A Tale of Censorship from the Los Angeles Book Festival

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For a Bibliophile like me, the Los Angeles Times Book festival saves this town from intellectual shallowness. As a writer, I was able to get some advice on the writing and submitting of the non-fiction and fiction material. As a Political Junkie (and hopefully, future staffer), I go to the panels to learn something new.

That also requires listening to people I do not like.

Here were the four panelists:

Robert Scheer, former LA Times writer, demagogue and lover of Dictators;
Garrett M. Graff, former Governor Dean staffer and Georgetown Professor;
David Frum, former Speechwriter to President George W. Bush; and,
Hugh Hewitt, Blogger, Talk Radio Host and former staffer to President Nixon.

Now, a majority of this crowd were Democrats, and a majority of those were Senator Obama supporters. The week started with Arianna Huffington in the LA Times calling for censorship of Republican staffers moving into mainstream media.

So, this audience, of Liberals (I saw no one from the Valley, everyone within a three row radius were from the Westside), saw fit to shout down those who opinions that they did not agree with. A lady in front of me always rolled her eyes and refused to listen when Frum or Hewitt spoke.

I didn't know Graff; I despised Scheer, but I wanted to hear what they would have to say. Graff was civil and had some good insights. Scheer waved the red flag of "Bush Bad," to the crowd of Liberals -- someone should remind both Scheer and crowd that President Bush is not on the ballot this year. Again, if this is a "Guilt by Association," issue, than Ayers and Reverend Wright is then fair game.

Here is what offends me:

When I was a Liberal Democrat, one of the most important philosophical statements was Democrats stands for free speech. Looking at the crowds reaction to Hewitt and Frum, and Huffington's article, modern Democrats (and Liberals) have forgotten Voltaire's words.

I've done a post describing how I defended President Clinton overseas because he was the President of the United States at the time. How can Liberals and Democrats expect to get Conservative and Republican support by shouting us down and continually being derogatory to Our Presidents?

My question is this: Have Liberals and Democrats abandoned Free Speech? Why?

Remember the Armenians!

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How did Hitler get his inspiration for the Genocide of my people, the Jews?

At the waning days of the Ottoman Empire, the Young Turks deported and killed Armenians throughout Turkey. They did it for the same reason for the same reasons that the Pharaoh's in Egypt enslaved the Jews: Even though we lived within the borders, we were not considered "true" Egyptians. The Young Turks tried to eradicate the Armenians for the same reasons.

I am happy to say the Young Turks failed.

Every April 24th is Armenian Remembrance Day. Since I was in High School I have had an interest in the Armenians and the return of their most sacred place, Mount Ararat.

Since I have always known Armenians (and occasionally they have been my muses), this is my way of saying, "I remember and I will not forget,"

This post is for Margarit, who is helping me with my fiction book and Talar, who was my Muse.

Gametime: Pennsylvania!

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Welcome back to the Political News Network! First, here is Jason's take on the Pennsylvania Primary.

Here are the numbers. With Senator McCain having the GOP race locked up, it falls to the Democrats. In that side, Senator Clinton defeated Senator Obama by 10 points.

How did this happen? Here are the factors to consider:

1) "Operation Chaos" With Republican voters looking to intervene in the Democratic Primary, they are going to keep Senator Clinton in the race to keep the Democrats from locking up their nomination.

2) "Guilt by Association" attacks -- It is something every GOP candidate has had to deal with, now Karma sees fit to allow the Democrats to suffer from it. Senator Obama had to deal with his associations with: Reverend Wright and Bill Ayres. If Republicans do not get redemption from their pasts, neither should these two men. Word to the Democrats: If you don't like this attack on your candidate, don't start it.

3) "Bitter-gate" -- There is a great New Yorker cartoon with a Politician giving a speech to an angry crowd. One of his staffers says (behind the stage) "Oh my God! He's giving the White Collar Speech to the Blue Collar Crowd!" That is what happened in San Francisco in the lead up to the Pennsylvania campaign. No matter how "smart" or "rich" our Presidential candidates are, Americans want to believe that we are respected. What Senator Obama did in San Francisco was disrespect the White, Blue Collar voters.

4) Family Ties -- having family or growing up in a contested State always helps.

What happens next? Indiana.

To understand the consequences of the race, read this post on game Theory.

The Earth does not need a Day

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Jason wrote a post asking, "Why is the Right opposed to Global warming/Climate Change/whatever they call it tomorrow?"

Here are a few reasons why:

1) The same people who yell "Climate Change/Global warming" also yelled (during my lifetime), "Overpopulation!" (which begat China's One Child Policy), yelled "Global Cooling!" (now defunct due to Global warming), "Recycle!" (now made moot by the idea of Plastic or paper bags) and "Acid rain!" (Last time I saw Acid rain was in a William Gibson short story, and that was the first time as well).

If your going to say "The Sky is falling!" every decade, choose an Apocalyptic scenario and stick with it. When the Apocalypse does not happen (as it did with all of the above), it makes it hard to believe in it the next time.

