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July 16, 2010 PubliSHAMerica Up To It’s Old Tricks… Shame on publiSHAMerica! The author mill in Frederick, Maryland has started a new program PAperback, where all author books are sold online for $9.95, depending if the author is willing to pay $9.95 per title to have them taken out of mothballs. I don't know if this means they hold the rights an additional number of years or what, but I don't consider those books true publications since PA has a reputation for publishing anything, including the infamous Atlanta Nights by Travis Tea. The company’s editorial staff became laughingstocks I the literary world, especially among writers who felt victimized by the company’s practices and awful contract. Second, I have rewritten both books (Tempest In the Stone and The Malice Of Cain). I also had to fight PA to regain my rights to the manuscripts, and in no way do I want my name or books ever associated with them again, especially I have plans to re-publish both titles (since re-written, with an additional 300+ pages added). I think this is nothing more than a shameless money grab, especially since after all the wrangling I did with them, being banished from their website, and organizing a possible class-action suit against them. What the hell would make them think I ever wantg to do business with t hem again? Do they think that because the books are more accurately priced and sold through amazon.copm that this is enough to lend them credibility? PA has claimed to have sold 5,000 books this month under this new program. The sad fact is, they sold overpriced $20 books to people on the mailing lists of the authors, and after ten or twenty sales, made a profit and did nothing to promote the authors. Now they're looking to take the authoirs and buyers on another go-round by getting them to buy new copies at half-price. . And I thought Bishop Don Juan had mad pimp game. BP Is For Bankruptcy Planning… The oily mess left by British Petroleum in the Gulf of Mexico will probably affect larine life and the seafood industry in the region for decades. BP has set up a fund to pay for losses suffered by those involved in industries adversely affected and to reimburse states and cities for their clean-up efforts. What about the people who suffer psychologically? That is, people worried that they might not only lose their livelihood, but their homes and worse, are too old to retrain? What about claims of ruined health (which would surely be difficult to prove?) If BP files bankruptcy, thousands of claims for payment could be put on hold and later settled for pennies on the dollar. I think if there’s any justice in this, BP would go belly-up. And don’t give me that crap about, “What about the loss of the workers’ jobs?” Those employees would find employment elsewhere. In the meantime and in-between time, animals are dying and their food chain is being adversely affected. BP lied aout its plan and ability to clean up such a mess, but they are FOBBIES (Friends Of Both Bushes), so I can’t see the Obama administration successfully cracking the whip on them. The $20-billion contingency fund? Don’t make me laugh. BP will not pay out that much money under any circumstances. I don’t care how deep their pockets are. American corporations have a history of s------g on consumers while the execs walk away with millions in bonuses and golden parachutes. In the meantime and between time, animals are dying Business people used to be trusted. Small town, middle class America rtooted for big business. It was what created the middle class in the first place. You latched on with US Steel, GM, Standard Oil, AT & T, etc. you had a job for life and employers who paid good wages, benefits and treated employees fairly. With Ronald Reagan waging war on unions, tax breaks, offshore money hoarding, downsizing, job outsourcing, IPOs, lax oversight by the agencies supposed to keep watch, etc. has emboldened business men to put their own interests first, even if it means sedcrewing the customer, who once upon a time was always right. Remember When…? …Consumers dictated what technology needed to be created? (The microwave oven, the expansion of telephone service, cars that offered good gas mileage, etc.) Nowadays, we are being dictated to by companies, who all seem to be hell-bent on cramming as many gadgets into one as possible. We now have phones that allow users to surf the net, send texts, emails, photos, record events, check the stock market online, play video games, read news, watch TV and movies, and serve as an alarm clock! All of which takes up too much of our time, distracts us from interacting personally with family members, and more important, keeping our eyes on the damn road! Remember When…? …Miss America was a girl who went to supermarket openings and maybe got a job in TV? Now they have every statement scrutinized, feel compelled to respond in the media, get caught in sex scandals…Remember when TV talk shows (Phil Donohue, Sally Jesse Raphael, were simply about every day issues like making ends meet, or at its very weirdest, hate groups? Now all we see are shows about low-income and marginally-educated whores who don’t know which man in six is their baby daddy. Or we see repetitive episodes of shows centered on family and/or sexual dysfunction. Remember When…? …Remember when sports was bout competition and camaraderie, rather than showboating, trash talk, excessive celebrations and showing up an opponent? If I pitched in the major leagues and someone hit a homerun off me and then stood at the plate and posed for a picture (a la Manny Ramirez), my next pitch to him would be so near his chin it would make Sal The Barber Maglie cringe. (Nice old school reference, huh?) Remember when a kid getting arrested with a gun, let alone using it, was a rarity? Movies… Saw the film The Last Air Bender, and while I thought the plot was intriguing and the special effects wonderful, the acting left something to be desired; and the wide-open ending leaves no doubt that there will be a part 2. While I applaud this film for being different from what H-town usually puts out: remakes (A Nightmare On Elm Street, Last House On The Left, The Stepfather, The Karate Kid and the upcoming Red Dawn), sequels (Spiderman, Iron Man, ), TV-shows-turned-hopeful-blockbusters (Land of The Lost, The A-Team). I thought “The Book Of Eli” was a smart action film with Mila Kunis holding her own with Denzel and then some. “Hot Tub Time Machine” was original and funny, but as for the rest of the movies I’ve watched over the past year, it’s a case of the same ol’ same ol’. ------------ About the author: Timothy N. Stelly is a poet, essayist, novelist and screenwriter from northern California. His novel, HUMAN TRIAL, is the first part of a sci-fi trilogy and is available from Amazon.com, allthingsthatmatterpress.com and in e-book format at mobipocket.com. HUMAN TRIAL II: ADAM'S WAR is now available. Stelly also has a short story included in the AIDS-themed anthology, THE SHATTERED GLASS EFFECT, due out in February 2010. His story, SNAKES IN THE GRASS, Is a tale of love, betrayal and its deadly consequences. Reviews of HUMAN TRIAL can be read at amazon.com Visit me at: http://www.myspace.com/pittwit website: http://www.stellyhumantrial.com Email: stellbread@yahoo.com 
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