Author: rchazzchute

Robert Chazz Chute writes full-time from his blanket fort in Other London. The winner of fifteen writing awards, he pens apocalyptic epics with heart and killer crime thrillers with muscle. A graduate of the University of King's College journalism program, he studied book and magazine publishing at the Banff School of Fine Arts. He has worked as a crime reporter, science journalist, editor, book doctor, speechwriter, and magazine columnist.
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You Are In Danger

We love Americans, but we’re fed up with His Golden Weakness. We are angry with the new administration and Trump’s wild lies. He has declared a trade war on us and other allies. He deals in threats, but we’re all going to hurt financially. This isn’t just about money, either. There will be mortal wounds, too.

Families will be broken up and displaced as xenophobia continues to rise. Women and minorities will continue to be disenfranchised. Millions will be denied health care and impoverished as a handful of billionaires laugh and hoard their money. Human rights will be denied. There is no long-term strategic thinking here. Instead, he lies and blames vulnerable and powerless groups for any and all problems. There is no regard for facts or expertise. Even freedom of speech, long-cherished and lauded by Americans, is off the table with his latest edict to quell protests on campuses. The bullying tactics won’t end there.

“The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy.” ~ Elon Musk

“The fundamental basis of a civilization is empathy and cooperation. Also, fuck off, Phony Stark. You asked for the chance to solve world hunger and decided not to.” ~ Robert Chazz Chute

As the POTUS devalues Canadians, insults us, and demands we bend the knee, his citizens are hostages to his whims. Those who don’t understand that soon will. Canada was the United States’ biggest customer. We’re trying to buy Canadian products and services now. We’re resisting when and where we can. The wait has begun.

How long before his supporters (those who aren’t TFG*) realize he’s hurting them more than helping? Will we have to wait until polio comes raging back? Will it be grocery prices skyrocketing, the inability to buy a car, or another pandemic that finally gives his believers pause? How long before his cult wakes from their sleep to realize that no one is made stronger in isolation?

The bright future we all dream of is struggling for air. He can’t say he’s the leader of the free world anymore. Former American allies are turning away from the madness and chaos. We will still move toward that hoped-for future, but at a slower pace now. Fascism is on the rise, and we are all getting pulled into a war where there is no winner.

I sell most of my novels in the United States, so yes, this post could hurt me financially. Someone is bound to be offended as I call for an end to bullying, fascism, and foolish decisions based on ego. However, fiction is the lie that tells the truth. I always try to tell the truth. The truth is, you, reading this right now, are in danger. We’re all in danger. I just hope the whole mess is not TFG.

*TFG = Too Far Gone

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For the Love of Bookstores

She Who Must Be Obeyed and I had a grand day out on Saturday. Though the egg crisis has finally hit us (fewer eggs, higher prices), at least we got out. That’s unusual. She bought shoes, and I got free popcorn at Skechers.

The highlight for me is always browsing bookstores. Not all chains are alike. When I was a book rep, I remember walking into a chain store in Brampton. It was as if all they had were remaindered books. The inventory was a mile wide and an inch deep. The Chapters in the south end of our city is far superior to the Indigo in the north end. I would have thought their inventory would be basically the same, but not so!

Funny, when I first visited Toronto, SWMBO asked what more I wanted to see of her city. Easy! Take me to all the used bookstores! She replied that she had already taken me to all the used bookstores. My suitcase was much heavier heading back to Halifax.

When I look at these pics, I so respect all the work that went into writing and publishing these books. Since my brain works the way it does, I thought, what a great bookstore! And I’ll never live long enough to devour all the books I want to read! Damn! Well, I’ll put a dent in that TBR pile, anyway.

Because of my illness in December, my birthday was a bust. Compensation arrived when SWMBO bought a bunch of books for me! For starters, I am reading Getting Signed. It’s about finding an agent and landing a book deal, and it’s really helping me prepare for my upcoming pitch meetings.

