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Tuesday, March 7, 2017

The Writer's Life 3/7 - Pasquale & Company

"He forgot where he came from" has often been used to describe lost perspective. One guy has taken it to new heights. Pasquale Vargas, 65, of Colombian/Puerto Rican descent, was recently arrested at Penn Station. He drew eight swastikas on the walls of bathrooms, and also scrawled "KKK" and "Mexican go home." He told cops: "Mexicans take jobs from Americans." (From an article in the NY Post)

The key elements of the bill proposed to replace Obamacare are outlined in the Post. I did not spot anything saying customers would now be allowed to cross state lines to buy plans. I hope it's included. It would be very disappointing if it's not. Sean Hannity and two guests believe the proposal is merely Obamacare-light, and will not pass as is. I've said it many times - this is the toughest issue of all. No matter what is done there will likely be a large segment of the population that will be unsatisfied. Conservatives want power to return to consumers. Everyone else seems to want complete government control or a mishmash. I don't envy the people who have to work on this. It will be a thankless job and, I believe, in the end health care costs will continue to soar and only a single payer system controlled by government will be the solution. I hope I'm wrong. When government is involved, my confidence goes way down.

Another blow to trust in government has been struck. Wikileaks hacked the CIA's computers. Here's an excerpt from the Fox News website, edited by yours truly: "The collection of purported intelligence documents includes information on CIA-developed malware intended to target iPhones, Androids, smart TVs and Microsoft, Mac and Linux operating systems, among others. An entire unit is devoted to inventing programs to hack data from Apple products. Some of the remote hacking programs can allegedly turn numerous electronic devices into recording and transmitting stations to spy on targets, with the information sent back to secret servers. One document appears to show the CIA was trying to infect vehicle control systems in cars and trucks for unspecified means." I'm not sure how I feel about this, as it is the age of terror. If the measures were used solely for that, I'd have no problem with them. Unfortunately, that probably wouldn't be the case. For one, there would likely be insiders who used it for political purposes. I have nothing to hide except my financial account passwords, so the thought that someone might be spying on my PC does not worry me. They'd see me looking at porn a couple of times a week - big deal. We're still light years from Big Brother.

I've now proofed 140 pages of the novel I plan to self-publish in January. I reached a part where I was really winging it, trying to imagine how someone like me, at 37, would behave at a swinger's club. The segment focuses more on what's going on inside the character's head than on the physical action. He wants to participate in an orgy morally. The year is 1987. Such behavior is now less controversial, if not universally accepted. Porn is mainstream. Many no longer view homosexuality as bizarre, the majority accepting it, at least on the surface. Society has changed markedly.

Due to light rain, I opened the floating book shop three hours late, at the time I usually pack up. I had no luck, despite the impressive cache of Russian works. A woman complimented the selection, but didn't buy anything. Maybe that bodes well for tomorrow.
Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 
Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc
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