Conrad Johnson's Blog, page 17

Inside the world's first all female special forces unit

ELVERUM, Norway — An explosion just a few feet away rocks the unmarked station wagon as it travels along a dirt road in the Norwegian woodland. Immediately, two soldiers jump from their front seats and run for cover behind the carcass of an old, rusty tank. Firing their weapons at targets along the snow-covered hillside, they call for support from the rest of their unit. This firefight is just a drill, but the soldiers taking part are battling to break down one of the final barriers to women serving in the armed forces. They are training to become part of Norway's Jegertroppen or "Hunter Troops" — the world's first all-female military special forces unit.Read the full article here: http://ow.ly/ybPm30aV5t5

Writers Alive World News Digest March 8 2017

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE WRITERS ALIVE WORLD NEWS DIGEST

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones and The God Who Acts

https://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/the-god-who-acts/

John MacArthur Islam and the antichrist

John Smolens Author Interview

Enjoy these answers to questions given to fiction writer, John Smolens  (longtime friend of the legendary Jim Harrison), composed by U.P. Poet Laureate, Russ Thorburn, and myself. And do not forget to order his latest historical fiction novel, Wolf's Mouth:


You were a good friend of Harrison's. From his many books of prose, poetry and essays, what would you consider your favorite book? 
I’ve read just about all of his books, I believe.  I think some of his best fiction is found in his collections of novellas, which is a very difficult form.  But the books that I return to often are his poems:  After Ikkyu; The Shape of the Journey; and Braided Creek, which he wrote with Ted Kooser.  I reread essays from The Raw and the Cooked because they’re a stitch.  Nobody moves from a consideration of tomatoes to philosophy to to wine to birds to chicken thighs…with such alacrity.  It’s a little known fact that Jim Harrison invented the alternative fact.
What can you tell us about the author himself?
For years Jim came to Marquette in the spring and fall.  My wife Patricia (friends called her Reesha) and I thought of these visits as a sign of the change of the seasons.  He’d stay at the Landmark Inn, a few blocks from our house.  Years ago he had a dog named Rose, who would stay with us at our house.  Sometimes we’d go out to dinner; sometimes he’d come to the house and he and Reesha would cook together, which was like watching a ballet (my job was to keep opening the wine bottles).  Conversation with him changed the way you read his work.  His mind worked in different directions constantly.  He’d start to talk about a recipe for salmon or whitefish (which we often cooked at the house), and it would turn to a description of how to slow-simmer tomatoes in garlic and basil, and then to bird-hunting in Michigan’s Leelanau Peninsula (where he and his wife Linda lived for decades before moving out west), and then to a line from Lorca (who was one of his favorite poets), and then to an encounter with a black bear outside his cabin in Grand Marais.  I think he was plagued by memory, by recollection.  He didn’t want to let anything go.  It was a torment and he loved it.
In Michigan, you are a celebrated author, Wolf's Mouth a Michigan Notable Book, go back thirty years or so when you were younger, of course, and tell us your big moment of WOW, I am a writer. And how did that take place?
I really don’t recall a “big moment of WOW.”  Actually, I think that to this day I begin the day by asking myself “Am I a writer?”  The day I stop asking that question is the day I have moved on to something else.  I can think of few things more difficult to define.  What is a writer?  I try to find out every day.  I think writers are people who should try to invent the wheel every damned day.


As an historical fiction writer, name some of your favorite historical fiction writers and their books.
This would be a very long list, so I’ll briefly mention four books:
Ragtime, by E. L. Doctorow.  I first read it the summer of 1975, when I was in my mid-twenties.  I taught it often because it pulled my undergrads out of their perception of what a novel should be, and because of how it dealt with class and race and immigration in America.  I come from what I’ll call American immigrant stock, being a blend of Irish Catholic on my mother’s side, and English and Russian Jewish on my father’s side.  This novel, set in the first years of the 20th century addresses so many things that divide us as a people, while also examining what binds us together.
The Girl with the Pearl Earring, by Tracy Chevalier.  Set in Delft, Holland, in the 17th century, the narrator is an adolescent girl who works as a maid in the home of the painter Johannes Vermeer.  I taught this in my Good Books class often because the girl, Greet, who has no formal education, is so honest and perceptive.  Her situation in the Vermeer household reveals a great deal about patriarchal privilege, but also about art.  Many of my students had never visited a museum or an art gallery; had never had the experience of standing before an original work of art.  (I’d often take them to the current exhibit at NMU’s art gallery.)  Though the novel is of course a fictional rendering of how Vermeer came to paint The Girl with the Pearl Earring, the story speaks to how imagination and possibility can lead to a work of art, and how art can lift one to a place that has little or nothing to do with one’s own experience.
1984, by George Orwell.  I taught this novel in 2004.  The book was published in 1948 and, when I first read it decades ago, it was considered “futuristic”; not exactly sci-fi, but an attempt to explore the political and social possibilities of the future.  But when my students read it (many of them having been born in or around 1984), they thought of it as being an historical novel—about a distant past.  It’s one of the few books I know of that, though it is so connected to a specific time, the year 1984, it has proven timeless.  Some of my students loved the book; many of them hated it.  It’s not a book that elicits a mild response.  I read the other day that since Donald Trump’s election there’s been a significant spike in the sales of 1984.
I’ve also taught Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, which seems to speak to aspects of our current situation and, like 1984, manages to blur notions of past and future.  Interestingly, both these novels have suddenly returned to the bestseller lists.  The publisher of 1984 has announced that they’re going to issue 75,000 copies of a special edition.  2+2+5.

