Welcome Back to Pottersville: June 2019

Saturday, June 29, 2019

Gotham City Digest

(Where we never say, "Russia, if you're listening...")

We desperately and I mean DESPERATELY need more cops like this. This is what law enforcement used to do in the 19th century. When the Boston PD was founded in 1854 and the NYPD in 1846, they regularly coordinated charity drives aimed at feeding and clothing the indigent. Law enforcement needs to get back to this.

And then, there are the cops who serve just themselves. Seriously, is there anything or anyone more corrupt than an Alabama Sheriff?

Why is it that white assholes like the Trumps are always the first ones to pull the race card?

The cancer Luis Alvarez had contracted at Ground Zero was so aggressive, even 69 rounds of chemo couldn't save him. RIP, Brave Man.

Food for thought abo ut delusional and hypocritical Zionists.

The author makes a good point here. NBC didn't even think enough about minority voting rights to put it on the agenda either night. But hardly any of the 20 even gave it lip service. Yet one thing is screamingly obvious- We wouldn't have nearly as many Republicans as we now have infesting the political landscape and there wouldn't be nearly as many Republican majorities if it wasn't for right wing gerrymandering. Because if they had an actual mandate, they wouldn't have to resort to such dirty tricks.

And while we're on the subject- John Roberts obviously thinks more of free speech for billionaires than that of average voters. Thanks, Bush, you fucking asshole. Here's a quote from Charlie Pierce- "Once you've legalized bribery and influence-peddling, and declared the Day of Jubilee on which racism had vanished entirely from our election procedures, legalizing gerrymandering is a pretty easy lift."

So what did Sonny the Sponge think was going to result from murdering his own father? That the gravy train was going to magically reappear in the station?

Here's the story of a guy who took "Take Your Daughter to Work Day" a little literally.

Remember when the British had to use icons to convey to tRump what was to take place and when during his itinerary?

Apparently, the Japanese were taking notes.

One more time: Trump is an avowed enemy of everything that is good and decent.

Make Russian totalitarianism great again.

Once more with feeling: Concentration camps. The German press wasn't allowed in Hitler's, either.

"And just hours after Carter’s comment, Trump again made light of Russia's meddling attempts. While meeting with Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit in Japan, Trump turned to the Russian president and said jokingly, 'Don't meddle in the election, president. Don't meddle in the election.' Putin, after appearing to hear the translation, laughed while Trump grinned."

In case he hasn't made it obvious enough to you people at home.

So this is what "liberal" NBC had to say about the debates. Of course, opinions were advanced by the right wing nutters "liberal" NBC keeps hiring.

And still more in-depth analysis from the corporate MSM and right wing nutjobs. The right wingers criticizing Yang for not wearing a tie are probably the same ones who blew a gasket when Barack wore a tan suit and Michelle showed her arms.

From last year but still worth a read.

This Bonobo ape is already smarter than any Republican on Capitol Hill.

     Today in Fantasy Dialogue:
     "We're not going to pay through the nose for doing our jobs."
     "Then you can't stay at my beautiful hotel!"
     "Fine. Have fun. Just run between the bullets. We're sure you'll be fine."

Elizabeth Warren stepped in it Wednesday night and no one realized it. Despite being the longest-running candidate (he's been running since July 2017) and having no chance at the nomination, Delaney nonetheless put Warren in a trap by exposing the huge flaw in her plan to get rid of private insurance entirely. Hospitals would simply go broke even if she could pull that off.

The fucking MSM is already asking Sanders when he's going to stop being old and in the way. Like the Machine Democrats, they have learned absolutely NOTHING since 2016.

True to form, Donnie Douchebag just couldn't keep his tiny thumbs off his phone about the Democratic debates.

This is fucking outrageous. The victim's indicted but the shooter who killed the fetus gets off scot free.

So, what IS God's trademark? A boot on a human neck?

I truly hate to remind my UK readers but this brain-dead oaf may very well be your next Prime Minister.

"Trump Lashes Out After Mueller Agrees to Testify to Congress." Of course he did. Twat.

"Have you ever violated the Hatch Act?" "Yes sir!" "You're hired!"

Here's what you can do to help in the migrants' struggle.

But, yeah. Let's keep ragging on my Senator, Elizabeth Warren claiming to be Cherokee.

I'll believe it when I see it. I hate it to say it but I have to agree with Sekulow when he predicts Mueller won't say anything to Congress that he hadn't already said in his report. Mueller made that clear in his rather disappointing presser a few weeks ago in which he concluded that he was not going to speak publicly on this matter ever again.

That's right- We'd save $18 a day per migrant child if we put them up in a luxury Trump hotel.

Oregon is open for business... sort of.

How responsible is a people for its government's actions? We elect these officials, sure, but we don't write the policies. I disagree with this guy. We ARE better than this. We're just not that good on election day since US politics has a long history of bait & switch. We elect these self-interested jackals to do one thing and then they do something horrifying.

Three and out. Couldn't have happened to a better Nazi network.

Hear that, kids? The Republican nut bag says you're free to leave. Just walk out of the repurposed Walmart whenever you feel like it and just waltz past the armed guards.

