Monday, October 06, 2008
The Struggle for Universal Single-Payer Health Care
I just interviewed Katie Robbins of Healthcare-NOW!
Excerpt:
The current system functions with insurance bureaucrats sitting behind desks to advise health care professionals how to treat their patients. People are dying before they get the approval for needed care. Each denial results in direct profits for the insurance companies. A single-payer system (not socialized medicine) removes profit from health care allowing people to choose any doctor in the country and will provide accurate, streamlined payment for quality care delivered in a timely fashion to everyone...while simultaneously saving money.
+++
+++
Mickey Z. on YouTube:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Click here to hear me interviewed on Break for News
+++
Order my brand new book, No Innocent Bystanders, here
Order my new novel, CPR for Dummies, here
Like what you see on this blog? Then please make a donation
Comments (9)
Printer Friendly Format
| Tell-a-Friend
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Palin heaps praise on unrepentant 'terrorist'
Sarah Palin continues to closely associate with and praise celebrated “terrorist” John McCain, who terrorized the Vietnamese people in the 1960s by participating in bombing campaigns against that nation.
McCain and his colleagues were members of a military that terrorized the Vietnamese through the criminal Operation Rolling Thunder and other bombing campaigns. The U.S. government brutally murdered millions of Vietnamese and other people in Southeast Asia in the 1960s and 1970s.
The unrepentant “terrorist” McCain, whose military aircraft was shot down over Hanoi during a bombing run, was released by the Vietnamese government in 1973 after more than five years in prison. Today, a member of a foreign military captured in the United States after engaging in numerous bombing missions over the United States would face, at best, life in prison, marked by continuous torture at the hands of his U.S. captors, or more likely the death penalty.
Back in the 1960s, straight talkers would refer to people like John McCain as low-level war criminals. Using the parlance of 21st century America, however, straight talkers today are forced to refer to McCain’s conduct in Vietnam as the actions of a “terrorist.”
Palin’s constant praise of McCain for his role in the U.S. war of terror against Vietnam easily qualifies her as a “terrorist” supporter.
Comments (0)
Printer Friendly Format
| Tell-a-Friend
Saturday, October 04, 2008
No White Flags
Four years ago, many leftists waved a white flag of surrender by abandoning their political principles and embracing Sen. John Kerry’s campaign for president. The Nobody But Kerry crowd lectured disgruntled leftists and anti-imperialists to vote for the Democratic nominee because, even though Kerry was a despicable candidate, his policies would be slightly less fascist and imperialist than George Bush’s. This fraction of a difference between the Democratic and Republican candidates, the Nobody But Kerry supporters argued, perhaps would result in a few more lives spared in foreign countries under attack by the American war machine. It would be irresponsible, they argued, not to take into account the possibility that a Kerry regime would kill a few less Iraqis each year in its occupation of that country and would harass a few less Americans in the so-called war on terrorism.
Here we are four years later and many Democrats are once again claiming this is the most important presidential election of our lifetimes and perhaps the most important one since 1932. While their candidate runs a campaign promoting policy positions eerily indistinguishable from Republican presidential nominee John McCain, Democrats tell us things will be different if Obama is elected in November.
This time around, though, I’m not seeing as many leftists waving the white flag of surrender in support of Obama. Maybe that’s because I’m just not seeking out these voices as I was four years ago.
Sure, Michael Moore appeared on Larry King Live a few weeks ago to sing Barack Obama’s praises. Michael Moore, who supported and campaigned for Ralph Nader in 2000, was joined by a group of white men in a bowling alley in his home state of Michigan. Larry King, who was in his Los Angeles studio, interviewed Michael Moore remotely, with the viewers able to see the bowlers in the background. The purpose of the political event was to show that middle-aged white guys with mustaches and beer bellies aren’t all racists or Republicans. I hope the Obama campaign paid CNN a hefty fee for letting Michael Moore appear on the show, because it was a one-hour advertisement for the Democratic presidential nominee.
But Michael Moore is not a leftist or a radical, he only markets himself as one. For example, Michael Moore favors socialized health care. But less than a year after he released his film Sicko, he endorsed the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, who does not support socialized medicine. That’s a major contradiction and is emblematic of Michael Moore’s preferred strategies and tactics that result in very little real political and social change.
