Nora Snowdon's Blog, page 5
September 13, 2014
Harper: Evil Incarnate or Just Incredibly Stupid?
Well, he did it. Harper signed the dreaded FIPA deal with China. We are now locked into this horrifying deal for the next 31 years! What a seditious bastard! And the fact that he waited until late Friday shows how unpopular he knew this deal to be. (Friday being the day that journalists and readers/viewers are notoriously not paying attention or have already left for long weekends.) But isn't he supposed to be running this country for Canadians as opposed to just doing what he wants for God knows what reason?
I won't get into all the reasons this trade agreement is so odious. Suffice it to say that with a stoke of a pen (or I guess two strokes as he probably signed first and last name) Stephen Harper has sold our sovereignty. It is a lengthy document which I admit I have not read. According to several sources one of the particularly damning aspects of this deal is that we give unfettered rights to China to develop and exploit our natural resources. If, in doing so, the Chinese corporations threaten our health and/or environment, Canadians are not allowed to stop them without risking huge lawsuits for impeding their ability to make money. Much like the small town of Fryeburg, we would be at the mercy of corporations--many owned or backed by the Chinese government.
Now I'm not wishing to sound racist, but many Chinese corporations and indeed the Chinese government have proven to be notoriously crooked, environmentally insensitive, and downright homicidal in their pursuit of profits. And this is the country we're inviting in to plunder our wilderness? If they don't mind destroying their own land and killing their own people, why would we possibly think they wouldn't do the same here?
So why is Harper so eager to jump into bed with China? I don't really believe he's taking personal kickbacks for selling us out, but I'm pretty sure he's been bought (as have most politicians) by multi-corporations in exchange for campaign money and votes.
I also believe he desperately wants to leave a legacy as the prime minister who didn't lose as much money as his predecessors. And that he has so much hubris that he believes that he knows what Canadians need and want and nobody else is bright enough to see it. I worry too, that his faith makes him blind to environmental disasters as he probably believes that God won't let us destroy the earth, or that if He does, well, Harper and his fellow believers won't go down with the ship.
I don't know that there's anything we can do now to get out of FIPA. (God knows that despite many petitions and several protests, we weren't able to stop Harper from signing it) but we definitely need to get Harper out of power fast before he does more irrevocable damage.
I hate to even suggest it for fear of jinxing Canada, but I'm truly scared that facing criticism for this deal will only cause Harper to double down and sign the TPPA deal that gives unmitigated power to major corps like Monsanto, Dupont and Nestle. I get the feeling maybe we should just roll over and say, kill me now.
But of course I'll keep signing useless petitions and yelling into the wind. I'm just glad I'm old and won't have to watch the total destruction of our country and world. I feel sorry for the mess we're leaving for our children, but in the meantime? Pass me that glass of Shiraz. No, better hand me several bottles...
I won't get into all the reasons this trade agreement is so odious. Suffice it to say that with a stoke of a pen (or I guess two strokes as he probably signed first and last name) Stephen Harper has sold our sovereignty. It is a lengthy document which I admit I have not read. According to several sources one of the particularly damning aspects of this deal is that we give unfettered rights to China to develop and exploit our natural resources. If, in doing so, the Chinese corporations threaten our health and/or environment, Canadians are not allowed to stop them without risking huge lawsuits for impeding their ability to make money. Much like the small town of Fryeburg, we would be at the mercy of corporations--many owned or backed by the Chinese government.
Now I'm not wishing to sound racist, but many Chinese corporations and indeed the Chinese government have proven to be notoriously crooked, environmentally insensitive, and downright homicidal in their pursuit of profits. And this is the country we're inviting in to plunder our wilderness? If they don't mind destroying their own land and killing their own people, why would we possibly think they wouldn't do the same here?
So why is Harper so eager to jump into bed with China? I don't really believe he's taking personal kickbacks for selling us out, but I'm pretty sure he's been bought (as have most politicians) by multi-corporations in exchange for campaign money and votes.
I also believe he desperately wants to leave a legacy as the prime minister who didn't lose as much money as his predecessors. And that he has so much hubris that he believes that he knows what Canadians need and want and nobody else is bright enough to see it. I worry too, that his faith makes him blind to environmental disasters as he probably believes that God won't let us destroy the earth, or that if He does, well, Harper and his fellow believers won't go down with the ship.
I don't know that there's anything we can do now to get out of FIPA. (God knows that despite many petitions and several protests, we weren't able to stop Harper from signing it) but we definitely need to get Harper out of power fast before he does more irrevocable damage.
