Whether good or bad, our economy depends on consumers.  When young people have to enter the working force with tens of thousands of dollars in loans, it’s a drag on the economy and detrimental to their future security.  How can we attack the problem?

First, let’s analyze the root of the problem: higher education in this country suffers from the same disease that the medical system does—the incorrect idea that colleges and universities have to make a profit.  Whoa! you say.  Aren’t they non-profit organizations?  Some of them say they are, but more and more are admitting their goal is to make money, especially online outfits and those “professional schools” who pay their professors very little and charge their students big dollars to “learn a trade.”

Even prestigious schools are in it for the money.  Harvard, for example, is connected to hospitals in Boston, MIT has its Lincoln Laboratory, Cal Tech its JPL, Berkeley its Lawrence Livermore, and so forth.  Institutes and national labs funnel taxpayers’ money into big universities, many of them private.  And these schools charge the most—obviously, prestige, earned or otherwise, is worth gold.  I’m not saying that a full professor at MIT or Harvard makes a hefty salary compared to a corporate CEO, but they’re both overpaid.  Academia also sports the tenure system—there’s a lot of deadwood among those tenured professors.

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Politician’s are known for irresponsible hyperbole—for example, Dubya’s famous “Mission accomplished.”  Now Obama is guilty of bowing to media pressure and ready to declare an end to the war on terrorism.  My distrust of politicians grows day-by-day.  While the public should never expect too much from people who are mostly failed lawyers, I’m amazed at how politicians are so accustomed to bend in the wind that they continue doing it when it’s no longer necessary.  Obama will not run for re-election.  So, why is he discontinuing one of the only successful policies that have taken the war on terrorism to the terrorists?

Much handwringing has been done about drone strikes.  C’mon!  There are no American casualties.  And the number of “innocent civilians” who are victims, the so-called collateral damage, is far less than the number of casualties involved in the boots-on-the-ground approach in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Moreover, terrorists are cowards who tend to hide behind their women and children, who, like bin Laden’s extended family, are too often willing participants in al Qaeda’s tactics.  The handwringing by the media and other mentally challenged people, who are aghast at the surgical lethality of the drones, is uncalled for and gives no rest to the victims of terrorist attacks and their families and friends.

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#268: Free ebook!  Over the U.S. Memorial Day weekend (May 24-28, 2013), I am offering my new release Teeter-Totter between Lust and Murder FOR FREE on Amazon.  Don’t miss this chance for some great summer reading.  It’s also a way to introduce yourself to my writing.  You only need a Kindle or the free Kindle app for your electronic device.  Download now before you forget.  The book will return to its released price of $4.99 come May 29.  Don’t miss out!

#269: Guest posts.  The second part of my “Targeting Specific Audiences” appeared in Writers on the Move on 5/17.  The third part, discussing metrics, will appear on 5/30.  “Between Writer and Reader” appeared on Karen Cioffi Writing and Marketing last week (5/15).  Although all these posts are more for writers, readers might find them entertaining if only to understand those strange people, the writers.

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Dennis Rodman made an ass of himself as an NBA player.  Now he’s playing diplomat—rather, Kim Jong Il’s favorite pal—and continuing to make an ass of himself.  There have been articles in our enlightened media on how this “basketball diplomacy” just might work.  BS!  That  theoretical flatulence has been quieted a bit after Rodman’s trip because the boy wonder of North Korea postures and threatens the West, testing missiles as a way to threaten South Korea and the U.S. in general and in their joint defense exercises.

Rodman must have had one too many blows to the head as other NBA players returned the hits from his flaying elbows.  He’s now certifiably crazy.  Or, completely naïve.  In any case, the North Korean dictator, in a fascistic variation of North Korea’s “three generation rule,” learned from granddaddy mostly because daddy was a moronic recluse.  Garcia-Marquez in his Autumn of the Patriarch painted a picture of the archetypical South American dictator.  Kim Jong Il makes Gabo’s dictator look like a choir boy.

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#264: Welcome!  I know there are some new readers visiting this blog.  If you’re one of them, welcome!  This post (it appears on most Fridays) is for writers and readers of books, but many come here more for the op-ed.  To the old-timers (I’ve probably never said it, but better late than never), welcome to you too!  There are many blogs on the internet, so I feel privileged that you have added mine to your reading list.  (If you have access to an RSS feed, you can RSS this blog.  I was surprised—it was the one thing that was easy to do on Goodreads.)

Many blogs are for-profit in the sense that you will see multitudes of ads floating on your screen cajoling you to be a good consumer.  That’s their choice, of course.  In my blog, I try to keep things non-commercial.  If it is commercial, and I mention it, it’s because they offer services to readers and writers I applaud—especially to indie authors and publishers.

That said, I do need your support.  My costs are minimal (generated by maintaining this website plus paying for ebook formatting and cover art), but I can’t operate at a loss.  So, please help!  Tell your friends about the website.  Read, buy, and review some of my books if you can spare a café latte or two and a wee bit o’ time.  Tell your friends to do the same.  And I’m just one indie author.  Try to help the others too—if you resonate with their writing.

#265: Prices for my ebooks.  Steve Jobs in an email to Harper Collins’ James Murdoch: “Throw in with Apple and see if we can all make a go of this to create a real mainstream e-books market at $12.99 and $14.99.”  Recall that the Big Five joined forces with Jobs in their attempt to fix ebook prices.  This was an attack on Amazon but the Justice Department brought a lawsuit against Apple et al, which they lost—an implicit win for Amazon.