Some liberals and leftists will argue that no Democratic candidate can be perfect. But for people who want real change in U.S. foreign policy, economic policy and environmental policy, as well as the protection of our civil liberties, Barack Obama is a complete disaster. A Barack Obama presidency would not change the policies of the Bush administration in any meaningful way.
So, it’s heartening to see that leftists aren’t out in droves this presidential election season lecturing us about how we must hold our noses and vote for the Democratic nominee. If you are a leftist, radical or antiwar conservative and choose to vote for Obama, fine. But if you want to vote for Cynthia McKinney, Bob Barr, Ralph Nader, William Blum or the one-eyed bunny because these people’s policies more closely reflect your positions, that’s also fine. And if you choose not to participate in voting at the presidential or any other level (and instead engage in other actions for real change) because you believe it won’t make a difference based on the way our political systems are currently constructed, then that probably makes the most sense.
Comments (0)
Printer Friendly Format
| Tell-a-Friend
"The TV teaches conformity"
Part babysitter, part opinion-giver and part hypnotist, the TV has come to dominate American life like no other invention. We learn what to eat, how to dress, what to say and how to think all from that glowing box in our bedroom and living room…and kitchen and gym and bank and airport (there seems to be a TV everywhere). The payoff for all this spectatorship is a lifestyle based on imitation, competition, materialism and self-delusion. The TV keeps us inactive while our biology desires movement. The TV sells us junk food while our bodies crave nutrients. The TV trains us to be obedient while our minds yearn for freedom. The TV teaches conformity while our souls demand individuality.
+++
Excerpt from one of my new books here
+++
+++
A mechanism for change within the system?
“If you feel strongly that American democracy has been in serious decline for some time and that we desperately need fundamental reforms, such as: replacing the Electoral College with the popular vote, providing a constitutional mechanism for citizens to recall a president, making mandatory that only Congress can declare war and cannot sidestep that constitutional requirement by any means, that all private financing of political campaigns must be replaced by total public financing (to remove the influence of special interests, lobbyists, corporate powers, etc), to outlaw presidential signing statements that in any way negate legislation passed by Congress, then click here for more info."
+++
Mickey Z. on YouTube:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Click here to hear me interviewed on Break for News
+++
Order my brand new book, No Innocent Bystanders, here
Order my new novel, CPR for Dummies, here
Like what you see on this blog? Then please make a donation
Comments (17)
Printer Friendly Format
| Tell-a-Friend
Friday, October 03, 2008
This time, it's a "CPR for Dummies" review (and interview)
+++
Speaking of Mickey Z. reviews, there’s this
And here’s one from Expendable Michael
+++
+++
Looking out my kitchen window:
+++
Mickey Z. on YouTube:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Click here to hear me interviewed on Break for News
+++
Order my brand new book, No Innocent Bystanders, here
Order my new novel, CPR for Dummies, here
Like what you see on this blog? Then please make a donation
Comments (10)
Printer Friendly Format
| Tell-a-Friend
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
The first review of "No Innocent Bystanders"
Mike Palecek has reviewed No Innocent Bystanders: Riding Shotgun in the Land of Denial
Excerpt:
“There are kids dying,” Mickey stabs us in the stomach with his face in our face, twisting the knife, stepping back so not to get the slimey liberal guts and goo on his tennis shoes.
+++
+++
Mickey Z. on YouTube:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Click here to hear me interviewed on Break for News
+++
Order my brand new book, No Innocent Bystanders, here
Order my new novel, CPR for Dummies, here
Like what you see on this blog? Then please make a donation
Comments (12)
Printer Friendly Format
| Tell-a-Friend
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Let's hear it for the Radical Left
(insert rimshot here)
Just for the sheer fun of it, I’m gonna share three recent responses I got from some heavyweight Lefties, re: my new book, No Innocent Bystanders.
1. This longtime denizen of the Left had plenty to say about my book—although he admittedly had not read it:
“Your book sounds like it MIGHT be something we would put in the reject pile, honestly, for castigating the poor and weak on grounds that might be reasonable if they had the facts of the matter right, but they don’t. My guess is the same could be said for you and me...with less excuse...not to mention it isn’t a very useful approach toward people you have to organize, at least not typically.”