In The Schoolmaster's Daughter, you write of "human behavior gone awry," which is Harrison's blurb for your book. Do you observe human behavior gone awry as a writer immersed in experiences, whether in Boston, Marquette, or Detroit? 
I never think of human nature going awry more in one place than another.  That being said, I love writing about place.  I love describing weather, houses, landscapes.  When I go to a museum or gallery, I’m often drawn to paintings that render such things.  Some abstract work appeals to me, but I’m more likely to gaze a long time at a painting of a salt marsh or a storm gathering on the horizon.  If human behavior didn’t go awry, we wouldn’t need to write novels, and that’s probably true for most works of art, whether it’s a blues song about lost love or a painting of a girl riding a bicycle in the rain.  We don’t fit comfortably in the world—not often, anyway.  We bump up against it, and against each other, and that’s what captures this novelist’s attention. 
I grew up on the outskirts of Boston and have lived in various neighborhoods of the city.  When I walk around Boston, I can see its history as though looking down through layers of time.  I know, for instance, that where my father worked on Canal Street (a block from Boston Garden, now called TD Garden, where the Bruins and the Celtics play) used to be what was called the Mill Pond.  The Schoolmaster’s Daughter is based on the Lovell family, who lived in Boston during the Revolution.  For decades John Lovell was the headmaster at the Latin School, which was right behind King’s Chapel, where the old city hall now stands, and across the street from the Omni Parker House Hotel, which is famous for its rolls and for inventing Boston Cream Pie.  The Lovell family was divided:  the parents were ardent Tories, while their children conducted espionage operations for the patriot cause.  I wanted the book to examine the tension that must have been at the dinner table at teatime, or when they heard the rattle of drums as British soldiers marched on the Commons, a few blocks away.  And I wanted readers to know how these young people had a very real influence on events during that first year of the Revolution, from Lexington and Concord to Bunker Hill.  I think we use the word hero too often, too easily; but I think the young Lovells were genuine American heroes, true patriots.
 How do you take notes?
I have no apparent system.  My wife Reesha used to empty my pockets and find shopping lists that would say things like: 
MilkBread16-penny galvanized nailsThe day McKinley was shot he had $1.20 in his pocket
 She’d leave the lists on my desk. 
I’m a great believer of the Post-It note.  While writing books such as Schoolmaster, Quarantine, andThe Anarchist I would have stacks of books around the house and in my office at school; some I’d bought but many I’d found in libraries.  Some of those books would date back a century or more, and they would not have been checked out of the library in decades.  They were like gold.  Once several years ago I received a polite call from a staff member at the Peter White Public Library in Marquette, requesting that I remember to remove all the Post-It notes from books before returning them.
Who is your favorite writer, living or dead?
This is impossible to answer, really.  I admire the work of so many writers, for different reasons.  I remember when I was an undergrad at Boston College I read Carson McCullers and John Steinbeck, and believed they were both truly great writers (I still do).  A couple of years ago I read Borges’s Ficciones, and felt the same way.  
When someone asks who my greatest influences are, I want to say “All of them.”  But favorites, I guess that’s a different question.  When I was in my early teens I read Poe, and then Salinger, and then Le Carré’s The Spy Who Came in from the Cold.  In high school I read Hemingway and Another Country, by James Baldwin.  But perhaps the most remarkable reading experience early on was the novels by Albert Camus, The Stranger, in particular; but also The Plague and The Fall. 
Let me conclude by mentioning what I’m reading at the moment, as I like to read a number of books at the same time, and I believe that while what one is reading doesn’t determine what you think, it often influences the way you think.  Right now I’m reading:  Evening,a novel by Susan Minot; Late Night Thoughts on Listening to Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, essays on science by Dr. Lewis Thomas; The Pigeon Tunnel, a memoir by John Le Carré; and Travels with Herodotus, by Ryzard Karpuścínski.  I can’t honestly say I have a “favorite” writer.  I prefer to think of myself as a sponge, absorbing some—certainly not all—of what I read into that place (call it the subconscious?) that replenishes a writer’s reservoir.   

