“Mainstream” Arrogant Ignorance
In the “By the Books” column of The New York Times last Sunday, in response to the question “And how would you describe the kinds of books you steer clear of?” the apparently noted author Russell Banks...
View Article“Rights”
At present, it appears likely that the U.S. Supreme Court will have to make decisions affecting state law on same-sex marriage and whether companies and institutions providing health care insurance...
View ArticleService and Profit
As noted earlier on the website news section, I was in New York City last week for a signing at Singularity & Co. The night before we left to return home, an email from the airline revealed that we...
View ArticleWesteros Revisited
As most readers of this blog know, I’m not exactly enchanted with George R.R. Martin’s Fire and Ice saga, although I have said repeatedly that he is a good writer. I just don’t like what he’s writing...
View ArticleFailure to Learn
The Special Counsel for the Education Group of the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Educational Fund recently decried what she termed the “education to prison” pipeline. The point she made was that black...
View ArticleBack in the Theocracy
First, a question. When does the Constitutional requirement for separation of church and state mean essentially nothing? One answer: When you live in a state where virtually all members of the state...
View ArticleRed State Values – Counterproductive or Just Self-Defeating?
According to a just-published study in the American Journal of Sociology, the reason why divorce rates are higher in religiously conservative “red” states than in more liberal “blue” states is...
View ArticleDrudgery?
For all the reputed values, enthusiasm, and idealism reported as embodied in today’s college students and younger professionals, there’s one value far too many are lacking and whose value these young...
View ArticleFebruary Question
Although I’ve felt like the Assassin’s Apologist in most of your books, I’d like to know when you will write a political novel/autobiography in Exton Land concepts and based on your experience —...
View ArticleManagement ?
Recently, in response to one of my blogs about the excessive salaries paid to university administrators here in the U.S., and particularly in Utah, one of my readers sent me a link to a UK site, which,...
View ArticleNever Too Late?
There’s a phrase that exists in the American/English language: “It’s never too late to [fill in some goal or action].” I don’t know if similar phraseology exists in other languages, but its prevalence...
View ArticleNew Ideas?
The other day I was reading reader reviews of Rex Regis , a habit that my wife disparages, and there is, I must admit, a certain validity to that disparagement, but I occasionally find useful comments...
View ArticleFall of Angels in Audiobook
Tantor Media has just released the audiobook version of Fall of Angels, the sixth book of the Recluce Saga (in original publication order), and will continue to release audio versions of the Recluce...
View ArticleA New High?
According to The Economist, the United States has the highest rate of credit card fraud of any developed nation, a rate far, far higher, than European Union nations, as well as far higher monetary...
View ArticleSlavery
Perhaps because of all the publicity over Twelve Years a Slave or because it’s Black History Month, I’ve been thinking about slavery and a number of points that I seldom see raised, if ever… and...
View Article“Dorrin” Copper Now Available!
For those who want a Recluce collectible, the Dorrin one copper coin is now available. Minted by the Shire Post Mint, the solid copper coin features Dorrin at his forge on one side, and a view of his...
View ArticleWriting Collaborations
The other day I received an email from a reader who expressed dissatisfaction with the collaborative efforts of several well-known writers and who wanted to know how I had resisted the trend of...
View ArticleThe Cost of Principles – To Others
At the moment, there are a number of court cases dealing with the conflict between “religious freedom” and statutory law. The core issue in many of them is whether various corporations or organizations...
View ArticleIdeals and Reality
One of the great advantages of writing science fiction is that I can create a society from relatively whole cloth and try to make it real to my readers, but there are certainly dangers in making that...
View ArticleStandards and Freedom
Last Friday, my wife and I went to a modern dance concert and then, on an airplane enroute to Denver, I read through a poetry magazine that I had received as a thank you for a speaking engagement. The...
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