Saturday, November 2, 2013

Ravenwolf Publishing offers Kindle MatchBooks

Ravenwolf Publishing offers Kindle MatchBooks

Ravenwolf Publishing now offers lower prices on Print and Ebooks.

Amazon officially launched Kindle MatchBook on Oct. 29, its previously announced program that lets publishers and authors bundle print books with discounted digital editions, and Ravenwolf Publishing has included its books to be among the 75,000 titles included in the MatchBook program.
Readers who bought the included titles in print now have the option to buy the Kindle version for $2.99 or less.
Ravenwolf Publishing has all its books available and ready to ship, including The Dancing Valkyrie, The Vampire Valkyrie, And God Created Vampires, Adirondack Hikes in Hamilton County and Confessions of an Online Male Prostitute.
Ravenwolf author Pete Klein joins with Ray Bradbury, Michael Crichton, Blake Crouch, James Rollins, Jodi Picoult, Neil Gaiman, Marcus Sakey, Wally Lamb, Jo Nesbo, Neal Stephenson, and J.A. Jance among many others in the MatchBook program.
Bundling print and digital has been one of the most requested features from customers. With Kindle MatchBook, book lovers can keep their favorite book on their shelf and have a copy in their digital library for reading, perhaps re-reading it with features like X-Ray and Popular Highlights.
Readers can easily look up their entire print book order history to discover which of their past purchases are enrolled in Kindle MatchBook.
Pete’s books on Amazon include:
“The Dancing Valkyrie” (ISBN: 1440432198 | ISBN-13: 9781440432194) begins and ends in the Adirondacks of northern New York. It is the story of a young woman who is an erotic dancer at a topless club in Schenectady, NY, who becomes a vampire while on a hike in the wilds of the Adirondacks.
The novel follows her rapid acclimation into being what she was born to be - a vampire with a lust for both blood and sex, and draws to a conclusion when she meets with a vampire who lives to kill other vampires - and whose name is Van Helsing.
"The Vampire Valkyrie" (ISBN: 1452877793 | ISBN-13: 9781452877792) continues the tale of the vampire Mary Hoffman, a.k.a. Erica, the Dancing Valkyrie, who fights to protect her erotic dance club and her girls from mobsters who want to control her and her club - or kill her if she resists.
A Schenectady City Councilwoman wants to pass legislation to close down or strictly limit the operation of adult businesses, an a upstate crime boss wants control of Mary and her club and a New York City crime family seeks to discredit the upstate crime boss through Mary and her club. Many people die, both the innocent and the guilty, as a result of Mary's determination to save herself, her girls and her club, while wondering if she should stop being involved with humans and just kill all who infringe upon her freedoms as a vampire.
“And God Created Vampires” (ISBN-13: 978-1477527450 ASIN: B0088YS3CW) is the third vampire novel featuring Mary Hoffman, a.k.a. Erica, who now needs to confront mistakes made as she tries to untangle herself from those mistakes and extricate herself from being under surveillance by both the FBI and CIA.
Who and how many will she need to kill to live freely as a vampire created by God?
"Adirondack Hikes in Hamilton County" (ISBN: 1453608141 | ISBN-13: 9781453608142) is the first published hiking guide aimed only at trails and attractions in Hamilton County, NY.
In addition to being a trail guide, the book offers tips on many outdoor activities, state campgrounds, local chambers of commerce and who to call in an emergency.
“Confession of an Online Male Prostitute” (ISBN: 145374245X | ISBN-13: 9781453742457) is about a middle aged married man whose sex life with his wife has been absent for a number of years. Yearning for some sex but not willing to go to bars or pay for some mutual fun and not yet willing to divorce his wife, he decides the Internet is the safe way to go and works up the nerve to see if he can get anyone to pay him to take off his clothes and perform what amounts to an online peep show.
Author and publisher Pete Klein says, "Publishing is rapidly changing. Readers expect a variety of ways to access the written word. This is why I have chosen to make my books available in a variety of formats. The Ebook format is the least expensive way for readers to purchase my books. For myself, I prefer to read a printed bound book but have read several ebooks and just figure there are many out there who like to read but want to save money during these troubled economic times. Ebooks can be quickly downloaded, either to a reading device or on the computer. Not only are the ebooks less expensive than the print versions, the ebook reader also saves on postage and the time it takes to receive a printed copy."