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We’re heading into summer and we’re all looking for good books to read during those lazy R&R days of vacation and beach visits.  If you’re like me, you scan those free book promos on Amazon.  You also look for those bargain ebooks—not exactly free, but comparable in price to that special iced coffee you like to slurp while you read.  The majority of those bargain ebooks are released by indie authors and are exceptionally good entertainment for the price, if you choose wisely.

I’m an indie author.  Because this blog, and costs incurred in preparing my ebooks for release, are supported entirely by my book sales, I ask you to consider the following:

New release!  With Teeter-Totter between Lust and Murder, I continue the “Detectives Chen and Castilblanco Series.”  The sleuths of The Midas Bomb and Angels Need Not Apply will embroil you in action and suspense yet again.  As a mystery novel, it is a dark probing into the nexus the crime underworld sometimes enjoys with the rich and powerful.  Chen is arrested for the murder of a senator in circumstances that seem to leave no doubt of her guilt, but Castilblanco helps prove her innocence.  With this new crime novel, I continue the saga of your two favorite detectives as they and their companions fight the corrupting influence of the illegal weapons trade.  Teeter-Totter between Lust and Murder, only $4.99 on Amazon.

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#258: New book release!  You’ve already seen the excerpt (last Monday).  Watch for the release—real soon now.  With Teeter-Totter between Lust and Murder, I continue the “Detectives Chen and Castilblanco Series.”  The sleuths of The Midas Bomb and Angels Need Not Apply will embroil you in action and suspense yet again.  As a mystery novel (my first), it is a dark probing into the nexus the crime underworld sometimes enjoys with the rich and powerful.

Chen is arrested for the murder of a senator in circumstances that seem to leave no doubt of her guilt, but Castilblanco helps prove her innocence.  With this new crime novel, I continue the saga of your two favorite detectives as they and their companions fight the corrupting influence of the illegal weapons trade.  You can read this book for free (and its companion book, The Golden Years of Virginia Morgan, also a 2013 release) by offering to write an honest review of the book for Amazon (or anywhere else, for that matter—see the note on reviewers’ responsibilities below)—query through my contact form at this website.

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On Tuesday, I did a review of my limited experiences at the Montclair Film Festival.  One thing that I noticed, especially in Michael Moore’s discussion, was that film makers tend to consider TV negatively.  “Small wonder!” you might say.  But books certainly are transformed to TV as much or more than they are to the big screen.  If literature is an art form, are things derived from it also art forms?  Most people associated with the film industry would say films are an art form.  So, is TV an art form?

Michael Moore focused on the active-passive difference, claiming that TV is much more passive than cinema.  The latter has an audience that moves to some building, maybe miles away, buys their tickets, and sits down to enjoy a film (that’s a bit myopic, of course, in these days of Netflix).  TV takes away everything except maybe enjoying the film, but many of us watch anything to just be watching something.  I don’t buy the argument.  Both are passive and demand less mental interaction with their viewers than a good book demands of its reader.

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(D. M. Annechino,  I Do Solemnly Swear, ISBN B007NN52IM, Thomas and Mercer, 2012)

This is my second review of a book penned by Mr. Annechino (can we say that nowadays?  do authors still use pens?).  I also reviewed They Never Die Quietly.  They are very different books, which shows the versatility of the author.  I enjoyed this mystery/thriller more.  Let me state up front that it was fast-paced, suspenseful, and entertaining.  A real page-turner, as they say (again, can I use this cliché when reading with my Kindle?).  I sailed right through it in one session and smiled at the ending (definitely room for a sequel here).

That said, I want to scold the author a wee bit.  He could have done so much more with this plot and character list!  It’s a Tom Clancy plot-boiler in miniature (Executive Orders has a similar plot, for example).  I was always a sucker for early Clancy—not so much for his later work.  Clancy’s books were like 24-ounce prime rib with too much fat—he had a wealth of interesting detail and many participating characters (Red Storm Rising is worse than War and Peace in that regard).  Mr. Annechino had his chance with this one to do the same, but he preferred to release a book with minimal plot depth.  You also don’t have the chance to know many of his characters very well.  His book is like a very thin and lean strip steak.  Tasty, but I wanted more.

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The Montclair Film Festival (Montclair, NJ) is in its second year.  For 2013 (from April 29 to May 5, to be precise), it expanded, with more venues, films, speakers, and discussion sections (over 80 films and events).  We attended last year.  Because I’m an incurable people watcher (even though I’m introverted and don’t enjoy being in large crowds), I observed that there is a large overlap between films and book lovers.  Thought-provoking films make people think while they enjoy the film and lead to discussions afterward—these are the films shown at the Montclair Film Festival.  A thought-provoking book does the same thing.

“Thought-provoking” is a sloppy term.  I can easily enter a vicious circle—a thought-provoking book is one that makes you think beyond its plot and characters to more substantive issues.  Even a vampire romance can make you think of issues you might not consider outside of your reading.  My sci-fi thrillers will make you think too—they’re entertaining extrapolations into the future.  What I observed at last year’s crowd at the Festival was that thought-provoking films and books have a common audience—people were talking about films and books.

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