Great book, and a thoughtful review.
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Author Archives: Sean T. Smith
The party of Lincoln: Tears of Abraham
Lincoln is easily my favorite president, for without him the United States of America would not exist, and the world would be a vastly different place. We’d probably be speaking Russian and waiting in bread lines. Lincoln’s essential goodness propelled the nation to great heights. He was willing to shed blood to truly take America back. He freed the slaves with the Emancipation Proclimation and believed that our greatness lay in our unity.
Lincoln weeps among the stars as he watches Trump pander to the worst in us. Fear. Rage. Suspicion.
Trump is unwilling to condemn David Duke, former Grand Wizzard of the KKK, and The Donald wants to outlaw an entire religion. The more offensive his is, the higher his ratings go. He is putting the Republican Party out of business. And conservatives know this.
Trump is surfing a wave of outrage, a tsunami of destruction and paranioa crashing into the country and smashing the nation. He won’t win the election. But he isn’t nearly as dangerous as the incoming wall of poision he’s riding. Because those waters won’t recede any time soon.
What happens after Trump looses the general election? Well, I wrote a book about that. Tears of Abraham releases March 22 2016. The first Civil War was bloody. The next one will be worse.
The party of Lincoln: Tears of Abraham
Lincoln is easily my favorite president, for without him the United States of America would not exist, and the world would be a vastly different place. We’d probably be speaking Russian and waiting in bread lines. Lincoln’s essential goodness propelled the nation to great heights. He was willing to shed blood to truly take America back. He freed the slaves with the Emancipation Proclimation and believed that our greatness lay in our unity.
Lincoln weeps among the stars as he watches Trump pander to the worst in us. Fear. Rage. Suspicion.
Trump is unwilling to condemn David Duke, former Grand Wizzard of the KKK, and The Donald wants to outlaw an entire religion. The more offensive his is, the higher his ratings go. He is putting the Republican Party out of business. And conservatives know this.
Trump is surfing a wave of outrage, a tsunami of destruction and paranioa crashing into the country and smashing the nation. He won’t win the election. But he isn’t nearly as dangerous as the incoming wall of poision he’s riding. Because those waters won’t recede any time soon.
What happens after Trump looses the general election? Well, I wrote a book about that. Tears of Abraham releases March 22 2016. The first Civil War was bloody. The next one will be worse.
JEA: Take the Power From the People
Thomas Jefferson said “the sheep are happier left to themselves, than under the care of the wolves.” As the Jacksonville Electric Authority eyes proposed changes to regulations for roof-top solar, this public utility must decide what sort of entity it is: will it build community, which is its motto, or destroy it. At the recent board meeting held on the opulent 18th floor of the JEA tower, the board listened patiently to members of the Jacksonville business community and concerned citizens . Let’s hope they actually heard.
What is the plan?
In broad terms, JEA would like to reduce the buyback rate for grid-tied solar by 36%, which will do great harm to the burgeoning industry and the community itself. Essentially, they would like to charge homeowners one fee for the power they use, but reduce the credit given for the electricity the resident creates with a solar array. This makes solar less economically attractive for business owners and residential customers alike.
Why would utilities do this?
The unfounded argument that utilities use to justify proposals like this is that consumers without solar subsidize those who do. This has been refuted over and over again all over the country. Policies like this are incredibly short –sighted. JEA has an enormous solar farm, and is committed to adding to this over the course of this year. That’s a good thing, something to be applauded. What is unacceptable is the underlying idea that the utility would like to generate its own solar power, but crush the ability of the average homeowner to do the same thing. JEA seems to believe that the two are somehow mutually exclusive, when the reality is that more generation capacity is a good thing.
Hostile Takeover
If these proposed changes go into effect, JEA will have quietly committed the hostile takeover of solar in its service area. Public-owned utilities aren’t supposed to behave this way. In Nevada, something similar is occurring now, where a utility owned by Berkshire Hathaway destroyed the economics of roof-top solar overnight with the stroke of a pen. In Jacksonville, solar accounts for a tiny fraction of the total electricity generated. While it is true that the utility is losing some revenue stream, it is also benefiting from the increased production of energy. There is no justification for a utility owned by the people to follow Sun Tzu and act like there is a war, because the people will wind up losing.
Impacts
Real people with real jobs will be put out of work by these proposed changes. The economic ripples will wash over families and communities. Can a company with the motto “building community,” move forward with a plan which will actively destroy lives and smash an entire sector of that very community?