2) Liberals who want us to believe in their cause, don't make the effort to support Conservative Causes. The oldest law on the Political books -- I help you, you help me. I bet if the Democrats had stayed their tongue on Iraq, Conservatives would have joined the Global warming cause. No support for our Windmills, why should we fight for yours?

3) Forgetting the history of Galileo. During Galileo's time, the establishment (i.e. the Church) believed in Copernican theory and called everyone who didn't follow the Theory was called "Heretic" or burned at the Stake. Look at this Blog Post by Dr. Heidi Cullen of the Weather Channel. The New establishment (i.e. Hollywood, the Media, Academia) act as though Copernicus' views are still relevant.
Mankind has only been Industrially active for 200 years. Did the dinosaurs go extinct because they built factories? Those debating the issue of Global warming are playing the role of Galileo, not the Global warming supporters.

4) We are between Ice Ages. The Earth has frozen more then it has melted. And to believe that Global warming will destroy humanity means that you don't believe in Evolution. Man has adapted to Cold and Heat. If you believe in Global warming, do you believe that Man cannot evolve?

And remember, Happy Earth day! (created by a murderer who ran to France).

Living within the Pathos

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It's been a long three weeks -- Was I missed? Like Richard III, I am still dealing with my "Winter of my discontent," However, this winter started five years ago with my father's death, and only now am I dealing with some internal issues I've never had a chance to focus on.

Is it hard? Yes. But Pathos is not the seat of Logic or Reason, but emotion. In the Land of pathos I entered, empty, but now I travel with a new car (2007 Kia Spectra, thank you Glendale Kia). Also in the Land of pathos, my reason for going to Las Vegas Memorial Day weekend has been abandoned. The only thing I can say, is that I wish good Blessings on my sister and her former fiancee. They are both good people.

During the time in the Land of Pathos, I caught this video on You Tube:



The concept of helping someone "Achieve their dreams, " is important to me. I would like to be able to do that for my friends and family. Hopefully, I will someday be able to do that. Just the concept of "head fake," scares me. I don't like spinning my wheels for a lost cause. Also, I would like the help towards my own dreams.

I want to thank everyone who called or emailed during these three weeks. There is still more work to do. I am still in the Land of Pathos, but within eyesight of the border crossing.

The first step to returning was coming back to the Valley. The next step will be to return to my books.

New posts are ahead. Thank you for reading and visiting the Valley.

Incommunicado -- for a little while

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People who know me felt a "disturbance in the force," two days ago. It was felt by Malcot in Michigan and a friend in New York.

I touched on the issue briefly on this post. So, here I go, dropping the fourth wall again.

However, there were two triggers for the low-level depression (now upped a notch), I am going through:

1) Going to the Leadership Institute Broadcast Journalism Class -- I realize I don't want to be a TV reporter, but then I realize, I should be more than what I am right now.

2) I bought Southland Tales. Somehow in all the mess is a trigger for something about me. What? I don't know.

I am the type of person who believes in trade. I help, you help me. Oldest Political law in the book. (And learned from both the Tammany and Queens Political Machines, and also among the National Republicans) If I step up in a situation, I would like help getting to my goals. If that is not the case, I believe that I should be able to Help me Help myself towards the goal. Either way, makes me a better person. But neither is happening.

Both professional and non-professional people are saying to stay away from writing both books and the Blog. I want to change the world, but I need a leg up on changing myself.

Unfortunately, I am in a bad place right now. Talking about politics is a distraction, for now. I hope to be back up by next week. As long as the medium-level stays at that point.

I live, but right now, I don't feel alive. My goals (and my endgame) seem too far away. My situation is unenviable, and I'm feeling very lonely in my quest. As I said, not a good place.

I am available for incoming comments and calls, just there is very few outgoing right now. Here is song I'm humming right now:



Remember the first rule of politics (which is unused by the California Republicans and other Californians), I help you, you help me. That is a founding principle, and seems to have been long ago forgotten.

Breaking News! Senator Clinton leaving campaign before PA!

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I got this through a source back in Queens. This article will be published on Thursday by the Queens Tribune, and submitted to the Assosciated Press:

April 3, 2008. Harold Ickes will announce tomorrow that Senator Clinton (D-Chappaqua) will leave the race because of efforts of Gov. Howard Dean, head of the Democratic National Committee, and Senator Chuck Schumer (D-Brooklyn).

"We are trying to unify the party any way we can," said Governor Dean, "I am happy that Senator Clinton took the first step," After a lifetime in Politics, many question what Senator Clinton's next step will be. Will she try to run for Governor? Or is she angling for a position in a future Senator Obama (D-IL) administration?

Senator Schumer said, "Whatever she wants to do, New York City and State is available to her and her husband,"

There are others who are not so forgiving. Lloyd Chavis, of Forest Hills, an African-American, says, "Senator Clinton always tried to put us on the back of the bus. First she didn't support [State Comptroller Carl] McCall, then she didn't support [Mayor Wellington Webb of Denver, Colorado] for head of the Democrats. This is the first thing she has done for us since she became a Senator,"

The Tribune was unable to get any statement from the Senator Obama or McCain campaigns at this time.