I hate to even suggest it for fear of jinxing Canada, but I'm truly scared that facing criticism for this deal will only cause Harper to double down and sign the TPPA deal that gives unmitigated power to major corps like Monsanto, Dupont and Nestle. I get the feeling maybe we should just roll over and say, kill me now.
But of course I'll keep signing useless petitions and yelling into the wind. I'm just glad I'm old and won't have to watch the total destruction of our country and world. I feel sorry for the mess we're leaving for our children, but in the meantime? Pass me that glass of Shiraz. No, better hand me several bottles...
September 7, 2014
Take a Look...
Meet Alicia Dean's latest character at:
www.AliciaDean.com
September 5, 2014
My Sexy Saturday Summer Fling Edition
This week On My Sexy Saturday we're showcasing summer flings so I'd like to give you 7 sentences from one of my first novellas, Sew Happy Together. Following my excerpt, please click the link to see what other MSS authors are offering. Here's the set-up for my snippet. After recently meeting Arthur, Ariel decides to throw caution to the wind and sleep with him. Unfortunately, sometimes moves that seem sexy, don't work exactly as anticipated.
Sew Happy Together
She shifted her body closer, her hands sneaking under his shirt to explore the soft skin of his stomach and along the ridges of his rib cage. She slid his shirt up and Arthur raised his arms obligingly. When she got the shirt half off, Ariel realized it wasn’t going to come off the rest of the way without her undoing one more button. Meanwhile, he was caught with his arms stuck above his head. Ariel’s face flushed in embarrassment as Arthur murmured something incomprehensible into his shirt. God, how could she be such a klutz? She decided to make the best of the situation and pretend she meant to trap him.
Sew Happy Together is available at Amazon and most other e-tailers. Feel free to browse through the rest of my website and then click here to check out more My Sexy Saturday sexcerpts
Ciao, and remember, Smut is not just for breakfast, anymore! .
Sew Happy Together
She shifted her body closer, her hands sneaking under his shirt to explore the soft skin of his stomach and along the ridges of his rib cage. She slid his shirt up and Arthur raised his arms obligingly. When she got the shirt half off, Ariel realized it wasn’t going to come off the rest of the way without her undoing one more button. Meanwhile, he was caught with his arms stuck above his head. Ariel’s face flushed in embarrassment as Arthur murmured something incomprehensible into his shirt. God, how could she be such a klutz? She decided to make the best of the situation and pretend she meant to trap him.
Sew Happy Together is available at Amazon and most other e-tailers. Feel free to browse through the rest of my website and then click here to check out more My Sexy Saturday sexcerpts
Ciao, and remember, Smut is not just for breakfast, anymore! .
August 31, 2014
Meet My Character Blog Hop
Okay so this is another roving blog hop. I was nominated by Kyla Hampton to answer a bunch of questions about the lead character in my current work in progress. Last week on her blog Kayla introduced us to her kickass female assassin, Quinn. This week I’d like you to meet my hero, Robert Colbert, from The First Bite is the Deepest.
1) Is your main character a fictional or a historic person?
So Robert is actually a real person, but due to privacy issues (and a rather paranoid werewolf pack) I’ve changed his name, location and disguised all the family details. Well except for his wacko mom. She was much stranger than I could ever make up.
2) When and where is the story set?
The story is set “somewhere in the Pacific Northwest” which as all writers know, is code for either Seattle, WA or Vancouver, BC. It’s a contemporary novel although the actions all happened really about three years ago, which could almost make it historical. ; )
3) What should we know about him?
As a wealthy marketing exec for his family’s design company and previous popular host of a TV home decorating show, Robert’s an odd duck—or should I say werewolf? He was born to be alpha male and take over leadership of his pack. Unfortunately after an embarrassing incident a few years ago when he got way too drunk, passed out in wolf form and got neutered by a vet from the SPCA, he was left unable to sire children and thus ineligible to lead the pack. Now he has to sit back and let his younger, beta brother Lucas take control. This does not make him a happy camper.
4) What is the main conflict? What messes up his life?
Well there is the new problem of him accidently biting the annoying woman who bought his family portrait—don’t ask, let’s just say he’s not very friendly when he’s suddenly woken up. And now he has to help her become a werewolf and join the pack, except she’s stubbornly refusing. And he’d like to have sex with her.
5) What is the personal goal of the character?
Help the woman learn to transition into a werewolf and embrace her inner bitch, have sex with her, and hopefully get another TV show so he can feel special again. You know, the usual.
6) Is there a working title for this novel, and when can we expect it to be published?
The novel is First Bite is the Deepest. It's a sequel to my already released werewolf romantic comedy Love at First Sniff about Robert’s brother Lucas who fell in love with a human, which is strictly verboten in modern werewolf societies. I’m hoping First Bite is the Deepest will come out in January of next year, and then the third in the trilogy Love Bites about their younger sister, Anna, should come out the following year.