Perception
Renewable energy is the future, and Jacksonville would like to define itself as a forward-thinking, vibrant city of tomorrow, rather than the slightly smelly backwater the name conjured in years past, where folks are set in their ways and change is seen as a threat. We are better than that, on our way to becoming vibrant, diverse, and truly metropolitan.
Our city needs to attract more businesses, more intellect, and the energy of youth. One of the most impactful speakers at the Board of Directors meeting was a self-proclaimed millennial. He pointed out that the eyes of the country are upon us. This proposal is a step backwards in every way for this great city, for these changes will stifle growth and stain the community with small-mindedness and stagnation.
Conclusion
The people overwhelmingly support solar in Jacksonville and around the country. President Bush set up the federal tax credit in 2008 to spur the growth of the industry, and the growth of solar has exceed all expectations. Our citizens want solar.
This proposal from JEA runs counter to the will of the people it is chartered to serve. So call your congressman, write the Mayor’s office, bug your city councilman, and let them know that you think these changes are unfair. Beat back the wolf.
Of Music and Memories
I’ve heard that smell is the sense most tied to memory. I don’t doubt that, but for me, a certain melody can bring the past flooding back in a way that nothing else can. Music has been an integral part of my life since Junior High, so at my age, that’s a prettty long soundtrack.
The perfect song at the right moment leaves an indellible imprint on me. If I’m in a pensive mood and hear that song again, there is a kind of echo in my soul and I can feel the sun on my face, taste the wine, or catch a whisper of perfume.
When I hear Jimmy Buffet, sometimes I’m back in college on a leaky boat with my old friends, that lazy warmth of sunshine, salt water, and laughter shining strong. Back when I knew I could do anything and the world was my oyster and real problems were things other people had. My biggest concern then was whether we would catch fish or get caught by the Marine Patrol. (We were always in violation of something.)
Rock You Like A Hurricane takes me back to high school, getting pumped up before a big basketball game, and I can smell the gym floor and feel the adrenaline and sweat and anticipation. Basketball was a huge part of my life, and like so many things, it’s faded from my consciousness, something I once did that I no longer do. I miss it sometimes, especially when I hear that song.
The Song Remembers When brings me out west to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone when the air was crisp and the light was golden and tasted like hope. We heard that song on the radio as we drove over the Great Divide, the sun slipping below snow-tipped peaks around us and the sky painted a glory of pink and orange, and I recall that moment, knowing how rare and precisous it was, holding on to it for as long as I could. She and the moment slipped away like old loves always do.
My wife recently turned me on to Van Morrison, songs like Into the Mystic, and I can feel those songs wraping around my soul as we make new memories that one day we will look back on with deep fondness. I am in a season of gratitude and love, keenly aware of the often fleeting nature of peace and passion. It’s priceless, a sensation to be savoured, an emotion to be relished in the moment.
Because the memory is only an echo.
The Big Chill and Old Friends
An old friend passed away this week, someone I had not seen in over twenty years. I don’t pretend to know what happened to her during the last decades, but she made a difference in my life and it makes me sad to know she is gone from this world.
I remember her shining and beautiful and bursting with hope and life. She was smart and kind. In my mind she will always be twenty and tan, on the beach and turning every head. She was beautiful and didn’t know it, a rarity in every way.
I feel a certain wistfulness, looking back at friends I’ve loved and lost. Those who were important, central, even, in my life, who drifted away because that’s what time and this world do to us. We change, we grow, and often we grow apart. It’s inevitable and not something to rage at. Still…
The fierce friendship of youth leaves an indellible imprint upon us, because we know we’ll never have friends like that again. When you are seventeen, unfettered by failure or responsebility, friends are the most important thing in the world. The future stretches long into the horizon, dancing with possibility, and Friday night is but the starting line. Living in the moment with the certainty that tomorrow will be just as grand.
It’s magic and tragic how life propels us into the undiscovered country, where we often forget who we were, who we should be, and even who we are. If we are not surrounded by friends and family, it’s easy to stay lost. I know, because I spent time wandering out there in the lonely.
Today I’ll pick up the phone and talk to some old friends and pull my children and my wife close. Life is short.
America Divided: Trump and The Next Civil War
I hoped the GOP would field a candidate that represented the best in the United States. I would have voted for that person, but it looks like we won’t have that option. Trump will win the nomination and leave the majority of the country and the world shaking their collective heads. How did this happen, and what will the consequences be?