 What do you want to be known for as a writer in twenty years?
That my work was honestly rendered, but I could have been funnier.
A lot of what I read is older texts.  As I said earlier, I’m often digging in the library stacks and finding books written and published generations ago.  Sometimes when reading such a book I feel that it has been sitting there on the shelf gathering dust, waiting for me to come along.  There have been moments while reading something written, say, 106 years ago that I will discover a passage that speaks to me as though it’s a voice whispered down through the years so that the thought, the language is as fresh and alive as the day it was composed.  I believe that’s why that person, long dead, made the effort to write that book.  That’s why I’m writing mine.
 A lot of talent came out of the University of Iowa's writing program. Can you say a few words about your experiences there?
My two years at Iowa I lived in a storefront in a dilapidated brick building in Riverside, a farm town (pop. 823) 14 miles south of Iowa City.  The building was in such condition that my landlord, Jim Kaufmann, who has since been a lifelong friend, didn’t ask for rent the second year I lived there, just that I help out with some carpentry and painting that the place desperately needed.  I think I was the oldest member of my class at the time (aged 32 to 34).  While in Iowa I wrote a good portion of the rough draft of what became my first published novel, Winter by Degrees, which is about two brothers, two out of work carpenters trying to survive a winter in Newburyport, Massachusetts.  
It’s common to bash writing programs, claiming that you can’t teach someone to write fiction or poetry.  People who register such complaints need to find something to do.  I never really thought that I was being “taught” anything at Iowa.  I was there to sit in a room with other writers, and with more experienced writers who had established reputations.  People such as James Alan McPherson (who died last year), Bharati Mukherjee (who just died a few days ago), and Doris Grumbach (who, thankfully, is still with us).  They were wise and knowledgeable, and they often had things to say about our work, good and bad, that were worth hearing.  So did many of my classmates.  We read each other’s work and discussed it; we read novels and stories and discussed them.  What was important to me was that I had two years during which I was focused on writing a novel (I’d tried several times before, but things had run aground for one reason or another).  It was the first time I had lived for an extended period away from the Boston area (my father had died the year before I went to Iowa, and my mother lived on Cape Cod).  I was unduly homesick much of the time.  In Iowa, radio stations didn’t announce the day’s tides, as was the custom back home, but talked about something called the pork futures.  I had never heard of a pork future.  I wouldn’t have gotten through those two years without my dog Toby, a Lab-Shepherd mutt.  Occasionally, when I’m driving somewhere in the country and I see an Amish wagon on the side of the road, it’s like I’m back in Iowa.
 Jim Harrison's novel, Sun Dog, was a definitive reading moment for me, probably because that kind of story can only work in Hemingway country. What are your thoughts about a place like the Upper Peninsula as an influence on writers?
I know people often think of northern Michigan as “Hemingway Country,” but I wish they’d stop.  And I say this having great affection for (and having taught) Hemingway’s Nick Adams stories.  It’s too narrow a view.  And I know Harrison’s work is often mentioned along with Hemingway’s.  But there’s very little that the two writers have in common, other than gender and geography.  (Harrison himself was not a big Hemingway fan.) 
When I drive I-75 north through Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, something happens to me as I pass the sign near Grayling which says that you’re crossing the 45-parallel and thus are halfway between the Equator and the North Pole.  From there on north the land changes; for long stretches you see few houses or buildings, just woods and hills.  When I cross the Bridge I often roll down the window—even on a cold winter’s day—and let out a shout.  Most everyone I know in Marquette does something to celebrate crossing the Bridge.  The Upper Peninsula and northern Michigan is a haven.  I’m not a native but have lived there for several decades.  Lake Superior, which I can see from my house in Marquette, is a fundamental presence in my life.  My mother and first wife, who died 10 and six years ago, respectively, are out there.  During our short summers I sail the lake in a boat named for my mother; I walk its shores, and I listen to it every day—when the north and east wind is up it sounds like the waves are in my backyard.  When I’m away from Marquette, I miss the lake, but there is something comforting and reassuring in knowing that it’s there.  Had I not spent years in the U. P., I couldn’t possibly have written books such as Cold, Fire Point, and Wolf’s Mouth.
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 Tell us about Wolf's Mouth. How do you feel about it in general or specific. (Please use this as a last word question and conclude the interview with it)