Truly great thinkers like Hannah Arendt always find some way to become relevant every generation or so because truly awful thinkers have the same talent.

If this isn't emblematic of typical Republican toxic masculinity, I don't know what is.

WWJD? I can't speak for him but I know what I'd do.

As AOC said, this is what solidarity looks like. Good on these folks in Massachusetts.

If this doesn't break your heart, then you don't have one.

I'm amazed DeNiro didn't get a piece of this action. After all, he did it several times on SNL. And finally...

Shorter Trump: "I only rape those who ARE my type."

Friday, June 28, 2019

No City For Old Men

(By American Zen's Mike Flannigan, on loan from Ari)

"At times, Mr. Sanders appeared more than eager to jump in but got lost in the din. During an exchange about climate change, for instance, he could be seen on stage raising his hand as Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., spoke. But rather than turn to him, the moderators tossed it to John Hickenlooper, the former governor of Colorado." - NY Times, 6/27/19

(35,000 ft, between Miami, FL and Wayland, MA)

When corporate news moderators give the floor to a nonentity like John Hickenlooper when Bernie Sanders plainly wished to speak, you know the fix is in. Just as your friendly neighborhood political pundit predicted four days ago, "Count on the media to continue acting as if we're living in an It's a Wonderful Life alternate America in which Bernie Sanders was never born." Seriously, all the debate needed was Beulah Bondi at the moderator table squinting suspiciously at Sanders and asking. "Who are you and what do you want? I only let people I know take part in Democratic presidential debates!"

And the overarching tone throughout much of the nearly two hour-long debate consisted in the tried-and-true political tradition of taking down not the incumbent but the top rivals from their own party. And the man who was most often the subject of this latest round of Capture the Flag was Joe Biden, whom the MSM still insists is the front runner (One more time: He's not.).

About an hour into the debate, Kamala Harris (D-SVU) attacked Biden on his pushing back against integrated busing way back in the early 70's, even going as far as to seek the help of a notorious Mississippi Dixiecrat, James Eastland, a man who made Jesse Helms look like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez smoking a blunt.

And the reason why Harris and Sanders piled on Biden for, respectively, his record on racism and busing and voting to go to war with Iraq, is because, of all 20 candidates who went to Miami, he's the only one who could claim to be Obama's wing man for eight years, which South Carolina voters admitted last week they were swayed by. And, indeed, knowing damned good and well his lengthy Senate record wouldn't cut it, he clung to Obama (even though America's last legitimate president hasn't endorsed him and perhaps won't), he clung to his eight years at the Great Man's elbow like Trump clinging to Old Glory at CPAC.

And, as expected, the only thing all 10 candidates could agree on was when the moderators asked them if their healthcare plans would include undocumented migrants. (See lead picture).

And then they diverged. Oddly, or perhaps not, Biden's inner "rabid weasel on speed" was left backstage in a reinforced pet taxi. Even though Biden (shockingly enough), got most of the oxygen in the room, speaking for 13 minutes and 19 seconds, more than anyone else, he never went on the offensive against any of the other nine and even apologized for exceeding his 60 seconds. In fact, if anything, Biden was back on his heels when he was challenged by Harris and Sanders.

So, Who Won THIS Debate?

Well, several outlets were proclaiming that Harris seemed, for the moment, to be the one to take on Donald Trump next fall (considering he's not running a campaign out of the exercise yard at Attica), which isn't surprising considering she got the second most airtime, speaking for 12:16. But it's going to take a lot more than to take a swipe at Biden who, admittedly, is low-hanging fruit for his cringe-worthy civil rights record and for Harris, who's borderline black, to pull the race card.

The national conventions for the monolithic parties won't be for over a year and in political time, that's an eternity. And, with Harris' own spotty record as California's Attorney General, it's very easy to see her having a Linda Fairstein moment that some oppo research company will exhume. So, it's all but obvious the two leading contenders for the Democratic nomination will not be Castro and Harris.

As I've said in years past, debates are not places to hear about in-detail policy proposals and one is lucky to get the even the broad strokes (especially with NBC's rule limiting candidates to 60 seconds per answer). But there wasn't even the appearance of anything of actual substance aside from Bernie's boilerplate which is good for a stump speech but not on a debate stage where he had to reestablish himself once more in a debate field of 10. Bernie needs new material, period, or he's going to blow this campaign without any help from the crooks in the DNC or the MSM.

So the Democrats need to articulate their messages and policy proposals beyond, "Donald Trump would never go for this."

Essentially, the only two people who've run for president, Biden and Sanders, were for the most part muzzled, Sanders by the corrupt MSM and Biden muzzled himself. The mud-balling and dead-catting will come later... after all, that's what caucus and primary season is for, when people of one party fight for votes almost literally house to house and room to room.

And the restraint and civility shown by the 20 Democratic contenders will not last forever. But they'll need to remember that Trump's campaign still got 62,000,000 votes in 2016 and most of those idiots are dead-enders who will literally climb into a bunker with him. They will need to articulate policy positions that the average voter can understand, policies that can prove to be efficacious (It's notable that Ocasio-Cortez's Green New deal, which is wildly popular among the people, hardly got even a passing mention during the two debates).

