Happy New Year

What are you going to do next year?

Johnny Says - Happy New Year

What does, womanizer, sex maniac, prophet, charlatan, and genius have in common—they all aptly describe Johnny Oops, the lead character in a fantasy novel by the same name. If you don’t believe me, ask Inney, a one-foot tall albino with pink eyes dressed up in a boy scout uniform who is Johnny’s inner self. Johnny spends his time veering from one reality to another as he travels different worlds and experiences numerous second comings, and tries to fathom whether he is being controlled by a game master in a virtual reality game or is actually in the service of God.

Where In The World Is Johnny OOPS?

What happened to Johnny? Where did he go? Somehow over this last Christmas holiday he got lost or traveled to a different reality. I am confident we will find him again. After all, he is a symbol of your imagination.

Where else but in your imagination would you find a fictional character in a novel who helps write his own promotional articles. I know sometimes its hard to conceive of, but then our friend Johnny lives in a reality all his own. Does that sound familiar?

Johnny has been able to do something we could all benefit from. He has been able to get rid of his inhibitions so that he can use his imagination to create the type of world many of us dream of; a world where we have lots of fun and do what we want and believe as we choose.

We could all take a lesson from Johnny, but sometimes its hard to get the hang of using our imagination so that we can become true individuals, and use God’s gift to us of making us thinking human beings who can make our own choices.

Have you been thinking recently of what you are going to do with the rest of your life? The holidays have come, and this is a good time to resolve to make the most of what you have and be the best that you can for the New Year.

You can do this. All you need is to have faith in yourself and in God. All you need to do is to shake off your inhibitions and use your imagination to discover a bright new future. You can do this. You can find your new friend Johnny Oops at the same time. He is always off on a new adventure, but if you use your imagination you can find him and what you are looking for at the same time. You can find out where Johnny has gone. You can find your imagination.

When you get rid of your inhibitions and start to use your imagination to discover who you really are, you are going to discover a wonderful person. You are going to discover someone who cares about others, has a good sense of humor, and has the capability to do almost anything he or she wants to do. You will discover your better half, and then you will be whole. You will discover that this wonderful new you has been there all the time. Happy New Year.
*****



Arthur Levine is the author of the novel Johnny Oops. To read more about Johnny please access: http://johnnyoops.blogspot.com or http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0041KL52M

Happy Holiday, Merry Christmas

Hope everyone has a happy holiday and a Merry Christmas. Johnny plans to sit home in front of the fireplace and watch the world go by.

My Best,

Arthur

Featured on Indie Spotlight - Johnny Oops

My novel - Johnny Oops - is featured on the Indie Spotlight today. Please check it out. http://www.theindiespotlight.com/

Did God Need A Literary Agent When He Published The Bible?

I know that the bible was published after God became known to us, but the thoughts are supposed to be His, aren’t they? How did the good book get published?

My own thinking on the matter is that God didn’t really need an agent to get His good book published. All He had to do was to rely on word of mouth and His own words of caring and kindness. I don’t mean to be lacking in humility, but I hope the same can be said of me one day—I mean about the word of mouth part.

It is difficult, however, to believe in that which is beyond our powers of reason to see or understand. But that is why God is God I think. And that is why believing in Him requires an element of faith.

If we humans were indeed fashioned in his image, then we should find the faith to believe in ourselves as well. Sometimes that proves difficult.

I am an unknown writer who has to rely on word of mouth to make my words known. Not that I am comparing myself to God, but I too find myself little understood and almost invisible.

I need recognition. Someone that will recognize as one agent said, “that I am a gifted writer who has an unbelievable imagination. Sometimes I think I am surreal like some of the characters in my seven novels.

So if there is an Angel up there that would like to guide me to a horde of new readers, I will be eternally grateful since I’m self publishing.

I would ask you to read Johnny Oops to start with—a teenage genius who turns into a Sex Maniac, Charlatan, Prophet, or Guru when he grows up depending on your point of view. Only 99 cents in Kindle and $14.95 in print on Amazon.com. Did you know you can download Kindle to your computer?