2. I asked this very well-known radical author if he’d write a blurb but also explained that since I could not afford to mail out review copies, I’d have to send him the book in PDF form:
“Thank you for your note. I’m sorry, if those are the conditions, then I’ll pass. If my blurb isn’t worth the publisher taking the time to print out a copy—if they’re not going to make it easy for me that way and show me that respect—then I can’t see why I should take the time to come up with a blurb. Their respect has to come first, and then I’ll respect them. They can print it on scratch paper. I don’t care. But they need to make that effort. It’s the same with interviews. I don’t do radio interviews where people make me call them: I’m doing them a favor, and they have to make an effort to show me my time and effort are not worthless to them.”
3. Lastly, this much lesser known progressive pundit took umbrage with me evoking the name of Kurt Vonnegut in my pitch e-mail (although, yes, my writing has been compared to Vonnegut’s a few times recently...as if that’s such a big deal anyway):
“You’re actually comparing yourself to Kurt Vonnegut? I’m sorry dude. Count me out for that review. I knew Kurt. Mickey, I hate to break it to you, but you’re no Kurt Vonnegut. What a fucking maniac.”
(MZ: It’s unclear to me if he was calling me or his buddy “Kurt” a maniac. Your thoughts?)
+++
Ballad of a Neighborhood Legend
+++
Mickey Z. on YouTube:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Click here to hear me interviewed on Break for News
+++
Order my brand new book, No Innocent Bystanders, here
Order my brand new novel, CPR for Dummies, here
Like what you see on this blog? Then please make a donation
Comments (16)
Printer Friendly Format
| Tell-a-Friend
Sunday, September 28, 2008
No Innocent Bystanders
News Flash: I have a new non-fiction book out (from CWG Press): No Innocent Bystanders: Riding Shotgun in the Land of Denial. While much of the material will be familiar to the regulars here, it’s the first time I’ve had all of complied together. The pitch:
No Innocent Bystanders: Riding Shotgun in the Land of Denial is a manifesto in fractals. Transcending labels and political parties, it gets to the heart of our planet’s rapid decline using a blend of facts, humor, vignettes, and relevant quotes and lists. Think: Derrick Jensen meets Arundhati Roy and Kurt Vonnegut.
On the liner notes for The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan album, it’s stated that the song “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” was written during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. “A desperate kind of song,” Dylan called it. “Every line in it is actually the start of a whole song,” he explained. “But when I wrote it, I thought I wouldn’t have enough time alive to write all those songs so I put all I could into this one.” No Innocent Bystanders has been created in that spirit.
As Rosa Luxemburg sez: “The first revolutionary act is to call things by their true names.”
You can order my new book here
(And please spread the word...)
+++
+++
Mickey Z. on YouTube:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Click here to hear me interviewed on Break for News
+++
Order my brand new novel, CPR for Dummies, here
Like what you see on this blog? Then please make a donation
Comments (11)
Printer Friendly Format
| Tell-a-Friend
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Herndon Dog Parade
Comments (0)
Printer Friendly Format
| Tell-a-Friend
Friday, September 26, 2008
"Why political work and organizing are so important"
Assata Shakur sez: “No movement can survive unless it is constantly growing and changing with the times. If it isn’t growing, it’s stagnant, and without the support of the people, no movement for liberation can exist, no matter how correct its analysis of the situation is. That’s why political work and organizing are so important. Unless you are addressing the issues people are concerned about and contributing positive direction, they’ll never support you. The first thing the enemy tries to do is isolate revolutionaries from the masses of people, making us horrible and hideous monsters so that our people will hate us.”
She adds: “Nobody is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them. As long as we expect America’s schools to educate us, we will remain ignorant.”
+++
+++
Mickey Z. on YouTube:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Click here to hear me interviewed on Break for News
+++
Order my brand new novel, CPR for Dummies, here
Like what you see on this blog? Then please make a donation
Comments (11)
Printer Friendly Format
| Tell-a-Friend
Thursday, September 25, 2008
2008 Election Public Service Announcement
Some of the many reasons you shouldn’t vote for John McCain:
He’s raised twice as much money from Wall Street than his opponent. He voted for every Iraq war appropriation bill he faced. He refused to be photographed with San Francisco’s mayor for fear it’d be interpreted that he supported gay marriage. He voted against single payer health care. He supports the death penalty, the Israeli war machine, and the fence on the US-Mexican border. He’s publicly expressed his eagerness to bomb Iran. He supports nuclear energy. When asked if “there’s anything that’s happened in the past 7 1/2 years that the U.S. needs to apologize for in terms of foreign policy?” he responded: “No, I don’t believe in the U.S. apologizing.” He voted to confirm Condoleezza Rice as Secretary of State and to reauthorize the Patriot Act. He…uh-oh. Sorry, I messed up and gave you some of the many, many reasons you shouldn’t vote for Barack Obama.