Wolf’s Mouth is a first person narrative, told by an Italian army officer, Francesco Giuseppe Verdi, who is captured in the north of Africa in 1943 and shipped to a POW camp in the U. P.  Such camps really existed during World War II.  The most frequent response to the novel is surprise—even shock—that there were POWs in the United States (there were over 425,000 in approximately 170 camps, nationwide).  Francesco is in the camp in Au Train, which is perhaps 25 miles from Marquette.  For me, the novel is largely about voice, the voice of a man whose native language isn’t English.  He tells his story in plain English—I’ll call it acquired English.  There are no Archie Bunkerisms here, not intentionally.  He’s quite adept at languages and he learns English—and particularly American colloquialisms—as a means of survival.  He escapes from the camps and remains in America after the war, becoming a model citizen:  he’s a law abiding man who’s married and has a small business; he pays his taxes, even.  He’s like us, but he’s never one of us.  Francesco Verdi becomes Frank Green.  At least 50 years pass, from the time he served in the army to when he’s an elderly man looking back on his life.  The story moves from the U. P. to the Lower Peninsula (particularly Detroit), and then later he returns to the U. P.  Francesco/Frank is haunted by his past, never quite comfortable with how he has become in order to survive.  I suppose all novels are about life and death, and about how we survive until we pass from one to the other.



2 + 2 = 5  II + II = V

REVIEW: Scottsboro: An American Tragedy

Scottsboro: An American Tragedy, is a 2000 PBS historical documentary that is still sadly relevant today. I appeal to the contemporary reader to review the facts of this tragic miscarriage of justice perhaps now more than ever in light of the recently aggravated racial tensions in America. Nine black teenagers were falsely accused of rape by two opportunistic white prostitutes and their lives were ruined forever. However, the case went all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court and set the stage for the civil rights movement in the sixties.

Growing up in Detroit Proper, I went to high school with a large minority of black students who lived, literally, "on the other side of the tracks" from me. Herman Gardens was a low cost housing project that had a reputation. None of us white kids dared to visit it--at anytime of the day. However, we had no choice but to share the public school system with the black students resulting in annual spring time race riots in the hallways. The ugly experiences of racism, violence and fear will live forever in my memories. Scottsboro serves as a reminder, along with recent events, that we have not come all that far from Civil War attitudes and that there still is very much to be done as explained by Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter, in today's Time magazine post entitled: Barack Obama Should Now Focus on Black Lives.

But let's rewind for a moment.

It's the Great Depression in America. Millions of people are desperate and on the move, many taking to ride the rails, bedding down in empty freight cars and being chased from town to town but always ready to go the extra mile to follow up on a job rumor or just to keep rolling along which seems better than sinking into a pit of helplessness. Haywood Patterson, Clarence Norris, Charlie Weems, Ozie Powell, Willie Roberson, Eugene Williams, Olen Montgomery, Andy Wright and his brother, Roy Wright, got into a fight with some white hobos on the train into Scottsboro, Alabama on their way to Memphis and what happened next would have made Rosa Parks roll in her grave had she passed away yet.

False accusations by two hobo camp white prostitutes, Victoria Price and Ruby Bates, led to a lynch mob being formed at the Scottsboro railway yard, imprisonment and shipment of the nine teenagers to nearby Decatur for a mock trial and condemnation to death row in Alabama's notorious Kilby Prison. It's the kind of saga that the Neville Brothers sang about in their epic song, Sons and Daughters:

Young man on his way home from the market,
Just enjoying a beautiful afternoon
Gets kinda dark, sun just set

There's these other young men standing
On the corner, nothing to do, just hangin' around
They're passing out their weapons to each other:

brass knuckles - pipes - chains - half a bricks
- broken bottles - switchblades

Young man lands in jail for some crime he did not commit
352 years hard labor in Angola prison - 352 years at hard labor
Sleepless nights between sugar cane and cotton
It's where he learns the ropes and pays with his soul
For some crime he did not commit

We think we're safe at home with our bumper stickers saying - Just say no -
We give up a few freedoms here and there in the name of a - Squeaky clean America -

Now they've got us hypnotized and hysterical
Now they've got us hypnotized and hysterical
Screaming for blood and justice
Now they've got us hypnotized and hysterical
Screaming for blood and justice

They show us the faces of hatred over and over - a new one every week
Could be Manuel Noriega
Could be the Ayatollah
Any old scapegoat 'll do
The young man will be our sacrificial lamb