Peter Klein - The Independent Author Network

Peter Klein - The Independent Author Network

Monday, October 21, 2013

Time Sandwich

Sometimes I feel I have spent an eternity waiting to be born,
That I might live,
That I might die,
That I may spend and eternity being dead.
It sometimes seems as though I am a thin slice of ham,
Sandwiched between two infinitely thick slices of bread. 

Sunday, September 22, 2013

J. D. Salinger

Because there is someone who wants to make money off the dead J. D. Salinger, I finally got
around to reading The Catcher in the Rye.
This simple story covering but a couple of days in the life of a young man who has just been
kicked out of a private high school is one of those books you are supposed to genuflect in front
of. It is and it isn't.
Primarily, it is a great example of characterization. It goes deep into the mind of the young man
who is angry with himself but express that anger against just about everyone and anyone but
himself. Mostly he does this with dialog in his head, not in any action. The depth of style and the
focus on characterization reminds me of Death in Venice by Thomas Mann and Ulysses by James
Joyce.
What this book is not is a page turner.
How you view this book depends on what you expect from it and how you view yourself.
And here is the odd thing.
I've read a few of the reviews praising this book on Amazon as a great work of literature and I
have the strong feeling the author, J. D. Salinger, would not be overly impressed or even grateful
for those reviews of praise.
If you have a current copy, go to page 84 and I think you will see what I mean. I believe the star
of the book, Holden Caufield, is pretty much speaking for Salinger when he says, "If I were a
piano player or actor or something and all those dopes thought I was terrific, I would hate it."
Maybe it was this sentiment that caused Salinger to become somewhat of a recluse in the face of
fame.
Not everyone wants fame and/or fortune. Sometimes they come with the territory but not
everyone wants either of them.
The man was a great writer, a writer of great character detail who obviously loved to write. That
may have been all that he ever wanted that and a living wage.
Should you read it? That's up to you. But I would suggest you not genuflect before it. Approach it
like you might approach it if it were a comic book or something. That approach allowed me to
read and enjoy Ulysses by James Joyce after first trying to read it as a great work of art.
It is but just put those thoughts aside and have some fun reading about one screwed up kid, one
like many of us were.
You might even find yourself laughing instead of being so all serious about it.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Quit Smoking

After smoking about two packs a day for almost 55 years, I have finally decided to make a serious effort to quit.
I ordered those nicotine patches from NY State Smoker's quitline and I received them last Friday.
After smoking a couple of cigarettes early Saturday morning, Sept. 14, I started using the  patch and haven't smoke since.
Four smoke free days isn't much but things are going well and I am determined to stay smoke free.
Wish me luck. 

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Detroit Dark

This is the first part of a book I am toying with. Don't know how far, how deep and how long I will work with this as I have time.