And, while good policies that can be successfully articulated are all good and well, perhaps the last word on the subject was said by Marianne Williamson, the least-known one on the stage, who spoke up after being shunted and put in a corner for 27 minutes. The crystal-gazing cat lady said, "I’ll tell you one thing: it’s really nice that we’ve got all these plans, but if you think we’re gonna beat Donald Trump by just having all these plans, you’ve got another think coming. Because he didn’t win by having a plan, he won by simply saying, ‘Make America Great Again'. What Donald Trump has done to these children ... is kidnapping, and it is important for us to realize that. If you forcibly take a child from their parents’ arms, you are kidnapping them. And if you take a lot of children and you put them in a containment center, thus inflicting chronic trauma upon them, that’s called child abuse. This is collective child abuse. And when this is crime, both of those things are a crime, and if your government does it, that doesn’t make it less of a crime. This is state-sponsored crime.”

No one else had the guts to go there.

Thursday, June 27, 2019

Dem Dems

(By American Zen's Mike Flannigan, on loan from Ari)

The Ricky Ricardo Arms, Miami --- Presidential debates at the very start of campaign seasons are like Agatha Christie murder novels- After they're assembled in the creepy old mansion, the candidates start disappearing one by one. So far, there are 24 Democrats in the hunt but only 20 have been invited to the debates in Miami. Obviously, most of them will be gone and half-forgotten long before the primary season begins early next year.

So, while I'm listening to haphazard Morse code from the bathtub (Yes, my cockroach friend is back), here are my thumbtack impressions of last night's debate:

First of all, debates (especially presidential debates in which the candidates promise to inflict the most damage) are like concept cars at car shows or outlandish fashions at fashion shows. They're so bizarre and impractical one can hardly imagine them mass-produced and inflicted on polite society outside of a Keith Richards acid trip.

The policy proposals you will hear during these Democratic meet and greets are indeed so utopian in scope and tone (or, in the GOP's case, demonic), that you know when one of these psychopaths gets elected (since it looks as Trump will be an asterisk and criminal defendant right after Inauguration Day 2021) they will run up against a lot of rude surprises that will put a check on their plans for world-rebuilding. Ask Trump about that- He was handed a Republican-led Congress and could only manage to build 1.7 miles of his wall that cost $1.57 billion.

As proof of this, when asked which of the 10 candidates would seek to abolish private insurance, only two raised their hands- DeBlasio and my senior senator, Elizabeth Warren. Despite being the mayor of the biggest and most powerful city in America, DeBlasio has got zero chance of winning even a primary in his native state of New York. However, consider Warren's stature in the race- She's consistently polling in the mid teens, has national visibility and her horrible plan to abolish private insurance (which would bankrupt every hospital in the country) could come back to bite her later on. In fact, in the second half of the debate, Warren was essentially treated by the moderators like Jim Jordan treats a men's college locker room- Ignored.

Booker and O'Rourke spoke the most and, in keeping with political tradition, wound up saying the least. Especially cringe-worthy was O'Rourke trying to speak Spanish to show his all-inclusivity bona fides but, let's face it, Julián Castro just did it better. In fact, Castro has been crowned the dark horse who'd actually won the debate, which ought to give him a few more weeks of temporary life support before they pull the plug on him (Especially if Warren succeeds in killing off private health care).

So What Happened?

Nothing changed and nothing ever changes during initial debates this early in the campaign season except we get to see the future also-rans for the first and often the only time on a national stage. And while last night featured a heavy hitter such as Elizabeth Warren, the virtually unspoken consensus is that the real debate that everyone's looking forward to is going to be between the cranky old Socialist and the faux Republican rabid weasel on speed doing their best to show us what Grumpy Old Men III would've looked like.

The good thing about these debates is that, unlike the GOP debates in the last general election that featured an A card and B card among the 17 candidates, the Democratic candidates were chosen seemingly at random, with heavyweights and outsiders, men and women being seen both nights. Last evening featured three females: Warren, Amy Klobuchar and Tulsi Gabbard. Tonight will feature three more: Marianne Williamson, Kirsten Gillibrand and Kamala Harris. As with last night, there will be polar opposites and this will be most vividly delineated with Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, the ultimate neoliberal.

Between Biden, an infamous infighter who could teach even Klobuchar a few tricks with a shiv, and Sanders, the only true progressive tonight who has more than a shot at winning, there will be fireworks that were missing last night. Just don't be fooled by those polls that have Biden leading the pack at 31% and Sanders in the middle of the pack at 15%. Some polls have Sanders leading everyone, especially among Millennials.

Meanwhile, Creepy Uncle Joe is busy shuttling to closed door fundraisers in which he assures the billionaires in attendance that if he's elected president, "nothing fundamentally will change." Which, of course, is the neoliberal cocksuckery of the Clinton and Obama years that got us in this economic mess to begin with.

A wide range of topics will be discussed tonight as well as last night in order to address the biggest concerns of all Democratic voters. Among them: Healthcare, reproductive rights, the economy, immigration and other issues. Some like Sanders, will offer bold, sweeping proposals. Others, like Biden, Gillibrand and others, will offer more of the same old shit that turned off Democratic voters long ago.

