Douglas Arvidson is a past winner of the WICE/Paris Transcontinental International Short Story competition. His short fiction has been published in Paris, Prague, and in literary magazines in the United States and he was recently invited to be a staff writer for the Prague Revue, a cutting-edge, online literary journal (http://bit.ly/1mMT6ZC). The novels in his fantasy series, The Eye of the Eye of Stallion, include The Face in Amber, The Mirrors of Castaway Time, and A Drop of Wizard's Blood. His new novel, Brothers of the Fire Star, was selected as a finalist in the ForeWord Reviews 2012 Book of the Year national awards and as a finalist in three categories in the 2013 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards: Action Adventure Fiction, Historical Fiction, and Young Adult Fiction. It has become part of the pantheon of Pacific literature and is now included in school literature programs. Brothers of the Fire Star is an adventure story set in the Pacific during World War II and concerns two boys of different races and cultures who escape the island of Guam in a small sailboat when the Japanese army invades. They must then struggle to survive as they master the secrets of the ancient Pacific navigators. Appropriate for young adults as well as adult readers, Brothers of the Fire Star is available on Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com (http://amzn.to/1j3axVk) and Crossquarter.com. Visit the author's website: douglasarvidson.com



Wednesday, March 25, 2009

The Right is Trying to Strangle the Left: The Body Politic's Self-Destructive, Knee-Jerk Spasticity



So, there I was at the White House last night with my Nikon D40X just clicking away and later, when I looked at the pix, what to I espy? This telling photo of our pres with the ghost of Mr. Lincoln looking over his shoulder. In fact, it looks like Mr. Obama was gesturing back at the Great Man as I took this.

Wonder what Mr. Lincoln was whispering in Mr. Obama's ear? Don't let the turkeys get you down, Barack. Lincoln had to deal with his own ego-driven, knee-jerk haters, too. Was he our greatest president because of them or in spite of them? In any event, as I watched Mr. Obama perform, I was, as usual, impressed by the quick, easy intelligence of the man, by his deep knowledge of a myriad of complex issues, and the way he handled stupid/tough questions: Why had he waited two days after finding out about the AIG bonuses? Because "I like to know what I'm talking about before I speak." Rush, Sarah, Ann, and Laura--please listen up.


Yes, the Right side of the Body Politic continues it's spastic, antagonistic flapping at the Left as our Center-Left president coolly goes about his business. Can this be good for our national humour? The truth is this: The current crisis is unprecedented. No one knows what will work and what will not. But we need to ask our best minds to try to sort it out and do something and that's what Mr. Obama is doing. The whole deal is mind bending and brain warping in its complexity. Mistakes will be made. We elected him pretty decisively. We should be supporting him and hoping he gets it done.


Note: Okay, okay. I was not actually in the White House. Let's just say I had a seat way, way up in the balcony and a great telephoto lens.

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