Perhaps he or she could take a look at the others when they are published like Voyeur about a suitcase bomb that is detonated in the middle New York City for a dose of reality.

Maybe The Magic Pill, which features a young couple who invent a faith-based magic pill that cures cancer, would provide comic relief to many as a distraction from the troubles of our time.

Futures/Past wouldn’t do that, it has a really catastrophic black ending, but Husband Hunting might lighten up every ones mood. I think it is a new genre that might be called husband light.

Last and possibly not least might be the Wasn’t Man, which is a mystery about insider trading, or was it?

Oh, I almost forgot my most recent novel – Sequin Boy and Cindy. It’s a love story about a young American Indian who sheds his facial ornamentation for the love of his life.

Just a final thought, these novels are definitely not autobiographical or else I have a seriously split personality.

Perhaps that is why I am searching for God and some more readers, at the same time.
*****

Take A Virtual Reality Trip With Johnny Oops

Join Johnny Oops as he charges across the country acting as if he were a prophet, sinning like a charlatan, and in his own way attempting to spread the word of God by touching other people. Travel with him as he survives a plane crash in Venezuela, drowning in France, and a stabbing at his home in California. Enjoy yourself with Johnny as he discovers his inner self—a one-foot tall albino with pink eyes dressed in a Boy Scout uniform. Suffer with him as his scandalous affairs are revealed. Have fun trying to predict what Johnny will do and say next in his self appointed role as a guru. Question with Johnny whether everything that is happening is real.

Johnny Oops, available for only $0.99 on Kindle and in print on Amazon.com at $14.95.

Christmas And The Troubled Little Geese

One little Goose turned to another as they sat near the edge of a golf course that was covered in a half an inch of fresh snow and said, “My friend we should have gone south before it became so cold. I’m afraid our wings will freeze up if we try and make the trip now.”

The other little Goose responded, “And do you expect a less icy reception in the South. Everybody hates us. We are welcome nowhere.”

“Why is that asked Goose number 1?”

“I think it is because there are so many of us, and we create a mess wherever our Gaggle goes. Besides people think of us as just Geese who don’t count for much—something to end up on their Christmas dining room table I’m afraid,” answered Goose number 2.

“But I thought that in the spirit of Christmas people would be more willing to look kindly on the least amongst us?”

“I know, I know, but life is not always what it is supposed to be. We will have to learn to accept our circumstance with grace and good will to all at this holiday season.”

“I find it hard to accept our lot in life as is. I don’t believe that this is the way God would want things to be. He is full of kindness and mercy. Perhaps if we pray to Him he will hear our prayers and help others to understand our plight.”

“I hope so my friend. My tail feathers are starting to freeze. I’m afraid of what will happen to us in the future. We have no food. There is no one who wants to help us. We disturb their celebrating, impose on their happy times and impinge on their holiday spirit.”

“I believe it won’t always be thus my friend. One day people will be full of the goodness that God designed them to have. Then even little Geese like us will have a place in this society. Then even we will be able to find some happiness for our families and some sense of security. Then even us poor little Geese will not be discriminated against especially at this time of giving and kindness that represents the true spirit of Christmas.”

“Are there other groups such as us that are discriminated against even at Christmas time”?

“Yes there are, but most of them are human.”

“Do you think people will ever understand that we too have feelings?”

“I think they will soon. I think that as soon as the spirit of Christmas spreads its wings of joy over all of God’s people and animals that they will begin to recognize that even little Geese or any other minority group have their place in God’s Kingdom, for in caring about them we can become more than we were. We can become what God intended us to be.
***

Have a very happy Christmas Holiday, and please don’t forget all the
little Geese amongst us; they come in so many different types and
shapes that sometimes it is hard to remember that they have feelings.

