“Nature is always hinting at us. It hints over and over again. And suddenly we take the hint.”
Creepy Easter Photos 2025
Once again, the Easter bunny – like politicians and rap singers – are proving to be as scary, if not scarier than anything from Halloween. I still can’t figure out who in their right mind would accept a job in a mall dressed as a gigantic rabbit. Then again, I guess they’re not in their right mind in the first place – like politicians and rap singers – and therein lies the conundrum. And would someone please try to explain how Jesus Christ correlates to a chocolate herbivore that can lay eggs!
Top image: “Notebook” by Eugenia Rodgers
Filed under Curiosities
In Memoriam – Mario Vargas Llosa, 1936-2025
Filed under News
Words
Several years ago actress turned animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot found herself in legal trouble with French authorities. The former screen siren openly condemned the Islamic practice of animal slaughter during the Aid al-Kabir holiday. She’d been in such a predicament before – several times. French law doesn’t actually forbid disparaging religious ideology, but it looks down sharply upon it, as it can be considered slander or worse, a conduit to hate-obsessed violence.
It’s surprising, considering France fought hard against Nazi occupation during World War II. One tenet of Nazism is that anyone who speaks out against the government is deemed a traitor. But, short of slander or threats of violence, criticism of governing bodies and religion is free speech. Imprisoning anyone, or even threatening to levy a monetary penalty for such views, runs counter to that.
All of it strikes hard for me – and other writers and artists – here in the U.S., as we witness ongoing assaults on various forms of free speech. Book bans remain a primary source of concern. And with Republicans in charge of the White House and both houses of Congress, the attacks continue. Social extremists have always been opposed to any viewpoint that doesn’t conform to their standards – whether it’s coming from the left or the right. The voices of moderates seem to get lost in the chaos.
Recently the U.S. government – under pressure from the Trump administration – compiled and presented a list of words that are forbidden on federal web sites and other documentation. They include such terms as “biologically male”, “clean energy”, “inequality”, and “woman”. This is real! I have a tendency towards creating outrageous stories, but I’m not intoxicated or deranged. Well…not yet.
Regardless, the list definitely isn’t a manifestation of liberal outrage at the most right-wing president in decades. It’s a result of years of conservative ideology designed to put people and institutions in categories and re-enshrine bigotry and hatred into the American conscience. The leftward shift in culture and politics in the U.S. beginning in the late 1950s eventually met the hostility of Reaganesque antipathy towards anything viewed as different or the other. The Trump era is the culmination of it all.
Those in formerly marginalized groups who also voted for Trump and his ilk shouldn’t be surprised – but they are. For example, Cuban-Americans voted overwhelmingly for Trump, as they often have for the Republican Party. As Cuba has been under communist rule since 1959, those fleeing the country have been given special protection from American law. The same luxury hasn’t been granted to people fleeing war and violence in other Latin American nations, such as El Salvador and Guatemala. However, the Trump Administration’s efforts to reform immigration law have started to impact thousands of Cuban immigrants. Now, Cuban-Americans have the audacity to be horrified at the betrayal. Remember the adage: be careful what you wish for; you might just get it.
We also need to recall the words of Martin Niemöller:
“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.”
Trump and his cronies appear to be going after anyone who doesn’t fit the narrow definition of who he is. His hypocrisy is glaring. He never outwardly espoused any religious fervor until he first ran for president, but now says Christian ideology should be taught in schools. If he believes in true biblical content, then consider the Christian Bible’s 7th commandment: “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Exodus 20:14.
There are others.
“I am a stranger and an alien residing among you; give me property among you for a burying place, so that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” Genesis 23:4
“The sinless one among you, go first. Throw the stone.” John 8:6-11
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31
I’m sure this would be too much for him to handle. It’s too much even for some devout Christians to handle!
Whatever words someone wants to use, they shouldn’t be frightened into compliance. Russia, Iran and North Korea do that. No truly democratic society wants to echo such autocratic leadership.
Filed under Essays
Antarctica tells Trump what to do with his tariffs
From Munguin’s New Republic, the truth must be spoken!
Filed under News
Rapid Response Fund
As National Library Week 2025 comes to an end here in the U.S., I want to highlight Every Library’s “Rapid Response Fund”, a political action group for libraries. As I’ve noted before, censorship is in full swing in a country that enshrined the concept of free speech into its constitution. This could only happen with a right-wing autocrat like Donald Trump in the White House. As writers and bloggers, we can’t afford to let this madness continue. Please consider donating and as always – keep writing and keep fighting!
Filed under News
Trumpettes
I’ve been looking for a club like this. Newly-formed (c. January 2025), the group strives to promote unimaginably obscene wealth. “Trillionaires for Trump” is following the lead of our Dear Leader in giving a golden middle finger to the peons of our world – you know, people like we bloggers, writers and other low-lifes. We’re the ones who actually pay taxes and keep the economy functioning, but no one calls “Us” job creators.
Go ahead and check out this gang! You might find your place in the world!
Image: Galerie
Filed under Curiosities
April 2025 Literary Calendar
Events in the month of April for writers and readers
Arab-American Heritage Month
Child Abuse Awareness Month
Dog Appreciation Month
Earth Month
Genocide Awareness Month
Global Astronomy Month
International Guitar Month
Mathematics & Statistics Awareness Month
National Alcohol Awareness Month (U.S.)
National Card & Letter Writing Month (U.S.)
National Fair Housing Month (U.S.)
National Humor Month (U.S.)
National Poetry Month (U.S.)
School Library Month (U.S.)
