TLA Report: I’ll soon post photos and a full report of my Texas Library Association experience in Dallas. You can learn about the conference and the organization here: http://www.txla.org/conference/conf.html

Say It Ain’t So . . .

Just when you think there’s hope for the human race, you read or see something that makes you slap your head. Like these stories for example, as told by a local political pundit.

Obama’s Pastor: I verified this report through a number of sites. Evidently Obama’s pastor is getting a 1.6 million dollar mansion [Ain’t America terrible!] from his church for retirement in a white neighborhood. Think about the irony. Here’s one of many good articles on this: http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/03/27/obamas-former-pastor-builds-a-multimillion-dollar-retirement-home/

He’s lucky he lives in this age because after his speech Lincoln would have gladly sent him to Liberia to retire there. Lincoln, like many abolitionists, wanted an all white America, so they developed what has been called the Liberian Plan. There are many good sites to read about Lincoln’s ideas on black “colonization” but here is a good one to start with: http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v13/v13n5p-4_Morgan.html

Church of the Big Government Is Hard at Work: I haven’t used tobacco in six months now. Quitting has been good for me. However, I am against organized efforts to force people to quit. For example, take the Kick Butts Day conducted in schools across America where kids walked around painted as dead, marked with “Killed by Tobacco.” There were also some crime scene chalk outlines of bodies marked “Murdered by Big Tobacco.” I wonder about the efficacy of efforts like this in an educational setting. It seems like another government agenda and another sign of intolerance and an effort to weaken the rights of the individual.  What do we really want to teach children in public schools? I’m just thinking out loud here, but does Big Government view public schools as a means of social control?

If you are a writer who uses a POD publisher, according to Booklocker, “here is a developing situation you need to be aware of.

Amazon.com is Telling POD Publishers – Let BookSurge Print Your Books, or Else…

Some Print on Demand (POD) publishers are privately screaming “Monopoly!” while others are seething with rage over startling phone conversations they’re having with Amazon/BookSurge representatives. Why isn’t anybody talking about it openly? Because they’re afraid – very, very afraid…

Read the details here
http://www.writersweekly.com/the_latest_from_angelahoycom/004597_03272008.html