Detroit Dark

By Pete Klein

Prelude

The day I was born, December 14, 1942, the Germans were experiencing heavy losses in Russia. Despite an airlift of supplies, the German Sixth Army remained trapped, inadequately equipped, and under siege in Stalingrad. The airlift was hindered by the weather, the Red Air Force, and the need to use many transport planes to support Axis forces in Tunisia.
A year and a week earlier on Dec. 7, 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and the United States was soon at war in Europe and the Pacific.
Somewhere around the middle of March, 1942, my parents, Joseph Nicholas Klein and Mary Louise Lutz Klein, who had married each other on July 4, 1941, made love (I hope it was wild and hot), and I became the result of their passion.
Before I was born, my father left to serve his country in the Army Air Force and my mother spent the war years living with her mother, my Grandmother Lutz, on Algonquin Ave., just south of Jefferson Ave. in Detroit.
That day in Detroit, the high temperature was 23 F and the low was 5 F. Maybe because it was a cold day the day I was born is one of the reasons why I have always had a love affair with the cold.
So now with those basics of my beginning laid out, why do I call this whatever it is and may or may not become “Detroit Dark”? The answer is simple. All my earliest memories are of darkness. Darkness because my Grandmother Lutz’s house where I lived during the war practiced a form of blackout nights. Drapes and blinds were drawn shut come sunset. Basement windows were darkened with paint and the basement was often used for socializing.
I don’t know if there was an official blackout law in Detroit but considering so much of war effort took place in Detroit where automobile plants were converted to become arsenals of democracy, it seems only logical that many individuals and businesses practiced blackout, law or no law.
Of course I could just as easily and logically have called this story “Detroit Black” because the seeds for the death of the Detroit I knew and loved were first planted on June 20, 1943.
I was just a baby, just six months old when on a warm Saturday evening on Belle Isle, a beautiful island park in the Detroit River, a fist fight broke out when a white sailor's girlfriend claimed to have been insulted by a black man. The brawl eventually grew into a confrontation between groups of blacks and whites and soon spread into the city. Rumors had started that a white man had thrown a black woman and her baby off the Belle Isle Bridge. Another rumor was that a white woman was raped and killed by a black man on that same bridge. Blacks and whites began battling each other in the streets of Detroit. Stores were looted and buildings were burned in the riot, most of which were in a black neighborhood roughly two miles in and around Paradise Valley, one of the oldest and poorest neighborhoods in Detroit. The clashes soon escalated to the point where black and white mobs were “assaulting one another, beating innocent motorists, pedestrians and streetcar passengers, burning cars, destroying storefronts and looting businesses. Both sides were said to have encouraged others to join in the riots with false claims that one of "their own" was attacked unjustly. More than 1,800 were arrested for looting and other incidents, the vast majority being black. Thirteen murders remain unsolved.
None of this was I aware of at the time (naturally) and the total stupidity of it remained hidden from me during all my years of growing up in Detroit. No one talked about. It was never mentioned in any of the courses in history I took in either grade school or high school. Maybe because I was so clueless about the riots in 1943 that when the more famous riot in 1967 came, best known as the 12th Street riot that began in the early morning hours of Sunday, July 23, 1967, that I was so shocked when I heard the news.
By that date, I had long since moved from Detroit, was living in the East Village of NYC and around that time or shortly thereafter I met my future wife, a beautiful, young black woman, a naturalized American from Barbados, WI.
I was shocked! I was pissed! How could this happen to my Detroit?
Looking back, I should not have been shocked. There were signs I could have picked up on even then and are more evident to me now.
Into the fog of the past.
I remember being in the car with my mother at a very early age. We were driving through a mostly black neighborhood a few blocks closer to downtown when my mother remarked something along these lines: “You should never be prejudice. They are people just like us except their skin is dark.”
I don’t recall anyone in my family being overtly bigoted. The words I recall hearing to refer to blacks were darkies, Negroes and niggers. Not being black, I never gave much if any thought to those words and probably dumped them in with ethnic slur words heard more often to describe friends and classmates, words like Polock and Diego or Whop.
Being German, I knew some people called Germans Krauts but that term was pretty much confined to movies.
So what’s my point? Only that slur words didn’t mean much to me while growing up. People were just people who came from different races, creeds, national origins and color. People were either tall or short, fat or thin, good looking or not. I never knew nor did I associate with any black people until I joined the Navy.
Probably the very first time I gave any thought to black people was when in the 7th grade and Rock & Roll first burst upon the scene. One of the first black groups I liked was Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers.
But I’m getting ahead of myself when I start talking about Rock & Roll. More on that later.
What I did began to notice in the 50's was more and more Detroiters, white Detroiters, moving to the suburbs. This was facilitated by the construction of freeways.
Not until I was in high school did any of my family live outside the city limits of Detroit. For maybe a year or two after my dad returned (safely) from the war, we lived in an apartment I have absolutely no memory of. Sometime in the late 40's my parents bought a small house at 12953 Duchess were I lived until my mother died in 1954. That house was within walking distance of 7 Mile Rd, also known as Moross Rd. Just over the line was Harper Woods where my high school was located. A short distance south-east down Moross Rd. would take you to Lake St. Clair and Grosse Pointe Farms, one of the several Grosse Pointes where the “rich people” lived and still do, although Bloomfield Hills is another hotsy-totsy place where the rich live. I believe Mitt Romney grew up there. Maybe I saw him when I visited Cranbrook Academy while on a field trip in high school. Never met Mitt but did shake the hand of his mother when I was a Boy Scout. It was some sort of an award ceremony where she showed up instead of her husband, the governor.
I’m drifting again. You will just need to get used to it as I meander around in the fog of the past. I do not posses total recall. I never kept a diary or a journal. Thought of one incident leads to another in much the same haphazard way that a dream will jump from one outrageous scene to another.
If you don’t like it, tough and nuts to you. But I’ll bet your mind is an disorganized as mine and if you will only put up with my vagrant ways, the journey might trigger some repressed thoughts in your own mind. And wouldn’t that be fun!?
Don’t expect this to be an entirely truthful account of my life. This is not an autobiography or even anything close to a memoir. It’s not that I have things to hide. Liar! It has more to do with my desire to tell a truthful fictional story, loosely based on my life