The Little Christmas Tree That Could

Johnny Jr. was pursuing a quest to find his faith in God. He bought a tiny little Christmas tree to celebrate the holidays. It was all that he could afford at the time.
His wife and little children were very disappointed that the tree was so small. They didn't say anything, but Johnny Jr. knew it, and was upset that they were not happy. He wished and prayed that the tree was larger and more magnificent.

The night before Christmas when he went to put his few meager presents under the tree, he was startled to notice that the Christmas tree had grown much larger. It was taller by more than three feet and wider and its branches seemed to sparkle. The few tiny ornaments and lights that Johnny Jr. and his wife had managed to put up also appeared to have multiplied, and now their glow lit up the whole room.

Johnny Jr. called his wife and little children over to witness this miracle of the little Christmas tree that could grow. He had been praying that things would get better for him and his family, but he never dreamed that his prayers would be answered in this manner.

Johnny and his family were convinced that it was their faith in God that gave them the miracle of the little tree that could grow.

Do you have something happening in your life that can help make your faith grow stronger? Has something happened to you that you feel is a miracle at this wonderful time of the year? Think about it. Sometimes it’s the little acts of faith in our lives that can help make miracles happen. Sometimes our prayers do get answered if we truly believe.

I believe that each of us has a special thought in our mind’s eye that could grow into a miracle if you just have enough faith that it could. Miracles do happen. I pray that at this marvelous time of the year that the miracle of your dreams coming true for you. I think it could. I think it could. I think it could.

If you have something that has happened to you that you feel is a miracle at this wonderful time of year, please share with us in the comment section.

Merry Christmas

Learning To Be Irish

Just finished reading a great book. Here is my review. It's available at the Kindle store or on Smashwords.

Learning To Be Irish – Review *****


Have you ever read about a place that you’ve never been to and felt that you knew it intimately because the home and the people were so well described? I could practically smell the fire in the fireplace and hear the Irish brogue of the town gossip. That’s how I felt when I read Learning To Be Irish, and that’s how I felt about the main characters, the strong willed Daire, and the man she came to love, Padraic. I felt I knew them both and was a part of their lives. This is a place where a homespun instant wedding takes place, a child is conceived and a grand father’s fondest wish comes true in a land of Leprechauns and faeries.

Learning To Be Irish is about finding love and happiness. It’s a beautiful tale of a simpler time and a lush small village in Ireland where true virtue was really important, the simplest gesture could easily be misinterpreted, the community of gossip prone towns people worked together to help a stranger, and a tinge of mystery and strange goings on was always in the air. This is a wonderful place where people can walk around so enjoying life that they feel like they have a pocket full of emeralds. Charmingly told and heart warming—you will laugh and cry. This novel deserves five stars.

Johnny Didn't Drown

How Did Johnny Save Himself From Drowning? Find out in the novel Johnny Oops only 99 cents.

What Happened To Johnny?

Why was Johnny found tied up in his hotel room? Who did this to him? Find out by reading the novel Johnny Oops only 99 cents on Kindle.

Is Your Version Of Reality Just An Illusion

“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one"
Albert Einstein


How do we know that the version of the world we think we are living in now is real?

We can’t rely totally on our perception of what real is. We need some hard facts to back up what our instincts are leading us to believe.

I’m not talking about the kind of reality you perceive because of your inhibitions, or the taboos you accept as gospel. I’m not talking about the kind of reality that has your imagination running amuck. I’m talking about the real thing whatever that is, or is all this just an illusion.

Don’t swear on a star that hurricanes and floods are real. Maybe they are only images of the fear mechanism we live with. Maybe the truth is that in some ways we cherish the dark side. Maybe we invented terrorism as an escape from a boring reality. Maybe there is no threat. Maybe we are only bit players in some Game Master’s virtual reality game. How do you know that any of this is real?

Are we wandering aimlessly in a barren desert inventing a lush landscape, a wonderful family, and the bounty of a full table merely to blind us to how stark and forbidding our world really is?

