Barry Graham's Blog, page 114

Mitt Romney thinks 47% of us are lazy and dependent on the government. I guess he hasn’t looked in the mirror.

A new study from the rightist Cato Institute estimates that the Federal Government will spend almost $100 billion on corporate welfare this year. The sources of private sector subsidies cross most departments – Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, among others. And the study does not take into account corporate hand-outs by state and local governments.

Some o...

Tonight, Obama and Romney face each other in debate. I’ve read some speculation that this is Romney’s chance to reverse the current media narrative that his defeat is inevitable.

Obama can be a clumsy and inarticulate debater, so Romney might be in with a chance tonight. But, even if Obama completely humiliates him, I think it’s very possible that Romney might win the election.

First, let’s remember that the debates mean little or nothing. Americans support political par...

The Portland, Oregon Sitting Frog group will be called The Broken Buddha Zen Center. I’ll be arriving in Portland in late October, and would like to start holding a weekly service in November. Any suggestions for or offers of a meeting place would be greatly appreciated. Close to Nob Hill would be ideal, but anywhere central will work. If you have a place or know someone who does, please get in touch.

I took this picture in the parking lot of the Phoenix Downtown Public Market yesterday. A perfect summary of the choices capitalism offers, it also seems to me to embody the choices the U.S. electorate has.

In Phoenix, AZ, last night,Vince Larueand I were hard at work on the final layout of our graphic novel Dark Heat. Photo byDaishin Stephenson

From the macabre minds of writer Barry Graham and artist Vince Larue, Dark Heat is a contemporary hybrid of crime thriller and ghost story, set against the bleak desert cityscape of Phoenix, Arizona.

Gary Scott is a newspaper reporter who thinks he’s seen everything. But when he investigates a series of grisly and bizarre killings - starting with a dog, then people, moving closer and closer to Gary - he realizes that this is like nothing he has ever encountered. Even the cops are terrifi...

This morning saw the passing of a great cat. His happy life lasted for 16 years, during which he was my companion through two wives, seven books and two cross-country moves. He survived abduction by a tweaker neighbor. Even at his advanced age, he had the energy of a kitten until the final few weeks of his life.

He rarely met anyone he didn’t like, and was friendly to a degree that some found obnoxious. Sad though I am that he’s gone, I’m mostly just happy and grateful for so...