Andrew Yang will be given a minute or two to talk about his Universal Basic Income and will be promptly forgotten. People will laugh once at the idea of a President Hickenlooper and he will be forgotten. And when Marianne Williamson is announced, people all over the country will be madly doing Google searches on her trying to find her Wikipedia page.

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

The Lonely Hunter of Pussy

     So, if we're to believe Duncan Hunter, a guy who last year was ridiculed mercilessly on ultra right wing sewer Red State, his wife Martha was responsible for him funding not only lavish vacations in Italy, which included a plane ticket for their pet rabbit, but she was also to blame for him using campaign funds to fund his five, count 'em, five extramarital affairs with three lobbyists, a staffer and a staffer for the Republican leadership team.
     As proof that Republicans have a sense of humor, after all, Hunter had his legal team try to get the charges of corruption dismissed on the grounds that two of the federal prosecutors went to a Hillary Clinton campaign event in 2016, proving that the Clintons will always be responsible for Republican corruption.
     He'd also alleged that the federal prosecution coming at the end of a lengthy investigation that goes back several years, was part of a left wing deep state conspiracy embedded deeply in the Department of Justice. Which is also risible when one considers it's Trump's DoJ. He'd also complained that his $174,000 salary was insufficient to live on in his own district, the 50th CD of California that he'd essentially inherited from his father, also named Duncan Hunter, when he was easily re-elected last November despite being on parole.
     In other words, like a typical right wing nut bag, Hunter's blaming everyone for his 1,100 overdrafts and $37,000 in overdraft fees and his wife for funding pizza parties and Ubers sticking his penis in at least five women to whom he is not married. So, to put it bluntly, Margaret Hunter, who'd changed her plea to guilty on one count of corruption and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors is still looking at five years in prison while her hot-pricked husband continues to serve in the US House pulling down that 174k that he complains is insufficient to keep body and soul together. Boy, is his next fundraiser going to be awkward.
     Maybe Daddy can get him out of hot water by coauthoring a cook book with him. Failing that, if Hunter wants to embark on a career as some romantic desperado like 11 certain Oregon Republicans and make a run for Mexico, he's gonna have a few problems with that, too.

Monday, June 24, 2019

Interview with Liz DeBoest

“Bye, Baby," Calvin murmurs on my lips, and then he kisses me hard, grabbing my backside hard, too. I soften in his influence, and my insides buzz with anticipation.

But he releases me, and then he winks at me. Jackass, but a hot one and all mine. But damn, why does he always have to turn me on before he leaves for work?

Hmm, maybe I'll pleasure myself before I have to leave for work.” -DeBoest, E. A. The Live In: Him Her and Her Kindle Edition

So begins the newest release of Detroit area erotic romance author, Liz DeBoest, June’s author of the Month. Liz has amassed a following with her Construction of the Heart series and she’s graciously consented to an interview.

15) You write erotic romance, with an extra heavy emphasis on the “erotic.” How do you write so many sex scenes while keeping them all unique and fresh?

That's a great question since I do keep all of my sex scenes different from one to the next and different from one book to the next. You won't find a duplicate sex scene in any of my writings, and that is because of my characters mainly. My characters are all so different, male and female (their backgrounds, their cultures, and their lifestyles) and have different styles in the bedroom. But it's also because of my personal experiences in and out of the bedroom (I'm married to a kinky man), my fantasies, and from what I've read myself as a lover of erotic books.

14) How difficult is it for you to be an indie novelist while also facing the demands of running a household and taking care of a husband and two active kids?

It's another full-time job on top of my full-time job of being a homemaker, and my husband is always working, so it makes it a lot harder. It keeps me constantly busy. I'm always moving, but I'm a very organized person, so I always plan out my day every morning.

I get all of my writing done while my kids are in school and on the weekends if there's enough time. And when I'm pressed for time, I write things in my notebook so that I won't forget, and then I add it to my story later. I keep a notebook by my side at all times. I always have ideas in my head that have to come out as soon as I think them.

I don't usually write during my kids summer break though, unless it's in my notebook.

But even though I'm always busy, I enjoy being an indie author. I get to do things my way, and that suits my personality greatly. But I don't get much sleep.

13) How old were you when you decided to be a novelist and especially when you decided to be an erotic author?

I decided to be a novelist and an erotic romance author at the same time at about three and a half years ago, so I was about 38yrs old. I've been an avid reader my entire life, and I have dabbled a little in writing over the years. But after reading so many stories, I just decided one day that I would try writing my own. I had several ideas and decided I would start turning them into books. And now I can't stop. It turns out I'm pretty good at it.

12) There’s an emphasis on romantic fiction to provide the reader with an HEA (Happily Ever After) ending and you’re no exception. Why is that when real life doesn’t always provide happy endings?

Well, reading is an escape from real life, and fiction does just that, lets you escape from your world. I don't think anyone wants to read something that ends badly or leaves you guessing, unless it's the first book in a series. I don't think people would want to escape with something that's like their real life, or what's the point of escaping? I think people want happily ever after endings when it's a love story. I know I do. And if you're a hopeless romantic like me, you want to believe in love and all of its possibilities.