Trump appeals to angry Americans who feel threatened, unheard, and disenfranchised, and to these folks The Donald is a beltway outsider willing to say and do whatever it takes to take America back. He is the candidate of insult and outrage, capitalizing on the mistrust of anyone “not quite American.” He wants to build a wall along the southern border and insists that Mexico pay for it and prevent Muslims from entering the country with some magical Muslim detector he will no doubt install at airports around the world. He is quick to attack the poor, pointing a finger at entitlements and insinuating that our economic problems would be solved by eliminating food stamps and medicaid.
The billionaire is a brilliant politician, somehow resonating with families who live paycheck to paycheck, convincing them that he is on their side. It appears that no matter how outrageous, inflammatory, and false his statements are, his double-digit lead will only continue to widen. He is Frankenstein’s monster, birthed by the FOX News propaganda machine, empowered by the Tea Party, which ostensibly believes in less government. Trump beyond the control of the GOP establishment now, and is bashing his way through the countryside.
The Election
Trump will win the GOP nomination. Either Hillary or Sanders will win the Democratic nomination.
In a general election, poll after poll shows either Hillary or Sanders beating trump soundly. Sanders will be able to steal many swing voters and independents, while Hillary will galvanize her base. This outcome is what scares the hell out of me, along with the GOP establishment.
After a long campaign rife with mud-slinging, veiled hatred, and ever increasing vitriol, what happens when the Democrats win? Where does all the outrage go?
Rumors of War
Texas will not go quietly. Petitions have circulated in the Lone Star state to secede from the Union. Remember Jade Helm? The distrust of the federal government runs deep in the south. When the election is over and the Republicans lose again, many citizens will feel that the outcome is unfair, that they have not been heard. More hate groups will spring up, more militias. At some point, Hillary just might get aggressive about gun control. The next President will not be able to heal a nation that fractured years ago.
Texas could sustain itself as a separate country, with its industrial, economic, and agricultural base. Texas has ports for international trade, and of course, oil. If Texas goes, much of the south will go with it.
The next President will have a hard decision to make. Abraham Lincoln chose to go to war to preserve the Union; what will Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders do?
War
The first Civil War took more than 600,000 American lives. The next war will be worse. We didn’t have nuclear weapons, tanks, fighter jets, or drones in 1862.
Take America Back
We are the nation that invented Rock and Roll, the light bulb, and the internet. America stopped Hitler and put men on the moon. We are innovative, hard working, and decent. The American Dream is more real to the rest of the world than it here within our borders. We are admired for our goodness yet we doubt ourselves and fight one another. The ideals of our founding fathers have been usurped, eroded, and manipulated.
Our great republic is now an oligarchy where elections are bought and sold to the highest bidder. We have been played. We must not succumb to the hate and steady stream of misinformation, but instead fight back with our votes, with acts of kindness, and open conversation with people we disagree with. Rather than howling, we should converse. There is no reason for us to be this polarized.
My next novel, Tears of Abraham is about the coming war, seen through the eyes of heroes, innocents, and villains. I believe in the essential goodness of the American people, and I hope that we can drown out the sound of evil.
Religious Patriotism
When a teenager lectures me with earnest certainty, I grin. Because whatever it is they happen to be certain of, I’m pretty sure they’re going to be proved wrong.
“Dude…” (when sentences start with this word, whatever comes afterwards is invariably nonsense; I admit I do this, so I know.) “I’m totally going to be a… ” Nothing wrong with self righteous naivete. Maybe they will and maybe they won’t.
When an adult tells me how it is, how they know it is, I’m less tolerant. There is grinding of the teeth and cocking of the head. Who are you, and why should I listen? I trust what I see more than what I hear.
“I can’t hear what you say, when what you do is so loud.”
The patriot who glorifies Putin is not a patriot. Hate Obama, but don’t love the enemy. The actual fucking enemy. Has anyone opened a history book or read the news from around the world? Putin is a KGB dictator, Reagan’s worst nightmare. Vladimir is laughing his ass off, posing shirtless and invading countries and revamping the Russian nuclear triad. Subs, ICBMs, and bombers. Bombers and fighters that routinely enter airspace off our shores. All up and down the west coast. Testing response times. Russia is building bases in the arctic as I type, shifting assets and positioning new fleets, to places the Soviet Union abandoned. Because there is oil there, and the next world war will be about oil.