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Indian Lake NY makes national news

Governor Cuomo’s Inaugural Adirondack Challenge, a week of events and activities celebrating Adirondack rivers, lakes and streams that culminated twice, once on Sunday, and then again on Monday July 22 in Indian Lake got off to a slow start on Saturday when there seemed to be only a few extra people in town to enjoy the town’s streets, restaurants, stores, and public places with many things to do, taste or see.
Some of the lack of action on Friday, the lead in day to the weekend festivities was probably due to the unseasonably warmth in the afternoon, which was followed by a rainstorm in the evening that cut short the Adk Challenge Square Dance, with music provided by the Upstate New Yorkers and held in the parking lot of the closed grocery store at the center of town
SATURDAY
Saturday was a little better than Friday but late morning and early afternoon showers might have kept some visitors away - or maybe they were waiting for the big events on Sunday.
Whatever the cause, an average summer crowd seemed to enjoy the Summer Bash at Byron Park where the Nights of Columbus held a chicken BBQ and where there where many activities for children and their parents to enjoy.
Saturday concluded with a well attended concert by the popular Fulton Chain Gang in the center of town parking lot.
SUNDAY
Festivities went into high gear on Sunday with much improved weather and the Adirondack Challenge Flatwater Canoe Race, promoted and organized by Brian McDonnell, AWA Race Director and MAC'S Canoe Livery owner.
The nearly 15 mile race started promptly at 10 a.m. on Indian Lake and featured 100 competitors from across the U.S. and Canada.
Sending the paddlers on their way from the start at the Indian Lake Islands state boat launch were DEC Region 5 Director Robert Stegemann, Hamilton Country Board of Supervisors Chairman William Farber, DEC Commissioner Joe Martens and race organizer Brian McDonnell.
The big event of the day was the Governor’s Invitational Whitewater Race, featuring Governor Cuomo and other state and local elected officials on Indian River.
The race had teams of six rafting
Cuomo said, “The Adirondack Challenge is designed to highlight all of what the Adirondacks region has to offer to New Yorkers and visitors – and it is also a friendly competition on the beautiful Indian River. Today’s events illustrate firsthand the natural wonders of the Adirondacks.”
The Governor’s own team include Governor Cuomo, his daughters Cara and Michaela, Secretary to the Governor Larry Schwartz, and Deputy Secretary for Civil Rights Alphonso David.
Other teams participating included Lieutenant Governor Robert Duffy’s team, Senate team, Senator Betty Little’s Team, the Assembly team and county teams from Erie County, Onondaga County, Albany County, Suffolk County, Hamilton County, Essex County, St. Lawrence County, Franklin County, State Agency Commissioner 1, State Agency Commissioner 2, SUNY, Legislative Correspondents of Albany 1, Legislative Correspondents of Albany 2, Legislative Correspondents of Albany 3, North Country Regional Economic Development Council, Central New York Regional Economic Development Council, Labor Industry, Tourism Industry 1, Tourism Industry 2
The race covered about 3 miles on the Indian River to the confluence of the Hudson.
And the winner was the Governor’s team!
While the rafting was going on, Indian Lake was hopping with visitors, especially at Byron Park where the activities included the Taste of NY tent for samples of many NYS local products, three live bands playing throughout the day, classic Adirondack guide boat and canoe displays by several local Adirondack craftsmen, many children’s activities including the Bounce House, Wildlife Demonstration and Smokey the Bear.
The town of Indian Lake’s street activities included a classic and antique car show, food vendors, a craft & vendor show on the Indian Lake Central School lawn, a Writer’s & Artisan event at the Abanakee Studios and the music of Reynolds & Dunn in the center of town.
Of course, with the Governor in town, there were two separate but small groups of people protesting New York’s response to gun violence, the SAFE Act, which many believe is a violation of the Constitutional Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
One group was on Rt. 28 at the westside of Byron Park. The other group was a Chain Lakes Road where the buses taking the rafters needed to pass by on their way to the put in on the Indian Lake River.
MONDAY
Monday was a bonus day hasty scheduled so that NYC Mayor Bloomberg who was unable to attend the Sunday race could compete against Governor Cuomo and other officials.
Except for the staging area that took place at Indian Lake Central School, would not have known anything special was goin on.
COMMENTS
 Cuomo said, "We had a lot of fun, there was a serious purpose to it, obviously, which was about getting the word out about the Adirondacks, increasing tourism. Tourism is big business for the state."
Town of Indian Lake Activities Coordinator Vonnie Liddle said, "We are hoping that this brings a lot of business into our community. The governor chose Indian Lake for the Adirondack Challenge this year and we are hoping people will come and see that they can have a fun time here.
Farber said, “We are so proud and excited for this opportunity. The Challenge will continue and include more whitewater and flatwater races, and mountain biking races.”
Whether or not next year will see a similar Adirondack Challenge taking place in the middle of summer or if it will be a series of events with the Adirondack Challenge spread out between the spring and the fall is yet to be determined, said Farber.
No matter what direction the Adirondack Challenge takes, one thing is certain. Everyone agrees Indian Lake and Hamilton County became big news if only for a few days and many came and saw for the first time the beauty of the county and its people.
Olympia Sonnier, Deputy Press Secretary at the Governor’s Office and who coordinated the press at the event, left loving the people of Indian Lake. Sonnier said, “The people up here are so friendly. I loved being here.”
Gov. Cuomo in middle of photo