11) Describe your typical writing day. Do you set word goals for yourself, write in a notebook, laptop or do both?

When I sit down to write, I use my laptop. I don't necessarily give myself a word count goal, but I give myself the goal of completing certain scenes, and if I don't complete them, then I scribble the rest of it down in my notebook. I use my notebook for every idea that pops into my head and for writing general ideas of a scene, because I'm not always by my laptop. And I even bring my notebook out and about with me. I've always got ideas for the current book I'm writing or the next book I plan to write.

I write the majority of my stories while my kids are in school, so I have limited time, and that's why my notebook is so handy. I have a lot of notebooks, too.

10) A couple of years ago, Amazon began a crackdown campaign on erotic literature, including taking down books that weren’t even erotic. What are your thoughts on that and do you know of any authors who’ve been victimized by Amazon’s capricious censorship?

That is the reason that I don't label my books erotic. I write erotic romance, heavy on the romance (95% of the time) and heavy on the erotic entanglements, but I don't use the erotica genre when publishing my books. I use fiction, romance, and then either multicultural/interracial or contemporary. I've heard about Amazon giving erotica authors a hard time, but I don't know any personally that have been affected. But I'm not an erotica writer anyways, so I won't allow myself to be labeled as one. I don't use erotic book covers either. I like to consider myself an extremely steamy romance author. After all, I write love stories.

9) Facebook, it seems, has also gotten in on the act. For the second time this spring, you yourself had been put in Facebook jail over a picture you’d put up. Why do you think it is that Facebook happily accepts money from people who host the sale of child brides and post videos of mass shooters doing their murderous acts yet crack down on romance authors putting up steamy but hardly pornographic photos?

I think it all starts from someone reporting the post. When I had a post removed for the first time almost two years ago, it was because someone reported it. I posted a pic on my author page and had no troubles with it until I decided to share it to a book group a few days later. It was reported from someone in the group and removed, and ever since then my author page has been flagged. I spend a good chunk of money with Facebook as well, so I really think it all begins with someone reporting the post, and then you're automatically put into their system and watched. Plus, Facebook has this whole thing against sex, but I really have no idea why they don't have policies for the other crap that goes around Facebook. It seems too many people are scared of sex. My theory is that it's run by racist, ignorant prudes.

8) With The Live In: Him Her and Her, you didn’t do a watch party or set a launch date in advance. Instead, you just spontaneously put it out (and missed your own launch because of your capricious incarceration). Is there some benefit to launching a book with no notice?

I never do a launch party or have a pre-order date. If it's ready to be published, I don't see why I should make the reader wait any longer. I keep my readers updated the whole time I'm writing a book and give them small excerpts every so often. Plus, I don't have enough fans that read my books to do something like that anyways. Yes, I have a lot of followers between all of my social media, but that doesn't result in lots of readers for me, not yet anyways. And I guess you could say that I'm not all that experienced in all the ins and outs of being an indie author. I'm still learning and trying to gain a bigger fan base.

7) The history of erotic romance literature goes back to the dawn of human literacy, back to the days of Sappho in the 7^th century BC. One could make a case that human sexuality is the most unchanging constant in the entire human experience. Would you agree?

Yes, for one, none of us would be here without it. Sex keeps life going. The world is always changing. People are always changing. But I think human connections are what we crave, and I think love is what we crave, and sex comes along with those human connections. And when you can connect with someone on that level, it forms bonds. And when there's nothing else left in the world, just people, communication through words, sex, and sexuality will still be there.

6) Like Sappho and so many other authors, you celebrate the bisexual experience between women in your work. Has anyone ever criticized you for that and if so, what’s your answer?

No, not yet. I haven't been criticized. With my new book, The Live In: Him Her and Her, it was my first time writing about lesbian and bisexual experiences. It's not something I ever personally experienced though, but I do know people that have those experiences. So I don't always write about things I know firsthand. There is a gay man in the Construction of the Heart Series, but I never wrote about his personal life that deeply since he wasn't the main character. I talk about his boyfriend, but nothing sexual. There is a gay man in my book, One Night: Two Strangers, but again I didn't get into his personal story, because he wasn't the main character. But I support human beings period in whatever kind of love they desire. Love is love, and if someone doesn't like that, then they don't have to read my books. I don't keep it a secret what type of book I'm writing either. I let my readers know if it's interracial or has gay, lesbian, or bisexual characters.

But my answer to anyone that hates against that is, love is love, and if you don't like it too bad. I write about all kinds of love. After all, I'm married to a black man and have lesbian friends.

5) Plotter or pantser?

I'm most definitely a plotter. I plan out my novel before I start writing it. I plan out the characters entire backgrounds and what I want in their story. I plan out the first chapter until the very end. But as I'm writing, sometimes I guess I could be considered a pantser, because I listen to my characters, so sometimes scenes end up in my books that weren't planned at all. Yes, my characters speak to me. And I love it, because although I like to plan, I also like when I'm adding things that pop up out of nowhere. It makes my writing experience so exciting, and then I get even more excited to present my book to the world.