Regardless, I do believe that either McCain or Obama can help make this country what it once was: an arctic region covered with ice.
Nader vs. McCain and Obama:
+++
+++
Mickey Z. on YouTube:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Click here to hear me interviewed on Break for News
+++
Order my brand new novel, CPR for Dummies, here
Like what you see on this blog? Then please make a donation
Comments (20)
Printer Friendly Format
| Tell-a-Friend
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
For your listening pleasure...
Click here to hear me interviewed on Break for News
Click here to hear me interviewed on Gorilla Radio
+++
+++
Mickey Z. on YouTube:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
+++
Order my brand new novel, CPR for Dummies, here
Like what you see on this blog? Then please make a donation
Comments (14)
Printer Friendly Format
| Tell-a-Friend
Monday, September 22, 2008
Simplify, simplify, simplify
Mike Palecek shared with me this recent exchange. Someone claiming to be “Airmen Blake French” of the United States Air Force wrote him:
We have read your articles, and when I say we I mean myself with my fellow soldiers, and to be blunt, your pissing us off. You talk about war, the military, and government as if we’re just screwin’ the country and out for some laughs. First the thing about oil in Iraq, GET A FUCKING CLUE! We found 100% pure pesticide...know what that’s used for? BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS. They were moving the stuff out before we got there...well, most of it anyway. And a country that plans, encourages, or aids in any way to terrorism is a direct threat to the United States. And on a positive note, the people over there are no longer under rule by a heartless dictator. Stop looking at the picture the liberals are trying to paint to everyone because they want the white house....people are happy over there...you drive around town and they still wave and smile at you saying thank you. If only Americans were like those people...because they know how precious freedom is. And we are fighting for your freedom. We just happened to get in there before it became a larger threat...thats the way its done. If you think that what we are doing over there is nothing more than trying to get ourselves some oil, then I suggest that you put your boots on the line, gear up, and charge into the frontlines with us so you will then fully understand. But thats the problem right there. Nobody can fully understand until they have been in our shoes and know what its like. I thought I knew but I was wrong. So all we ask is for your FULL support, a thankfull attitude, and your prayers for all the soldiers that are standing fast in the path of the enemy ready to kill for you. Because of us you will never know what it is like to hold a weapon in your hand and have to kill for your freedom. We don’t enjoy killing, but we take great pride in why we are doing it. We are United States Soldiers and we defend your freedom wherever we go.
Palecek replied:
Blake,
You and your fellow soldiers are murderers. Someone should have told you by now. Sorry to have to be the one.
Mike
Mike told me: “I have not heard back from Blake since I responded - same day that I received it.”
+++
As Rosa Luxemburg sez: “The first revolutionary act is to call things by their true names.”
+++
+++
+++
Radio-Active:
Tonight, Monday, September 22, I’ll be on with my favorite radio host, Chris Cook of Gorilla Radio (University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada: CFUV 101.9 FM 104.3 Cable) from 8:00 to 8:30 p.m. (EST). Please tune in and/or spread the word.
+++
Mickey Z. on YouTube:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
+++
Order my brand new novel, CPR for Dummies, here
Like what you see on this blog? Then please make a donation
Comments (14)
Printer Friendly Format
| Tell-a-Friend
Saturday, September 20, 2008
We are pliable
Charles Bukowski sez: “For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered. But for those of us who can’t readily accept the God formula, the big answers don’t remain stone-written. We adjust to new conditions and discoveries. We are pliable. Love need not be a command or faith a dictum. I am my own God. We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.”
G.K. Chesterton sez: “When a man ceases to believe in God, he does not believe in nothing, he believes in anything.”
Bertrand Russell sez: “The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.”
Christopher Hitchens sez: “Atheism, and the related conviction that we have just one life to live, is the only sure way to regard all our fellow creatures as brothers and sisters.”
Woody Allen sez: “To you, I’m an atheist. To God, I’m the loyal opposition.”
+++
+++
Radio-Active:
On Monday, September 22, I’ll be on with my favorite radio host, Chris Cook of Gorilla Radio (University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada: CFUV 101.9 FM 104.3 Cable) from 8:00 to 8:30 p.m. (EST).