7) Can we read more about this book?
I’ll be posting excerpts occasionally on this blog and I should have the cover and back blurb on my website within a couple of months. Here is a link to check out Love at First Sniff if you’d care to read the first chapter of Lucas' story (the prequel to Robert’s story) on Amazon for free.
Thanks for stopping by and next week please check out Alicia Dean's blog to meet one of her characters. Here's what you need to know about Alicia
Alicia Dean lives in Edmond, Oklahoma. She has three grown children and a huge network of supportive friends and family. She writes mostly contemporary suspense and paranormal—such as “Death Notice” and “Liberty Awakened”—but has also written in other genre, including a few vintage historicals—the 1920’s “Ruined” releasing in the fall of 2014 and the 1950’s “End of Lonely Street” releasing January8, 2015.
Other than reading and writing, her passions are Elvis Presley, MLB, NFL (she usually works in a mention of one or all three into her stories) and watching her favorite televisions shows like Vampire Diaries, Justified, The Mindy Project, and Dexter (even though it has sadly ended, she will forever be a fan). Some of her favorite authors are Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane, Lee Child, Lisa Gardner, Sharon Sala, Jordan Dane, Ridley Pearson, Joseph Finder, and Jonathan Kellerman…to name a few.
Please visit her website/blog at: www.AliciaDean.com
Follow her on Twitter and Facebook
August 30, 2014
Oh Boy! My Sexy Saturday!
Okay, this week’s My Sexy Saturday challenge was for sci-fi romance. I’m not a sci-fi gal but I’ll play. After reading my excerpt please follow the link below to see what the other authors in this blog hop have to offer.
This is a snippet from my time travelling romance, A Pirate’s Booty. Here’s the set up: Rosy, a modern woman wakes up to find herself on a pirate ship. After dueling with marauders, she follows a fellow shipmate to the poop deck where she first sets eyes on the hero, Iain the Invincible.
A Pirate’s Booty
The poop deck was filled with the oddest collection of men Rosie had ever seen. Two of them appeared to have borrowed their colorful attire from a Pirates of the Caribbean movie set or a high school production of The Pirates of Penzance. She looked down for a second to recheck and discovered with relief that her own clothes were a more basic brown, though come to think of it uncomfortable as hell. When she looked up again her attention shot straight to a tall man standing apart from the raucous bunch and staring serenely out to sea.
She elbowed Plank. “Who’s that?”
“Iain the Invincible.” Plank rolled his eyes. “Stupid name for a pirate, ain’t it?”
Mr. Invincible turned to face them and Rosie’s stomach plummeted to the depths of the sea.
Holy crapolie!
Even in his non-descript brown breeches and vest, the man was drop-dead gorgeous. Dark curls framed a strong patrician face. His intense blue eyes cut through the carousing rabble and zoomed in on her. She swallowed nervously, unable to look away.
Thanks for visiting. A Pirate’s Booty is available on Amazon and everywhere else fine e-books are sold.
Please look around my website and then check this Link to read the other My Sexy Saturday excerpts. May the Smut be with you!
This is a snippet from my time travelling romance, A Pirate’s Booty. Here’s the set up: Rosy, a modern woman wakes up to find herself on a pirate ship. After dueling with marauders, she follows a fellow shipmate to the poop deck where she first sets eyes on the hero, Iain the Invincible.
A Pirate’s Booty
The poop deck was filled with the oddest collection of men Rosie had ever seen. Two of them appeared to have borrowed their colorful attire from a Pirates of the Caribbean movie set or a high school production of The Pirates of Penzance. She looked down for a second to recheck and discovered with relief that her own clothes were a more basic brown, though come to think of it uncomfortable as hell. When she looked up again her attention shot straight to a tall man standing apart from the raucous bunch and staring serenely out to sea.
She elbowed Plank. “Who’s that?”
“Iain the Invincible.” Plank rolled his eyes. “Stupid name for a pirate, ain’t it?”
Mr. Invincible turned to face them and Rosie’s stomach plummeted to the depths of the sea.
Holy crapolie!
Even in his non-descript brown breeches and vest, the man was drop-dead gorgeous. Dark curls framed a strong patrician face. His intense blue eyes cut through the carousing rabble and zoomed in on her. She swallowed nervously, unable to look away.
Thanks for visiting. A Pirate’s Booty is available on Amazon and everywhere else fine e-books are sold.
Please look around my website and then check this Link to read the other My Sexy Saturday excerpts. May the Smut be with you!
August 28, 2014
coming soon...