Toronto’s World’s Biggest Bookstore was my shrine until it closed. City Lights Bookshop in London is pretty good (and absolutely crammed). Fanfare Books in Stratford has stock that is expertly curated. It may be small, but they carry stuff you won’t find anywhere else, including my books! Another great one is Munro’s Books in Victoria, British Columbia. When you walk in there, a pleasurable and leisurely afternoon of book browsing lies ahead.

Have you got a favorite bookstore? What is it, where is it, and what drew you to it?

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Do You Hear the People Sing?

Good news isn’t here yet, but it’s coming. Something interesting is happening. A fire has started, and the Resistance is beginning to rise. If you’re on TikTok, you need to check out two things: #worldtok and #bostontok. I found a lot of hope for the future there. Let me explain why, and maybe your mood will improve, too.

#WorldTok

I listen to a lot of American creators. Unsurprisingly, the messages from the Divided States of America are mixed. It’s a culture at war with itself. A creator can make a trenchant argument, but it often falls on deaf ears. It’s not because of shadow banning or malicious reporting of accounts (though that does occur). It’s because the debaters are unwilling to hear solid factual information based on data. They’re not there to engage. They’re there to yell. They aren’t listening, and they have little ability to self-regulate. Guys yelling “Trump!” and pretending that’s the end of the debate have to get muted often.

Please note: There is a vast chasm between an assertion and an argument. To demonstrate, here is an example from a recent TikTok debate:

“He’s the best because I say he’s the best! And I’m an alpha!” (Those are two dubious assertions.)

Reasonable Reply: “Let me tell you about the number of follies, dangers, and pitfalls ahead for this administration. Look at this bill here. For starters, the GOP plan does not include his no tax on tips campaign promise — “

Yelling over the host: “Pussy!” (That’s also an assertion, not an argument.”

Coarse friction is not the way things often go on #worldtok. Watching creators from other countries share their thoughts is actually calming. They discuss moving away from the United States politically and financially. Americans can object to that reality. I understand why they would. However, the POTUS expects friends and allies to grovel at his feet. He pursues isolationist policies. No wonder so many have decided to cut ties with the USA. Your leadership moved away from us first.

Pushing the world toward nuclear proliferation isn’t good. Pushing allies away from trade with the US and toward China isn’t necessarily great. I do like listening to the thoughtful garden party discussions on #worldtok, though. It’s solution-oriented. There’s a lot less yelling and a lot more listening.

Note to Americans: The common message is, “We don’t hate American citizens, but their leader sure is a petulant asshole. We used to see the States as strong. Trump is both silly or dangerous.

#BostonTok

Tom Homan, the head of ICE, warned Bostonians to get out of his way. He made it sound like Boston was about to be under siege by ICE agents. With much contempt, he threatened Boston, adding, “Hell’s coming with me!” (Jesus H. Murphy, this fuckin’ guy! Don’t ruin a great line from the movie Tombstone. Kurt Russell must hate this.)

Besides, “hell,” the way Wyatt Earp meant it, conveys that justice is coming. ICE hunting and detaining the undocumented, the documented, and American citizens with accents has nothing to do with justice. It does sound like hell, though.

The tough-guy posturing backfired in an extremely delightful way. Boston pride is strong, and they don’t like to be pushed around in ICE’s quest to round up immigrants. Boston school boards have already sprung into action to protect children. Bus drivers are under orders to keep the kids on the bus if ICE agents are waiting for them. Bostonians are moved to protect the undocumented and tell ICE officers to piss off. Gotta say, Boston has never been cooler.

A sampling #BostonTok responses from Bostonians:


“We started a revolution here before. Ever heard of the Tea Party? We’ll tip Teslas into the harbor.”

“Hell’s coming with you? Comin’ to Boston, that’s like taking sand to the beach.”

“You don’t understand Boston, or New England.”

“You’re gonna get chased down the street by a leprechaun with a fuckin’ baseball bat!”

“Don’t start a fight with the Irish.”

“You don’t get Boston Strong. Twelve years ago, we shut down the whole city just to get two people! You thnk we’re gonna put up with ya?”

And best of all, my favorite comment comes right out of Spider-Man:

“YOU COME FOR ONE OF US, YOU COME FOR ALL OF US!”