- April 1 – April Fool’s Day; International Fun at Work Day; National Greeting Card Day; Reading Is Funny Day
- April 2 – Hans Christian Anderson’s Birthday; International Children’s Book Day; National Truth & Reconciliation Day; Nature Day
- April 3 – Jane Goodall’s Birthday; Independent Artist Day
- April 4 – Maya Angelou’s Birthday; National School Librarian Day
- April 5 – Booker T. Washington’s Birthday; National Love Our Children Day
- April 6-12 – National Library Week (U.S.)
- April 7 – William Wordsworth’s Birthday
- April 8 – Buddha’s Birthday; National Library Workers Day (U.S.)
- April 9 – Education & Sharing Day; National Unicorn Day; National Library Outreach Day (U.S.)
- April 10 – Joseph Pulitzer’s Birthday; Take Action for Libraries Day
- April 12 – Beverly Cleary’s Birthday; Tom Clancy’s Birthday; D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read) Day; Passover
- April 13 – Scrabble Day
- April 15 – Corrie Ten Boom’s Birthday; Leonardo da Vinci’s Birthday; World Art Day
- April 16 – National Librarian Day
- April 17 – Thornton Wilder’s Birthday; Celebrate Teen Literature Day; International Haiku Poetry Day
- April 18 – Newspaper Columnists Day
- April 20 – Easter
- April 21 – Charlotte Bronte’s Birthday
- April 22 – Earth Day
- April 23 – William Shakespeare’s Birthday; World Book Day
- April 25 – Guglielmo Marconi’s Birthday
- April 26 – John James Audubon’s Birthday; Independent Bookstore Day; National Day of Puppetry
- April 27 – National Tell a Story Day
- April 28 – Harper Lee’s Birthday; Great Poetry Reading Day
- April 30 – Honesty Day; National Animal Advocacy Day
Filed under News
Social Living
“Social Security is the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.”
Elon Musk, February 28, 2025
For elected officials here in the U.S., Social Security is much like a live power line: touch it and they’re done. Social security, along with Medicare and Medicaid, is one of those sacred vessels of American life. It’s not just beloved; it is sacrosanct.
Thus, for a foreign-born oligarch like Elon Musk to disparage it as a “scheme” has become anathemic. As something of a pseudo-president, Musk is head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has taken a hacksaw to a number of departments within the federal government. The declared goal is to reduce bureaucratic weight by slashing jobs and merging together certain divisions within the system. Nowhere in this morass of right-wing blather is a dedication to make people like Musk and their corporations to pay their share of taxes. But that’s a different issue.
To place things in proper perspective – and put elected officials like Trump in their place – social security has too many safeguards to be considered a Ponzi scheme. Before the Social Security Act of 1935, a large number of older Americans lived in abject poverty. At the time it was common for families to take in older relatives. But some people simply didn’t have that support and they were left to fend for themselves. The concept of providing for those who simply couldn’t work or take care of themselves is nothing new. Various societies throughout history have considered the fragilities of the human condition and sought to alleviate those difficulties. It is simply immoral to abandon those who can’t care for themselves. It’s also rather easy to look at those who won’t take care of their own lives and group them with the others.
The Social Security Act has been amended several times since 1935, but it differs from a Ponzi scheme in many ways.
1. Social Security is not fraudulent
A Ponzi scheme is a deliberate a fraud intent to mislead investors.
2. Social Security’s operators do not take a cut
Unlike with Ponzi schemes, Social Security is not a profit-generating gamble, and the officials who run it do not take a portion of it for themselves.
3. Social Security is operated in the open
Social Security is a transparent, government-run program with clear funding mechanisms.
4. Social Security has built-in oversight
Unlike a Ponzi scheme, Social Security has many layers of oversight, auditing, regulation and legal and financial systems in place to ensure accuracy and transparency.
5. Social Security offers realistic returns
The goal of Social Security is to provide basic income replacement, not to generate get-rich-quick returns. Ponzi schemes often promise unrealistically high gains.
6. If financially stressed, Social Security can adjust funding and/or benefits
A fiscal imbalance in Social Security can be corrected, but a Ponzi scheme can’t. Social Security beneficiaries can’t demand to be paid a balance in their account if they suspect something is wrong. There can’t be a “bank run” on Social Security, and problems ultimately can be resolved.
It doesn’t surprise me that Trump and the Republican Party are targeting Social Security, or rather that conservative Republicans in general haven’t struck back at the president. Social and political conservatives have always been leery about government programs designed to help people. Before Franklin R. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” policies (designed and implemented to address the brutal impact of the Great Depression), government’s primary purpose was to enact laws and collect taxes. The collapse of the U.S. stock market in 1929 and the subsequent financial calamities that ensued changed that mindset – at least among the more open-minded. Social Security was just one project resulting from such forward thinking.
In 1944, Congress passed the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (later known as the GI Bill) to assist those returning from military service during World War II. It provided a myriad of aid and services to these individuals, such as education and housing. Again, many conservatives denounced it as welfare.
Similar criticisms befell Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” some two decades later. From this massive undertaking, we got Medicare and Medicaid. But, as Johnson declared, the government should ensure both “liberty and abundance” for all citizens – not just those who can afford it. And as before, critics deemed it socialized medicine.
While it’s surprising that the U.S. federal government can operate with such alleged overspending – a bloated bureaucracy – it does provide substantial safety and security to most everyone here. The attack on Social Security is monstrous. Trump has sworn to leave it alone, but I personally don’t trust him.
I’m fast approaching the official retirement age of 62, yet I know I won’t be able to sit back in my quiet suburban home and embark on my dream life of being a full-fledged writer. The Social Security system is supposedly insolvent. Raising the official retirement age (as many, including Musk, have suggested) or reducing benefits won’t repair that problem. Funding for the Iraq War alone could have made Social Security fiscally viable for generations. Still, the program must be handled with care. Touching it irresponsibly is, indeed, akin to touching that live power line.
Filed under Essays