Aug 29 -- My Sexy Saturday excerpt with Elegant Pirate Smut
Sept 1 -- Meet My Character Blog featuring Robert Colbert, sexy ex-TV design show host, wealthy marketing manager, and neutered werewolf. You know, an average guy...
Sept 1 -- Meet My Character Blog featuring Robert Colbert, sexy ex-TV design show host, wealthy marketing manager, and neutered werewolf. You know, an average guy...
August 15, 2014
My Sexy Saturday--carriage smut
My Sexy Saturday challenge this week was to present a sexy carriage -- or for us non-historical romance writers, car -- excerpt. So here's another snippet from my werewolf rom/com, Love at First Sniff. (setup: It's Rosie's first full moon as a werewolf and she's experiencing a backlog of full moon impulses) Below that you can jump on the link button to see what the other authors playing today have to offer.
Love at First Sniff
“Oh. I thought we were going to…” She licked her lips.
“I know, but I think maybe we should wait.”
“Why?” She couldn’t keep the strangled howl out of her voice. Here she was willing to do anything to screw the guy and he wasn’t interested. What the hell was wrong with him? Or what was wrong with her?
He handed her the seatbelt and she glared at him. Maybe he preferred his women to play hard to get. She could do that.
“I don’t want you either.” She stared resolutely out the window. Was it working? She wanted to look back to see if maybe he was reaching one hand out to stroke her back. One tanned, warm soft hand with a slightly roughened thumb pad to soothe the tense muscles on the back of her neck then caress down to…. Damn. He was watching the road.
By the time they pulled up outside her apartment, Rosie was steaming. What sort of egotistical bastard was he? She jumped out before the car had completely stopped and found herself stumbling for her footing as she made her way up to her apartment building.
Love at First Sniff is available at Amazon , Barnes & Noble and most e-book retailers.
Click Here to jump to the list of other authors participating in the My Sexy Saturday. blog hop. Enjoy!
Love at First Sniff
“Oh. I thought we were going to…” She licked her lips.
“I know, but I think maybe we should wait.”
“Why?” She couldn’t keep the strangled howl out of her voice. Here she was willing to do anything to screw the guy and he wasn’t interested. What the hell was wrong with him? Or what was wrong with her?
He handed her the seatbelt and she glared at him. Maybe he preferred his women to play hard to get. She could do that.
“I don’t want you either.” She stared resolutely out the window. Was it working? She wanted to look back to see if maybe he was reaching one hand out to stroke her back. One tanned, warm soft hand with a slightly roughened thumb pad to soothe the tense muscles on the back of her neck then caress down to…. Damn. He was watching the road.
By the time they pulled up outside her apartment, Rosie was steaming. What sort of egotistical bastard was he? She jumped out before the car had completely stopped and found herself stumbling for her footing as she made her way up to her apartment building.
Love at First Sniff is available at Amazon , Barnes & Noble and most e-book retailers.
Click Here to jump to the list of other authors participating in the My Sexy Saturday. blog hop. Enjoy!
August 8, 2014
My Sexy Saturday redux
My Sexy Saturday continues. Below you’ll find a seven paragraph snippet from my Werewolf Romantic Comedy, Love At First Sniff. Then underneath that will be the link to go visit other authors’ blogs to check out their sexcerpts. Enjoy!
Love At First Sniff
“I’ll get you his card,” Rosie promised, trying to get Peter out of her space. Men seemed to have a particularly bad odor today and not just their blatant colognes. She kept her head down for the day and managed to avoid most human contact. At ten to five she ran for the elevator. This time outside seemed fresher until…
“What are you doing here?” Rosie tried not to notice the way his scent made her tingle from head to toe. And he looked incredible. Luscious. Focus on what a jerk he is and not on his sensuous lips. She could almost taste—stop it.
“I wanted to make sure you were all right.” Lucas looked at her strangely. Surely he couldn’t know what she was thinking.
“Of course I’m fine,” Rosie answered. She remembered the hot texture of his fingertips on her waist, his teeth scraping across her neck, his tongue—what was wrong with her?
“It’s natural,” he said.
“What?”
“The heightened awareness. The hyper-sexual attraction.” His eyes burned into hers and she couldn’t look away.
“Don’t be ridicu—”
His hand ran up her arm and every thought in her brain shut down. As if in a trance, she melted into his embrace, her hand reaching up to guide him to her lips. It was electric. His kisses weren’t enough, she needed to possess him entirely and yet they were still swathed in material. She growled in frustration as she tried to rip off his shirt.
Love At First Sniff is available in e-book now at Amazon and Barnes and Noble .
Feel free to check out the rest of my website and then please click on this link to visit other authors joining in on the My Sexy Saturday fun.