I got teary when I heard that line in the movie. Teared up again hearing it on #bostontok. That is the motto of true defenders. That’s the resistance energy we need.

You know what else is great? These messages are coming from ordinary but passionate and compassionate people. It’s not a bunch of roided-up bravado from a bunch of dude-bros on too many testosterone shots and beer kegs. They don’t sound like Tom Homan, at all. Instead, many of the defenders are women. A bunch are older women, too. They’ll organize. They’ll protest. They’ll find ways to change hearts and minds. They’ll make politicians understand their seats of power are not thrones. The leaders’ job is to serve the American people, not kick all the supports out from the so-called “underclasses.”

I do not hope for violence, of course. That would harm innocent people and could be highly counterproductive. However, I appreciate the shift in energy from helplessness to proud defiance.

The first five weeks of DJT’s reign have been riddled with mistakes and disasters. Damage is done to international relationships that will take generations to repair. The world is changing, and the next four years will be perilous. There is hope, though. People who voted for him are beginning to see how he’ll hurt them.

As the injuries pile up and the regrets deepen, his popularity will plummet. It’s already happening. The negative outcomes will be terrible, but we are beginning to see cracks in his power base. It’s early in his administration, and he’s flailing, lashing out in every direction. His only clear loyalties are to Teflon Muck, Putin, and himself. More of his subjects will remember their nation was forged in defiance of the whims of kings.

The Resistance has begun. It’s a low hum in the background at the moment. Someday, maybe soon, it will finally grow to a roar.

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Managing Stress in a Stupid Timeline

Something I’ve noticed lately is the number of people who end conversations with, “Stay safe.” We didn’t used to say that so often, but we sure do now. Given all that’s going on, that makes lots of sense. Besides the carelessness of those in power, misinformation, and disinformation are a couple of reasons why we’re in danger. Today, I have thoughts on why that is.

Alternatively, you can skip to the bottom of this post for stress management suggestions.


In our stupid timeline, there is no social cost for being a rabid conspiracy theorist. RFK, for instance, says he wants to make sure vaccines are safe. That will be difficult to prove to him since he doesn’t believe existing scientific research. He is dangerous, and more people will die because of him. His reward? More power to enact his dumbassery.

More Knuckleheads

It’s so strange to see people arguing the world is flat. How does that flashback to the ancient world fit? As they argue, they’re bouncing the twit signal off satellites to their cell phones. We have so much information at our fingertips, but some of us are terrible at critical thinking.

Flat Earthers are easy to stump. Are all the pilots on Earth in on it? What’s their motivation? Is Big Oblate Sphere paying everybody off? Why? How? If the Earth is flat, why can’t I see all the aircraft at once with a telescope? And we don’t have a single picture of the great ice wall that keeps us from falling off the edge? Weird. What could the explanation be? Are the answers stupid? They’re stupid, aren’t they?

Why do silly people defend their silliness?

In This Plague of Days, I came up with a line I think about often: A rational argument doesn’t work on an irrational person. Are there real conspiracies? Sure, there are a few that are real, but silly people aren’t interested in the actual and factual. Truth isn’t their point. Their convictions spring from fear and self-aggrandizement. Ignorant and unintelligent is a tough way to live.

Please note:

There is evidence that informed and bright is no picnic in the park, either.

But back to dumbassery. If the conspiracy theorists know something you don’t, they can feel superior. Go deeper, and you’ll find their fear. They are searching for a feeling of control in a world that is out of control. For that, I sympathize. I feel for them because they’re right about something. They’re trying to claw back some power wherever they can because they feel helpless.

In some regard, we are all helpless.

Things can go along great, but then a crack in your windshield shatters your budget. You feel good and strong, but then the doctor calls to talk about that recent blood test. We are all subject to the changing whims of global political forces. Hundreds of variables can affect your stress. A bit of delusional thinking can really aid in alleviating that problem. We feel more power when we ignore certain things (e.g. mortality, the underpaid underclasses, and that your cat often thinks about eating you).

Control is an illusion.