Pro choice - no choice
We're sending our sons and daughters to their slaughter
Pro choice - no choice
Slogans mean nothing
To a young man facing 352 years hard labor in Angola
For a crime he did not commit
It's freedom of speech - as long as you don't say too much

You can't stop running water
You can't kill the fire that burns inside
Don't deny our flesh and blood
And don't forsake our sons and daughters

You can't stop running water
You can't kill the fire that burns inside
Don't deny our flesh and blood
Don't forsake our sons and daughters

It's freedom of speech - as long as you don't say too much
I think we're all runnin' thinkin' that we can hide
I think we're runnin' tryin' to get away
But sooner or later we gonna realize
We gonna meet up with the truth face to face

Social justice is a tricky thing. It's a battle that's never won and certainly not a fight for the faint of heart. Judge James Edwin Horton, who ruled a mistral in Decatur, could testify to that. He was a man of principle who sacrificed his career for the sake of justice. God may have raised him up for just that one purpose.You can watch his story in the 1976 TV movie on YouTube.  

I believe that without Christ's Spirit of righteousness leading the way, nothing will ever be accomplished. I've lived through race riots, civil anarchy in foreign lands and neighborhood crimes of racial terror to understand this- that unless we pray for conversion and revival in our own hearts first, and then start spreading the gospel of peace, love and joy from heart to heart, it will be a long and tearful wait until Kingdom come. Scottsboro: An American Tragedy is available at Amazon and Netflix through DVD rental and other venues where flippancy and escapism thrive side by side with the bitter truth that often goes neglected much to our disadvantage. Lest we forget our Blessed Lord's exhortations and pleadings for a dying humanity:


Matthew 5-7English Standard Version (ESV)Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison.Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this:“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from evil.For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

MOVIE REVIEW: First Contact-Lost Tribe of the Amazon (2016)

The image of the young man that you see here is that of the Chief of the Txapanawa, a tribe previously isolated on the extremely remote bank of the Envira River in the village of Simpatia in Brazil. The dramatic first contact of his people with civilization is recorded live and expounded upon within context in the documentary First Contact: Lost Tribe of the Amazon, featuring anthropologist  José Carlos Merielles.

Merielles is a Brazilian sertanista, an explorer backwoodsman who works for FUNAI, a governmental body that establishes and carries out policies related to indigenous people, much like our own Bureau of Indian Affairs. It is a dangerous job and Merielles has the scars to prove it. He was shot in the face with an arrow in 2004 and that may explain why he puffs heavily on an unfiltered cigarette when first encountering the Txapanawa in a home video.

"He's breathing fire!" the Chief cries out fearfully to his naked but armed squad of followers who brave the shallow river crossing to get desperate supplies they need. Merielles and his band let them into the village and they proceed to pillage feverishly through the outpost shanties, grabbing clothes and tools, much to the dismay and warnings of the Brazilians. They know that the Txapanawa will most likely pick up viruses from the objects for which they have no natural immunity to, and thus begins a cautious relationship between indian and white man once again because now they'll need antibiotics. Once dependency starts, it's nearly impossible to stop but the thought of leaving helpless, naked humans alone in the Amazon jungle, as noble as it sounds, is really a difficulty for Merielles and others like him. The natives are needy but can they survive the cost of civilization for a few trinkets and luxury?  History has shown us otherwise.

To be accurate, the previous generation of Txapanawa had unfavorable encounters with white people. Many were enslaved, slaughtered and exploited, so the title of the documentary is a bit misleading. In other words, they are aware of civilization and its benefits but deathly afraid of being betrayed and worse. Stories exist amongst their survivors. But as the Chief admits (once their language is compared to other dialects and translated), they are 'ashamed of their nakedness' and always hungry and always afraid of wild animals and hostile neighbors. Desperation forces first contact for this young man (for there are no old people in this group) and he and his tribe appear relatively content after they are dressed and given hammocks so they no longer have to sleep on the ground.

What's most striking, after they have settled in and have begun to talk more, is the fact that despite lacking everything we take for granted (food, transportation, medicine, etc.,) these people are still basically human. There is no romantic ideal of purity and thought and action. Bloodlust and treachery is a common factor throughout their community and so is adultery, theft and other vices which mankind, despite its advancement, has not nor will not ever overcome. For as Scripture says:

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you?Don't they come from the evil desires at war within you? (James 4:1)
Merielles quotes Darwin somewhere near the end of this short but thought provoking documentary, but who can prove this dubious Theory of Evolution? Think about the tens of millions of humans killed in the World Wars of the 20th century and also think about humanity now as it cannot escape the threat of a nuclear holocaust, hoping only that reason will save the day. But reason and Law have failed us ultimately for why can't people simply follow the Ten Commandments?  They're reasonable, aren't they? Or what's wrong about not committing murder, or stealing, or lying? But our natures are so imperfect, so far from a theorized, evolved type of man or woman that only the gospel can cut through the thick jungle foliage of self deceit and sin and rescue us from ourselves by the grace of God.  First Contact is available on Netflix streaming for instant viewing to subscribers.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Dr. Ian Miller and 'Bot War