Love At First Sniff
“I’ll get you his card,” Rosie promised, trying to get Peter out of her space. Men seemed to have a particularly bad odor today and not just their blatant colognes. She kept her head down for the day and managed to avoid most human contact. At ten to five she ran for the elevator. This time outside seemed fresher until…
“What are you doing here?” Rosie tried not to notice the way his scent made her tingle from head to toe. And he looked incredible. Luscious. Focus on what a jerk he is and not on his sensuous lips. She could almost taste—stop it.
“I wanted to make sure you were all right.” Lucas looked at her strangely. Surely he couldn’t know what she was thinking.
“Of course I’m fine,” Rosie answered. She remembered the hot texture of his fingertips on her waist, his teeth scraping across her neck, his tongue—what was wrong with her?
“It’s natural,” he said.
“What?”
“The heightened awareness. The hyper-sexual attraction.” His eyes burned into hers and she couldn’t look away.
“Don’t be ridicu—”
His hand ran up her arm and every thought in her brain shut down. As if in a trance, she melted into his embrace, her hand reaching up to guide him to her lips. It was electric. His kisses weren’t enough, she needed to possess him entirely and yet they were still swathed in material. She growled in frustration as she tried to rip off his shirt.
Love At First Sniff is available in e-book now at Amazon and Barnes and Noble .
Feel free to check out the rest of my website and then please click on this link to visit other authors joining in on the My Sexy Saturday fun.
August 2, 2014
Don't Hate Me Because I'm Broke.
Americans hate me.
Well, not all Americans hate me. And a lot of Canadians hate me, as well. It’s hard to figure out why there is all this animosity toward minimum wage earning folk in North America, but it’s definitely there. Check out the comments following any article about slave wage peons. A piece about a woman suing Walmart for discriminatory firing brings out a massive troll party blaming her for working at Wal-Mart—she must’ve known how bad their management was before applying—why should she expect Wal-Mart to pay her a living wage?—she’s lucky to have any job—she should’ve made better life choices—she shouldn’t have had kids—she shouldn’t have gotten sick—and best of all, she should just get another job. If that was an option, she wouldn’t have been at Wal-Mart in the first place. No one would.
Any newspaper articles suggesting raising the minimum wage or compelling these billionaire companies to treat their employees with a modicum of respect also attracts numerous responses saying that minimum wagers don’t deserve more money, consistent and/or flexible hours or medical leave because Wal-Mart and their ilk can’t afford to pay more in wages or benefits for unskilled labour that could be done by monkeys. (Yeah, because the Walton family certainly can’t afford to live on their mere kajillions in profit and shares.)
These companies insist that they need to pay their CEOs top dollar so as to hire and retain the best in management and yet feel that the people on the sales floors who are doing all the customer service, stocking and maintaining of the stores are all disposable. It’s true that in a tough economy, if you fire (or just cut the hours) of the slightly more expensive senior workers, you can easily find a hundred replacements willing to start immediately at bottom wage. This to the struggling middle-class means that those employees are only worth the lowest salary legally permitted because others will gladly take their places. (Hell, I’d gladly take a CEO job at a twentieth of their price, but that doesn’t seem to lower their salaries. Oh yeah, because often those CEOs are the ones deciding their astronomical windfalls.)
As a business practice, firing seasoned workers doesn’t make sense as the company must spend more time and money hiring and training new workers. The store suffers because high staff turn-over means less workers know their jobs or where anything is and poor customer service drives business away. The company loses money, cuts store staff hours even more, then ousts the CEO with a golden handshake and signs a new CEO with huge bonus to turn the ship around.
But my point is not that companies should pay reasonable wages. (Honest.) Instead I wonder why so many middle class people blame the working poor for their predicaments? It’s true a good chunk of retail slaves did not go to university to become highly paid professionals, but not everyone is suited to be doctors, lawyers and neuro-physicists. And this is a good thing. As a society we need people to do the menial and physical jobs as well as the more exalted professions. Retail, cleaning, eldercare, taxi drivers, delivery services are important services that everyone uses.
Also, although most low-level jobs do not require extensive schooling, there are certain necessary skillsets to do the jobs well. As far as I can tell many doctors and lawyers are lousy at customer service. I believe this could be related to either the “God Complex” or the sense of “I know so much more than you, so shut up and listen.” In retail the clerks need to be more cooperative with the patrons to help them find and purchase all that they desire. This results in happier customers and happier bosses. But all this happiness is not passed down. The minimum wage workers are often forced to take at least one more McJob just to cover bare necessities. And if they actually have the audacity to want to have a family that gets to eat, they’re screwed.