Jean-Luc Picard said that, so it must be true. But where does that leave us? How about we take our delusions of grandeur in a more useful and positive direction? Here are my humble suggestions:

  • Be more social. It extends your life. (As an introvert, I’m wary of this, but I’m trying.)
  • Support your friends.
  • Accept support.
  • Read more fiction that you know is fiction.
  • Read credible non-fiction books (i.e. not RFK’s book).
  • Ease up on the doom scrolling.
  • Make more jokes. Find more reasons to laugh.
  • Focus on what you can do, not what you can’t do.
  • Self-care might mean a spa day, but a long hot bath or shower after a walk in the woods is cheaper.
  • In my book Do The Thing, I paradoxically suggested that you keep your to-do list short and your to-don’t list long.
  • Declutter.
  • Exercise.
  • Stretch and take more deep abdominal breaths to make your nervous system less nervous.
  • Help someone else, and you’ll feel better.
  • Start on that thing you’ve been putting off for months that will take less than twenty minutes to complete.
  • For bigger projects, just start on a small bit. Tell yourself you’ll only tackle it for a short time. You’ll probably get more done. Starting is hard. Continuing is easier.
  • Ask yourself, “Is this thing I’m doing giving me value?” (It’s okay to stop doing things that aren’t helping you.)
  • Ask yourself, “Am I setting myself on fire to keep others warm?” (I’ve done this one a lot!)
  • Those mistakes you made long ago? You regret them. The person who made those mistakes isn’t you anymore, are they?
  • To preserve your energy and sanity, stop trying so hard to change others. Start with you. People resent a good example less than a doofus slinging decrees.
  • People say love is the answer (though fudge yields the same happy hit on the neurons).
  • Give up on measuring your accomplishments by other people’s metrics. Your happiness is not about what you should want. It’s about what you really want.

When the oxygen masks drop on the plane, you put the mask on your face first so you can breathe. Only then can you assist others. Take care of yourself. Stay safe.

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Our Brains and Why All Empires Fall

One of the strangest turns in the news came this week when an alarming and easily predicted future became mundane history. Trump posted, “Long live the King.” That wasn’t surprising. However, some of his cult members backed him by celebrating. “Trump is king!” Many of these same folks post 1776 in their social media bios. Knuckleheaded knuckledraggers may know their country’s history. It seems they’ve abandoned the values they claimed they most cherished. Monarchy is back, baby! Get used to it!

Reminds one of the so-called evangelicals who, last year, decided to let go the gentler teachings of Christ. Jesus was “too woke” for our troubled times, apparently. They still call themselves Christian, just meaner and in a roid rage, I guess.

What feeds this nonsense? Bias.

There are many types of cognitive bias that affect us. There is hindsight bias, loss aversion bias, the gambler’s fallacy, and the beastly Dunning-Kruger effect. The D-K effect plus confirmation bias is a lethal combination, dangerous to civilization. Those are the better-known afflictions. I have a couple of favorites that may not be on your radar:

Survivor Bias

Survivor bias goes like this: “We live in a land of opportunity! I make a lot of money, so why can’t everybody else?”

This bias plays into the myth of the self-made individual. It ignores a plethora of historical, systemic, and personal variables. This bias turns the principle of fair financial compensation into a cruel game of keep-away. When interviewed, successful people often extol the virtue of hard work. Only a few self-aware ones say, “I worked hard, but I got incredibly lucky! I made it, but I’m not altogether sure how, but I know I’m an outlier.” It’s much more tempting to believe “I built X and now own a couple of yachts because I’m a genius.”

Lots of people work hard and are never adequately compensated. If success were so easily replicable, more people would attain it. For instance, if you’re a nepobaby who won the genetic lottery, the path to stardom is paved with pillows. Nobody who catches those breaks talks about that. When asked the secret to their success, I’ve heard actors say, “I know my lines and I show up on time.” Learning a script can be difficult, but showing up on time? You mean like every other employee on the planet? That’s blind privilege talking, you handsome dunce. That’s survivor bias.

