Sunday, November 23, 2014

Friday, November 07, 2014

It gives me the creeps...

It disturbs me greatly that there is a large group of Americans out there who think electing politicians who hate government is okay. They think allowing foreign corporations to funnel billions into our political system to get what they want is okay. They think letting politicians lie and cheat and deceive America to get votes is okay. They think that politicians rigging voting machines so they register the votes as theirs is okay. They're fine with politicians giving away the country to the uber-rich and they think the country would be just fine if they could just test the poor for drug use, keep starving children from eating, let corporations pollute all they want and make as many children as sick as they want, fill our jails with innocent people, and put just one more black man out of a job. If it wasn't for that, the country would be just fine.

I find that truly disturbing.

Monday, September 29, 2014

It's the Monday Morning Show for September 29, 2014...

It's the Monday Morning Show for September 29th, 2014! Join me as I talk about young people changing the world and the old people who are trying to stop them. Young people are on the streets in Honk Kong and in Colorado while we're busy wondering if our iPhone's going to bend.



Thursday, September 18, 2014

Facks News reacts to Obama's handling of the Islamic State?...


Just another sign of corporations having too much power…


So, I was out on my morning jog this morning when I passed by a local concrete foundry pumping out tons of toxic smoke. The smoke was so bad, I had to stop jogging because I was coughing so hard. I was coughing so hard, I nearly threw up!

The smell was pretty bad where I lived, a couple of miles away, too.

Vicky suggested I call the AQMD (the Air Quality Management District) to register a complaint, which I did. What I didn’t expect, though, was the lesson I received in just how powerful corporations are in relation to how much they can pollute.

Here’s what I found out.

In order for the AQMD to even speak with the foundry and ask them to please cut down on their smog, they need to have six different homes on the same block all register complaints within the same hour. Then, they have to remain at their home for an AQMD representative to come to their home and verify the smell. This AQMD could take as much as three hours to get there, by which time the wind could shift and the smell could move on.

Can you imagine how difficult that would be to pull off? Six residents from six different homes all have to call at about the same time. Then, they can’t leave their home. They have to wait there – not go to work – and hope everyone else stays put as well. They have to wait for hours, all in the hopes that the wind doesn’t shift!

And this won’t even get them definite action. The foundry could ignore the request. When I asked the AQMD rep what the requirements were for them to take definite action, such as a fine or a court order or anything, she just shook her head and said, “Well, let’s try to get this first. This is hard enough.”

Meanwhile, the foundry owners sit back and laugh at us little people. They’ve made us powerless.

And the sad truth is, so many of us defend our corporate overlords despite all that. And, in the grand scheme of things, this is nothing.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Consistency...

"Remember the Maine!"... 1890's Spanish/American War
"Remember the Gulf of Tonkin!"... 1960's War in Vietnam
"Remember 9/11!"... 2000's War in Iraq
"Remember... some people who were killed by some scary brown people with weird beliefs..."... Next Week.

Monday, February 17, 2014

Married Once Before…


For the first time ever, I’m not really sure where to post a blog entry. Does this have to do with my writing and is, therefore, eligible for the Ken La Salle blog?... Yes, but… Does this have to do with Vicky and should, therefore, go on the One Path blog?... Yes, but…

So, with this in mind, welcome to My Side.

Here’s the thing. I’m starting work on my next book, which is a book on the 1970’s. I decided to use this opportunity to clean out my steamer trunk, which I packed full of goodies until sometime around 1990. I thought this trunk would be full of things from my childhood…

Then, I found it was mostly full of stuff from high school, which means I may have to write a book about the 80’s at some point.

I also found it was full of stuff from she who must remain nameless, from my first wedding, from my first marriage. Crap. I thought I’d gotten rid of that stuff years ago.

But no.

And I was faced with a definite quandary.

One thing you may not know about me is that I have picked up the fragments of my life so many times it gets annoying. Hell, most people these days think I fell to the Earth sometime in 2004. After picking up the fragments of my life so many times… I’m kind of tired of it. I’m tired of not having a history, of not knowing people from before 1995 or so, of that lack of continuity that comes from constantly restarting my life.

I was thinking about this when I looked down at all this stuff from my past life, from my past marriage. My wedding album. A photo album from when the girl and I were first together. Random photographs.

I didn’t want to lose all of that again. Hell, I lost it once already.

So, as strange as it might sound, I decided to preserve it. I decided that as I was throwing things away – and, believe me, I threw away a LOT – there would be some photos that remained. Some that wouldn’t be gone forever. There would be some continuity.

Yes, I’m married to Vicky now and I love her very much. But I’m a little tired of denying who I was prior to 2004. I’m tired of playing up my first wife as a fluke, as a tragic mistake.

We loved each other. I have pictures to prove it. Yes, it ended tragically, but that doesn’t mean that’s all it was. There was more to it than that. And I’ve decided to remember that. That’s the least I can do.

Perhaps I’ll post a few of those pictures in the coming days.

Maybe it’s time I go public with some of the history I’ve been so quick to write about but so reticent to share.

History shouldn’t be forgotten. And that doesn’t make me a bad husband to Vicky.

It just makes me honest.

Saturday, February 15, 2014

So Dream Something, featuring DV Berkom...

This month's episode of So Dream Something features spy thriller sensation, DV Berkom.
DV speaks about her writing career and managing in the midst of a changing market. I hope you enjoy it. I know I did.


Saturday, February 08, 2014

My Side: Advertising...

A look at the 2014 Coca Cola Super Bowl ad - and more about advertising - in this month's My Side...


Saturday, January 25, 2014

As an atheist, I sometimes wonder...


Sometimes it seems that the only thing Christians and Muslims can agree on is how much they hate anyone who won’t pick a side in their hatred of each other…

And now some Bible Stories...


Saturday, January 11, 2014

Kids Today...

This month, My Side looks at those damned kids today... and the people who endlessly complain about them...