Or they could hook up with one of those doctors or lawyers. But it’s been shown that people date/marry within their own wage group. Party because highly paid professionals socialize with other professionals. The working poor have little time to date, mostly only meet other working stiffs at one of their jobs, and rarely can afford the expensive accoutrements to attract professionals. Fancy clothes, hair, make-up, and surgery can make the difference between an average person and someone who commands attention with their stunning presence. (Not to mention that cheap food is generally more fattening and worse for your skin than expensive healthy food.)
Obviously it’s in the best interests of the gleeful 1% who currently receive 25% of all the income to keep the status quo. Class system works well for them where all the little people are slaving away for next to nothing so the elite can afford their yachts, planes, multiple houses and other flashy extravagances. But the middle class buying into this concept seems very strange. They are being forced to supplement through their taxes (which the 1%ers mostly manage to avoid paying) the meagre earnings of the working poor through food banks, health care, and child support. This support seems to be what they resent, but instead of demanding that the people benefiting from this wealth inequality pony up their fair share (or pay decent wages) the middle class, who are barely keeping their own heads above water, are turning against the other victims of 1%er greed.
An old Vanity Fair article on 1%ers.
One TED talk speaker explained the middle class conundrum as such. They support the class system that favours the ultra-rich because, for some crazy reason, they also expect to become wealthy and resent in advance that the government might want to tax their imaginary massive income. After all the American Dream pretends that anyone can achieve their wildest dreams as long as they work hard. Despite the fact that a huge majority of the overly rich gained their money through inheritance, and will pass along these gains to their children tax free, and the fact that the people at the top of most companies are more inclined to favour other uber-blessed individuals with the key money-making positions—rich, white guys will hire people with whom they feel comfortable, ie other rich, white guys. And the current wealth structure is a pyramid with the wealthiest group being just 1% who are basically propped up by the 99% of wannabes. Obviously there’s not room in the 1% for all the hard working Americans buying into the fallacious American Dream.
The chances for middle class workers to achieve the mega-rich status they dream of, are almost as likely as winning a million dollars in the lottery. There are the small percentage of people who create a product or a service that is so unique they can scale the monetary heights, but for every one person who wins that lottery, there are millions of other poor suckers frantically trying to woo bankers or appear on Dragon’s Den/Shark Tank to convince others to invest in their idea. And even if you gain investors, there’s still a huge likelihood that instead of becoming rich, you will join the masses of failed entrepreneurs. (The road to stardom and wealth through sports or music is also littered with the entrails of hard working artists who didn’t quite get there.)
Now the other reason middle-wage earners might resent us bottom-dwellers is that they need to feel superior to someone. With political correctness, we are no longer permitted to discriminate against people based on race, sex or age, but we can sure all agree that those people in crappy jobs are all lazy ne’er-do-wells.
Onion News article by Christopher Ketcham on 1%ers
Occupation Wall Street was just the start of a revolution that will need to happen. The wealth disparity is increasing and somewhere along the way, the 99%ers need to take back the bought governments, the rigged financial system and the outdated perception that somehow one person can “earn” $400 million in a year. A large part of this movement will need to come from people turning their contempt for the poverty trapped bottom echelon of society to where this contempt should be focussed—on the few billionaires who have subverted the democratic system so it benefits themselves at great cost to the rest of the population.
Don’t blame me and my fellow working poor for asking for a raise in minimum wages and respect from our employers. Instead work with us to topple this self-serving dictatorship by billionaires. Wake up and realize who the real enemy to the middle class is.
And while you’re at it, could you fill out a customer comment card when you get good service at one of these low paying stores? In retail, a positive guest card can make the difference between an eight cent raise and a thirty cent one. (I kid you not.) And when you’re only making ten bucks an hour, every penny counts.
Well, not all Americans hate me. And a lot of Canadians hate me, as well. It’s hard to figure out why there is all this animosity toward minimum wage earning folk in North America, but it’s definitely there. Check out the comments following any article about slave wage peons. A piece about a woman suing Walmart for discriminatory firing brings out a massive troll party blaming her for working at Wal-Mart—she must’ve known how bad their management was before applying—why should she expect Wal-Mart to pay her a living wage?—she’s lucky to have any job—she should’ve made better life choices—she shouldn’t have had kids—she shouldn’t have gotten sick—and best of all, she should just get another job. If that was an option, she wouldn’t have been at Wal-Mart in the first place. No one would.
Any newspaper articles suggesting raising the minimum wage or compelling these billionaire companies to treat their employees with a modicum of respect also attracts numerous responses saying that minimum wagers don’t deserve more money, consistent and/or flexible hours or medical leave because Wal-Mart and their ilk can’t afford to pay more in wages or benefits for unskilled labour that could be done by monkeys. (Yeah, because the Walton family certainly can’t afford to live on their mere kajillions in profit and shares.)