Survivor bias doesn’t come up first as one of the more lethal societal ills, but it is dangerous. It feeds a delusion that’s used as a cudgel on the oppressed and unfortunate. If the poor deserve to be poor, you only care if you’re poor. Not much room for kindness and mercy there, huh? Survivor bias makes its believer a terrible person and everyone else worse off.

Normalcy Bias

An author friend messaged me to ask, since I write apocalyptic novels, does our current political situation feel like I’m living in one of my books? I’ve written about the many ways empires fall. My back catalog includes zombies, vampires, AI domination, killer robots, alien invasion, meteors, climate crises, disease, nuclear conflagration, mass poverty, and famine. Lots of fun to explore in fiction, right? What’s unfolding now, though? I couldn’t write it because so much of it sounds outlandish, too dumb, and replete with hissy fits. Nuclear stockpile inspectors and warhead assembly experts getting fired en masse sounds too silly, doesn’t it? That happened. Then somebody said, “Oopsy! Get them back! Where are their email addresses? What do you mean you deleted their email addresses?”

The doomsday clock is now 89 seconds to midnight. The world is teetering toward all your worst nightmares. Still, we carry on, believing that cooler heads will prevail. That, my friends, is normalcy bias.

The courts decided they couldn’t allow a presidential candidate to go to jail for even one day for his crimes. He should have been confined for contempt and endangering officers of the court, at the very least. Didn’t happen. Couldn’t happen. That was normalcy bias at its dark and dirty work. You’ve always been told no one is above the law. Obviously not so.

The objection always comes to changing circumstances: “X can’t happen because it’s never happened before. It would be unprecedented!”

This is a recurring theme in my fiction (and my answer to this complaint):

Everything is unprecedented until it’s not.

Normalcy bias keeps you dangerously comfortable. It assures you that the health insurance you have relied on will always be there for you. Why? Because it always has been. To lose it would be unprecedented! (See above.)

Normalcy bias kept endangered people from fleeing Germany before World War II broke out. Normalcy bias assures people that all their investments are safe until the stock market collapses. Normalcy bias made Canadians, Mexicans, and all NATO allies feel that the United States government would be their friend. The news reveals the truth: People have friends. Governments have interests.

Human behavior, mental illness, and neurobiology are interests I try to monetize by writing novels with flawed characters. Sometimes, they suffer mental health issues like mine (anxiety, for one instance). Other times, they use their knowledge to manipulate others. It’s fun in fiction. When cognitive biases dominate our media intake and the political sphere, ignorant people transform into monsters and innocent people suffer and die. Our biases make us more vulnerable to personal and systemic failure. Ignorance can be cured easily, but stupid is much more complicated.

Biases kill.

(On the other hand, when I meet with literary agents in April, I’ll pull from my bag of tricks in the pitch meetings to sell my next book, but that’s another post. Villainous laughter: Mwah-ha-ha-ha!)

In the meantime, have you read All Empires Fall yet?

Why all Empires Fall
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And Now the News You Don’t Want

It’s interesting to watch things fall apart. This feels like our plane is falling from the sky while the pilot tells you, “This is for your own good, you know. Thank me.”

The news is hard to keep up with. While DOGE divulges national security secrets, the FDA suffers massive layoffs. If food safety was important to you, too bad. Not enough food inspectors. Everything that goes awry is blamed on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Pro Tip: Next time someone says they are against DEI, ask them which particular aspect they are against. Are they against diversity, equality, or inclusion? If they just say DEI, there’s a good chance they can’t define the term, and the slogan might just be shorthand for a slur.


As a Canadian and an author, naturally I’m concerned about the trade war. The blanket tariffs on Canada have been put off until Donald has another whim, an empty complaint or a non-specific demand. He has managed to do something no Canadian politician has accomplished: We are united against him. When you get Quebecois and English Canada working together against you, you know you’ve fucked up.

To their credit, many Americans are also feeling vulnerable and oogy. A handful of young dogebags with very questionable credentials are mining their personal data. These cadets for prison say they’re conducting audits, but there’s not an accountant in sight. If you only bring hackers to the job, the job is hacking.

