Midlist Writer: Barack Obama

Showing posts with label Barack Obama. Show all posts

Tuesday, 29 March 2016

Travel Tuesday: Obama in Ethiopia

The American elections are in full swing and it has to be the most unpredictable race I've seen since I started paying attention in the 80s. But whoever wins, one thing is for certain--Obama will leave the White House in November. I wrote about his nomination way back in 2008 in a strangely prescient post.

Love him or hate him, Obama is a historic president, and it isn't just Americans who think so. When I was in Ethiopia I saw pictures of him all over. Above is the Obama Hotel near Addis Ababa. I didn't get to stay there, so I can't tell you if the accommodations filled me with hope or if they really serve Johnny Walker. When I was in Harar in eastern Ethiopia I came across these cool Obama pens, imported from Kenya. Actually they were just standard ballpoint pens with Obama's name printed on them. I think I still have a couple of those around somewhere. I also gave one to a woman who worked on his campaign. She got a chuckle from that.

Next year will we see a Trump Hotel or Clinton pens in Africa? I don't think so!

Wednesday, 22 September 2010

How to lose followers on Twitter

I've posted about Twitter for writers here on Midlist Writer before. I feel it can be a useful tool as long as you know what you want to do with it and stay focused. So far I've been pretty successful at keeping a good signal-to-noise ratio in who I follow, but I just had to unfollow someone for the first time.

I won't mention names in order to protect the guilty. Suffice it to say it was a feed that had a Civil War title and a bio saying the guy tweets on topics related to the American Civil War. At first he did, but as time went on more and more political commentary slipped in alongside the history links and battlefield news. For the past couple of weeks all he's been doing is spouting Nobama stuff. He hasn't said Obama is a Muslim, but I have a feeling that's coming.

Now it's totally within his right to criticize the president. What bothers me is that his Twitter feed claims he's going to tweet about the Civil War. I don't like being misled. If you want to be successful on Twitter, be open about what you're going to do. Otherwise you'll start losing followers.

Wednesday, 4 June 2008

Obama's Nomination: A New America? Maybe, Maybe Not

This has nothing to do with writing, but everyone is talking about this today so I might as well throw in my two cents.

History has been made. A U.S. political party has finally nominated an African-American as its candidate for president.

While I'm very happy and this is an amazing moment, we do need to put this in perspective. The Civil War ended 143 years ago, so this was a long time coming. Also, racism is still rife in U.S., witness the huge round of applause Rep. Geoff Davis (KY-R) when he referred to Obama as a "boy" at a Republican event. Speaking of the Civil War, did anyone else catch the irony of this guy's name?

Last month here in Madrid I met an African socialist who said Obama was "white power with a black face." That's a bit cynical, but if I was an African socialist I'd be cynical too. He does have a point, though. Just how much can Obama really change the power structure in the U.S.? Or change its deep-rooted racism? We've heard these promises before, by other candidates who were probably well intentioned too, and little has changed.

I'm also worried that he will become the ultimate in tokenism. People will think, "How can we be a racist country if we have a black candidate?" Quite easily, as a matter of fact. Whites might consider him "one of the good ones" and continue thinking as they've always thought.

On the other hand, maybe this is the start of something new. I teach university students, and one thing I've noticed is that there a lot more interracial couples than there were when I was in college almost twenty years ago. That's a good sign. Plus people are beginning to recognize the lasting legacy of slavery. Which brings me to:

I apologize for slavery. I'm Canadian, and Canadians like to be smug about the fact that slavery was always illegal in our country, but we were part of the British Empire. My family was middle class, and all white middle class people in the Empire benefited directly or indirectly from the slave trade. So I'm sorry I got an unfair advantage and you got burdened with all this crap. Yeah, this doesn't change anything, but it had to be said.

And yes, I am embarrassed the state of Virginia beat me to it.

Oh, and sorry to the Native Americans for the genocide. Interesting how that still gets ignored.

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The Case of the Purloined Pyramid

The Last Hotel Room

He came to Tangier to die, but life isn’t done with him yet. Tom Miller has lost his job, his wife, and his dreams. Broke and alone, he ends up in a flophouse in Morocco, ready to end it all. But soon he finds himself tangled in a web of danger and duty as he’s pulled into scamming tourists for a crooked cop while trying to help a Syrian refugee boy survive life on the streets. Can a lifelong loser do something good for a change? A portion of my royalties will go to a charity for Syrian refugees.

Warpath into Sonora

Arizona 1846: Nantan, a young Apache warrior, is building a name for himself by leading raids against Mexican ranches to impress his war chief, and the chief’s lovely daughter. But there is one thing he and all other Apaches fear—a ruthless band of Mexican scalp hunters who slaughter entire villages. Nantan and his friends have sworn to fight back, but they are inexperienced, and led by a war chief driven mad with a thirst for revenge. Can they track their tribe’s worst enemy into unknown territory and defeat them?

Radio Hope

In a world shattered by war, pollution and disease. . . A gunslinging mother longs to find a safe refuge for her son. A frustrated revolutionary delivers water to villagers living on a toxic waste dump. The assistant mayor of humanity's last city hopes he will never have to take command. One thing gives them the promise of a better future--Radio Hope, a mysterious station that broadcasts vital information about surviving in a blighted world. But when a mad prophet and his army of fanatics march out of the wildlands on a crusade to purify the land with blood and fire, all three will find their lives intertwining, and changing forever.

Refugees from the Righteous Horde (Toxic World Book 2)

When you only have one shot, you better aim true. In a ravaged world, civilization’s last outpost is reeling after fighting off the fanatical warriors of the Righteous Horde. Sheriff Annette Cruz becomes New City’s long arm of vengeance as she sets off across the wildlands to take out the cult’s leader. All she has is a sniper’s rifle with one bullet and a former cultist with his own agenda. Meanwhile, one of the cult’s escaped slaves makes a discovery that could tear New City apart. . . Refugees from the Righteous Horde continues the Toxic World series started in Radio Hope, an ongoing narrative of humanity’s struggle to rebuild the world it ruined.

The Scavenger

In a world shattered by war, pollution, and disease, a lone scavenger discovers a priceless relic from the Old Times. The problem is, it's stuck in the middle of the worst wasteland he knows--a contaminated city inhabited by insane chem addicts and vengeful villagers. Only his wits, his gun, and an unlikely ally can get him out alive. Set in the Toxic World series introduced in the novel Radio Hope, this 10,000-word story explores more of the dangers and personalities that make up a post-apocalyptic world that's all too possible.

Trench Raiders

September 1914: The British Expeditionary Force has the Germans on the run, or so they think. After a month of bitter fighting, the British are battered, exhausted, and down to half their strength, yet they’ve helped save Paris and are pushing toward Berlin. Then the retreating Germans decide to make a stand. Holding a steep slope beside the River Aisne, the entrenched Germans mow down the advancing British with machine gun fire. Soon the British dig in too, and it looks like the war might grind down into deadly stalemate. Searching through No-Man’s Land in the darkness, Private Timothy Crawford of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry finds a chink in the German armor. But can this lowly private, who spends as much time in the battalion guardhouse as he does on the parade ground, convince his commanding officer to risk everything for a chance to break through?

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