It's aways my pleasure to discover that former guests to Writers Alive are still productive and doing well. Dr. Ian Miller, from New Zealand, has been a correspondent for several years and I've talked to him in podcast form here and here with my former cohost, Marta Merjaver, from Argentina who accurately described him as a "Renaissance Man". What amazing technological times that we live in when we can share stories and experiences real time via the Internet. Please check out my review of Dr. Miller's latest science fiction book here at Amazon and enjoy his answers to these questions posted below.

Why did you choose to write in your particular field or genre?  If you write more than one, how do you balance them?
I have always been interested in science, which is just as well since I am a scientist, and one of the important aspects of science is that it is based on logic. My feeling is that society these days is approaching some really difficult problems, and clear thinking by as many people as possible is desirable. What I try to do in my stories is show that the winners win by thinking out their problems, and not by sheer luck. In my dreams, I like to think I might influence some people in that way.Regarding balancing genres, I have entered SF, thrillers, and in two books, historical fiction. The important point for me is that even if the book is hard to categorize, I try to make sure the whole book is unified. By that, I mean everything at the end follows naturally from what was introduced in the beginning. You can have different books with all sorts of differences, but I think it is important that any given book has a unity of purpose.
Where did your love of books/storytelling/reading/writing/etc. come from?
I am not entirely sure. As soon as I learned to read, and found a local library, I seemed to be interested in reading. I was in Hokitika, then, and it gets 120 inches of rain a year, so there were always some days when I needed to entertain myself inside, and reading seemed the best from my point of view. At that stage there was no television where I lived, so that might have made it easier, but I still read a lot. The idea of writing actually started from when I was a student at University. There was the usual argument "arts versus science" with young women favoring arts. My argument was that at least scientists do, whereas all they did was criticize. (Leading with the jaw, as usual.) So there was a challenge. I could not come up with a plot. Next day I had one, just to prove they were wrong, then came the next challenge go write it. I did, it was a failure in that form, but later in life I asked myself, "Could I do better?" At least I had to try.
What cultural value do you see in writing/reading/storytelling/etc.?
One of the themes of many of my books is the question of governance. I rather suspect that around the world people are starting to get suspicious of the representative republic form we currently have, or at least of the politicians in it, so I think it is of value for readers to think about what could go wrong. Recently we have had an unexpected result in the US election, we have had Brexit, "fringe" parties in Europe are now challenging, and I think there is a common theme that citizens want change. Obviously, it is unlikely things could go wrong to the extent of my stories, but that is not the point. If I can get people to think a little more about what could go wrong, maybe they wouldn't.
What were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel you achieved them?
I have outlined some of my goals above, however the main goal was to entertain. My aim is to try to entertain, but leave the reader with something to think about. The author is usually the worst placed for deciding how well he achieves his goals because he is biased, so I don't want to comment on how well I achieve my goals.
What was the hardest part of writing this book?
I am not too sure about "hardest". I usually find the beginning difficult because while I have an overall concept, and I usually have a clear start, I also find that I get dissatisfied with that start and I start somewhere else, usually earlier in the story. In 'Bot War I had several starts, which is why a number of the early chapters start fresh streams. Once I can settle on what should be the first 25% of the story, I find writing becomes easy, albeit time consuming. The next difficult part is the editing, which has several levels. The difficulty here is it tends to be (for me) more boring, because it is not really creative.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
Every now and again, I find I can have fun scenes to write. These may be humorous, political, or just the ability to show some quirky aspects of a character or some frustrating situations. Usually the "fun" scenes are not the big ones ? they tend to be more serious and you have to get them right, but the "fun" scenes are those that don't really have to have any particular outcome as far as the story goes.
How did you get to be where you are in your life today?