Somehow we must discover the truth about ourselves. Is this our real environment? Somehow we must learn to live with the truth. Maybe it’s not as bad as some of us fear. Maybe the illusion we live in is as real for us as it is going to get.
Let’s hope that a beautiful blooming rose bush out there in the front yard is really not a monument to the rotten carcass of a former life.

Let’s hope for the best and try and comprehend that our concept of God is based on something we cannot see or understand.

Maybe what we do see and think we understand is not half as good as the real thing. Perhaps there is no reason to fear the miracle of a wonderful future we cannot even envision.
Maybe what we think we see is not as good as it is going to get.

Maybe there is more, more than we can possibly imagine: more beauty, more love, more happiness, and more peace and security than we can conjure up as a worthwhile real image of the world in which we live.

Thanksgiving Without All The Fancy Trimmings

This is shaping up as the Thanksgiving when people return to old fashion values and go sparingly on all the exotic side dishes that have come to signify the opulence of the Holiday and our own sense of excess.

In a lot of respects this Thanksgiving promises to be something special – something we can really be thankful for. In spite of a recession, families will once more gather to rejoice in their freedom and the bounty of their table, but this time most if not all of the trimmings will be homemade and not store bought. Is that so terrible? I rather like it, and the smells coming from the kitchen make my mouth water in anticipation.

You do remember the aroma of a home made apple pie wafting from the oven through the kitchen and out into the living room of a home you can afford to live in where a happy group of family and friends are gathered before a roaring wood burning fire, don’t you? Life can be good.

Is eggnog any better when laced with twenty-five-year-old brandy than with cheap dark rum? Does a Ford compact car get you where you want to go as well as a Mercedes Limousine?

What store bought barbequed bird can compete with a twenty-pound turkey basting in its own juices as its skin crisps and the smell of sausage and cornbread stuffing sends the dog whining in anticipation and dancing in circles?

Do the children playing games in the hallway know the difference between Oysters Rockefeller and chestnuts wrapped in bacon?

Is pumpkin and squash soup any less delectable and tasty then lobster bisque from the gourmet store? Are eating fish egg caviar what the pilgrims had in mind for their day of Thanksgiving?

If we are not alone, if we can share the holiday together, what difference does it make if we can’t spend a lot of money on some fancy trimmings? We have more than most people can hope for. We have a bounteous table of our own making, and the family and friends to share it with. We have a lot to be thankful for. We are together. We are free.

Too much emphasis on having all the exotic trimmings we can conger up may be why we got into this recession to begin with. Thank God the American public has enough sense to know when to stop spending on fancy luxuries they can do without, and start saving for their own and their children’s future.

When we all remember the lessons of the past that our parents and grandparents tried to teach us, we will truly have something to be thankful for. Then this recession will really be gone, and the real trimmings of a wonderful life will come racing back to us with our heartfelt thanks. They will always be ours to cherish and remember.

May the trimmings of your heart and mind make your cup full of love to the brim and your sense of joy running over.

Have a Happy, Healthy Thanksgiving.
*****

CHAPTER 13 Excerpt Johnny Oops - Trip to Egypt

Sometimes I don’t engage my brain. Only when we were about to leave for Egypt did the thought strike me that there probably weren’t going to be many good-looking babes amongst the mummies. My God, what have I gotten myself into: a whole summer of celibate philosophizing in a foreign country, dust storms and death in the heat of the desert? This is not exactly what I had in mind.

To make matters worse, I found out the Professor’s wife wasn’t going to join us on the trip. Who was going to cook for us? I guess flat biscuits weren’t her thing. No wonder God parted the Red Sea so the Jews could exit from Egypt during Pharaoh’s time around 1570 B.C. Who wants to hang around with a bunch of dumb dead mummies whose idea of music probably revolved around a rock band called the Walking Deadbeats, banging a bunch of pots and pans? Oh, I forgot they didn’t have pans in those days. I guess that’s why Mrs. Armstrong didn’t want to come along. She wasn’t going to be able to make her delicious biscuits. I think the heat is getting to me and I haven’t even left the country yet.

