Hunter S Thompson

There's no doubt I want to see this. Hunter S. Thompson has always been a big influence on my writing. Like Frank Zappa, he said what he thought, he was blunt and cut through the crap. If he thought someone was a slime balll, he called them a slime ball. I like that. We calls'em like we sees'em.

Summer Job

I've found a new summer job at a grocery store, which is why I haven't been on line for a while. I am also still looking for a fall job, because halling boxes around at my age just isn't all the fun. It is better than last summer when I went almost two months without a job.
I am now focussing on jobs outside the Wichita area, because I strongly beleive I've been blacklisted from getting a teaching job around here. This blog, and a few others like it may be the reason. I have had experience, praise from my bosses, letters of recomendation and this year I was told they are always looking for special ed teachers, which I've tried to get into since the competition for social studies jobs is staggering.
I have no doubt I could sub again, but I have a teachers license and in three years I have not been able to get a real job. Last year I had two interviews set up and they suddenly called me and called them off. That didn't seem right. I also have contacted the special ed department of more than one area school and I've heard nothing.
My son told me that he put my name and the town I actually live in and this and all my other blogs showed up. Despite taking my name and picture off this blog, I still suspect I'm being blacklisted and I've had more than one person suggest that is happing. So next fall, I may move, to Kansas City, eastern Kansas, such as Topeka and if that doesn't work I'll keep moving till I find some place in this country where teachers aren't pushed out because of their political opinions. (Or what ever else offends these people.)
For those of you who crave a nestalga for the 1950s, everything old is new again, such as blacklisting people from various jobs.
Here is an excerp from my latest book Can You Pass the Acid Test?:
The HUAC and the "Red Scare"
In 1938, Congressman Martin Dies persuaded Congress to create the
HUAC, which conducted closed hearings until October 1947. In that year,
Congressman J. Parnell Thomas took over and began subpoenaing people
to appear before the committee.84
In the 1930s, during the depression, the Communist Party rank and file
swelled to an all-time high. At the same time, there were demonstrations
by those wanting food, housing and unemployment insurance. There was
labor unrest. By the end of the 1930s, U.S. labor violence surpassed all
other industrialized nations. The motion picture industry also saw the rise
of various trade and craft unions. Many in the film industry were working
with new ideas and ideologies. By the beginning of World War II, the US
had established friendly relations with the Soviet Union and a few
movies, such as Mission to Moscow, even presented Joe Stalin in a
favorable light.
The film industry wasn't alone when it came to the "red scare." The
workers of the late '40s and '50s were forced to sign loyalty oaths when
getting certain jobs or joining unions. Many unions were locked into an
intense struggle pitting anti-Communists against all left-leaning union
officials and rank and file.85 The Taft-Hartley Act forced unions to require
a "non-communist affidavit" for rank-and-file members.86 People
working for the US government were at risk of losing their job any time
they were suspected of disloyalty. In October of 1947 the State
Department explained why they had fired ten employees and let three
others resign without prejudice. Newsweek reported: "It (State
Department) would have to fire any employee of doubtful loyalty and
character, even if that meant denying him rights which other government
workers had and even if the evidence was inconclusive."87 Altogether,
President Harry Truman fired 308 federal employees thought to be
security risks.88
The Hollywood Ten were a group of writers and directors who were
cited for contempt of Congress and jailed for not cooperating with the
HUAC.
John Howard Lawson was one of the Hollywood Ten who argued for
his rights at the HUAC. On October 27, 1947, Lawson was asked the
standard question "Are you now or have you ever been a member of the
communist party?"
He replied:
"The question of communism is in no way related to this inquiry,
which is an attempt to get control of the screen and to invade the basic
rights of American citizens in all fields."
Much of the investigation went the same way, with Lawson comparing
the investigators to Hitler. He refused to answer any of the questions and
when ordered to step down, he refused. He was then removed by six
police. Other actors called on to testify followed his example, used
disruptive tactics and refused answering questions.89
Hollywood was divided as to whether these people's rights should be
supported or whether the government's which hunts were justified.
Humphrey Bogart and his wife Lauren Bacall headed a group called the
"Hollywood Committee for the First Amendment." They watched the
hearings and complained the HUAC was violating civil rights.90 Others,
such as Gary Cooper and Robert Taylor, joined on the anti-communist
bandwagon. While testifying before the HUAC, Taylor said communists
should be "deported to Russia or some other unpleasant place."91
Blacklisted writers could not even count on their unions to back them
up during this scandal. Most cooperated with the government. The
Editors Actors Equity Association was one of the few unions that stood its
ground against the HUAC's accusations and defended their black-listed
members.92
Lardner, who spoke at a HUAC commemoration, in 1997, said the
political situation today is different:
"But it is important for people to realize the importance of holding up
the First Amendment. The threat today is in the form of censorship—This
whole thing from the Christian Right is a form of censorship."93
In the 1990s, many workers have been forced to take a drug test to get
work. As with the loyalty oaths of the late '40s and '50s, a drug test is
proof of a worker's loyalty to the system. There are many similarities to
the anti-Communist hysteria of the '50s and the anti-drug hysteria of the
1980s and '90s. The film industry has taken many years to get over the
purges of the '50s. They know better than to let that happen again under
the "war on drugs."