These companies insist that they need to pay their CEOs top dollar so as to hire and retain the best in management and yet feel that the people on the sales floors who are doing all the customer service, stocking and maintaining of the stores are all disposable. It’s true that in a tough economy, if you fire (or just cut the hours) of the slightly more expensive senior workers, you can easily find a hundred replacements willing to start immediately at bottom wage. This to the struggling middle-class means that those employees are only worth the lowest salary legally permitted because others will gladly take their places. (Hell, I’d gladly take a CEO job at a twentieth of their price, but that doesn’t seem to lower their salaries. Oh yeah, because often those CEOs are the ones deciding their astronomical windfalls.)
As a business practice, firing seasoned workers doesn’t make sense as the company must spend more time and money hiring and training new workers. The store suffers because high staff turn-over means less workers know their jobs or where anything is and poor customer service drives business away. The company loses money, cuts store staff hours even more, then ousts the CEO with a golden handshake and signs a new CEO with huge bonus to turn the ship around.
But my point is not that companies should pay reasonable wages. (Honest.) Instead I wonder why so many middle class people blame the working poor for their predicaments? It’s true a good chunk of retail slaves did not go to university to become highly paid professionals, but not everyone is suited to be doctors, lawyers and neuro-physicists. And this is a good thing. As a society we need people to do the menial and physical jobs as well as the more exalted professions. Retail, cleaning, eldercare, taxi drivers, delivery services are important services that everyone uses.
Also, although most low-level jobs do not require extensive schooling, there are certain necessary skillsets to do the jobs well. As far as I can tell many doctors and lawyers are lousy at customer service. I believe this could be related to either the “God Complex” or the sense of “I know so much more than you, so shut up and listen.” In retail the clerks need to be more cooperative with the patrons to help them find and purchase all that they desire. This results in happier customers and happier bosses. But all this happiness is not passed down. The minimum wage workers are often forced to take at least one more McJob just to cover bare necessities. And if they actually have the audacity to want to have a family that gets to eat, they’re screwed.
Or they could hook up with one of those doctors or lawyers. But it’s been shown that people date/marry within their own wage group. Party because highly paid professionals socialize with other professionals. The working poor have little time to date, mostly only meet other working stiffs at one of their jobs, and rarely can afford the expensive accoutrements to attract professionals. Fancy clothes, hair, make-up, and surgery can make the difference between an average person and someone who commands attention with their stunning presence. (Not to mention that cheap food is generally more fattening and worse for your skin than expensive healthy food.)
Obviously it’s in the best interests of the gleeful 1% who currently receive 25% of all the income to keep the status quo. Class system works well for them where all the little people are slaving away for next to nothing so the elite can afford their yachts, planes, multiple houses and other flashy extravagances. But the middle class buying into this concept seems very strange. They are being forced to supplement through their taxes (which the 1%ers mostly manage to avoid paying) the meagre earnings of the working poor through food banks, health care, and child support. This support seems to be what they resent, but instead of demanding that the people benefiting from this wealth inequality pony up their fair share (or pay decent wages) the middle class, who are barely keeping their own heads above water, are turning against the other victims of 1%er greed.
An old Vanity Fair article on 1%ers.
One TED talk speaker explained the middle class conundrum as such. They support the class system that favours the ultra-rich because, for some crazy reason, they also expect to become wealthy and resent in advance that the government might want to tax their imaginary massive income. After all the American Dream pretends that anyone can achieve their wildest dreams as long as they work hard. Despite the fact that a huge majority of the overly rich gained their money through inheritance, and will pass along these gains to their children tax free, and the fact that the people at the top of most companies are more inclined to favour other uber-blessed individuals with the key money-making positions—rich, white guys will hire people with whom they feel comfortable, ie other rich, white guys. And the current wealth structure is a pyramid with the wealthiest group being just 1% who are basically propped up by the 99% of wannabes. Obviously there’s not room in the 1% for all the hard working Americans buying into the fallacious American Dream.
The chances for middle class workers to achieve the mega-rich status they dream of, are almost as likely as winning a million dollars in the lottery. There are the small percentage of people who create a product or a service that is so unique they can scale the monetary heights, but for every one person who wins that lottery, there are millions of other poor suckers frantically trying to woo bankers or appear on Dragon’s Den/Shark Tank to convince others to invest in their idea. And even if you gain investors, there’s still a huge likelihood that instead of becoming rich, you will join the masses of failed entrepreneurs. (The road to stardom and wealth through sports or music is also littered with the entrails of hard working artists who didn’t quite get there.)