Please tune in and/or spread the word.
+++
Mickey Z. on YouTube:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
+++
Order my brand new novel, CPR for Dummies, here
Like what you see on this blog? Then please make a donation
Comments (25)
Printer Friendly Format
| Tell-a-Friend
Friday, September 19, 2008
Required reading?
My friend Gina Ranalli recently started a thread on the Bizarro forum that went like this: “Name a book you’ve never read and feel kind of ashamed about it. For me: Brave New World.”
I replied: “I just read Trout Fishing in America so it’s no longer that. Maybe Gravity’s Rainbow?”
So...what about you? Is there a book you always felt you were supposed to read but you still haven’t gotten around to it? If so, you can post your neglected classics in the comments section.
+++
The amazing Ned Vizzini reviewed my novel at Amazon
(Ned)
Anyone else wanna do me a favor and write a five-star review at Amazon?
+++
+++
Radio-Active:
On Monday, September 22, I’ll be on with my favorite radio host, Chris Cook of Gorilla Radio (University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada: CFUV 101.9 FM 104.3 Cable) from 8:00 to 8:30 p.m. (EST). Please tune in and/or spread the word.
+++
Mickey Z. on YouTube:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
+++
Order my brand new novel, CPR for Dummies, here
Like what you see on this blog? Then please make a donation
Comments (19)
Printer Friendly Format
| Tell-a-Friend
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Myth America: A Stand-up Tragedy
(I turned my recent talk into an article)
Before you know it, the government might start spying on American citizens and detaining prisoners without charges while corporations ravage the earth in pursuit of profit, wiping out entire eco-systems in the process. Oops, sorry…they’re already doing all that without being stopped.
Take a look at your watch. Since yesterday at this hour, 13 million tons of toxic chemicals were released across the globe; two hundred thousand acres of rainforest were destroyed; more than 100 plant or animal species went extinct; and 45,000 human beings died of starvation (most of them children).
What will we say in 20-30 years when we’re asked why we didn’t do more to challenge all this? What will we say when we’re asked why cared more about Gwen Stefani’s tattoos than how our tax dollars are spent? What will we say when we’re asked why we focused on imaginary evildoers instead of the corporate pirates raping the planet and controlling our minds?
It’s not as if we don’t have choices. Ask yourself this: Which do you prefer, a consumer culture or an ozone layer? SUVs or forests? Cell phones or Eastern Lowland Gorillas? Would you give up the ability to text ttyl to your BFF in order to save a species from going extinct? In 2008, it’s not an unreasonable question.
+++
+++
Radio-Active:
On Monday, September 22, I’ll be on with my favorite radio host, Chris Cook of Gorilla Radio (University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada: CFUV 101.9 FM 104.3 Cable) from 8:00 to 8:30 p.m. (EST). Please tune in and/or spread the word.
+++
Mickey Z. on YouTube:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
+++
Order my brand new novel, CPR for Dummies, here
Like what you see on this blog? Then please make a donation
Comments (12)
Printer Friendly Format
| Tell-a-Friend
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Trade your boredom for chaos
Guy Debord sez: “Boredom is always counter-revolutionary. Always.”
(More cartoons from Ron Cobb here)
+++
+++
Let’s laugh:
+++
Mickey Z. on YouTube:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
+++
Order my brand new novel, CPR for Dummies, here
Like what you see on this blog? Then please make a donation
Comments (11)
Printer Friendly Format
| Tell-a-Friend
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Change we can believe in
Dick Cheney sez: “Recent occurrences in Georgia, beginning with the military invasion by Russia, have been flatly contrary to some of our most deeply held beliefs. Russian forces crossed an internationally recognized border into a sovereign state; fueled and fomented an internal conflict; conducted acts of war without regard for innocent life, killing civilians and causing the displacement of tens of thousands.”
