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Blog Tour Day 7: Review & Guest Post “Researching the Psychology of BDSM” on Owl Tell You About It
Despite the provocative image on King of Paine‘s cover, I did not set out... read more
Blog Tour Day 5: Guest Post on Thoughts In Progress: “Who Are You Chatting With?: The Dangers of Anonymous Internet Communications”
Ever since my two sons began using AOL’s instant messaging service in the... read more
Blog Tour Day 4: Guest Post “Writing Thought-Provoking Suspense: Social Themes” on The Write To Make A Living And An Absolutely Amazing Review!
Like many thriller/suspense authors, especially those trained as attorneys, I... read more
Debunking Cain: Turning 999 Upside Down
Herman Cain’s policies escaped close scrutiny while his presidential... read more
Do We Still Have A Dream?
We celebrate anniversaries to mark time, to reflect on progress year over year.... read more
My Hero, My Wife, And A Purple Donkey
Recent events have reminded me that behind every good man stands a better... read more
How You Can Help An Author Who Inspires You
Have you ever experienced the excitement of discovering a new author who... read more
Free Ebook Reader!
No, this is not spam–although it’s not a free iPad, either. But it... read more
Wealth Redistribution, The Law of the Jungle & Seeds of Revolution
We look on with hope and concern as revolution breaks out across the Middle... read more
Debunking Cain: Turning 999 Upside Down
Herman Cain’s policies escaped close scrutiny while his presidential campaign lingered on the margins, but the businessman/radio personality’s recent burst into the frontrunner’s box targets him as a candidate to be taken seriously. He’s armed with what he calls his 999 Plan, and he’s dangerous. Cain’s plan is ultimately to phase in the Fair Tax in lieu of the current individual and corporate tax system, and that tax is anything but fair to middle class Americans, particularly retirees. Cain’s 999 …
Is Social Security A Ponzi Scheme?
Texas Governor Rick Perry made headlines last week at the Republican presidential candidates’ debate when he asserted with an imperious tone that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. It’s a tempting analogy because most of the payments to retirees are financed out of receipts from payroll taxes imposed on current workers and employers, not out of principal and earnings on funds contributed by those retirees during their working careers. So why is Perry wrong? Ponzi schemes are named after Charles …
Do We Still Have A Dream?
We celebrate anniversaries to mark time, to reflect on progress year over year. On this 48th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech, Washington celebrates great leaps forward in race relations with the unveiling of the King Memorial, but my reflections leave me wondering if a shell-shocked nation has given up on its dreams for the future. A generation of dreamers grew up in the Sixties, inspired by leaders who urged us to conquer the frontiers of …
My Hero, My Wife, And A Purple Donkey
Recent events have reminded me that behind every good man stands a better woman, a Hillary to inspire the dreamer in Bill. Please forgive the redundancy in the title, but this post is about only one such woman. Ellie is my wife and my hero–and a purple donkey, too. Usually, she inspires me to write about ordinary people who strive to live up to lofty ideals; today, on our 26th wedding anniversary, she inspired me to write about her. The …
What Would Republicans Say If Democrats Tried Extortion, Too?
Negotiation occurs when two parties stake out principled positions and work together to achieve reasonable compromise. Sometimes one party has more bargaining power and may negotiate a favorable deal. But extortion occurs when a person uses coercion–threats of harm–to establish bargaining power where none otherwise exists. Raising the federal debt ceiling is a routine administrative function required to meet obligations already approved by Congress, an act necessary for the economic survival of our country, not one that naturally favors any …
Deficits, Taxes & Shared Pain
I’m not an economist, but I played one in college–well enough to know that if you put 100 economists in a room, you’ll get at least a dozen inconsistent theories (and the makings for a really exciting cocktail party!). I believe there is no economic basis for choosing between spending cuts and tax increases. As Matt Dowd pointed out on This Week today, there is no empirical evidence for favoring either. Any hit to economic growth will occur as a …
Tax Hike!!!!
My wife, Ellie, and I watch the Sunday morning news shows religiously each week. We usually remain fairly civil, even in the privacy of our own living room, but nobody brings out the wrath of the Kahns like Mitch McConnell, who was interviewed on This Week today. No matter how many times or how aggressively that man is asked to state what the Republicans are willing to give up to compromise on a deficit reduction solution, he refuses to budge …
Wealth Redistribution, The Law of the Jungle & Seeds of Revolution
We look on with hope and concern as revolution breaks out across the Middle East, but as the world’s great bastion of democracy we seem to consider ourselves immune from civil unrest. I think that’s a mistake. The conservative agenda is planting the seeds of revolution in America, and in a democracy revolution does not require violent rebellion. It simply requires the votes of an oppressed and organized majority. Unbelievably, conservatives’ solution to the looming deficit crisis continues to focus …
Patrick Henry Revisited: Give Me Liberty AND Give Me Death
I dislike that we have become a starkly divided nation but understand the philosophical underpinnings of many disputed issues. I can’t understand how one mind can believe government intrusion into the personal decisions of citizens is an intolerable restraint on liberty (the conservative credo), yet insist government deny women free choice in their reproductive decisions, gays the right to marry, and suffering patients the right to die. We are a nation of secular laws designed to protect our rights from …