Category: COLUMNS

Studs Terkel & Jerry Garcia

Chicago History Museum/AP
Chicago History Museum/AP

Growing up in Chicago and her suburbs in the 1960s/70s provided for a very media-rich upbringing, although I was unaware at the time just how muscular it was. When we weren’t out exploring alleyways, finding mud holes to disrupt, or playing motorcycle gang wars on our banana-seated bicycles, I could be found lying on the living room floor with either one of two daily newspapers splayed out in front of me like some kind of map to the world, with local radio playing in the background. TV was likely on simultaneously, and I can still absorb and identify up to five stimuli at the same time. Continue reading “Studs Terkel & Jerry Garcia” →

Black Lies Matter Arrives in Maine

WCSH-6 Camera Captures #BLM Protestors Trapping Blacks in a Circle of Whiteness

Another RE-POST:

The Soros-funded, summer jobs program that is the hashtag Black Lives Matter movement trickled down to Maine yesterday, and despite the 92% humidity, both pathos and irony were thicker than the air.

Continue reading “Black Lies Matter Arrives in Maine” →

You’re a Socialist-American? Please Explain…

Bernie Che Shirt

RE-POSTING FOUR YEARS LATER>>>

I predict this coming summer will find more residents of Mid Coast Maine, where I live, wearing Bernie Sanders t-shirts than the current favorite, Che Guevara model. The women will still sport the obligatory side-crew cuts and the men ponytails, but the go-to-T-shirt will change for the first time in decades!

It’s also logical to assume that, had Che not been executed in 1967 at the age of thirty-nine, he might very well be making campaign appearances on Mr. Sanders’ behalf today, even in his late eighties. They might at least be spotted fighting over the breakfast tab at a diner.

Continue reading “You’re a Socialist-American? Please Explain…” →

WHY SEPTEMBER 11th?

A good Moslem king was one who was strict in religion, valiant in battle, just in giving judgment among his people, but not one who had the slightest objection in international matters to removing his neighbour’s landmark.

–G.K. Chesterton, 1911

I awoke this morning wondering if Islam has already won.

Does the fact that Americans are spending the 911-september-11th-attacksday in solemn observation of this date, September 11th, mourning the more than 3,000 deaths by Muslim aggression, stand as proof that those who profess to be carrying out the commands of their Prophet Mohammad, presently have the upper-hand and distinct strategic advantage over the entirety of Western Civilization?

Why are we not, instead, celebrating that on this date, September 11, 1683, the kara-mustafaChristian defenders of Western Civilization fought successfully against an effort by Islam to rampage across Europe and turn Saint Peter’s Basilica into a mosque?

When was the last time anyone in America celebrated, or even learned about the Christian victory over the Ottoman Turks, who, led by Kara Mustafa, had held Europe under siege at the Gates of Vienna throughout the summer of 1683? Why is the name of John III Sobieski not known in households throughout the free world? Continue reading “WHY SEPTEMBER 11th?” →

The Time to Overturn Roe vs. Wade is Upon U.S.

The United States Supreme Court has overturned their own rulings approximately 250 times in our nation’s history. Here is a list as of 2010.

The United States Supreme Court has overturned their own rulings approximately 250 times in our nation’s history. Here is a list as of 2010.

Supreme Court Decisions Overruled by Subsequent Decision

Yes, Deplorable Indeed!

From William Wordsworth’s Ecclesiastical Sonnets

 

DEPLORABLE his lot who tills the ground,

William Wordsworth by Benjamin Robert Haydon, painting 1842
William Wordsworth by Benjamin Robert Haydon, painting 1842

His whole life long tills it, with heartless toil

Of villain-service, passing with the soil

To each new Master, like a steer or hound,

Or like a rooted tree, or stone earth-bound;

But mark how gladly, through their own domains,

The Monks relax or break these iron chains;

While Mercy, uttering, through their voice, a sound

Echoed in Heaven, cries out, “Ye Chiefs, abate

These legalized oppressions! Man–whose name

And nature God disdained not; Man–whose soul

Christ died for–cannot forfeit his high claim

To live and move exempt from all control

Which fellow-feeling doth not mitigate!”

Make America Golf Again

David Feherty Interviews Donald Trump for The Golf Channel
Feherty Interviews Trump on The Golf Channel

Donald Trump will be interviewed by golf commentator David Feherty tonight at 9:00 on the Golf Channel. Feherty is, like most everyone in the golf industry, a pretty conservative fellow, so the hour-long program promises to be fair and fun.

Continue reading “Make America Golf Again” →

I Sat On The Story

[After way too long a break from posting, here’s how I feel…] 

I sat on the story. Dammit! I had the story.Me, Sitting on The Story I liked the story, a lot. I outlined it, roughed out a couple potential opening paragraphs. Each could easily be transformed into a transitioning 2nd paragraph, when the time came.

