MARCH 2023
EXCITING NEWS!!! (Well, I'm excited!) I have started my third novel, quite undaunted by fact that I haven't completed the first one I started. I feel very strongly that I will finish "#3" first, then return to the others that are in progress. Updates on this to be posted as appropriate.
EXCITING NEWS!!! (Well, I'm excited!) I have started my third novel, quite undaunted by fact that I haven't completed the first one I started. I feel very strongly that I will finish "#3" first, then return to the others that are in progress. Updates on this to be posted as appropriate.
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MEMOIR UPDATE!! April 2023: I have exhausted my home inventory of print copies. Henceforth purchase will only be available via the online retailers listed.
TAKE THIS WAR AND SHOVE IT! A Most Unwilling Soldier 1967-1971, far more than "just" a memoir of resistance to unjustified war, is available in paperback and e-book. Scroll down for more info!
Excerpts from book available on MEMOIR page of this website.
Online Purchase Options: Print version
and e-book available from Amazon,
Barnes & Noble, BookBaby Bookshop.
Battleship Potemkin blog
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Commentary on current events, never lacking in fury and possibly even signifying something.
[NOTE: Continuation of current article and previously published ones can be viewed on the Past articles page but you must click on "Details" on that page to view content.] April 2023 (Happy Springtime!) NEW COMMENTARIES COMING ONE OF THESE DAYS, I SWEAR!!
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On the Question of Sexual Identity
Burning books is an attempt to obliterate ideas. It can lead rather easily to the burning of human beings, as testified to by the history of Nazi Germany.
Posted March 15, 2022
With war raging on the European continent, I turn my attention to my own country’s “Culture Wars.” They are being escalated by the same societal element that launched them, the extreme rightwing/“Evangelical Christian” political cult. This horde of HATERS has captured elected offices in many states in recent years, leading to a competition between Governors DeSantis of Florida and Abbott in Texas to see which state can pass the cruelest, most regressive, repressive legislation touching on various areas of life, not restricted to the attempt to deny the right to vote to as many citizens deemed likely to vote Democratic as possible. The “whipping persons” in this new escalation are those already most vulnerable to hate crimes, persons who self-identify as “non-binary”—neither strictly male nor strictly female. [Reminder: “gender” reflects the sexuality an individual self-identifies as, which is sometimes different from what the external genitalia imply.] The well of human sexuality holds water that is deep and can be more than a little murky. Black or white? Male or female? It’s not that easy. “Need a uni-sex bathroom? Step right this way.” Unless you’re in a state or municipality that has outlawed such facilities. HATE and fear what you don’t understand is, unfortunately, a tendency in an increasingly irrational societal atmosphere. Because the wealth gap has become so great—we may as well simply call today’s America a Plutocracy—the working class feels uneasy: “Something just isn’t right in our society today.” This is the very fertile ground on which demagogues labor, on behalf of the elites, to point fingers of blame in every direction but where they deserve to be pointed. Where do I enter this scene? I know personally two US military veterans of the Vietnam Era who, after the age of 60, decided they are really women. Honesty compels me to say that, personally, I find this bizarre. However, I recognize that an individual has a human right to make such a declaration, and I respect that decision. This should also be considered a civil right, as it potentially affects how a person is treated by providers of social and medical services, as well as the legal system. The thrust of the latest wave of state or local legislation, this subdivision in the current wave of HATE, is to attempt to deny recognition of the “different” person’s very humanity, very personhood. Books that touch on potentially “uncomfortable” or socially awkward topics are being removed from public schools, not just from their libraries but from the list of “acceptable” subjects for open discussion in the classroom setting. And beyond book banning, we’ve already seen isolated (thus far) book burnings. If this conjures images from the reign of the Nazis in Germany, it should. Jews, Romy people (formerly called “Gypsies”), Socialists—real ones, as opposed to Hitler’s “National Socialist” variety—those suspected of homosexuality, and those deemed “mentally defective” were physically exterminated in the lead up to and during World War II. The campaign to depict someone as an “unperson,” as somehow sub-human, because of their sexual identity/orientation is the first phase in such an extermination campaign. Think “It can’t happen here,” in the good old USA? * I advise you to think again. It’s already underway, with the banning and burning of books, and denial of free speech in public schools regarding certain “taboo” topics. The “Proud Boys” and similar groups already constitute a nascent corps of Brownshirts. Donald Trump did not plant the seeds of HATE in this society. He fanned into flames the embers of irrational, long-standing prejudices and rode them right into the White House. He plans to repeat that performance in 2024. No one should bet against his odds of success. * A final note: If you have never seen the episode from the classic (original) TV series, “The Twilight Zone,” called “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street,” you simply must find a way to view it. I insist! It is highly relevant to today’s societal problems. END * * * Why "Battleship Potemkin"? Sergei Eisenstein's 1925 movie about the mutiny in the Tsar's Black Sea fleet during the failed 1905 Russian revolution is acknowledged as a masterpiece of cinema. The author of this website endorses the film's message: To rise against cruel oppression is not only justified, it is essential for the preservation of human dignity. |