4) Suppose an acquisitions editor from Harlequin or Mira in Canada approached you with a book deal- Would you take it or would you reject it and insist on being an indie author and maintaining complete control over your work?

Hmm... That's a hard one. I'm a control freak for sure, but I've actually thought about it, and I'm not sure. I guess it would depend on if they would want to change too much in my books. I wouldn't want a traditional publisher to change my books, at least not too drastically, but I would also love the idea of being a well known author. I guess I would have to know all the benefits coming my way.

3) If human sexuality is indeed the least Protean facet of the human experience, what do you see for the future of erotic literature?

I think it will go on forever and get better and better. I think as time goes on, it will be accepted more too. At least, I hope so. I love reading about love and sex, and I love writing about it. And as time goes on, maybe it won't be such a taboo for others.

Literature will always be around. Sex will always be around. And combining the two will always be a desire.

2) Would you ever consider writing in another genre or are you locked in with erotic romance?

I've considered combining the paranormal with my erotic romance, but I'm still on the fence about that. Before I started writing the Construction of the Heart Series, I had a paranormal erotic romance story planned out, but I decided to put it on the back burner and get out all my other ideas first. I might go back to it one day and complete it, but I'm not sure yet. I'm not considering any other genres though. I absolutely love writing about love.

1) Do you plan on adding any more additions to the Construction of the Heart series?

I actually might. I've thought about it a lot. There are a few characters that I could write about from that series and tell about their love story, or I could continue with Derek and Violet. I love writing about Derek and Violet. They are my babies. So I'm not sure yet, but since I've thought about it a lot, I actually do have certain characters from the series that I would write about if I did. I've even gone to the extent of kind of plotting their stories. So it may happen, but I have other books planned out that I want to finish first. So I guess stay tuned!

Gotham City Digest

(Where we vow to never leave the European Union in a lurch.)

I apologize in advance to my UK friends but I really hope Boris Johnson is the next Prime Minister so when Trump goes to England to meet him, we'll be treated to all sorts of Tweedledee and Tweedledum memes. Seriously, hours after Johnson finds out he's one of the top two contenders for PM, the police had to be called to his girlfriend's house? Is this British history in the making or a episode of COPS: London?

Brett Kavanaugh gets one thing right and Fox fans completely lose their shit.

I called bullshit on this yesterday. There's no way Trump is capable of showing any human compassion, especially for Iranian Muslims.And speaking of Iran...

MIGA? Head, meet desk. Desk, head.

Fake Uber driver and a fake penis. To judge by his mug shot, I have to admit, it looks like the real thing.

What about forced labor for migrant kiddies? Work, after all, would set them free.

So, court documents reveal Manafort was canoodling with Sean Handjob. As Goebbels would say, "Fair and balanced."

Thrice married philanderer who cheated on all three wives and bragged on tape about committing sexual assault can't understand why 16th woman accuses him of sexual assault.

More white male privilege. If this pedophile was black, he would've been strung up by now. Keep in mind, this was in Missouri, which just passed the most draconian abortion law in the nation.

"Woman arrested for turning in husband's firearms to Lakeland Police." This country has gone completely insane.

This is bottomlessly disgusting. We've taken their parents and other adult caregivers from innocent children. Now we're taking their medicine. And a government lawyer suggested taking away their soap and toothbrushes.

Anybody recall seeing photos of the piles of possessions taken from the Jews by the Nazis at the death camps? Massive piles of shoes, eyeglasses, money, suitcases, clothes, even gold teeth.
We're there now.

A very good article about a Socialist Hungarian poet unknown in the US whose poem helped end a war.

God help us every one but these Christians are walking, breathing organ donors. Meanwhile, the real AntiChrist is in the Oval Office and they're singing his praises.

Breaking: White House finally admits that drones are unmanned.

Basically, Jim Jordan was treating Trump's collusion with Russia as if it was a men's college locker room. Well, Nadler was having none of that shit.

Police urge people not to rush to judgment against the police who rushed to judgment & arrested a man for being hospitalized while black.

When people publicly make threats on peoples' lives, they often get arrested. So why isn't this homicidal right wing asshole now in jail for doing just that?

Really, did you expect anything else from a guy who was a Senator from a state with only one industry, which is filing papers of incorporation for these same billionaire scumbags?

We're the most prolific kidnappers on the planet. Yay.

It's easy to dismiss these apocalyptic bozos and dead-enders but don't forget, 62,000,000 of our fellow Americans voted for this evolutionary dropout. We'll dislodge Trump soon enough but we're going to be left with 62,000,000 disaffected, pissed off morons desperate for the next right wing Messiah. We thought things couldn't get worse than Nixon. Then we got Reagan, the Bushes and now this gibbering idiot Trump. Never underestimate our nation's capacity and unerring talent for electing people who are worse than the last.

An incredible story of bravery plus links to plenty of books about similar women WWII spies.

This is a mere microcosm of what we as a nation are going to be left with after 2020. Notice every single person picking up their trash is black.

Kellyanne's husband is at it again.

One more time, with feeling: They're concentration camps for kids. Border Patrol agents make the worst babysitters on earth.

And while we're talking about concentration camps for money, here's a list of companies making big money in Miami off them and the US taxpayers. Think any of the Democrats currying favor in Miami this week mention this? Don't bet the farm on it.

