Vatican Shocker! Pope Betrayed!

Beginning in January of this year, a mysterious figure leaked "secret" Vatican documents along with personal letters to Italian news agencies. These documents reportedly contain vital information that exposes corruption within the Vatican and in particular the Vatican bank.  According to the New York Times, the documents also "included letters by an archbishop who was transferred to Washington after reporting what he saw as a web of corruption and cronyism, a memo that put a number of cardinals in a bad light and documents suggesting that there were internal conflicts about the Vatican Bank."

 Who was to blame for leaking these documents? Who was betraying the institution of the Church and the nation of Vatican City by shedding light on corruption? Who could be so callous and "un-Christian" as to think Vatican City and the Vatican bank should be held to financial accountability? Well this week we finally know whodunit -- the Pope's butler. That is right; the man who would dare to expose corruption was the butler. 

The Pope is said to be deeply "pained" by this act of betrayal and rightly so. I mean, the Pope's most trusted butler has done something unthinkable -- gone public.  I mean, the butler should have known better. It is much better to sweep problems under the rug than to expose them to the light of day. After all, what people don't know won't hurt them -- right? Who doesn't know this?  Apparently, the butler doesn't because he just had to stick his nose where it didn't belong. Why couldn't he be content to wait on the Pope hand in foot? Why couldn't he be content to fetch coffee for the Pope?

Wait a minute --  the itinerant preacher from Nazareth "has nowhere to lay His head" (Luke 9:58, NASB)  but his Vicar on earth has a butler? What's wrong with this picture?

Writing is a good addiction

For the past few days I've been writing like crazy. Every chance I get I'm writing something new. I think I'm addicted to writing which is probably a good addiction to have -- if one is going to have an addiction. It encourages one to reach beyond themselves and hopefully gives a bit of insight into a new world. Of course thinking outside the box is not something everyone appreciates but it is something I appreciate. And so I will continue to write and feed my addiction and maybe -- just maybe, some good will come of it.

My Interview is now online!

Just a reminder that my interview with Morgen Bailey's Writing blog is now online.

Interview on The Crazy Side of Orthodoxy this Sunday!

I recently did an interview with Morgen Bailey's Writing Blog (based in the UK). The interview covers a variety of topics on the art and craft of writing, the writing business in general, my experiences as a newly published author and of course we tackle The Crazy Side of Orthodoxy as well! I touch on a few topics about the Crazy Side which I've not really written about before so I think you just might find it interesting.

The interviews on Morgen's website appear in written form via a “blog interview” format and goes “live” on Sunday May 13^th.. So if you're a writer, like books, like The Crazy Side, and want to see what I'm up to now (just a few hints) check out the interview starting this Sunday.

Lesson number 1: SAVE YOUR WORK!!!!!

After spending about fifteen minutes writing my next blog post, guess what happened to me? The power went out. Guess where I was writing my piece? That's right, like a complete idiot I was writing in the Blogger "new post" box instead of in my word processor where I could actually save my work every couple of minutes.

I figured, "what's the big deal? It will only take me about 15 or 20 minutes to write this -- what could possibly happen in 15 minutes?" Murphy's law came back to bite me in the ass!

The funny thing is that when I write  I almost ALWAYS do so right in my word processor. I am obsessive about saving my work. In fact, I will literally click the save button every minute or two. (save) But today I had decided to just write a quick blog post right online. After all,  there are no storms. There is no wind. In fact, the sun is now coming out and it looks as if it's going to be a pretty nice day. But then, just as I was about to start my final paragraph -- without warning -- I hear that horrible power sucking sound that some of us are so familiar with, and the screen went dark! (save)

Why did the power go out? Well, I can't say for sure. After I confirmed that power was out everywhere I stepped outside and through the woods I could hear a big truck of some sort out on the road. (save) I guess they are doing line work today: for no apparently reason!

Funny thing is they waited until I was 90% writing and while it was only a short piece I actually had something to say!!!!! (save) But now all I can think about is how the power company obviously had conspired against me. Someone -- or something -- didn't want me to get my piece out there in the public eye. But this will not stop me! I will write that piece again. No question about that. I should be writing that piece right now, but I decided to wait until (save), I'm more prepared to fend off this subtle attack on my freedom of speech.

