Sunday I probably walked at least ten freaking miles, all over freaking El Paso, arguably the friendliest city in America. Here’s me, out campaigning for Beto O’Rourke for U.S. Senate, all looking as chic as a Kardashian in my new “Beto for Texas” T-shirt. But what impressed me most here is the height, width and depth of this campaign. Beto’s volunteers must have knocked on every single door and talked with every single voter in Texas. At least twice. Continue reading
After hearing so much of this state’s bad press over the years regarding Jeb Bush, Rick Scott, Florida’s hellish foster-care system, the violent Trump rallies, the brutal murder of Trayvon Martin, the climate catastrophe and all the other horror tales about Flora-duh, I was totally dreading my trip to St. Petersburg—but still had to go there. Had an important book conference to attend at the historic Vinoy Hotel. Continue reading
What’s your worst nightmare? That you drive over a cliff after your brakes fail? That Jurassic World’s T-Rex chases you down the street? That you are forced to become a Republican (just kidding)—or that a former member of ISIS moves in next door? Continue reading
Remember back to that very sad day when you finally found out that there wasn’t any Santa Claus? That everything your parents had ever told you about Santa Claus was a lie? And not only that, but then you also found out that millions of other kids in America, just like you, had been systematically lied to as well? And that the culture of an entire nation has colluded to make YOU believe in cute little elves and Mrs. Santa and chimneys and cookies after midnight and some happy workshop at the North Pole. . . . Continue reading
Ever since before TV was even invented, there’s been a really huge reality show being broadcast here in America. It’s called “The Deep State Show”. And yet despite its consistent rating as the longest-running reality show ever and even despite its presence in every single aspect of our lives, the average American has hardly even heard of it and never even gets to watch it either. Nobody here ever asks their friends the next day, “Hey, did you see the latest episode of ‘The Deep State Show’ last night?” In fact, nobody in America has hardly even heard of the Deep State Show before—until now. Continue reading
Just got an e-mail from a friend of mine in Aleppo regarding the recent “Friday the 13th” missile strike there—brought to the Syrian people courtesy of FUK-US (France, the United Kingdom and the U.S.) My friend watched the event on Syrian TV and apparently it was like watching a low-budget horror movie—not all that scary. 70% of the missiles were shot down by Syrian equipment left over from the 1960s. So much for Fire and Fury. Continue reading
I’m up here in Reno, Nevada, right now, attending a convention of murder-mystery writers and readers—and guess what? I’m actually going to speak at an authors’ discussion panel this Friday. So exciting! It’s like unexpectedly winning the jackpot on a slot machine. Not something that happens every day. Continue reading
Did a sixteen-year-old Palestinian girl named Ahed Tamimi actually dare to slap an Israeli soldier? Yeah she did. And not only once but a bunch of times too. How and why? Listen up. Here’s the true story. You heard it here first. Continue reading
When I was growing up, Christmas was always an ordeal. My father was postmaster in our town and he always worked 15 hours a day during the pre-Christmas rush. My mother always seemed to come down with pneumonia. And my sister always got her physical work-out by beating me up. I hated Christmas in Millbrae. Christmas in Millbrae still haunts my dreams. Continue reading
I’m so full of gloom and doom these days that nobody even invites me to parties anymore and most of my out-going e-mails end up in the spam box. Relatives avoid me during holidays and I don’t even like to spend time with my own self. Continue reading
First let’s start with the obvious. By cutting down on the availability of healthcare in order to buy more weapons and give more Lean-Green to banksters, thousands of American apple-pie-baking moms are automatically gonna get hauled before death panels right before our very eyes. Sorry about that, Mom, but your cancer is a preexisting condition. Continue reading
I’m still fascinated with the people of Oklahoma. The majority of them are good people, salt of the earth, friendly and hard-working. So how come so many Oklahoma residents seem to have such a grudge against Blacks, immigrants, women, liberals and gays? In her new book, Strangers in Their Own Land, sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild just answered my question neatly. Continue reading
Wow. That sleazy headline sounds like something that the National Enquirer would make up—except that it’s actually true. Continue reading
I’m still here in Las Vegas, covered in neon and surrounded by false hopes. But still and all, riding up and down The Strip in the front seat of the Deuce bus at night is magical, almost like Christmas; there are that many colored lights. Continue reading
When I was a kid, I was totally fascinated by the Donner Party. How could they possibly do that? Eat their own kin? And if I had been in their shoes, would I have eaten my fellow Americans too? Continue reading
After South Africa finally realized that apartheid was a bad thing, the main action that country took to pull itself together again was its new and unique “Truth and Reconciliation” program—based on forgiveness. And Syria now has a Truth & Reconciliation program too, which seems to be working as well as the program in South Africa did. Continue reading
What in the freak has gone wrong with America’s priorities these days? I keep asking myself this question—but never get an answer that makes any sense. Continue reading
Did you know that Oliver Stone is a Vietnam vet? That explains a lot. No wonder he has come out so strongly against all the various American “war” fiascos since then. If you had suffered through all the shite that he did while fighting in Vietnam, you would most likely be anti-war as well. Continue reading
It seems like almost nobody in the Middle East these day dies peacefully in his or her sleep. If you live anywhere between Afghanistan and Libya right now, your chances of getting blown up, beheaded, starved, raped, tortured to death and/or “disappeared” are really, really good—almost as good as any chance you might have of dying of old age. Continue reading
In 1970, Nixon bombed the hell out of Cambodia. Absolutely no good came of that. In 2003, Bush bombed the hell out of Iraq. Nothing good was accomplished there either. In 2011, Obama bombed the hell out of Libya. Another disaster as well. Continue reading
When you fly into Orlando and your plane is coming down out of the clouds, the very first thing that you see is total greenness—and lots and lots and lots of lakes. There are lakes everywhere in Orlando, even mini-lakes right in the middle of downtown. Continue reading
Here we go again. The American military-industrial complex is once again dropping really broad hints that stepping up its illegal “war” on Syria would be really, really nice. They are hoping that it might be a lot nicer than their recent illegal “wars” on Libya, Iraq, Ukraine and Afghanistan—but don’t hold your breath. Continue reading
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Let’s take our European grand tour now—while we still can
Posted on October 2, 2018 by Jane Stillwater
Being friends with America is sometimes a lot of hard work. For instance, Saddam Hussein used to be America’s BFF and just look what happened to him. America also “friended” all those Jihadi freaks and warlords in Afghanistan—and Afghans are still paying the price. Continue reading →