Continue reading “I Sat On The Story” →

Transformational Mission Trips

[Here’s a piece I wrote about Chop Point School, as it appeared in the Brunswick Times Record on March 8th.]

GUEST COLUMN
BY MICHAEL PAJAK

In late winter each year, the 11th and 12thAHNO4440 grade students of Chop Point School in Woolwich embark on a journey that is transformational for each of them and holds the promise of positively impacting the lives of the children who live at the city dump in Managua, Nicaragua.

Yes, that’s right, the children who live at the city dump. Continue reading “Transformational Mission Trips” →

Studs Terkel & Jerry Garcia

Chicago History Museum/AP
Chicago History Museum/AP

Growing up in Chicago and her suburbs in the 1960s/70s provided for a very media-rich upbringing, although I was unaware at the time just how muscular it was. When we weren’t out exploring alleyways, finding mud holes to disrupt, or playing motorcycle gang wars on our banana-seated bicycles, I could be found lying on the living room floor with either one of two daily newspapers splayed out in front of me like some kind of map to the world, with local radio playing in the background. TV was likely on simultaneously, and I can still absorb and identify up to five stimuli at the same time. Continue reading “Studs Terkel & Jerry Garcia” →

Lenten Poem – Fixed in His Freedom

I admit to not being a very good Catholic. I just don’t practice enough. But I do love the Church. Even if I don’t get there very often any more, I am comforted by Her presence.

Lent is upon us, so I’ve got that going for me! Wandering around and fasting in the wilderness, followed by the promise of a rebirth of faith and life. The original Hope & Change!

I didn’t write this poem so much as it summoned itself through my pencil… Continue reading “Lenten Poem – Fixed in His Freedom” →

Super Bowl L – As in “Life”

Unless you’re a football policy wonk who prefers a defensive matchup to a game featuring long pass completions and breakaway runs for daylight, Super Bowl “L” was a big Loser. With the Denver Broncos offense gaining fewer yards than any Super Bowl victor in recent memory, and the petulant Cam Newton showing up just long enough to pout his way out of his post-game press conference, the Big Game seemed to be the first in NFL history played with no quarterbacks.

The night, however, was a big success for pro-life football fans. One need look no further than NARAL’s own Twitter feed to see how a simple game of football, that modern descendent of the gladiator battles of old, had the old GRRs (Grannie’s for Reproductive Rights) typing away furiously, using all 140 characters available to express their outrage at the baby-friendly, anti-feminazi messages being projected into living rooms the world over.

Continue reading “Super Bowl L – As in “Life”” →

The Legend of The Books

TLOTB_KINDLE_COVER2
The Legend of The Books

My first foray into e-publishing is a novel-in-verse that my close friend I.C. Shaw and I co-authored a few years back, The Legend of The Books.

“In former days when legends still gave shine…” Thus the tone is set for The Legend of The Books, a novel in verse that hearkens back to epic poems of the days of old.

Replete with war and ruin, death and debauchery, jugglers and clowns, adventure and intrigue, The Legend of The Books arrives with a promise to return poetry to its rightful place in human history as a source of enjoyment and recreation for the masses. In homage to the works of Homer and The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Legend of The Books is as much Literary Ballad as it is Epic Poetry. Best read aloud around a roaring campfire with flagons of rum, The Legend of The Books recalls the oral and ancient tradition of storytelling.

Continue reading “The Legend of The Books” →

The Seven

tlotb_cover_basketNever one to scare easily, I have always sought out those things which normal people seem to eschew out of fear, whether rationally or irrationally. From my first encounters with Grimm’s Fairy Tales to that first nightmare about bees that sent me running to mother’s bed, not out of fear, but to warn her, I’ve enjoyed fear.

This quality later manifested itself in cross-country hitchhiking and rock climbing, to the modern, middle-aged-man equivalents of eagerly driving to the corner store in a driving blizzard just to get some milk and PBR, or admitting that I am pro-life and Republican in 2016 just to get a reaction. Fear is one of those experiences that always makes me feel more alive.

There is, however, one thing that has always scared me more than my logical mind can rationalize. One thing exists that can freeze me in my tracks just by thinking about it; one experience haunts me when I sleep, and when awake: a simple poem. Continue reading “The Seven” →

Lois Snowe-Mello, A Giant Heart of Gold

Lois_Snowe_Mello
Senator Lois-Snowe Mello

I had the great fortune of serving as Legislative Aide to Senator Lois Snowe-Mello during the 122nd Legislative Session. Of the group of senators I served, Lois was my personal favorite, standing head and shoulders above the rest, despite her being the shortest member of the Republican Caucus.

Continue reading “Lois Snowe-Mello, A Giant Heart of Gold” →

The Conditional Love of a Liberal

A couple of weeks ago, former candidate for U.S. Senate, Maine Governorship, and former Yarmouth Town Councilman Steve Woods wrote, and The Forecaster published, a rather hate-filled and intolerant letter to his imaginary friend explaining the many reasons why the relationship was over. The letter could have been addressed to at least half of what would have been Mr. Woods constituency, had he won or remained in public office. If they read his letter, I suspect many of his imaginary voters to be relieved he did not succeed. Following is my response to Mr. Woods:

Continue reading “The Conditional Love of a Liberal” →

Why all the Negativity, Dude?