Trump was doubling down on this latest fascist bullshit. Then six hours later, as with Iran, he did an about face. Christ almighty, Hamlet had greater convictions than this scatterbained moron.

To any of my friends, especially those in Oregon, let this serve as a cautionary tale of what happens when you vote for Republicans: You get this shit. Cowardly scumbags who'd rather flee the state like so many Old West outlaws who have to literally be hunted down by police in multistate dragnets like the common criminals they are (One of them threatened the lives of any Oregon State Police who'd come after him). This is all over a climate change bill that involves a fight they know they will lose since Democrats hold both chambers in Salem plus the Governor's office. Ergo, they're cravenly and childishly fleeing the state like rats streaming off a sinking ship because denying them a quorum is the only weapon they have left.

This is what voting Republican gets you, people: Do nothing Congresses, absentee and corrupt legislators who literally, LITERALLY, run from their duties when they realize they won't get their way. And now, like they're in a movie called Old Guns, these craven, wet-legged criminals are allying themselves with right wing terrorist groups like the Oath Keepers. (Tip o' the tinfoil to Constant Reader CC for the second link.)

Oh, look, 13 welfare queens. And they're all white.

Thank you, President Obama?

This came out a year ago today but still worthy of posting. If anyone knows what happened to the 800 pound spoon, please tell me. I want to know if it wound up in Massachusetts.

Yes, let's save the earth by destroying it.

I will not feel sorry for Jeff Sessions, I will NOT feel sorry for Jeff Sessions... And finally...

Once more: Concentration camps for kids. Make that phrase common again. It drives the government nuts.

Sunday, June 23, 2019

Two Summer Nights in June

(By American Zen's Mike Flannigan, on loan from Ari)

Miami --- For those for whom half their hearts are in Havana, the capital of that 2 AM Communist barfly sharing a vast world stage with just a certain pudgy, anvil-haired North Korean, Miami nowadays is the next best thing. The last major Florida city before one hits the Keys has always enjoyed an almost unendurably vibrant nightlife is now seeing an influx of political tourists who are fully prepared and provisioned to drop vast amounts of money and, in some cases, their pants.

Being sent here on assignment by my boss Ari has been a mixed blessing. True, it is Miami, one of the most beautiful cities in America, but it's late June in which the humidity turns the air into clear augur and one literally leaves little puddles of sweat just walking to the ice machine. Most lamentably, Ari's travel person decided to book me back into the Ricky Ricardo Arms, a venue favored by many of our nation's most successful cocaine smugglers. I've already counted six fading human-shaped chalk outlines on the premises. Their postcards feature police with lights on parked in front of the establishment.

So, understandably, I've chosen to stay clear of a motel named after Cuba's most famous bandleader and divorcee and the Babaloo Room into which I was booked and spend as much time as possible in public. After all, I'm here on assignment to cover the two nights of Democratic debates to be held on the 26th and 27th at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts here in downtown Miami. The logistics alone are staggering and it escapes me how they will find places and podiums to accommodate the 327 Democrats elbowing each other for the single nomination to represent Wall Street. But somehow, I suspect they'll persevere.

As one can expect, there are people of all political stripes and agendas as Miami briefly turns into Hollywood for criminals and hangerson. Indeed, as one right wing Twitter influencer with over 600,000 followers for an account dedicated, against all odds, to making Donald Trump actually look presidential, put it, "You can't swing a dead intern in Miami this week without hitting at least one corporate lobbyist."

While the visual is a disturbing one, I can't fault him for his perception. Just as walking along Hollywood and Vine for an hour or two is virtually gurananteed to put you within sight of a Hollywood actor or their criminal defense attorney, walking through downtown Miami allows one to briefly rub elbows with the political and quasi-political glitterati, if such a thing exists (I'd opt for sleazerati but such things are decided by others).

Among them are the occasional congressperson on both a state and federal level (Last night I saw former Senator Bill Nelson walking around Elleven asking random people, "What the fuck happened?! How did I lose to fucking Skeletor??"), corporate lobbyists and others paid and paid well to throttle representative democracy to the point of premature ejaculation. What follows are some of the types I've found here in Miami.

Michael the Professional Token

Michael, last name unknown, although court records when he was charged but not convicted with conspiracy to commit two acts of murder when he belonged to a cult named Yahweh ben Yahweh listed his aliases as Michael Symonette, Maurice Woodside (not to be confused with the Woodside Literary Agency) and Mikael Israel. He is the sole African American who's always seen at Trump rallies all over the country and has actually been seen having lunch with Sean Hannity. By last night, Michael had already successfully chained himself to the Arsht Center to ensure he'd be first in line for the first debate. Rumor has it he'd done so on the advice of amateur Twitter HQ doorwoman Laura Loomer. He hopes Donald Trump will reward his heroic efforts with a shoutout of his Twitter handle, @UncleTomMichael and, if he's really lucky, his very own Wikipedia page.