When you’re going no where slow - Amtrak

By 史蒂夫・奥多, with the help of Dr. J. Newton Knumbskul, Dr. of Poetry

Once an Amtrak train, headed back to wichita from Albuquerque New Mexico,
The train stopped in a small town calle Raton,
A smoke break was called and my wife went to the restroom,
When she returned the train was gone,
Raton is a little Podunk with a moten, a taxi service and a few antique shops and restauraunts.
The next train won't be here until 5pm tomorrow, the bitch and the trainstation said.
When the train arrived in Newton (it won't go to Wichita) I had to drive up and get her luggage,

The next day everything in raton (which means mouse in Spanish) closed by 1pm.
Nothing to do but wait at the CLOSED train station until it opened at 4pm.
"You have to buy a new ticket since you made an unscheduled stop" the amtrack bitch told her. Forget that she had a ticket stub that stated she paid to go to Newton, she had to buy a new ticket.
So when you're looking for bad service, double billing and you just want to go no place important at the slowest rate possible, take an Amtrak. Leave the theavery to them.
I found a song that seems a tribute to the dedication and service of Amtrak.


A modern comfortable train.

With up to date confortable stations to wait at.

And a safety record that is unique. Just ask these folks.

A major writing project comes to an end

I finally did it. I finished my newest book The Pol Pot Journals. I just have to proof read it and then send it to press. It is a fictional autobiography. Some people will accuse me of glamorizing a mass murderer. Actually that's not how I see it. I tried to portray him as he really was, and I cut through some of the misconceptions and exaggerations. I decided to finish this book when I put up a Pol Pot site that was designed simply as an educational tool. The blogs were meant to sound like him, as if he wrote them.
Some American felt I was insensitive and complained to Myspace, getting the site pulled. I hate to say this as an American, but when it comes to free speech, many of us are weenies and crybabies, when we hear something we don't like. It amuses me when I look at a British blog and they wonder why they have more freedom of speech when they don't even have a First amendment. I put up a new one, but most of the blogs are marked "friends only."
I've spent a lot of time on the book. All books take time to write and there is always some research even if the material is familiar. Just as some people like to play in a band, I like to write books. With the new internet services, a book can be quickly released through a small publisher. Most of mine are sold on line. Only 20% of buyers by on line, But it's less work and I do sell a few books.
I think this one will catch on. I have a few more book ideas, which I will work on soon. But I can take my time and find A REAL SUMMER JOB first.

It’s Zappa’s fault

I often forget that before I became immersed in Maoist (Mao Zedong) books: philosophy, politics and writing style, I was influenced by Frank Zappa.

The big difference is that he offered no utopian view for a new society, which I eventually craved and wanted, but he had plenty to say about what stinks about America's consumer society. He was clear and blunt. And he always stood for freedom of speech and for him he needed defending. He broke all taboos. He never made it big on the radio, but by putting out a lot of albums, he built up an audience.







I also used to be a cartoonist and I learned a lot from studying the art of Calvin Schenkel.