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Book Review Saving Faith




Genre: literary mystery
Title: Saving Faith
Author: Patrick M. Garry

Saving Faith is of novel of chance encounters that entwines the fate of both its main and minor characters. Not exactly the same, but for movie buffs, you might find yourself being reminded of the 2002 movie, Changing Lanes, starring Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson.
The story begins when Jack Fenien, a never adopted orphan who has been out of a Catholic orphanage for two years and now works as a repossessor for a used car dealer and who begins the story when he reposes the wrong car.
The story evolves as one chance encounter leads to another, starting with Ev Sorin, a disgraced journalist looking to get his career back on track and the man whose car Jack accidently reposed. Sorin, minus his car for a few days, hires Jack as his driver.
More and more characters are added along the way but the character that unites all of the character turns out to be Faith Powers, a comatose patient in a hospital whose true identity is unknown.
The story is told in the first person with Jack as the narrator. Although he tries to be objective and disinterested, he finds himself trying to help solve the mystery of what happened to Faith and along the way falls in love with a young woman, Clare, who is not a nurse but has an obsession of caring for Faith.
One murder leads to more as the characters come closer to discovering the how and why of Faith’s comatose condition. All of the characters have all too human flaws and none can be pegged as either the good guys or the bad guys.
It is the reality of these flawed characters that draw you to an ultimate conclusion you never saw coming.
About the author
Patrick M. Garry is a professor of law at the University of South Dakota. Garry has written a number of other books both fiction and nonfiction, including the fiction titles The Prisoner, Suicidal Tendencies and A Bomb Shelter Romance.
Summary: Highly Recommended, especially for those who love trying to sort truth from lies and discover who is guilty of what, if guilty of anything but being human.