An interesting question! I think the first point is I have always been something of a skeptic. At the same time, though, I am happy to change my mind if I see evidence, but if the evidence goes against the usual thinking, I am happy to stick my head above the parapet. Of course, this is not the route to fame and fortune. As an example of what I mean, in my PhD, I did some work that contradicted what was to emerge as the standard answer to a certain problem. There was one other chemist of about my age that published a similar result. I kept on for a while, making the case more substantial, but that was largely ignored. The other chemist abandoned the field and worked in something more "approved". He became well known, and " recognized as important"; I did not.
Who are some of your favorite authors that you feel were influential in your work?  What impact have they had on your writing?
I probably got into SF thanks to John Wyndham and Fred Hoyle. I read quite a bit from both of them, and of course Fred Hoyle was a leading cosmologist. Hoyle's novels were based either on sound science, or what might be and was in accord with the scientific method, and the stories were interesting, so that tended to inspire me into my writing goals. I also like Michael Crichton, and these in particular show the value of good plots. I also went through a phase where I went through whatever I could get of Leo Tolstoy, and this inspired me to write Miranda's Demons, which is my attempt at a different "War and Peace". I am not suggesting I am as good as Tolstoy, but I still consider that book as the favorite that I have written.
What did you find most useful in learning to write?  What was least useful or most destructive?
I am convinced the most useful aspect of learning to write fiction is to read better writers, and to think about what you have read. It is important not to try and parrot them, but you should be able to learn some important guidelines. For me, the most destructive could well be a writing class. I have never tried one, but when I was a student I was also interested in music, and while doing my PhD I was encouraged to do something culturally, so I did some music courses, one of which was "Composition" (an honours course!) What I found was that most of the few there had zero creativity, so the course had to be organized by giving the class a "starting point", usually some horrible notes. I did rather poorly. Then one week there was no starting point for the exercise, but I forgot about it until the last minute. I knew I had to show something, so I sat down about seven minutes before I had to be at the course and dashed off something. Unfortunately, this was selected to be looked at, and the teacher praised it. I looked outright puzzled, and I probably gave the wrong impression. The teacher probably thought I thought it should have had more praise, but in fact I would have graded it F-, i.e. formulaic crap, although I could hardly admit that either. This experience has persuaded me that there is no point in trying to learn something involving creativity unless you can find a teacher/master who you admire for their creativity. That does not mean the author should not listen to criticism. Listening and taking notice when relevant is not the same as being required to follow a specific path.
Are you a full-time or part-time writer?  How does that affect your writing?
Definitely part time, largely because a lot of my time seems to be taken up on activities involving promoting my writing. That includes my writing of blogs. I am also only semi-retired, and I still have two commercial projects in which I am reasonably involved from the chemical point of view.
How do you feel about ebooks vs. print books and alternative vs. conventional publishing?
I self-publish ebooks, largely because I am determined that my writing should not become a financial hole. In fact, my literary efforts last year made a profit. Not a big profit, but I am a net tax payer, and my income more than covers expenses, such as covers. Self-publishing print books would be, in my view, too big a financial risk, and also it would impose too much of a load on my time regarding the marketing. I have also taken up self-publishing in part because I had written a number of books before I started, and at my age there was the danger that if I left it to conventional publishing I would be dead before they were published. However, if I were young I may well have followed a different strategy, even to the extent of trying to write a book solely for the likelihood of it being picked up for publishing.
What do you think is the future of reading/writing?
I am reasonably convinced that there will always be books. The reason is that books permit the author to explore thoughts in a far deeper way than in any other medium. (The fact that many books do not take advantage of this is beside the point.) This is not to run down other forms of entertainment, and there will always be competition. It is just that I think the future will always have variety.
What projects are you working on at the present?
My primary project, right now, is to complete my Guidance Wave theory of the chemical bond. Hardly likely to be a hot seller, but I feel it is something that I would like to complete. I have also started a novel that is intended to be a financial thriller. I have a few scenes thought out, but the ending is unclear. I have a few choices, but exactly which way the story goes has yet to be decided.

