Detail from The Crucifixion of St. Peter, by Michelangelo, from the cover of Forbidden Knowledge Twenty-eight years ago, in October 1996, I bought a book so full of knowledge and food for thought that since then I have returned to it again and again and keep it on the bookshelf behind me as I sit…
Details“i” before “e” except after “c” . . . EXCEPT . . . . . . when your foreign neighbor Keith receives eight counterfeit beige sleighs from feisty caffeinated weightlifters. Weird.
DetailsThe following snippets are from Back to the Cold War: Russia uses Mexico as a Hub for Spying on the U.S. in today’s NBC News. “Russia has added dozens of personnel to its embassy staff in Mexico City in the past few years, even though Moscow has only limited trade ties with the country.” Russia’s…
DetailsI’ve been an Authors Guild member for 33 years. The following is a communication from todays Guild mailing. The Authors Guild and a coalition of bookstores, booksellers, authors, and publishers filed a lawsuit on July 25, 2023, challenging Texas House Bill 900, the ironically-titled “Reader Act.” The law violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of…
DetailsMany books have been written — and will continue to be written — about the complexities of free speech. In the US, the issue was never simple, even from the beginning as the nation’s constitution was being written. But as time has passed through decades and centuries, as global cultures have expanded and interacted with…
DetailsFor those who don’t write fiction — or any kind of professional writing — the work itself hardly seems to be “work” at all. One sits and thinks, then writes some ideas. How hard could it be? Of course, as a novelist I would beg to differ with that viewpoint. How hard could it be?…
DetailsEvery morning I read five or six newspapers/websites. In papers like The Washington Post and The New York Times I’m curious about the articles that have generated the most comments from the readership. They often provide a snapshot of American discontent. I read the articles, then go to the “comments” section. I preselect the “Reader’s…
DetailsToday we live in what is commonly called the “digital era” or “the information age”. New ideas fly at us unrelentingly and at greater speed than at any other time in human history. Not surprisingly, these new ideas often come to us in ways that tempt us to fire off a quick response, or reaction.…
DetailsFirst they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then…
DetailsFollowing facts are highlights from a CNN news story that ran 2021-11-26. ● The U.S. is the only nation in the world where civilian guns outnumber people ● There are 120 guns for every 100 Americans ● About 44% of US adults live in a household with a gun, and about…
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