Reviewer: Peter Klein Allbooks Reviews.
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Title: Saving Faith
Author: Patrick M. Garry
Publisher: Kenric Books
Pages – 304
Retail - $16.16
ISBN-10: 0983370311
ISBN-13: 978-0983370314


Friday, May 24, 2013

Rules of Dreaming book review




Genre: Psychological mystery
Title: The Rules of Dreaming
Author: Bruce Hartman
Are we living our own life and in control of our own destiny or are we merely characters in the dreams of someone else?
The Rules of Dreaming is a murder mystery, a novel of madness and music that takes us deep into the minds of the characters in this intricately plotted novel which begins in a psychiatric hospital located in a small town just north of New York City.
An opera singer apparently commits suicide. Shortly thereafter, her two children are committed to a psychiatric hospital. Seven years later a blackmailer who was once a writer begins an investigation of the suicide and triggers a string of murders meant to look like suicides.
The truth lies deep in the minds of the children.
I especially enjoyed reading this book, having been a US Navy Corpsman who worked in a psychiatric ward and knows full well the fine line that can exist between those who have been diagnosed with a psychiatric illness and those of us who have not (yet) been diagnosed.
Like any good mystery, you will find yourself trying to solve the riddle before you get to the end by making careful note of the clues. But are you picking up on the right clues or are you being led astray? This is what drives you forward as you turn the pages in pursuit of the elusive truth.
What is reality? What is fantasy? In his book, Man and His Symbols, Carl Jung states, “What we consciously fail to see is frequently perceived by our unconscious, which can pass the information on through dreams. Dreams may often warn us in this way; but just as often, it seems, they do not.”
About the author
Author, Bruce Hartman live in Philadelphia and has worked as a pianist, music teacher, bookseller and attorney, and has been writing fiction for more years than he cares to remember. His first novel, Perfectly Healthy Man Drops Dead, won the Salvo Press Mystery Novel Award and was published by Salvo Press in 2008.
Summary: Highly Recommended, especially for those who love a well plotted mystery.
Reviewer: Peter Klein Allbooks Reviews.

Available from Amazon

Title: The Rules of Dreaming
Author: Bruce Hartman
Publisher: Swallow Tail Press
ISBN-10: 0988918102
ISBN-13: 978-0-98891-810-8
Pages: 298

Thursday, May 23, 2013

$75 Million Settlement with Penguin Group Inc. to Resolve E-book Price-fixing Allegations


$75 Million Settlement with Penguin Group Inc. to Resolve E-book Price-fixing Allegations