The folks who are kissing Putin’s hairy white ass have forgotten that a few thousand nuclear weapons are aimed at them. At us. And, being the tough guy that he is, he would actually use those nukes.
That’s world war three, and it’s a shame “patriots” seem to want that. Because nobody wins the next world war. Not people, anyway. Just the cockroaches.
Donald Trump saying “YOUR FIRED” NBC Upfront for 2005-2006 Fall Line up, at Radio City Music Hall, New Tork City. May 16, 2005. John Spellman / Retna Ltd.
Donald Trump is anti-Christ, though not the antiChrist. So there is this great selection of books, called the New Testament. I’ve read and studied it a bit. Jesus, a pretty important part of that collection of books, had specific things to say about people like The Donald.
Jesus talked about greed, which Trump embodies on purpose with phallic towers and a reality show and every time he opens his mouth. Jesus mentioned giving to the poor, which Trump belittles. The first commandment from Christ was love, yet Trump preaches hate. Jesus taught peace, while Trump seeks war.
Christians who support Trump ought to read the Sermon on the Mount. It’s right there, more than once, in the Bible.
They’re not taking our guns. Despite the caterwauling, there are no jackboots marching up our stairs. No one is coming. Except the gun makers, who are. Because stocks and sales are up every time there is a mass shooting in the U.S.
I support the second amendment. I do bear arms, and I’ve hunted and trained with firearms. I like that smell of propellant after I fire a round, the feel of a weapon in my hands, and the CRACK, satisfying and liberating when I kill a target with Bin Laden’s face on it.
Hillary is terrible, and I don’t love Obama. I respect President Obama for what he’s done in an environment of obstructionism, but he isn’t my favorite president by a long shot. The economy is way up, the deficit is down, and we have ISIS spreading like the plague. It would be great if we could come together as a country again. Conservatives paint the world in red and blue, and liberals do the same damn thing.
Be Pro-Life. Abortion is terrible, in my opinion. It doesn’t feel moral to me. That doesn’t give me the right to tell a woman what to do with her body. That’s the government at it’s most invasive. The people standing out in the rain with signs might take a keen look at what being pro life means. Like adoption programs and safety nets for mothers raising children in poverty. Giving kids a chance at a decent life, rather than forcing a mother to bear a child. And then when the idea of a child becomes a child, walking away and dooming that kid to poverty and the distinct possibility of prison.
We are better than what we have become.We are Americans, damn it! Feisty, independent, gritty, and innovative. We have allowed our country to be stolen. The slogan “Take America Back” is true and good; the forces behind it are wrong and dangerous.
Because America is betrayed by the same people behind that campaign. Those that don’t give a damn about America. Money made, cigars lit, yachts at sea, politicians bought. All those James Bond villains in tuxedos? They are real. They kill with lies more lethal than bullets, for they wage wars across continents. The world is “collateral damage,” as long as they’ve got what they want here and now.
We, the people, must take America back. Back from the banks that own this nation and dictate policy. Back from the Saudis, who control the oil and the banks. Back from the divisive media. We are allowing these parasites to kill us. We need to shake them off.
Perhaps we should listen.
The children might just have it right. Earnest, good, and true.
THE ROAD TO ASHES 4: Going Off-Grid
I began writing THE BOOK OF ASHES in May 2013. This coincided with a personal decision to withdraw from society as much as was practically possible for a period of time. Initially, I believed the withdrawal would be temporary . For while I have always admired the monastic life, I have never been able to conform to either its religious or aesthetic strictures. My mind delights in spontaneity, and I am too spiritually omnivorous for holy orders. And yet three years and two books later, a discipline of its own has emerged from this existence and I remain committed to it. If anything, my isolation will deepen.
I better explain.
I have a book coming out next week – an important one for me. Although I don’t begrudge it of others, I never did the whole “professional-workshop-rub-elbows-with-authors-and-editors-of-note” thing. I have noticed how the publication of a workshop grad’s novel is treated as…
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America Divided: “We, the sheeple…”
I mourn for my country as it tears itself apart. We are better than this, and seem to have forgotten. Not since the Civil War has the United States been so torn, and it’s along similar geographic lines. In the wake of the California, Paris, and Planned Parenthood shootings, the vitriolic rhetoric is nastier than ever.
