Author Archives: diggercartwright

Is political correctness infringing our freedom of religion (if you’re a Christian)?

Posted by diggercartwright on

Yes, there’s no doubt about that.  The liberal, anti-Christians want to religiously emasculate us.  You can’t say Merry Christmas.  It has to be Happy Holidays so you don’t offend someone else.  That’s bullshit.  If you don’t celebrate Christmas, that’s fine, but why get offended by it?  If someone wished me Happy Hanukah, I wouldn’t be offended.  I’d tell them thank you and same to them.  I think the underlying theme behind the holidays, regardless of which holiday you celebrate, is peace and goodwill, which I talked about at length in my speech yesterday at lunch.  So, why are people so worried about expressing the Christian faith during Christmas?

 

Maybe those who object also object to peace and goodwill?  Is that why they want to take away any mention of Christmas?  If you don’t believe in Christ, that’s your right, but if you don’t want to allow others to celebrate a message of peace and goodwill, what does that say about you and your tolerance?  If I celebrate Christmas and say Merry Christmas, that doesn’t mean you have to believe what I do or that you have to agree with me.  If, however, you’re offended by it, you need to get thicker skin, and if that’s the only thing you have to worry about, you need to get a life.  Instead of worrying about Christmas, how about focusing those energies on something productive like feeding the hungry or helping those who have been displaced or caring for homeless animals?

 

I really think we’ve allowed the entire political correctness issue to go too far, but I’ll not digress into that bigger discussion.  Clearly, we’ve also allowed the secularization of Christmas to go too far as well.  The argument that you can’t display the Nativity or just about any other sign of Christmas on some government property as a violation of the separation of church and state is ridiculous.  This country was founded by Christians, more devout Christians that we can probably imagine today.  Our Founding Fathers showed their faith through prayer and the numerous references to God in the federal government.  They mention the Creator in the Declaration of Independence.  Each President has placed his hand on The Bible and said “So help me God” at the end of the Presidential Oath of Office.  Yet there are still some who want to take all references to this away.

 

If you don’t celebrate Christmas, that’s ok.  You’re not obligated to do so, but don’t tell me that I can’t celebrate it openly as we have done in this nation for hundreds of years.  And, if you’re a foreigner here and you’re of another faith, learn to live with it.  I sincerely doubt that your homeland would scrap any celebration of your faith if I went there and objected to it.

 

What is sad as well is that businesses of all sizes are getting sucked into this ‘Happy Holidays’ nonsense lest they potentially offend someone and that someone may not do business with them.  These business owners need to get some guts.  I don’t care what holiday people celebrate.  I do business with them based on their reputation, their honesty, their quality, and so on.  I’m certainly not going to be offended if I go into your business and you’re celebrating another holiday.

 

Let’s get real people.  Time to stop this nonsense.  Quit trying to secularize Christmas!

Read more here at Thinking Outside The Boxe

Is it time to re-think a space program?

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I don’t think so.  NASA’s budget is something like $17 billion per year.  What do we get out of this program?  Frankly, I don’t see a whole lot of benefit to the American people.  Over the last fifty years, NASA has spent over $500 billion dollars cumulatively, and what do we have to show for it?  We allegedly went to the Moon.  We don’t have a shuttle program.  Seems like an awful waste to me.  There is a certain appeal to the space program, but let’s let the private sector take over.  If there’s a market to go to Mars or to build a base on the Moon, let some private entrepreneur or aerospace company spend their money.  I don’t think we should be using tax dollars from American taxpayers to fund a program that is yielding little these days.  I’m always for spending cuts in the federal budget, so let’s cut the spending on NASA as a first step in shrinking the size of the federal government and eliminating wasteful spending, fraud and waste.

Read more here at Thinking Outside The Boxe

Is it time to audit lottery monies used for state programs?

