On Wednesdays, I ride the train up to the bridge studio where I work. On the way home, I got to share the train with a group of angry white people from the affluent suburbs coming down to dangerous downtown Dallas to protest. They're protesting Obama, worried about socialism, communism, moslimism, and convinced that someone (including Obama but surely with others involved) is taking advantage of their affluence. I heard one woman seriously lecture another on how much oil could easily be drilled from offshore sites--enough to bring oil down to pennies a gallon (who would drill the incredibly expensive wells if oil was so cheap was not discussed). The thing that really caught my attention was that they were saying the same things back and forth to each other.

Did you ever read A WRINKLE IN TIME? In this book by Madeleine L'Engle, there was a scene where our protagonist was walking down the street and noticed that all the children were bouncing their balls to the same beat. I felt a bit like that when I heard all of these angry and priviledged whites (no minorities were on the train--perhaps they came in a different car) echoed the same tired stories back and forth. I'm sad about newspapers dying because it becomes so easy to only find your 'news' from sources you agree with. (Even broad-minded I have to resist this temptation).

I didn't know what to think about them taking the (publically funded) train down to (evil) downtown Dallas. Should I be happy they're aware enough of the dangers of polution to avoid driving? What do you think? Did anyone out there in blog land go to any of the Republican-organized 'spontaneous' uprisings? Did you see Texas's Gov. was talking about seceding because, ah, well--it wasn't clear why but it played well with his audience.

In exciting news, Kenneth E. Ingle's new book, FIRST CONTACT, was highlighted in today's eBooks Just Published. Here's the link: http://www.ebooksjustpublished.com/. Congratulations, Ken. In honor of the occasion, I'll make FIRST CONTACT the www.BooksForABuck.com book of the day. A group of scientists discovers a lab explosion resulted in a dramatic slowing in their aging process. Good news, of course--except when the news leaks out. Then they'll become lab experiments rather than experimentors. Their only out--to escape from Earth completely. But what happens when they reach the stars--only to find them already occupied? FIRST CONTACT is $3.99, but it's under introductory pricing--only $1.00 for the complete eBook (until May 9). Learn more, read the free excerpt, or buy the eBook here: www.booksforabuck.com/sfpages/sf_09/first_contact.html. (Available in HTML, Adobe Acrobat PDF, eReader, Mobipocket, Microsoft Reader, Sony Reader and ePub formats).

Here's the cover (cover design by Karen Leabo):

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