Jailbird Jimmy O'Keefe

The late Andrew Breitbart's favorite butt boy, Project Veritas' James O'Keefe, decided to leave his pimp outfit home so he could come and capture irrefutable evidence of liberal hypocrisy. Just a few hours ago, I saw him getting pushed away from Bernie Sanders after trying to get him to admit he didn't voluntarily pay a 90% meal tax on his lunch at the 27 Restaurant. In fact, I just saw him walking around with a set of blue overalls with "Jimmy's Legitimate Computer Repair Service" embossed on the back and furtively loitering around Debbie Wasserman's Schultz's office. I haven't got the heart to tell him she's not the chair of the DNC anymore.

Random Right Wing Cubans

As Bob Dole would say, "You know them, I know them, we all know them." Here in Little Havana and all over Miami, they're known as gusanos and are currently holding the longest celebration in Miami history over the death of Castro, even though he's been dead for going on three years. They still speak longingly about the Bay of Pigs and are in fact still celebrating the death of John F. Kennedy for abandoning them. With assclown retirees like this, who needs Ted Cruz's father?

The Corporate Mainstream Media

I will probably never live down the sight of seeing Wolf Blitzer wearing a Guayabera with CNN racing stripes running down both nipples and a straw Panama hat. But I did get to see Don Lemon's face crumple when he was told by someone from Miami's gay community that the Castro isn't in fact in Miami but San Francisco. Count on the media to continue acting as if we're living in an It's a Wonderful Life alternate America in which Bernie Sanders was never born and to resurrect straw polls from 2016 showing Hillary beating Donald Trump by double digits only with Joe Biden's face literally Scotch-taped over Clinton's. Expect Chuck Toddler to declare this a two person race between Trump and Biden even though the election isn't until November 3, 2020.

Z-List Right Wing Conspiracy Theorists

These people are purely responsible for those brilliant armchair detectives known as QAnon. Thank the likes of Alex Jones and various 4Chan and sub-Reddit poobahs of the right wing political punditocracy for giving us Pizzagate. Look for Laura Loomer and Pam Geller to scream accusations of anti Semtisim because Miami doesn't have enough synagogues for wealthy New York retirees. One Cuban restaurant tried to kick out Alex Jones after he had dinner there but couldn't fit through the doorway again after he claimed his salsa was impregnated with fluoride by Barack Obama and the ghost of Saul Alinski.

Corporate Lobbyists

Nowadays, they cluster around machine Democrats as if Tammany Hall is a thing again (and it is). Miami has essentially been turned into K Street for the next several days, their business suits distended not with muscle but bursting envelopes full of Benjamins intended for any of the other 19 candidates who aren't cranky old Socialist Jews from Brooklyn. They triangulate like hungry sharks, looking for the perfect Democrat to whom to give their largesse but, like a husband standing before the packed fridge at 2 AM, just can't find anything worth taking to bed. They can often be seen at watering holes bemoaning that their jobs would already be over if "Clinton would just get back in the fucking saddle."

Saturday, June 22, 2019

AOC is Right...

...but she was just following a path I'd already long ago set a year ago almost to the day.
Again, I was virtually the first one in the 5th estate, let alone the almost completely useless 4th, to use the phrase "concentration camps" in connection with these "detention centers" and I was calling them out as such over a year ago. And, unlike AOC, I didn't need the blessing of a concentration camp expert to give me permission to do so. I can see the writing on the wall for myself, thank you, and I'm just as capable as anyone of calling a spade a spade.

In Eastern Europe 75-80 years ago, there were detention camps, which is how it all started. They were called "relocation camps" and the people of Germany bought it hook, line and sinker. They even set up a model camp (called Theresienstadt) with healthy-looking Jews they would show the press. The idea of the "Final Solution" that brought about the death camps such as Auschwitz didn't come until years later.

My point is, it didn't start all at once and didn't just pop up out of nowhere. It was a process, an evolution that took 12 years to develop and did so through the silent consent of the German people who didn't actually know what was being done in their name.

And Masha Gessen makes a good point that the further back in time history's greatest villains recede, the more two dimensional and unreal they appear. And when that happens, history turns into a perennially unlearned lesson, that these things happen only to OTHER people, that, to quote Sinclair Lewis, it can't happen here.

Well, it IS and it's time we collectively pulled our heads out of our lazy, fat, pasty asses and realize history repeats itself for a reason and it's because, as Santayana said, we ignore its lessons. It also repeats itself because tyrants like Hitler, Stalin and, yes, Trump think alike. The rationales are the same, the tactics and the propaganda are the same. We started out by calling these concentration camps for kids "Tender Age" facilities, a phrase that made Rachel Maddow cry on the air.

A few days ago, a Trump lawyer actually asked a judge why we can't take away beds, soap & toothbrushes from these child prisoners who violated no laws. What happened in Nazi Germany was a process that took years. What we're seeing unfolding now is taking mere months. Within a year, we've gone from "Tender Age" facilities and what Laura Ingraham called "summer camps" to petitioning judges to allow them to take away from them the most basic accoutrements for human survival.

We're already taking away their medicine and they're starting to die in our dubious care. They're spinning, whitewashing and outright lying about what's happening just like the Nazis did. Don't help our evil government along by refusing to recognize history repeating itself. They count on you to not have the guts to confront it.