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I think they are already being audited, but I think the issue is how the money is being spent and is it being spent judiciously.  Many of the state lotteries are supposed to fund specific projects or causes—senior citizen programs, education or scholarships, and so on.  I think this is all great, but when you’re dealing with the amount of money generated by the lotteries for these programs there is bound to be fraud and waste.  I have long preached against fraud and waste in both government and the private sector, but sadly to no avail most of the time.  I do believe that each of these state lottery programs should face very difficult scrutiny in how the funds are spent.  That’s not to say that we should consider every scholarship awarded or every senior center built.  We need to make sure that the stewards of these programs aren’t wasting money on unneeded centers or fraudulent scholarships.  We need to make sure that the programs aren’t being manipulated by special interests.  The site of senior center shouldn’t be decided by a politician or the landholder.  Administrative costs and salaries should be minimized whenever possible.  I’m not suggesting we micromanage, but I’m suggesting we have stringent oversight of the overall programs and how the money is allocated to projects.  Overall, politicians should never dictate how the funds are spent and shouldn’t even have a hand in the process.  The oversight should be handled by independent bodies comprised of normal citizens who don’t have any special interests and audited by independent accountants and independent government watchdogs.  It’s probably idealistic, and I know that.  There’s a lot of money at stake, and that money does a lot of good.  But that money can do a lot more good and can go a lot further if we don’t allow it to be misappropriated and misused.

Read more here at Thinking Outside The Boxe

 

Digger’s Tips for Indie Authors-10

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Have a great cover—There’s an old saying that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. The sad reality is that we live in a world where we all do just that each and every day. Most readers are drawn to a visually attractive and appealing cover on a book.  On a bookshelf with hundreds of other books that are your competitors or in a grid of book covers at online retailers, you need to have a cover that jumps out at people.  This is where I see most indie authors drop the ball.  They spend all their efforts in writing the book then they use a generic template to make the cover or they try to do it themselves.  This only makes your work look amateur, and there is no excuse not to try to find a good graphic designer.  With online services, you can put out a request for proposals and get a ton of bids in a matter of hours.  And you will probably be surprised at how reasonably priced custom artwork can be.

 

As the writer you know what the key elements are in the book.  What are some unique things that you have in the book?  Is there any symbolism in the book?  Consider these factors and how they can be incorporated into a book cover.  Then, find a good graphic designer and communicate these ideas to him (or her).  Tell them about the book, about the characters, about the setting, about the time period, and so on so that they have a general idea when they go to work designing the cover.  Put the creativity in their hands and let them present you with an idea or several ideas.  Most of them are well trained in what is visually appealing and what is not visually appealing to an audience.  Then collaborate with them to decide what you like and don’t like about the cover.  Rarely will you get the final design on the first try.  It may take several iterations until you’re satisfied.

 

Once you’ve put in all the time and effort to write your manuscript, don’t ruin your chances of success with a poor book cover.  Collaborate with a graphic designer to come up with something that really showcases your book and jumps off the page at a reader.  You only have a few seconds to make that first impression on a potential reader and to get them to pick up the book or click on the icon.  You may have a great novel, but once they’ve passed you by, they’re not going to come back and take a second look.

Should we re-negotiate student debt? If so, why? Does this create a moral hazard?

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Absolutely not.  These people entered into a legal agreement.  They were given money for college, and they used it to get an education.  And you know, they’re able to get loans for an amount that far exceeds the actual cost of tuition and books?  So, they get the maximum loan and then use the excess to party or to live on or to buy a new flat screen TV or a new car.  Just because they can’t get a high paying job once they graduate doesn’t absolve them of the liability.  If you go to the bank and get a mortgage for a house but then can’t afford the house, the bank keeps what money you paid and they take the house. Continue reading →

How do we stop the flow of illegal immigrants through our borders?