Paul Street sez: Recently Obama was asked by CNN’s Candy Crowley if “there’s anything that’s happened in the past 7 1/2 years that the U.S. needs to apologize for in terms of foreign policy?” Obama responded by saying, “No, I don’t believe in the U.S. apologizing. As I said I think the war in Iraq was a mistake. We didn’t keep our eye on the ball in Afghanistan. But, you know, hindsight is 20/20, and I’m much more interested in looking forward rather than looking backwards.” The United States, Obama told Crowley, “remains overwhelmingly a force of good in the world”
(Obama sez: “I’m not a liberal, but I play one on TV")
+++
+++
Mickey Z. on YouTube:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
+++
Order my brand new novel, CPR for Dummies, here
Like what you see on this blog? Then please make a donation
Comments (13)
Printer Friendly Format
| Tell-a-Friend
Friday, September 12, 2008
September 11 and what passes for "normal"
I did a reading on 9/11 and turned it into an article for those who couldn’t be there (unfortunately, no YouTube this time).
Excerpt:
The New York Stock Exchange was shut down by the attacks, but once things returned to normal, Wall Street went back to making decisions that impacted horrendously upon the large majority of the globe while the top one percent of Americans carried on owning wealth equal to the bottom 95 percent. That’s normal.
+++
+++
Mickey Z. on YouTube:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
+++
Order my brand new novel, CPR for Dummies, here
Like what you see on this blog? Then please make a donation
Comments (18)
Printer Friendly Format
| Tell-a-Friend
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
On 9/11: Come see Mickey Z. read (with a possible surprise guest)
(Cynthia McKinney told me she’d try to join us)
First, I have this 9/11 re-run: me and Sander Hicks
Event:
The folks at BuzzerThirty have asked me to participate in a reading at Waltz-Astoria Café on:
Thursday, September 11
8:00 pm
Also scheduled to appear:
Singer-songwriter Val Turner
Poet Eliot Katz
And perhaps: Cynthia McKinney
I’d love it if someone could bring a video camera...
Note: My presentation will not be the same as in my recent talks
+++
+++
Mickey Z. on YouTube:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
+++
Order my brand new novel, CPR for Dummies, here
Like what you see on this blog? Then please make a donation
Comments (12)
Printer Friendly Format
| Tell-a-Friend
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Astoria protest photos: September 7
Mickey Z. fires up the crowd at the pre-march rally
Organizers: Marisa Ragonese, Eliot Katz, and Father Lewis Braxton
Michele holds the bullhorn for Val Turner
I got interviewed for the upcoming documentary, Re-Generation
+++
Your tax dollars at work
(Thanks, RMJ)
+++
+++
Event Alert:
The folks at BuzzerThirty have asked me to participate in a reading at Waltz-Astoria Café on:
Thursday, September 11
8:00 pm
Also scheduled to appear:
Singer-songwriter Val Turner
Poet Eliot Katz
The date is 9/11 but the event is not directly related. However, when I was asked, the request came with this proviso: “I figured you might offer an interesting perspective on the anniversary.” (So much for me reading a perverted excerpt from my novel, huh?)
Note: My presentation will not be the same as in my recent talks
Please save the date and/or spread the word far and wide
+++
Mickey Z. on YouTube:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
+++
Order my brand new novel, CPR for Dummies, here
Like what you see on this blog? Then please make a donation
Comments (17)
Printer Friendly Format
| Tell-a-Friend
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Mouth-to-Mouth Fiction
Greg Elich recently interviewed me about my brand new novel, CPR for Dummies. Read that full interview here.
Also, anyone (in the US) interested in buying a signed copy of CPR for Dummies can do so by sending $20 (check, cash, MO) to me at:
Mickey Z.
Box 9103
Astoria, NY 11103
(Or simply order it online it here)
+++
+++
Don’t forget: Astoria protest today
+++
Event Alert:
The folks at BuzzerThirty have asked me to participate in a reading at Waltz-Astoria Café on:
Thursday, September 11
8:00 pm
Also scheduled to appear:
Singer-songwriter Val Turner
Poet Eliot Katz
The date is 9/11 but the event is not directly related. However, when I was asked, the request came with this proviso: “I figured you might offer an interesting perspective on the anniversary.” (So much for me reading a perverted excerpt from my novel, huh?)
Note: My presentation will not be the same as in my recent talks
Please save the date and/or spread the word far and wide
+++
Mickey Z. on YouTube:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
+++
Order my brand new novel, CPR for Dummies, here
Like what you see on this blog? Then please make a donation
Comments (24)
Printer Friendly Format
| Tell-a-Friend
Friday, September 05, 2008
White House haiku, health nuts, and the usual self-promotion
(This is how I roll)
September is often a time for redemption. The carefree days of summer are over, school is back in session and, of course, many Americans decide now is the ideal time to get themselves back into shape. Go ahead: Get more active, pay close attention to what you eat and perhaps eschew many of the toxic habits considered “normal” in this coast-to-coast mall. But consider yourself warned. Too much chatter about stepping up and taking responsibility for one’s own mental and physical fitness just might get you labeled a “health nut.”