On Boycotts

February 28, everyone is encouraged to buy local, and not give money to oligarchs. Will this make a difference? Probably not if it’s just one day. What’s more impressive and effective are the ongoing changes in buying habits. Canadians don’t have a lot of alternatives for streaming services, so most of us won’t give up Amazon Prime and Disney. On the other hand, Canadians are staying away from cross-border shopping.

Whenever I’ve nipped across the border, the cars in mall parking lots in Port Huron are filled with Ontario license plates. Not anymore, and those businesses are feeling the pinch. Likewise, Canadian tourism to the United States has plummeted so much that Air Canada has cancelled a lot of flights. Given the blanket firings at the FAA, many of us are leery of flying, anyway. Donald assured us flying was safe, except we’re all in danger from unqualified air traffic controllers and pilots…but we’re safe. What?

This White House is notorious for its muddled messaging. For instance, tariffs are great for America! How will we punish Canada and Mexico? Tariffs! What? Those little countries will put retaliatory tariffs on us? Terrible! How dare they?

Writing in a Dangerous Time

I love my readers, and most of them, by far, are from the States. I’ve entertained many citizens of the Divided States of America, and I bear them no ill will. It’s their government that’s the problem. Canada will not become the 51st state. If that were to transpire somehow, this grasping president would soon find out he doesn’t want what he thought he did.

So, how will all this affect my book sales? My sales will go down. That will occur, but not because of any mass animus on either side of the border. It will happen because our two countries are headed for a recession. When people can’t afford to buy eggs, have lost their job, or can’t pay the rent, they won’t be buying my delightful fiction. In times of trouble, fiction is an excellent distraction that soothes the soul. In times of disaster, you can’t read when you’re too busy running.

Should you boycott Amazon? Up to you. Consider two factors: (A) That’s my entire source of income, and (B) Jeff Bezos won’t care. Bezos has much bigger fish to fry and planets to invade. But seriously, it’s up to you. If you are boycotting Amazon and the other oligarchs, I really can’t complain. I’m buying Canadian products and support local retailers as much as I can manage. The universal tariffs aren’t on us right now, but the international trust is gone, and our friendship is damaged. Threatened with domination, Canadians don’t look upon America as kindly anymore. We were happy to be friends, but Donald insistence on gratitude has only angered us and strengthened our resolve to affirm our national identity.

To the Americans who don’t get it, I’ll simplify: Patriotism isn’t just for you. If China talked carelessly about annexing Texas, you’d lose your shit. See?

What about that trust we lost?

Canadians have long been the US’s biggest ally and solid trading partner. Now, my government is pushed toward expanding trade with other nations. China, Europe, and Brazil spring to mind first. A new trade agreement has been founded with Ecuador. While some Americans toy with the idea of attacking NATO allies, there’s talk of Canada joining the EU. Donald talks about how the American military protects us, but all we feel is a need for protection from the US military.

I’m tired of the media talking about a “budding” constitutional crisis in the US. It’s not coming. It’s here, and by the way, we’re all in more danger than we were a month ago. The Five Eyes shared sensitive information and surveillance resources to tamp down terrorist groups. Given that Donald has a habit of keeping top-secret documents in unsecured locations, it’s now the Four Eyes. They won’t share important information if they think it could be compromised so easily. Terrorist attacks will succeed in the next four years due to this sad lack of international cooperation and coordination. (There’s another reason to stay off planes.)

Information mismanagement is a huge problem (and possibly the plan) with this new administration. Abandoning the World Health Organization means less data pooling among researchers. No USAID? Diseases that were squelched fast in far lands will appear here.* Measles is on the rise. Bird flu is in the offing. Dismantling CDC pandemic response teams and installing RFK as chief quack means disease and disaster are dead ahead. And I do mean dead.

*For a shocking look at Trump’s death toll that’s already killing babies, watch the first episode of 2025 of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. (No, I haven’t given up my HBO subscription through Crave yet, and John Oliver is the reason. His best joke about his own appearance: “I look like a parrot who works at a bank!” Damn, I love John Oliver.)