BOOK REVIEW: A True Feminist? Gladys Aylward-The Little Woman

A common misconception amongst nonbelievers is that Christianity and (what the world calls) feminism are mutually exclusive social forces. This official autobiography of an early 20th century British woman's solo journey to China as a missionary during the Sino-Japanese war proves the opposite. 
There's nothing clever or gender specific about courage. It's attractiveness lies in the sheer force of its will to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. Aylward simply believed that God would guide her across Europe and Russia via rail alone, and without having practically any formal training and hardly any church support, she left London one day with her Bible, passport, some pocket change and a few traveling items to follow her heart's call to be a missionary in China.

If you're looking for smart poetic writing in a story,  Gladys Aylward: The Little Woman  is not for you. But, if you want true grit, honest adventure and historic drama verified, than read this British woman's inspiring journey and how she spent a lifetime preaching and teaching the gospel and taking care of thousands of orphans during one of the most brutal eras in recent history.

Aylward taught herself idiomatic Chinese and worked in a rural province amongst the dirt poor needy and deprived victims and refugees of the war to rescue as many as she could from physical and spiritual suffering alike.

Her evangelizing gifts budded in London first where she says she "went into public houses and rescued girls the sailors had made drunk." Gladys took them back to her hostel and on Sundays took them to a Gospel Mission. Church history, as well as Scripture, testifies that the Lord tests those who he has great plans for in small ways before leading them on. For example, David first bravely fought Goliath and then became King of Israel's armies, leading them from battle to victorious battle for the sake of the Kingdom.

What started out as a ministry in her native England turned into an international lifetime service of giving hope and succor to some of Asia's most neediest during a pivotal time in China's social and cultural history. As much as Aylward despised godless Communism, she was able to take advantage of the new regime's anti foot binding laws that intended to free females from a centuries old tortuous custom. She landed a job as a "foot inspector" and was given a couple of soldiers and told to go into the most remote locations to enforce the new law (but only if they agreed to let her spread the gospel of Christ).  Her duties made her less popular than a tax collector but she persisted and led many to freedom, at one time even guiding 100 orphans over mountains and through dangerous battlefield zones in order to secure their safety from the Japanese.

Aylward briefly returned to England after the war and was dismayed at the lack of vigor in the modern Christian church. She said that it was easier "to preach to the heathen than to motivate saints with feet of clay." After some interactions there and in Ireland, she eventually returned to Taiwan and received honors from the Free China government where she eventually died and was buried. The book is a riveting read and you can hear this remarkable woman's voice on tape in this YouTube clip below. Mother Theresa may have gotten more press, but Aylward gets more glory in God's book, I'll bet.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.--Galatians 3:28

Movie Review: Do Not Resist (2016)

Filmmaker and fellow Wayne State University alumnus, Craig Atkinson, has forged together a  documentary about the militarization of police forces across the United States in his visually compelling (but sometimes too liberal, bleeding heart) documentary, Do Not Resist.  His online biography says that he's from Metro Detroit, which means that he's not from Detroit Proper like yours truly. Therefore, like another Michigan movie maker who skillfully shouts out against The Establishment, Michael Moore, but who prefers the safety and comfort of suburban living, Atkinson's take on America's shift right should be viewed in perspective. Allow me to elaborate.

The film starts out with some tense, riotous scenes from the events which occurred at Ferguson, Missouri in 2014. They could be stock footage or not. However, they serve as a launching pad for Atkinson's undeniable thesis that we have some things that have gone very wrong under the Obama administration although he seems to hold the soon to be ex-President blameless (and almost regretful) by showing a portion of his recent visit to a penitentiary to visit inmates and bemoaning the 'mistakes of their youth'. None of their victims were graced by the presence of the POTUS.

Yes it's disturbing that SWAT teams can break and enter homes virtually at will, and yes it's troubling that local police forces around the country are being stuffed with almost new vehicles (some leftover body parts still in them) and technology from the U.S.A's  Middle East wars, but what's more upsetting is that we have the wave of a new generation of battle hardened veterans filling the ranks of police departments across America. What's worse, they are being fed by an ideology that, not in so many words, screams, "kill without prejudice." Clearly, this is not what can sustain a nation of laws indefinitely and, obviously, the wheels of justice must soon run flat, or have their tires shot out, lest anarchy ruins somebody's New York cocktail party.

Also, if you've never seen Spielberg's 2002 futuristic movie, Minority Report, starring Tom Cruise and based on legendary, sci-fi writer, Philip K. Dick's story, you might want to watch it and then compare it to the reality articulated and verified in Do Not Resist. It's an old science fiction meme of police state surveillance that is in full bloom in academies and on the streets as we speak and nobody could care less. I mean, ask yourself: Don't you just assume that you're being watched somewhere, somehow when you go out in public? Let's just hope that your profile is not mistaken for that of a wanted terrorist or criminal's. If it is, do not resist!


All in all, if you're doubtful about the staggering statistics Atkinson presents in the film, you could probably be less lazy than the director and look them up yourself but that would require more of a sensationalist mindset that you must succumb to if you sit down, slip on your body proof armor and buckle up for a wild ride of bullets, bug eyed policemen (mostly white) and poor people of color being harassed for very little probable cause. The tragedy unfolding in the streets of America is there, you can be sure of that, but perhaps the bigger tragedy is that directors like Atkinson can make a buck on the flip side of military industrialism by sloppily criticizing it cinematically. Stay home to watch this on Amazon Prime Video. Don't go out and get snared or shot at. You're chances are still pretty much slim to none unless you have unseen enemies in shadowy places.
The lazy person claims, "There is a lion in the road! There's a lion in the streets!"--Proverbs 26:13