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I know there are some people who think this issue is as simple as closing the borders.  There’s no doubt that we need to tighten up the U.S.-Mexico border.  We’ve got people just walking across into the U.S., bringing kids here or having kids here, then expecting us to take care of them.  Let’s load up the border with drones, the military and border patrol and turn these people away.  I won’t hesitate to say we shoot them if they are sneaking across the border; that sends a powerful message.  Plus an increased military presence and a shoot to kill mandate will help with the paramilitary drug cartels just across the border.  We’re at war with the terrorists but we’re also at war with the paramilitary drug cartels in Mexico.

 

There are plenty illegals here who actually came here legally, most of them on student visas who stayed after the visa expired.  We need to round them up and send them back where they came from, even if that isn’t a politically popular thing to do.  These people have broken the law.  They need to face the consequences.  Then, we need to fix the broken immigration system.  We need a better way to track the people who come into this country.  With the technology we have today, let’s look to biometrics to keep track of people who come here.  When their time is up, if they haven’t left the country, we track them down or make it very difficult for them to survive here.  Make it difficult for them to get a job, rent an apartment, drive a car, and open bank accounts, and so on.

 

I’m not opposed to people immigrating to the United States.  However, there is a legal way for people who want to immigrate here to do so.  They need to follow the law to immigrate here.  If they do that, I welcome them.  If they break the law and stay here illegally or sneak across the border, they need to face stiff consequences.

Read more here at Thinking Outside The Boxe

Digger’s Tips for Indie Authors-9

Posted by diggercartwright on

Have your book edited 1 or 2 times—There’s not much worse than putting out a manuscript rife with errors. There are plenty of editors out there to read your manuscript, find typos and grammatical errors, and make suggestions on plot, style, tone, etc. You’ll be surprised at how much they can improve your work.  But even the best of editors isn’t going to catch everything, and even the best make mistakes or must make judgment calls that aren’t necessarily the best decision for the manuscript in question.  I generally have my books edited at least twice if not three times. (This is in addition to having the book read by actual readers as a test audience.)  This gives the opportunity to catch mistakes.  If your manuscript makes it through three rounds of editing by professionals, there may still be mistakes but there will be far fewer.  And I’ve found that three rounds of editing gives the editors and opportunity to come to consensus on changes over which there may be disagreements.  One editor may say use a comma.  One may say use a period and make a new sentence.  One may say use a semicolon.  I generally put them together and ask them to come to a consensus of what would be most acceptable in the publishing world as opposed to stylistic decisions.

But the editing process isn’t just about finding typos and grammatical errors. They’re going to identify inconsistencies and gaps that need to be corrected before the manuscript is published.  They’ll identify plot and character developmental issues and perhaps make recommendations on how to improve for a better finished product.  Most importantly, a good editor is going to give you impartial, honest feedback about the manuscript—constructive criticism that only makes an indie author’s work better and that helps the indie author in the future.

Should pet owners be able to deduct a portion of their pet care?

Posted by diggercartwright on

Absolutely!  If people can get deductions for having kids, why can’t I get deductions for my cats?  My cats are my kids.  In fact, my cats are better than most people’s kids.  They get great care from me, and they don’t use any public services so to speak.  They don’t go to school.  They don’t use the roads.  Where we have a problem is that people can’t be allowed to hoard animals in order to get more deductions and we’re not sure how well the animals are being treated.  In order to get deductions, I think you need to show that your pet is up to date on all their shots or vaccinations or that your pet gets their annual checkup with the vet.  Just as the government wants children to be well-cared for, they should also want pets to be well-cared for and treated humanely. Continue reading →

Should the government be allowed to terminate trademark rights for material some may deem “offensive” (Washington Redskins controversy)?

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No, this is a gross miscarriage of justice.  This is an overreaching federal government that has no respect for private property rights or the Constitution.  This administration is driven by emotions and far left liberal ideology.  As I said before, if the free market feels a trademark is offensive, consumers won’t buy the product.  The ticketholders don’t have to go to the games and no one has to buy tickets.  At the end of the day, the fans don’t have the moral outrage that the media and this administration have.  Most people don’t care.  I know a lot of Redskins fans, and they’re outraged that their team is under attack. Continue reading →