33-State Settlement Resolves Claims That Penguin Colluded With Other Major Publishers And Apple Inc. To Fix The Prices Of Electronic Books
NEW YORK--New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today joined 32 other states in announcing an antitrust settlement with Penguin Group (USA) Inc. The settlement requires Penguin to pay $75 million to resolve the States' claims that Penguin colluded with other major publishers and Apple Inc. to fix the prices of electronic books (E-books). NY consumers are eligible for refunds of about 11.7 million from this and previous settlements.
The agreement with Penguin must be approved by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Following court approval, consumers nationwide – including those represented by the attorneys general of the 33 states and territories and those represented by private counsel in a related class action – will receive $75 million in compensation. In addition, injunctive provisions included in the settlement ensure that E-book retailers will have greater freedom to reduce prices of E-book titles going forward.
"E-book consumers are protected by our laws and efforts to circumvent those protections will not be tolerated by my office. Today’s and earlier settlements provide restitution to consumers harmed by the price fixing of E-books orchestrated by the five publishers and Apple," said Attorney General Schneiderman. "The settlements provide injunctive relief designed to prevent future anticompetitive conduct by E-book retailers and to restore competition to the E-book market."
It was alleged by the states in the lawsuit that the 5 E-book publishers and Apple agreed in 2010 to go to any agency model for the sale of E-books. By using the agency model the publishers were able to set the prices of E-books and prevent discounting by E-book retailers like Amazon. Amazon had been selling many NY Times bestsellers at a $9.99 price point. The publishers and Apple-who entered the E-book business in 2010 wanted E-books sold at a higher more profitable price point.
The states had previously settled with four other E-book publishers. The settlements reached with Hachette Book Group Inc., HarperCollins Publishers L.L.C., and Simon & Schuster Inc., in August 2012, required the payment of a total of $69 million in consumer compensation. An agreement reached with Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC d/b/a Macmillan earlier this year resulted in a payment of $20 million on behalf of consumers. As a result of these five settlements consumers nationwide will receive a total of $164 million. New York E-book purchasers will receive approximately $11.7 million in compensation from the settlements.
The states' antitrust action against Apple, Inc. based on the same allegations remains pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York with a trial scheduled in June 2013.
For restitution purposes, most consumers will get a notice directly from their E-book retailers. In fact, as to the first 3 settlements-totaling $69 mill, these settlements have already been approved by the court and consumers have been notified that they are eligible for refunds from the first three settlements.
States and territories participating in the settlement are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, DC, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
On behalf of New York State Attorney General’s Office, this case was handled by Assistant Attorney General Linda J. Gargiulo and Robert Hubbard, under the supervision of Executive Deputy Attorney General for Economic Justice Karla G. Sanchez.

Friday, May 17, 2013

The End of Sexual Orientation

Why do we feel this urge to classify and compartmentalize just about everything?
I was thinking about how we put others and ourselves into group definitions. Blacks, whites, Native Americans, Orientals, etc., etc. Tall, short, thin, fat. This religion, that religion, no religion, gay, lesbian, straight, whatever.
Of course all of these categories and more do exist but what of it? Do any of them really define who we are?
I think not.
Not only do I think not, I strongly object because each and every category limits our full potential to develop as a person.
I chose the title "The End of Sexual Orientation" not because I don't believe there is such a thing. We all have our preferences. I chose it because I think we should stop making it something that defines something worth defining. It doesn't say much about a person. It ranks right up there (or should I say down there) with so and so has red hair or black hair. Who cares? Do you really care?
I hate the term "The gay community" for the same reason I would hate the term "The straight community." People who are gay are at least as diverse as people what are straight. Fact of the matter is that community is a word that defines a fantasy. Communities don't exist anywhere but in our foolish minds. We use the word to exclude as much as we use it to include.
This problem of defining people by one, blanket commonality shows itself in politics as much as anywhere. It is why we have a congress that has become dysfunctional. Republicans vs. Democrats. If you are one or the other you are supposed to think one way or the other and vote the party line. You give up your right and duty to think clearly and independently.
See what I'm getting at? It's all nonsense. It's a refusal to think on your own. You become trapped by words and sometimes find yourself excluding yourself from those you actually have more in common than with those in your so called community. This can be said of any race, creed, nationality or sexual orientation. It can also be said of economic status and levels of education.
How brave are you? Are you brave enough to love someone who belongs to one or more of  the communities you have allowed yourself to be boxed into?

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Homeland Security

I don't know about you but I am tired of the Department of Homeland Security.
I think it should be abolished.
Why? Well there are several reasons. The first reason is I really am not all that afraid of terrorists. I view them as common thugs and believe they should be treated as the criminals they are.
We have so many police organizations as it is. We have the local police, the state police, the county Sheriff, the FBI, the CIA, NCIS, ICE, the ATF and god only knows what else.
How many law enforcement agencies do we need and how many can we afford?
A second reason is the atmosphere created by Homeland Security. The agency is suspicious of everyone. The problem here is it can make you wonder if the government doesn't trust you, why should you trust the government?
Might this be the reason why we see a growth in people who want guns to protect themselves from the government? I think there is a connection.
Understand, I am not saying there aren't any nutty terrorists. I'm just saying the Department of Homeland Security doesn't make us safe but does make us paranoid and robs us of freedoms.
Lastly, I just am totally opposed to giving a special status to the nutty terrorists. And they are nutty. They are not religious. They are the very opposite of being religious. They are losers. They are common criminals. No. Actually they are worse than common criminals but they don't deserve the attention they get.      