You see, human beings can eat junk food till their arteries scream for mercy without ever running the risk of being called a “disease nut.” However, frequent use of words like “organic,” “natural,” or “vegetarian” will send up a red flag in the USA.
+++
+++
Event Alert:
The folks at BuzzerThirty have asked me to participate in a reading at Waltz-Astoria Café on:
Thursday, September 11
8:00 pm
Also scheduled to appear:
Singer-songwriter Val Turner
Poet Eliot Katz
The date is 9/11 but the event is not directly related. However, when I was asked, the request came with this proviso: “I figured you might offer an interesting perspective on the anniversary.” (So much for me reading a perverted excerpt from my novel, huh?)
Note: My presentation will not be the same as in my recent talks
Please save the date and/or spread the word far and wide
+++
Mickey Z. on YouTube:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
+++
Order my brand new novel, CPR for Dummies, here
Like what you see on this blog? Then please make a donation
Comments (28)
Printer Friendly Format
| Tell-a-Friend
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Not all jokes are funny (lol)
Okay, here’s an unfunny joke:
A nun, a pimp, and a giraffe walk into a bar.
The bartender sez: “We don’t serve gorillas here”
The bar explodes.
Then Jesus marries Oprah.
Here’s another kind of unfunny joke:
“Knock, knock”
“Who’s there?”
“Sweatshop”
“Sweatshop who?”
“Wal-Mart”
Who’s got an unfunny or nonsense joke for us?
+++
+++
Event Alert:
The folks at BuzzerThirty have asked me to participate in a reading at Waltz-Astoria Café on:
Thursday, September 11
8:00 pm
Also scheduled to appear:
Singer-songwriter Val Turner
Poet Eliot Katz
The date is 9/11 but the event is not directly related. However, when I was asked, the request came with this proviso: “I figured you might offer an interesting perspective on the anniversary.” (So much for me reading a perverted excerpt from my novel, huh?)
Note: My presentation will not be the same as in my recent talks
Please save the date and/or spread the word far and wide
+++
Mickey Z. on YouTube:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
+++
Order my brand new novel, CPR for Dummies, here
Like what you see on this blog? Then please make a donation
Comments (22)
Printer Friendly Format
| Tell-a-Friend
Monday, September 01, 2008
That time of year again: Labor Day, back to school, etc.
Plus, one final summer blast from my not-so-recent past:
Keeping the “Labor” in Labor Day
+++
In case you were wondering why Jimmy Carter didn’t speak at the Democratic Convention
+++
+++
+++
Event Alert:
The folks at BuzzerThirty have asked me to participate in a reading at Waltz-Astoria Café on:
Thursday, September 11
8:00 pm
Also scheduled to appear:
Singer-songwriter Val Turner
Poet Eliot Katz
The date is 9/11 but the event is not directly related. However, when I was asked, the request came with this proviso: “I figured you might offer an interesting perspective on the anniversary.” (So much for me reading a perverted excerpt from my novel, huh?)
Note: My presentation will not be the same as in my recent talks
Please save the date and/or spread the word far and wide
+++
Mickey Z. on YouTube:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
+++
Order my brand new novel, CPR for Dummies, here
Like what you see on this blog? Then please make a donation
Comments (12)
Printer Friendly Format
| Tell-a-Friend
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Astoria News
In response to a recent attack that took place at Carmen’s Place—a local shelter for homeless LGBT youth—Astorians United Against Hate Crimes have organized a March Against Hate on Sunday, Sept. 7.
Meet at Athens Park (30th Ave. and 30th St.) at 1:00 pm and march down 30th Ave. to Carmen’s Place at 31-14 Steinway St.
Directions: Take the N train to the 30th Ave. stop & walk one block west (note: there is no W train on weekends]
For more info, contact Marisa Ragonese, Program Director of Generation Q:
718-204-5955
mragonese@queenscommunityhouse.org
+++
+++
Astoria Event Alert:
The folks at BuzzerThirty have asked me to participate in a reading at Waltz-Astoria Café on:
Thursday, September 11
8:00 pm
Also scheduled to appear:
Singer-songwriter