Well, okay maybe I really just wanted to remind MYSELF of one thing: SAVE YOUR FRELLING WORK MORON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Overcoming writer's block

I've just recently discovered a writing podcast called writing excuses. One of the hosts is fantasy author Brandon Sanderson. For those who don't know, Sanderson is the guy who is concluding the late Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. (Jordan passed away before concluding the series.) In other words, Sanderson is a big deal in the fantasy world.

The podcast is limited to roughly 15 minutes each and so far, I have to say that I LOVE it. I'm going through the season one podcasts at the moment. It is fun, witty, and very educational. You also get the impression that Sanderson and Co. are "regular joes" who really do want to help other people become successful writers.

Probably the most important piece of information from season one that I've gotten is how to overcome writer's block! This is the "big" question for anyone who ever writes -- whether for fun, for art, for work, for both or none of the above. Writer's block is the 900 pound gorilla in the room which we don't know how to get rid of. What is the advice that the hosts of Writing Excuses gives? BICHOK!!!!!!!!!!!

What the does THAT mean?

It means "Butt In Chair, Hands On Keyboard!"

In other words it means that if you have writer's block then you should WRITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So guess what -- I am taking their advice!

I don't always know what to write on this blog -- call it writer's block, call it whatever, but it ends today! I'm going to begin blogging at least twice a week. They may not always be "profound" articles they may not even be interesting to anyone but me -- but I'm going to write! After all, who am I to disagree with the likes of Brandon Sanderson who is managing to conclude the Wheel of Time series in a way which seems to make most Robert Jordan fans happy.

Is this profound? Probably not -- but then, I'm not that smart! (listen to the podcast and you'll get the joke!)

Ted Nugent is a bad ass -- in his own mind

The last vestiges of civil discourse have recently been thrown out the window by washed up rock and roll star and Tea Party favorite Ted Nugent. At a recent NRA convention the singer, in a disgusting and vile rant, compared the President of the United States to a coyote urinating on your sofa which should be shot. The rock star then proudly declared that in a years time that, if the President were to be reelected, he (Nugent) would either be dead or in jail.

These comments were so clearly a threat against the life of the President of the United States that the Secret Service is actually going to question Nugent and ask him to clarify what it was that he "really" meant. Of course as we all know, Nugent is a celebrity (or former celebrity) and will almost certainly be let off the hook without even a slap on the wrist. Yet if you or I made such public threats against the President we'd probably be labeled a public menace and arrested on the spot -- and rightly so. In case you didn't know, threatening to assassinate the President is a serious matter.

Now, I'm sure Nugent's supporters will argue that their favorite washed up rock star was "only joking" about killing the President. As if making treasonous threats against our nation was "all in good fun." But the reality is that such threats are not all in good fun. Don't believe me? Just imagine a leader of a foreign nation (say Egypt) making those same comments. Wouldn't all of us be taking those threats very seriously?

Most rational people realize that Ted Nugent is -- well, not rational -- nor a real threat. He's simply a celebrity and an entertainer with a bully pulpit. The real problem as I see it is not so much his outrageous threats on the President's life, but the fact that so many Americans seem just fine with them. Even Democrats and the so called "liberal media" haven't really made that big of an issue of them. In fact, the April 18th edition of NBC's Today show didn't even mention the most important part of Nugent's tirade: the I'll be dead or in jail comment. They treated this story in a "aw isn't that cute" sort of way -- well, it isn't cute.

More than anything this sorry episode illustrates that the art of public discourse is truly a lost art. Americans no longer disagree with each other, we demonize each other. If you don't agree with me, you're not only wrong (which is a perfectly fine to say) but you are in fact "evil" to the core: an enemy of God, country, and are doomed to burn in an everlasting torment. And worse than that, you are nothing more than an animal that must be eliminated from the face of the earth.

All of this is big talk for someone who has never actually served in the military. Oh yes, he does use automatic and semiautomatic weapons to hunt and kill defenseless furry critters. But apparently even he doesn't feel as though that's "macho" enough and so he resorts to "bad ass language" to get in good with his NRA buddies. Of course "bad ass language" is usually a sign that one is not a "bad ass" at all, but someone whose experience of death is limited to comic books where no one is truly dead as long as the artists live.