Look, I’ve written a lot of apocalyptic novels. The burden in fiction is achieving verisimilitude. It has to sound authentic. In this non-fiction scenario, we’re running headlong toward lethal folly. In a novel. I would never write what’s happened in the first month of the Trump presidency. It would sound too silly. Even the most hardcore of Donald Trump’s supporters must have at least struggled a little with his thoughtless layoffs of experts who ensure nuclear weapons don’t blow up in their silos. The regulators and safety inspectors work in the Department of Energy. I guess Trump and Elon didn’t understand that designation is really a misnomer. It’s less the Department of Energy and more the Department of Nuclear Weapons.

I’ll keep writing books because I have no other skills of note. I hope we all come out the other side of this healthy, horny, and perhaps wiser. I try to let go of what I can’t control. I’ll do what I can to resist. For instance, I’ll boo the US national anthem. Does that have any effect? Actually, yes, because it goes against the Canadian stereotype and shocks the senses of those who are, for one reason or another, trying to normalize the abnormal. Too many US citizens, brainwashed by decades of the American Exceptionalism virus, don’t see us as a separate nation. They don’t think of us at all, really. We either simply don’t matter to them, or we’re the butt of lame jokes. Sounds like Canada needs new close allies, doesn’t it? Donald’s the consummate bad boyfriend.

Some Canadians don’t agree we should boo the US national anthem. I considered their objection of “That’s not who we are.” Then I saw the comment: “The country that aims to annex us says booing their national anthem is impolite.” Yeah, I’m gonna have to go with booing.

I am a writer who wants to entertain my readers, but I was Canadian first, and I love that. We share many similarities with our neighbours to the south, but we are different. For instance, Canadian healthcare saved the vision in my left eye and gave me two hip implants that allow me to walk without pain. All I had to pay was parking. School shooting are a rarity here. Meanwhile, in the States, I have often confused this week’s mass murders with last week’s mass murders. No, I don’t ache to own an arsenal and call that freedom. No, I don’t want to be a vassal to a King who wouldn’t bother to piss on me if I were on fire.

What am I going to do for the next four years?

I‘ll keep writing books for anyone who will have me. When confronting chaos, I’ll try not to panic and use my voice to serve righteous causes. That’s probably about all the force I can muster. Given the larger forces at play, maybe I should learn the language of the newest sole superpower. Mandarin will be difficult, but well….

The better question is, why do so many Americans defy their history and great future potential to serve a king who thinks “groceries” is a new word?*

*Yeah, he said that.

The Empathy Deficit

Donald suffers from ED, Empathy Deficit. Donald does terrible things and calls it virtue. If he had empathy for others, he wouldn’t do the things he does. Apparently, that infection hit some 30 – 40% of American citizens. Some of his voters are now discovering their mistake, but too late. The next election is far off. Next time, do your research before the election. If you’re MAGA, just know it’s not all your fault. You’ve been tricked, probably because the amygdala in your brain is too big. (That’s the fear center of your brain, so no, that’s not good. Your fears are overcoming your neo-cortex, where the thinking happens.)

Last night, I listened to a political debate. The host pointed out that the MAGA guest’s taxes would soon rise by three percent. He also mentioned that defunding USAID would kill 20 million people. The MAGA guest panicked about the 3% tax hike. He didn’t react at all to the deaths of 20 million people. That careless disregard for humanity is the rot at the root.

Note: This sort of post won’t be a regular thing. I’ll touch base with current events from time to time, but I’ll also give you stress relief here. I prefer fiction to real life, especially now.

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Commonly Misused Words

The misuse of words grinds my gears. I have a short list of the worst offenders I’ve heard recently.

  1. “An exuberant amount of money.” No, it’s an exorbitant amount of money.
  2. “Pundint.” You mean to say, pundit, no second n.
  3. Erudite sounds like it looks: Air-oo-dite. It’s not “aeriodite.”
  4. You don’t “flaunt the law.” You flout it.
  5. Library has an r in it. Not “Lie-berry.”
  6. Elon Musk AKA Phony Stark, is not an inventor. He’s an investor who considers you not at all. (That’s not altogether fair. He thinks a lot of you are parasites.)

    Which misused words irk you?