sentence description” of a character. After those handful of words, you knew everything about that character and additional details simply reinforced that knowledge–rather than revealed character traits. It was, and still is, brilliant writing.

Thank you for the writing lessons . . . .

JD Salinger, author of Catcher In The Rye, dies at 91

There is a new online newspaper for San Francisco-ites:  SF Appeal. They launched on Friday, and so far, I love the focus.

It is pretty mind-boggling that there are no real newspapers geared towards San Francisco.  The San Francisco Chronical is markedly backwards in their desire for a return to newsprint and in their effort to provide national and international coverage, their SF coverage lacks (in my opinion). The Examiner has almost vanished, and that leaves us with . . . nothing until SF Appeal.

Keep up the good work, SF Appeal, and thanks for covering what matters to me.

Visit SF Appeal at www.sfappeal.com

We have seen more than one GOP news spin about what Alaskan Women think about Sarah Palin.  There were the Hockey Mom’s for Sarah Palin signs, the glowing review from her Palin’s sister, and of course, the assortment of supporters.  There is one woman, at least, from Alaska who doesn’t agree.

According to the recent New York Times article,

And four months ago, a Wasilla blogger, Sherry Whitstine, who chronicles the governor’s career with an astringent eye, answered her phone to hear an assistant to the governor on the line, she said.

“You should be ashamed!” Ivy Frye, the assistant, told her. “Stop blogging. Stop blogging right now!”

Before anyone cries foul about her motivations of her blog, please note that there are currently no advertisements on her blog.  So . . . money might not be a factor here.

Regardless, she has all sorts of information about Sarah Palin’s record as City Coucilwoman of Wasilia, as Mayor of Wasilia, and as her actions as Governor.

Read the New York Times Article >>

Visit Sherry Whitstine’s Blog >>

This is a quote from an article published at OhMyNews:

The Twin Cities’ North Star Health Collective (NSHC), a local group that coordinated media response during the protests, began training sessions for street medics weeks before the convention. On Sept. 5, NSHC representatives held a press conference denouncing the “police detention and abuse of medical volunteers.” They also shared examples of the types of weapons used on protesters.

“My medic partner and I were treating a handicapped male in a wheelchair for pepper spray to the face at the parking lot of Jackson Street,” recounted Sean McCoy, an EMT and a Navy veteran. “In the process of treating the patient, we were surrounded by several police officers in riot gear and forcibly thrown to the ground and told we were under arrest. We were then forcibly removed from our patient, handcuffed, and forced to lay face down on the ground while the officers proceeded to cut our bags off of us and remove all of our medical gear by dumping it on the ground.”

Read the entire article, “‘Street Medics’ Describe RNC Protests“

I tried and tried to give it up, but I cannot.  I simply cannot ignore the state of affairs in the current Geo-political landscape of the United States.

What is more, I am compelled to write about it . . . .

That being said, I’M BACK!!!

Not sure how I missed this one, but here is another funny from the Bush Administration and Karl Rove. In this instance, Karl Rove is caught trying to revise history (documented by the Huffington Post) to be more convenient for his self-exoneration from his contributions to the Bush Administration’s illegal Iraq War.

In this specific video clip commemorated on the Huffington Post, Karl Rove has a nice list of mis-quotes from Tom Daschle (D-SD) that supposedly supports his claim. His lies are rebutted point for point, until Chris Van Hollen quoted the Bush Administration’s own Ari Fleischer as saying, “It was definitely the Bush administration that set it in motion and determined the timing, not the Congress. I think Karl in this instance just has his facts wrong.”

Thanks to the Huffington Post for catching this one.

Watch the video.

There is a really moving piece at OhMyNews Citizen Journalism site today about the current state of the world.  It ties the impending global recession with the actions of the world–especially the conflicts in the Middle East.

The author, Pablo Ouziel, connects the dots about the world events–how the trucker strike in Spain is related to the multi-million dollar salaries of oil executives and the war in Iraq, and how they are both related to your neighbor who commutes to work having a difficult time feeding his/her family

The Beginning Global Order: When Will We Understand that our Politicians are Lying to Us

TechCrunch Announces Launch of Blogger & Podcaster Network

This could be the beginning of something great: a network of new media producers, benefits and collaboration, non-restrictive rules, and an encouragement to join. 

Hmmm . . . .