JUST TO CLARIFY...

The point I was initially trying to make in that last post (but got distracted from, going on about reactionary twerps) is that when I googled "radical canadian author" I ended up with only two names, and one of them seemed unworthy anyway. So what is wrong with this country literarily? I mean, even if the hardcopy publishers are not publishing Lefty fiction, you'd think that a google search would turn up more than this, wouldn't you?

I JUST GOOGLED "radical canadian author"

and came up with Naomi Klein (and good on her, I say. I haven't read much by her but what I know second-hand is good) and some other guy who, upon my cursory examination at least, struck me as some species of reactionary twerp of the "gadfly" variety. You know the sort: "lookit me, Maw, I'm criticizin' THE MOSLEMS! Ain't I brave? Hot damn, but them liberals are screamin' in helpless indignation at the mere fact of my continued existence! I WIN! I WIN! I WINNNNNN!" etcetera. So what the fuck is going on here? Is it that bad, in Canada? Maybe we have radical writers, but no publishers with the chutzpah to publish them. Maybe they are afraid of the twerps. (BTW: according to Kurt Vonnegut, "twerp" started off meaning a person who would bite his or her own fart bubbles in the bathtub.) Once again: where are the Canadian Radical Writers? I think I may have to publish my novel on my own lonesome.

I JUST GOOGLED "radical canadian novelist"

And what did I come up with? Nothing. I wonder if that just might be why I cannot get a single Canadian publisher or agent to look at my novel?

NO, IT'S NOT MY FAULT THE PREVIOUS ENTRY

has no paragraph breaks. Blogspot has decided to disallow them, it seems.

WHAT'S ALL THIS BITCHING

about how unhappy Canadians supposedly are that we are going to have a federal election soon? In the first place, I just can't believe that we are all such a bunch of whiners that an opportunity to exercise what precious little democracy we have is considered an insurmountable burden. What is the problem? Is it the arduous walk (or drive) to the polling station? Don't sweat it. We need the exercise. Is it the cost? Well, the 2006 election cost $270 million dollars, according to the CBC. Divide that up amongst the 34 million of us and it's less than 8 bucks a citizen. If you factor in that not all citizens are voters or taxpayers, it comes to somewhat more than that, I would suppose. Who knows, it might even be enough for an inexpensive dinner and a drink. Well, boo-hoo-hoo. In other countries people get shot by the police for just asking for democracy, let alone practicing it. But we need more cheeseburgers, eh? Maybe the supposed problem with having an election is listening to the coverage of it in the mass media. But I think the very people most likely to find this a reason not to have an election are the very people most able to simply tune out what they don't want to hear. They will go back to sleep soon enough. But I have my doubts that people in this country are so reluctant to have a chance to vote. I suspect the mass media have some patronizing image of "Joe Sixpack" in their heads they like to peddle: "you don't like elections, do you Joe Sixpack? There's a good Joe Sixpack. You just want a beer and a movie and a tax cut, don't you, Joe Sixpack? There's a good fellow..."

GEORGE ORWELL -- QUOTE OF THE DAY

"The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them."

George Orwell, "Notes on Nationalism," 1945

LIBYA

Why aren't we helping? Why does the West have billions of dollars and thousands of soldiers' lives to piss away fucking over Iraq and Afghanistan, year after year trying to "liberate" them, and nothing for Libya?

Not so much as a no-fly zone.

Where there are people who really want our help, it is nowhere to be found.