Fee-Free Writing Competitions

A good way to improve your writing skills is to enter writing competitions. Another advantage to entering writing contests is to gain interest from a literary agent.  Many contests require an entry fee which ranges from a token $25 to $100.  The following competitions for the remainder of 2015 do not require a fee.  The key to success is to follow the submission guidelines carefully or the first readers will reject your hard work outright.

1. MINOTAUR BOOKS--First Crime Novel
Prize:  A book deal and $10,000 advance against future royalties

The competition is open to anyone over the age of eighteen
Submissions are due: December 14, 2015 at 11:59pm EST
One manuscript submission per person. A minimum of 65,000 words
Note: This is a highly respected publisher. Minotaur is a division of St. Martin's Press


2. REAL SIMPLE--What Single Decision Changed Your Life
Prize: 1st prize $3,000 and 2nd and 3rd place winners
Essay content with 1500 maximum word count.
Submissions are due: September 21, 2015 (postmarked) or submitted online
Open only to USA residents and District of Columbia
Note: This is a credible essay contest with a good history of awarding good work

3. Self-e Library Journal--Genre Romance, Fantasy, Mystery and Science Fiction
Prize: $1,000 for best self published ebook
Digital ebooks only
Submissions are due: August 31, 2015 at one minute before midnight
Author must own copy write and distribution rights to their submissions
Note: The winner and two runner ups get a full Library Journal review and a full ad in the Library Journal publication. An awards dinner in Boston, but it looks like authors pay for their own travel. 

Three Billion Miles to Pluto & Back Home

The New Horizons Spacecraft has traveled more than three billion miles for a fly-by with Pluto that is scheduled for July 14, 2015.  The nine and a half year long trek is an engineering masterpiece demonstrating the best our Earthlings have to offer regardless of national origin.

The piano size New Horizons Spacecraft weighs a little over one thousand pounds and so far is capturing and sending home remarkable images of its very long summer vacation.
                                                                  

                                                        The Best & Brightest From Earth


Back home, the United States and member nations of the United Nations Security Council are trying to hammer out a deal that promises to curb Iran's Intercontinental Ballistic Missile capabilities. The negotiations are an attempt to stave off a conflict which in effect could blow our curious little planet Earth into oblivion.  A graphic depiction by the New York Times explains the end game of the current negotiations that may end on Monday, July 13, unless a deal is made.  

                                                                      

                           U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry & Iran Prime Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif


The irony of the similarity of  terms: Pluto--Plutonium signifying the best and worst Earth has to offer the cosmos is noteworthy.  I sure hope nothing gets lost in translation or in transmission of the differences. 

In closing, I recommend a film currently on Netflix which demonstrates how apparently small nuances in culture and language can trigger catastrophic results. There are no small, insignificant or trivial mistakes in international relations.  The heart and trust collide in The Reluctant Fundamentalist. 
 

Welcome to the 21st Century Ridiculously Rich Era

                           Cerebus Greek Mythology & Capital Management Fund

These are the best of times for the richest 1% and the worst of times for the lower 40%.  Across the mid-section of America we go about our daily chores and at the end of the week, (TGIF), we pick up a a six-pack of beer or Pepsi and some deli food at the local Safeway or Albertsons.

Sure, we are vaguely aware of the mega-rich,The Koch Brothers, Donald Trump and Warren Buffet, but they are for the most part remote to our trip to the grocery store. However as of 2015, you probably have heard that Safeway and Albertsons are now, Albertsons-Safeway funded by Cerebus Capital Management.

As noted above, Cerebus is the three headed dog that guards the gates of Hades, (underworld). It keeps the dead from escaping and the undead from entering. This mythological creature will probably not be pictured on your favorite brand of dog food.

On the other hand, Cerebus Capital Management is a capital management firm worth some $25 billion that buys distressed assets and property and makes money for its investors. If you have ever wondered what happened to former Vice President Dan Quayle and Treasury Secretary, John Snow, they take turns walking a three-headed dog--Cerebus.

Does it matter? If your local Safeway or Albertsons gets sold and your neighbors lose their job, it may make a difference. On the flip side, if you as a consumer get lower prices at the check out stand--maybe not. The end game in this intriguing story of big fish eat little fish in the 21st Century is that the pond world-wide has become an exclusive hot tub. This is a game of multi-billionaires versus mega-billionaires.

In short, Safeway-Albertsons is suiting up to compete against Cosco and Walmart for buying power and survival at the checkout stand. The three-headed dog, Cerebus creeps me out, but a brand is a brand, is a brand.

Greening Up African Forests:It's About Culture

                                      A juvenile chimpanzee in Gombe Stream National Park in
                                              July 2014. (Photo: Michael Christopher Brown/Magnum Photos)

Deforestation around the world has wreaked havoc to humans, wildlife and contributed to climate change.  Across rural Africa, trees are harvested to use for cooking and sold in bundles. The result of open burning and harvesting trees by villagers is pollution and profound damage to the ecosystem.

It's one thing to point out the environmental impact from afar, but real change comes from within a culture. The Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) recognizing the economic realities of the impoverished people of Africa offers scholarships, medical care and sustenance to villagers in exchange for adopting conservation strategies at the village level.