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Previous two blog articles, available on Past articles page:
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Previous two blog articles, available on Past articles page:
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*** SPECIAL NOTICE!! ***
Courage to Resist podcast featuring little ol' me! Courage to Resist, in collaboration with the Vietnam Full Disclosure Project of Veterans For Peace, has compiled a collection of oral histories of GI resistance to the American War in Vietnam. My contribution to this was edited down to 28 minutes and, for whatever reason, the stories of my most militant acts were excised. The full story will appear in my written memoir when I'm able to publish it. For now, here is the link to the audio and a transcript via Courage to Resist:
https://couragetoresist.org/podcast-greg-laxer/
Courage to Resist podcast featuring little ol' me! Courage to Resist, in collaboration with the Vietnam Full Disclosure Project of Veterans For Peace, has compiled a collection of oral histories of GI resistance to the American War in Vietnam. My contribution to this was edited down to 28 minutes and, for whatever reason, the stories of my most militant acts were excised. The full story will appear in my written memoir when I'm able to publish it. For now, here is the link to the audio and a transcript via Courage to Resist:
https://couragetoresist.org/podcast-greg-laxer/
My current writing projects
I am having fun writing my first novel. It is a savage satire of the Music Industry, with which I have had some personal experience. Its title is classified (Top Secret!) for the time being. If I can sell that project, there will be more fiction to follow, if I live long enough.
I am having fun writing my first novel. It is a savage satire of the Music Industry, with which I have had some personal experience. Its title is classified (Top Secret!) for the time being. If I can sell that project, there will be more fiction to follow, if I live long enough.
This blog site addresses and comments on these topics (among others!): peace, war, US politics, American politics, political analysis, climate crisis, climate change, climate change deniers, Donald J. Trump, social commentary, social criticism, social satire, current events, racism, anti-war movement, anti-racism, religion, religious extremism, religious fundamentalism, atheism, Buddhism, fascism, anti-fascism, socialism, communism, American war in Vietnam, the Vietnam War, Ken Burns, Lynn Novick, "The Vietnam War" PBS TV series, GIs, GI resistance to war, US Army, US military, militarism, anti-militarism, 'Bowe' Bergdahl, national debt, Pentagon budget, literature, books, authors, writers, cinema, music, movies, environment, ecology, anthropology, evolution, human race, humankind, misogyny, homophobia, philosophy, resistance, "Star Trek," "Star Trek: The Next Generation," United States Constitution, The Federalist Papers, James Madison, "The Simpsons," Bob Dylan, "Tombstone Blues," Commander-in-Chief, al-Baghdadi, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Iran, endless wars, Major Danny Sjursen, Fritz Lang, Peter Bogdanovich, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, Dr. Mabuse the Gambler, M, The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse, Josef Goebbels, Hollywood, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Carl Sagan, Joe Biden, "With God on Our Side," TAKE THIS WAR AND SHOVE IT! A Most Unwilling Soldier 1967-1971, Albert Einstein, Nuremberg Trials, sexual identity, non-binary sexual identity, sexual orientation, suppression of right to vote, human rights, civil rights
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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS NOTICE: Unless otherwise indicated, owner of this site is the sole author and owner of all material posted (with exception of public domain graphics). Permission is granted to share contents of this site elsewhere on the Internet or by other means of reproduction provided original author (Gregory Laxer) is credited. Please include a link to this website as a courtesy. If only excerpts are shared, original context must be accurately conveyed and, again, credited to original author. Please include a link to this website. EXCEPTION: Selections from my as yet unpublished memoir (see Memoir Page of this site) may not be reproduced elsewhere without express permission of the author.
DISCLAIMER: The author/owner of this website is not responsible for or necessarily in agreement with ideas expressed on other websites to which links are provided, nor does he endorse products that may be advertised on this site by the website service provider.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS NOTICE: Unless otherwise indicated, owner of this site is the sole author and owner of all material posted (with exception of public domain graphics). Permission is granted to share contents of this site elsewhere on the Internet or by other means of reproduction provided original author (Gregory Laxer) is credited. Please include a link to this website as a courtesy. If only excerpts are shared, original context must be accurately conveyed and, again, credited to original author. Please include a link to this website. EXCEPTION: Selections from my as yet unpublished memoir (see Memoir Page of this site) may not be reproduced elsewhere without express permission of the author.
DISCLAIMER: The author/owner of this website is not responsible for or necessarily in agreement with ideas expressed on other websites to which links are provided, nor does he endorse products that may be advertised on this site by the website service provider.
