Catching up

I know, I know. I have been distracted. But I will try to make it up over the next several days.

First off, in case you hadn't heard, I will not be attending Frontiers in Writing (FiW), the Texas Panhandle Writers' Association convention in June. Some personal scheduling issues have come up I have to deal with. I wish them the best and hope to attend next year. And maybe they'll ask me back to help in the judging of their chapbook contest again? That would be nice.

I read with interest both the commentary by Ronald S. Martin and the vitriolic response to Ron Paul's Republican debate remarks regarding our complicity in the 9/11 attacks. I agree with both of them that pretending we have never done anything to annoy anyone in the Middle East is childish, ignorant and irresponsible. Rudy Giuliani's flag-waving and self-serving pre-scripted pounce on Paul's statement did nothing to help him in my eyes.

Of course, now that "Focus on the Family" founder James Dobson has decided to live down to his legacy and endorse individuals who violate most of Jesus' teachings regarding violence, tolerance and love, while applying his own subtle political logic to condemn Giuliani for his consitutionally-defensible stand on abortion rights while backing a serial adulterer like Newt Gingrich, Giuliani will probably need all the blinder-enhanced help he can get. Pulpit politicians are second only to oil interests at this time in owning the Republican Party. No wonder Michael Bloomnerg is looking to shake things up by investing $1 billion of his own money in a third-party run for the White House.

Al, get your running shoes on.

I had a long talk with my daughter yesterday concerning my publishing strategy and book sales (she's the assistant manager of a book store in California), as well as the eventual fate of my catalog upon my death (she and my boys share equal ownership of the whole black and bloody mess).

That's it for now. Looking to go see a movie later. See if you can guess which one.