In 2006, JGI embarked on a 30-year regional conservation plan utilizing satellite imagery which produces maps and photos to villages enabling them to see the devastation and its impact. Thus, enabling them to create their own land-use plan. The key is that stakeholders or those affected by the land-use plan at the local level are the decision makers and policy makers for enforcement. The village is in charge of its destiny.  

According to Paul Tullis,Take Part feature editor,  Google has developed an online tool that will allow anyone with a handheld device to monitor forests and receive alerts if deforestation is taking place.

TakePart.com is an informative resource for people interested in the environment. The website has an action center for readers to express their views to policy makers.

Politics 2016--A Shameful Beginning

 

By now, most everyone has heard about Jeb Bush's 1995 revival of societal shaming for unwed parents and their off springs. His clarification reported by Politico says he has evolved and now shifts the blame shame to fathers.  He doesn't retract the statement. In all fairness his clarification may be more harmful to him politically because babies don't vote.

Unfortunately for all, most politicians don't understand or don't want to hear what the Congressional Budget Office and other number crunchers have been telling them since the 1990s.  Pre-natal care, well baby and routine vaccinations and care for mother and child is a drop in the bucket compared to chronic disease and genetic disorders on each end of the age spectrum. 

We have a looming, torrential storm of aging Boomers whose health care needs will surpass all previous records for utilization. To date, no one has put forth a plan that contains costs. The Affordable Health Care Act and its exchanges, if left in tact by the Supreme Court and Congress will see significant rate increases to keep up with the costs of care.  The chronically ill cannot be denied coverage for preexisting conditions and the sky is the limit for coverage.

I recommend USA Today's article, written by Meghan Hoyer on the harsh and heartbreaking realities of the sick caring for the sicker. This is the real takeaway for the blame game being tossed around since the 1990s and it's hitting home now.


Afterthought:

In all fairness to all the politicians running for local, state and federal offices, the above subject is a political hot potato.  According to USA Today, "More than 4 million (seniors)— about 15% — have at least six long-term ailments. Those sickest seniors account for more than 41% of the $324 billion spent on traditional Medicare."

Editorial

One government fund (Medicaid) or another will and does pick up the tab after the chronically ill senior exhausts his/her personal resources. At the rate of $100 thousand per year to care for Alzheimer, Parkinson, end-stage renal failure, some cancer and the complications of diabetes and heart disease, most personal funds are depleted very quickly. Medicare does not cover extended long term care in a nursing home.

In a nutshell, 15 to 27% of the population will always account for the lion's share of health care spending. This is an immutable factor that no private sector insurance can deal with. So, unless policy makers want to revisit the "Death Panel" shock headlines by trying to parse out medical care--the government will have to deal with it. 

Melissa McCarthy is Back in SPY

                                                          Eye in the Sky Courtesy of the CIA

Melissa McCarthy is back in a big way in SPY  If you liked her in Bridesmaid--you will love her in Spy.  The common thread between both films is writer/director Paul Feig. He crafts comedy films like a symphony composer.  This genre of film is the toughest to write as McCarthy learned in last year's Tammy. You can assemble brilliant stars, offer an interesting storyline, get some laughs, but 120 minutes is a long time to keep the attention of movie goers. Bridesmaids did it and so does SPY.

Melissa McCarthy plays an unglamorous CIA mission control agent hidden in a dilapidated basement whose job it is to remotely act as the eyes and ears for the Bond-like character played by Jude Law. The tables turn and McCarthy and her gal pal played by Miranda Hart show the funny side of beauty is only skin deep and smart girls finish first.

As I watched the film, I kept thinking who is that  femme fatale playing Rayna Boyanov, keeper of the somewhat portable nuke.  Alas, I came home and checked IMBD list of characters and other fun facts and it's Ellen Parsons from "Damages" played by Rose Byrne.

SPY is filled with actors and actresses you will recognize and best of all they have dialogue and a story to match their talent. Spy will keep you laughing from beginning to end. My only criticism for Paul Feig is his overuse of the F-word.  A professor once told me; use the f-word sparingly for the utmost impact.  The gratuitous overuse of fuck this, fucking that, fuck you, becomes a distraction of an otherwise brilliant script. I'd say cut about 30%.


I am not going to give away any spoilers because you deserve a fun and relaxing couple of hours away from it all.   Check out the trailer below.  You will love it.

                                              

CERN's Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Day

ALICE Experiment--Solid Beam

Cern's Large Hadron Collider had a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious June 3, 2015.  The physics geek world is in a twitter after the successful re-launch of the experiments made famous in the documentary Particle Fever. 

The Cern live blog feed in Switzerland began a little after midnight in my time zone. A few hiccups along the way and presto the Hadron Collider was back in business at record speed and a solid beam. On my end the transmission feed leveled out and was solid around 7:30 this morning. What a nice day.  This is a huge day with more to come in the theoretical and experimental world of Physics and for all of us.

Sometimes, you wonder who decides what is "news".  Call me crazy, but this is the biggest news story of the millennium.  Blatter comes--Blatter goes. Jenner goes--Caitlyn comes and a new reality show is on its way.  Last night when I picked up my allergy Rx at Walmart I ran into a guy with this T-Shirt on.               

                                                 Thank you guy with the funny T-Shirt