Posted on FB on January 15, 2016, in response to a question regarding the conservative response to Obama’s final State of The Union address.

Jim,

You ask four questions in your post, and I believe there is one answer to them all:

Ideology – that abstract and often intractable meaning applied to matters in the public square.

The country is engaged in a sort of protracted psychic civil war. There are now two schools of thought regarding every issue – a classic Us vs. Them scenario rules the landscape. Pick a side, and fight for it to the death, seems to be the modus operandi of the general public.

Even within the chosen sides, further breakdowns emerge, with Sanders voters claiming to be unable to support a Clinton candidacy, Trump supporters refusing to support anyone else… It’s ugly out there!

Continue reading “Why all the Negativity, Dude?” →

Cognitive Dissonance O’ the Day…

Let’s suspend disbelief for a moment and pretend that the prevailing narrative that cops are out there randomly killing innocent blacks is true.

Let’s ignore the reality that twice as many whites are killed by cops, according to the CDC’s own numbers and CNN’s own reporting. Of course, one must observe in context that more whites than blacks are killed by the police primarily because whites outnumber blacks in the general population. The country is about 63 percent white and 12 percent black. Fair enough…

Continue reading “Cognitive Dissonance O’ the Day…” →

Introducing The i-logy

article_79ed511e818b4ada_1377172827_9j-4aaqskPerhaps one of the cruelest jokes God plays on his people is that we are denied the opportunity to speak at our own funerals. Instead, we get “eulogized” by someone, perhaps of our own choosing, if we were lucky enough to see death coming.

Continue reading “Introducing The i-logy” →

HATE SPEECH WRITER FOR HIRE – Momma, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Political Junkies

Originally written in March, 2011, updated Feb., 2016 

It has become increasingly clear that liberals, in addition to having no sense, do not have a sense of humor, either. In this observation I include liberal Republicans, liberal Libertarians, and liberal Amish. The ramification of this lack of humor is proving disastrous for the Republic, as it has for me, personally.

Continue reading “HATE SPEECH WRITER FOR HIRE – Momma, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Political Junkies” →

Taking the Cookies Off the Table, Pt. II

September 2010

What a difference one year makes! The prattle among the chattering class in this election cycle is all about the economy. “More Jobs for Maine Families” says LePage on his website. “We can create jobs if we govern from the center” claims Cutler on his. Shawn Moody declares, “I am committed to dropping Maine’s unemployment rate to less than 6%,” talking with both hands moving for emphasis. Not to be outdone, Kevin Scott urges innovative budget solutions and a 32-hour workweek as the hope for Maine’s future. Libby Mitchell is the only one who lists so-called “Civil Rights” atop her list of the pressing issues of her candidacy, but I think it is only because the list is alphabetical. The first line of her “vision” for Maine is “Life in Maine is as simple as the soft feel of a newborn…” so one might surmise that Libby is pro-life. But then, her career is built upon sugary deceptions.

Continue reading “Taking the Cookies Off the Table, Pt. II” →

Taking the Cookies Off the Table – Pt. I

September 2010

The oldest known use of the phrase “take that off the table” according to Mypedia dates back to about 1962 when my sister and I were fighting loudly over the last cookie on the plate on the kitchen table. “I think I’ll just take that cookie right off the table,” said Mom. That was the last either my sister or I saw of that particular cookie. That was how it worked in the family – Take something off the table, and no one gets any of it.

In government, particularly in the legislative process, it is opposite – an item is “tabled” or a motion made to “lay it on the table” when it is to be taken out of discussion. It is no wonder families work better than governments.

Continue reading “Taking the Cookies Off the Table – Pt. I” →

Muhammad – Prophet or Imposter?

Originally written 9/15/2006 – I first wrote this nearly ten years ago, and am working on an updated version. In the process, I’ve come to realize that nothing, not-a-thing, has changed for Islam since the first radical Islamic terrorist, Muhammad, started things off by killing his way into the history books. Now, his adherents kill their way onto the front pages…

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A depiction of Muhammad receiving his first revelation from the angel Gabriel. From the manuscript Jami' al-tawarikh by Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, 1307, Ilkhanate period.
A depiction of Muhammad receiving his first revelation from the angel Gabriel. From the manuscript Jami’ al-tawarikh by Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, 1307, Ilkhanate period.

For as long as the history of Islam has been written, the followers of Muhammad have stamped their feet like spoiled little children throwing a temper tantrum after being denied another piece of candy. Except that after they finish stamping their feet they blow up buildings, bomb weddings, and behead any who dare criticize their childish behavior.

Continue reading “Muhammad – Prophet or Imposter?” →