Counterargument for God was officially published on Easter Sunday, 2013. It is currently available on Amazon and at Smashwords. The print version will be available soon. We are currently waiting to review the proof copy. The ebook versions were released late Sunday after a long and arduous weekend of formatting by my wonderful wife, who also happens to be my publisher. In the credits, three important contributors were not properly acknowledged. It is time to remedy that oversight. First, I would like to specifically thank my friends Fred Kohn and Bill Wassner, who both slogged their way through an early, very difficult-to-read rough draft and offered valuable advice. The contributions of Bill and Fred were crucial and significantly improved the final version of the manuscript. Mea culpa. And of course, special thanks are owed to my lovely and talented wife Lisa, editor and publisher extraordinaire. Publishing this nearly 500 page book for me was most certainly a labor of love. She strongly prefers editing my "Rocky Leonard" detective novels. After all, novels don't require footnotes. … [Read more...]
The rapid decline of American education
Traditional American values are under attack. It's an inside job, by our education system. When Texas mom Kara Sands checked her son's quiz about the 9/11 terrorist attacks, she discovered that he had "correctly" answered one particular multiple-choice question asking why the United States might be a target for terrorism. He chose "decisions made in the U.S. have had negative effects on people elsewhere" as his answer -- because that is precisely what he'd been taught by an "educational" video shown in his class. Kara became outraged when she learned the depths to which this program works to shape the personalities and undermine the traditional values of her children rather than educating them. Bravely she has launched a one-woman campaign now gaining national attention as she exposes the truth about this curriculum called CSCOPE, an ultra-liberal ideology disguised as elementary school material. Unfortunately, the problem isn't limited to Texas, or elementary schools. The entire American education system has been infected by liberalism. Yale recently hosted a workshop that gave students "sensitivity training" to incest and bestiality. How could anyone justify of the most disgusting, aberrant behavior known to man be taught at Yale, for God's sake? In fairness, it wasn't a class, just a weekend workshop. And Allegheny College hosted a sex and masturbation workshop inside their chapel, of all places. But at Yale? Even the Ivy League has been infected by poison ivy. A professor at Florida Atlantic University just created a great deal of controversy with a … [Read more...]
Misinformation
I don't care who you are, or how smart you are. Someone, somewhere, has lied to you. We've all fallen prey to misinformation. Furthermore, we've all been guilty of spreading lies as a result, intentionally or not. Of course, I am not immune. Two quick personal examples: not long ago, I posted a link on Facebook to a fake website called www.obamaphone.net. Also, a while back I wrote an erroneous article for Examiner.com, repeating the urban legend that a Jewish rabbi in Israel had ordered a dog to be stoned to death. In both cases, a couple of my intrepid friends were kind enough to come to my rescue, pointing out what soon became obvious to me. I had fallen for a hoax. And in both instances, I probably should have known better. The "Obama" phone fake website was sort of a dead giveaway because of the suffix. Official government websites end with ".gov" extensions. Years ago, I had learned that lesson the hard way. I once typed "whitehouse.com" instead of "whitehouse.gov" while at work and found myself staring at a hardcore porn website--I distinctly remember my ears burning with embarrassment, and how I couldn't close that browser window fast enough. Yet somehow, I forgot that lesson when I saw the fake "Obama phone" website, and took the bait hook, line, and sinker. My problem was gullibility--the fake site simply reinforced information I already accepted as true. Unfortunately, I am not alone. We all tend to give a lot more credence to information that reinforces our personal worldview than we give information that contradicts … [Read more...]
Schadenfreude
I've got to admit to a guilty pleasure. Sometimes, schadenfreude does appeal to me--on occasions like this morning, for example... As I was reading numerous stories of people complaining about the decrease in their first paycheck of 2013, I must confess that I found myself softly chuckling. Seriously, why is there surprise? Actions have consequences. President Obama got re-elected. He promised the rich will now pay more of their disposable income in taxes, and he's keeping his promise. But you will pay higher taxes, too. What did you expect? Our nation just voted to re-elect this president, the most prolific spender in the history of the United States. There should be no surprise. The really scary thing is that, in stark contrast to reality, President Obama just informed Speaker Boehner that he doesn't believe we have a spending problem. That can only mean he still thinks the current fiscal crisis in America is caused by an insufficient revenue stream to the federal government. The Treasury obtains revenue through taxation, so that can only mean that Obama plans to demand even higher taxes. Here's a news flash for those who might celebrate that idea--even if you pay zero taxes and live on government support, you're about to take a big hit in your personal spending power. Your standard of living can only decline as our currency continues to lose value. Your future entitlement dollars also will buy less because inflation has been continuously driving retail prices higher. Remember Quantitative Easing I, II, and III? Actions have … [Read more...]
Digital publishing and Amazon
How do I love Amazon? Let me count the ways... If it weren't for Amazon, I don't believe that I would have a published book for sale today. Because of this internet conglomerate, I have two detective novels and two nonfiction books available for purchase, as you read these words. Yes, Smashwords.com and David Gaughran's book Let's Get Digital were also instrumental in getting my books published without an agent or contract with a major publisher, but without the market spawned by Amazon with the introduction of the Kindle, the demand for e-books would never have been created in the first place. Therefore, in my mind, Amazon ultimately deserves a share of credit for any success I will enjoy as an author. Amazon created the Kindle Select program, where a book may be enrolled for special treatment over a period of three months. My short story collection Always a Next One was put into Kindle Select. During the time in that program, I've found my book marketed ubiquitously online, everywhere from American Thinker to an Australian television station website. It's extremely gratifying to find a well-placed, attractive ad for your product, especially an advertisement that you didn't have to buy. At this point in my writing career, exposure to my work is most important. "Free" advertising is invaluable. The Kindle Select program has been a great way to get my book cover visible all over the internet, where many eyes have found an adorable puppy looking back at them. But that's not all Amazon has done besides creating a market and offering a subscription … [Read more...]