Now the other reason middle-wage earners might resent us bottom-dwellers is that they need to feel superior to someone. With political correctness, we are no longer permitted to discriminate against people based on race, sex or age, but we can sure all agree that those people in crappy jobs are all lazy ne’er-do-wells.
Onion News article by Christopher Ketcham on 1%ers
Occupation Wall Street was just the start of a revolution that will need to happen. The wealth disparity is increasing and somewhere along the way, the 99%ers need to take back the bought governments, the rigged financial system and the outdated perception that somehow one person can “earn” $400 million in a year. A large part of this movement will need to come from people turning their contempt for the poverty trapped bottom echelon of society to where this contempt should be focussed—on the few billionaires who have subverted the democratic system so it benefits themselves at great cost to the rest of the population.
Don’t blame me and my fellow working poor for asking for a raise in minimum wages and respect from our employers. Instead work with us to topple this self-serving dictatorship by billionaires. Wake up and realize who the real enemy to the middle class is.
And while you’re at it, could you fill out a customer comment card when you get good service at one of these low paying stores? In retail, a positive guest card can make the difference between an eight cent raise and a thirty cent one. (I kid you not.) And when you’re only making ten bucks an hour, every penny counts.
July 18, 2014
My Sexy Saturdays are Back!
This week I'm joining My Sexy Saturday for the Howlers' Edition. Sexy sound bites from romances featuring shape shifters. And quel surpris! I just happen to be writing a werewolf romantic comedy. How this works is each author posts either a 7 sentence or a 7 paragraph snippet from one of their stories. After the excerpt you'll find a link to go to other authors' blogs to check out their shifter sexcerpt. It's all in good fun until someone gets bitten...
from "The First Bite is the Deepest"
I mean, really, dogs hump everything from other dogs to human legs to probably lamp posts. Why would a werewolf be any more monogamous? And what if he made love like a dog—wham, bam, thank you, bitch. How disappointing would that be? Then again, that kiss…
Like I said, “Officially nuts.” I added a little more make-up while I waited for him to arrive. Although with how healthy my skin and eyes looked, I didn’t need much. I wish his bite could’ve made me taller, but you can’t have everything.
A shiver of anticipation coursed through me at the sound of the doorbell. I concealed my excitement with a bland hostess smile. It would’ve worked better if I could’ve kept my breathing and heart rate under control. I opened the door.
“Hello beautiful.” He took my hand and kissed it then pulled me towards him until we were mere inches apart. Holy Hannah, he smelled good. What was it with me lately with all the smelling of men? I was so distracted by his heavenly scent, I didn’t even notice him coming in for the kiss until his lips met mine. His warm, soft and sensuous lips.
Holy crap.
My body melted into his embrace like I had no say in the matter. Although I’m pretty sure if I did have a say, I would be, “Yeah, go for it!"
We stood there kissing for what seemed like an eternity and then like not nearly long enough when he broke it off. Yeah, somehow I didn’t think he’d make love like a randy dog.
This novella is the sequel to "Love at First Sniff" now available at Amazon and most other e-book retailers. And while you're here, feel free to check out the rest of my site and/or leave a comment.
To read more sexy snippets, click on My Sexy Saturday
Ciao for now.
nora
from "The First Bite is the Deepest"
I mean, really, dogs hump everything from other dogs to human legs to probably lamp posts. Why would a werewolf be any more monogamous? And what if he made love like a dog—wham, bam, thank you, bitch. How disappointing would that be? Then again, that kiss…
Like I said, “Officially nuts.” I added a little more make-up while I waited for him to arrive. Although with how healthy my skin and eyes looked, I didn’t need much. I wish his bite could’ve made me taller, but you can’t have everything.
A shiver of anticipation coursed through me at the sound of the doorbell. I concealed my excitement with a bland hostess smile. It would’ve worked better if I could’ve kept my breathing and heart rate under control. I opened the door.
“Hello beautiful.” He took my hand and kissed it then pulled me towards him until we were mere inches apart. Holy Hannah, he smelled good. What was it with me lately with all the smelling of men? I was so distracted by his heavenly scent, I didn’t even notice him coming in for the kiss until his lips met mine. His warm, soft and sensuous lips.
Holy crap.
My body melted into his embrace like I had no say in the matter. Although I’m pretty sure if I did have a say, I would be, “Yeah, go for it!"
We stood there kissing for what seemed like an eternity and then like not nearly long enough when he broke it off. Yeah, somehow I didn’t think he’d make love like a randy dog.
This novella is the sequel to "Love at First Sniff" now available at Amazon and most other e-book retailers. And while you're here, feel free to check out the rest of my site and/or leave a comment.
To read more sexy snippets, click on My Sexy Saturday
Ciao for now.
nora