We are under attack
America is under attack from enemies foreign and domestic. ISIS is no joke, no J.V. team, and they are not contained, despite what President Obama has said. The war on terror, and ISIS in particular needs to be swift and brutal and waged without mercy. Before it’s over, there will be thousands of troops on the ground again because airstrikes will not stop ISIS. Unfortunately, this is only a temporary solution to a problem with roots more than a thousand years old.
The only way to truly stop ISIS and other violent, nasty terror groups long-term is for the Arab nations, and the Imams that dictate religious policy decisions in particular, to put an end to the cries for Jihad and reign in the fundamentalist interpretations of the Koran. Because while there are violent verses, there is also a message of peace in the mix. It’s a question of what people choose to focus on and believe.
Violent fundamentalism is a cancer, and it is spreading. Unfortunately, the U.S. plays into ISIS’s hands by turning a war on terror into a war on Islam. It’s what they want, both by making recruitment easier, and by undermining our collective values as a nation. That’s how terrorists win.
The threat within
Our own citizens are far more likely to kill us than someone who sneaks into this country. Worse, they are more likely to destroy us as a nation.
Social media makes this worse. Reporting so slanted that it cannot rightfully be called news pours gasoline on the fire. Misinformation and lies abound, with memes designed to incite hatred and violence. People are inspired by fear, and fear sometimes leads to action. The fact that the leading GOP candidates are completely insane illustrates this.
LAS VEGAS, NV – APRIL 28: Chairman and President of the Trump Organization Donald Trump yells ‘you’re fired’ after speaking to several GOP women’s group at the Treasure Island Hotel & Casino April 28, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Trump has been testing the waters with stops across the nation in recent weeks and has created media waves by questioning whether President Barack Obama was born in the United States. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
Trump is woefully incompetent to lead the nation, his main attraction that he is willing to say anything, whether it is true or not, in order to get media attention. He seems bulletproof, in that he can get away with spouting absurdities and insults; people like this about him. “He says what we’re thinking, but afraid to say.” He is a dick, and people actually respect that about him.
It’s not just Trump, obviously, but his astonishing popularity is indicative of the greater problem: we’ve turned into a hateful people. There is virtually no reasoned discourse, no ability to look at issues from both sides. Whether it’s the Second Amendment, women’s rights, the war on terror, immigration, or health care, each issue is framed in black and white by the media. And people eat it up.
Gun control
I’m a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment. That said, the word “regulated” is right there. I fail to see how supporting thorough back ground checks or better enforcement of existing laws is an infringement of this right. No one is coming to get our guns. That’s fear-based paranoia, and it works out well for the multi-billion dollar industry that manufactures firearms and ammunition. Every time there is a mass-shooting, stocks and profits see a huge spike.
This is an American issue, not one of left or right. Yet it’s framed in such a way that the very idea of restrictions on firearms becomes jackboots and Nazis confiscating our guns. Gun restrictions have not led to dramatic drops in gun violence, that’s true. But, the areas with the most guns have the most gun violence. Something needs to be done beyond more people walking around armed.
The looming Civil War
I routinely see people calling for a revolution or secession on social media. My next book, Tears of Abraham, which releases from Post Hill Press in March, is about this very thing. People call themselves patriots with one breath, and demand a revolution with the next. It’s despicable, unpatriotic, and in the end, evil.
The first page of Tears of Abraham:
Often, that which is done cannot be undone. Sometimes a pebble unleashes a landslide; a small object becomes unstoppable, smashing and sliding and gathering momentum until chaos pulverizes everything. When the dust settles, there is a new landscape, crushed and snapped and desolate, which surely the pebble did not intend. The illusion of control can be more destructive than nature itself, when hubris convinces men to believe the lies they tell themselves.
It began with a few powerful men, tinkering and arrogant, manipulating and prodding. Wealth and power, unfettered by wisdom and conscience, smashed the United States of America. History now remembers the conflict as the second American Civil War, although there were many citizens who then fervently believed they were fighting a Revolution.
The first Civil War cost the lives of more than 600,000 people, and was the bloodiest conflict in our country’s history. The second war was worse.
We, the people, are too easily led by fear and hate. We need to talk to each other, not at one another. Listen, and work together to fix what has become broken. I shudder at the world my children will inherit, and can only pray that we find a way beyond the consuming darkness
.http://www.amazon.com/Tears-Abraham-Sean-T-Smith/dp/1618688197
Author Sean T. Smith 