Monday, March 18, 2013

Guns do kill

Without going into the entire state rankings which do show a connection between gun ownership and death rates per 100,000 of the population, it does show the more guns, the more deaths.
NYS is low on the gun ownership and gun related deaths. About 18% of the homes in NYS have at least one (1) gun and has a gun related death rate at about 5.1 per 100,000.
Alaska has about 58% of the homes having at least one (1) gun and a gun related death rate of about 57,8 per 100,000.
Florida has about 24.5% of the homes with at least one gun and has a gun related death rate of 24.5% per 100,000.
I could go on but why bother when statistics show that on statewide averages, the more homes with guns, the more gun related deaths.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

The Cowardly American

When coming up for the title of this post, I was inspired by the book and later by the movie of the same title "The Ugly American."
There the connection ends. I just like the title.
So what am I talking about when I say, "The Cowardly American?"
Several things that are in some ways similar.
First and foremost, I am talking about all who are so rabidly opposed to any legislation that seeks to impose any limits on the possession of firearms.
I don't have any objection to Second Amendment and the right to own a gun. I own several. But I do believe there should be rational limits and restrictions to who owns a firearm and the type of weapons citizens should be allowed to own.
But, you might ask, what is this "Cowardly American" stuff all about? It is about the idea of the need to own any and all weapons to defend yourself. None of the guns I own have ever been seen by me as something I own to protect my life. The cowardly complaint is about the nature of fear and the problems fear causes. It's about a mindset of "me against the world I'm the good guy and everyone else is a potential bad guy." At its worst, it becomes "I need to protect my life, limb and property from the government."
These attitudes create the violent society we all love to complain about. When it comes to violence, and in the words of Pogo, the old comic character, "We have met the enemy and the enemy is us."
The other thing I'm thinking of when I use the phrase, "The Cowardly American," is the reluctance of most Americans to serve in a branch of the US Military. They are our "heroes" but we would rather not join with them. We have no desire to emulate them. We just pay them lip service while figuring we need as many guns of the greatest firepower as possible to possibly protect ourselves from the government our "heroes" serve.
Is this rational? Of course not. Fear is never rational. Cowards die a thousand deaths.       

Monday, February 4, 2013

Republican wisdom and knowledge


INDIAN LAKE, NY, Ravenwolf Publishing publishes The Complete Book of Republican Wisdom and Knowledge.

The Complete Book of Republican Wisdom and Knowledge is certain to create political friends and enemies during these times of political grid lock and name calling. The book is an interactive work of a humourous and sarcastic nature.

"The Complete Book of Republican Wisdom and Knowledge" (ISBN: 1481944029 | ISBN-13: 978-1481944021) starts with a Warning - “This is not a serious exposition but is only meant for amusement” and begins and ends with the infamous quote from Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock who said during his losing effort to become Senator Mourdock, “Even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that is something that God intended to happen.”

Pete Klein, author of the books, The Complete Book of Republican Wisdom and Knowledge, Adirondack Hikes in Hamilton County, The Dancing Valkyrie, The Vampire Valkyrie, And God Created Vampires, and Confession of an Online Male Prostitute, and is now working on a memoir of growing up in Detroit, during the 40's and 50's says.
Klein says, “I fully realized the wisdom and knowledge I laid bare in this book could just as easily be applied to many Democrats. But considering the fact that many if not all the leaders, movers and shakers in the Republican Party seem to be stuck in the “Just say No” mind-set that began when President Obama first was elected in 2008 and was reelected in 2012, it seems only appropriate to pick on the party that was once great and is now mired in the past.

Website: http://www.petekleinvampires.com/

Book trailer for And God Created Vampires



Book trailer for vampire novel - And God Created Vampires by Pete Klein