A Writer’s Blog

  • Don’t Gamble with your Life or Health

    During a regular video conference last Wednesday morning, one of the six that showed up that morning said that being vaccinated didn’t end up offering as much protection as those who were infected by COVID.  He said that people that were infected by the virus had 17 times more antibodies than people that were vaccinated.… Read more

  • Denis Smith: If We Lose Public Schools, We Lose Our Democracy

    Originally posted on Diane Ravitch's blog: Denis Smith worked for many years in the Ohio State Department of Education, finishing his career in the Office of Charter Schools. He writes in the Ohio Capital Journal about the existential threat posed to our democracy and our society by the privatization of public schools. His advice: Be… Read more

  • The End of the Forever War, leaving Afghanistan in 2021

    I’m a former U.S. Marine and was sent to Vietnam in late 1965. I returned home to the states in December 1966. At the end of the Vietnam War, according to History.com, about 7,000 people were evacuated by helicopter from various points in Saigon. And “Inside the South Vietnamese capital, U.S. ambassador Graham Martin rebuffed repeated… Read more

  • George Washington Was First to Mandate Vaccinations

    Originally posted on Diane Ravitch's blog: To all those patriots out there who are “resisting” mandates for vaccines and masks, please read this. George Washington was not only “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen,” he was also first to impose a vaccine mandate. A reader called “Quikwrit”… Read more

  • The Patriot Oath post I should have written 8 days ago.

    On August 8, my latest novel, The Patriot Oath, was published and released. The e-book is still on sale for $0.99 until Monday, August 16, ends at midnight. The Patriot Oath’s launch is the best I have ever experienced. When My Splendid Concubine came out in December 2007, it only sold 221 copies its first… Read more

  • Twitter Reflections from Reporter Who Broke Nikole Hannah-Jones Tenure Story

    Originally posted on deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog: Joe Killian is the reporter with NC Policy Watch who broke the story (byline shared with Kyle Ingram) of Nikole Hannah-Jones’ UNC-Chapel Hill tenure slight. He was also the first to report on Hannah-Jones’ declining UNC-Chapel Hill’s belated tenure offer and her decision to join the faculty at… Read more