Before we got on our charter flight from San Diego International to Cairo—the good professor had booked us on this special flight with a bunch of other college groups to save money, Security took a special interest in us, making us remove not only our shoes, but also our socks, in an examination that took the better part of two hours. They made us strip down to our shorts searching for whatever, and would have done worse if we didn’t complain.

I personally think it was because the two security guards were female, but the good professor said it was probably because we were going to Egypt. Thank God I didn’t keep my parents gift of steel spiked boots. They probably wouldn’t have let me on the plane.

The woman security guard who was conducting our search said, “Okay, now take the rest off and bend over.”

I said, “No Miss, I will not.” What the hell is going on here? I’m not a prisoner on the way to jail. I thought we were supposed to be searched by men. I want to see the head of security.

“What’s the matter, big boy, you shy? You’re blushing,” said the female security guard who must have weighed three hundred pounds. Her skinny, pimple faced friend laughed from a corner of the glass-enclosed cubicle, holding her hands in front of her eyes in mock embarrassment at my nakedness. The room, part of a maze of inspection rooms, was bare except for a small metal table and one desk type chair.

“Not anymore, lady. I’ve got nothing left to hide, and stop poking me with that electronic wand. You’re supposed to use that to see if I’m carrying any hidden weapons. Do I look like I’m carrying a hidden weapon?”

“Take your underpants off, big boy, and I’ll let you know.”

Is Your Version Of Reality Just An Illusion

“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one"
Albert Einstein


How do we know that the version of the world we think we are living in now is real?

We can’t rely totally on our perception of what real is. We need some hard facts to back up what our instincts are leading us to believe.

I’m not talking about the kind of reality you perceive because of your inhibitions, or the taboos you accept as gospel. I’m not talking about the kind of reality that has your imagination running amuck. I’m talking about the real thing whatever that is, or is all this just an illusion.

Don’t swear on a star that hurricanes and floods are real. Maybe they are only images of the fear mechanism we live with. Maybe the truth is that in some ways we cherish the dark side. Maybe we invented terrorism as an escape from a boring reality. Maybe there is no threat. Maybe we are only bit players in some Game Master’s virtual reality game. How do you know that any of this is real?

Are we wandering aimlessly in a barren desert inventing a lush landscape, a wonderful family, and the bounty of a full table merely to blind us to how stark and forbidding our world really is?

Somehow we must discover the truth about ourselves. Is this our real environment? Somehow we must learn to live with the truth. Maybe it’s not as bad as some of us fear. Maybe the illusion we live in is as real for us as it is going to get.
Let’s hope that a beautiful blooming rose bush out there in the front yard is really not a monument to the rotten carcass of a former life.

Let’s hope for the best and try and comprehend that our concept of God is based on something we cannot see or understand.

Maybe what we do see and think we understand is not half as good as the real thing. Perhaps there is no reason to fear the miracle of a wonderful future we cannot even envision.

Maybe what we think we see is not as good as it is going to get.

Maybe there is more, more than we can possibly imagine: more beauty, more love, more happiness, and more peace and security than we can conjure up as a worthwhile real image of the world in which we live.


Hi, this is Arthur Levine, the author of the novel Johnny Oops. Please join us in a quest to determine what is real and what is illusion at http://johnnyoops.blogspot.com

What Is The New American Reality?

Reality show survivors eating mealy worms and bugs to win a competition, cartoon video game characters using guns and swords to kill each other, lonely people developing virtual friendships on the Internet, and politicians espousing their version of the truth: are these all new forms of reality that the American public has come to accept as fact today?

Whose reality is it anyway? Is it the reality of the producers of reality shows, the script writers of video games, the originators of Internet networking Web sites, or the talking points of government officials hoping to get elected, gone awry? Perhaps it is all of these things combined into what is presented as fact to the viewers and readers of these varied forms of modern day communications.

Modern day forms of communication such as radio, TV, magazines, newspapers, blogs, and video games serve as agents that afford us the opportunity to process information and interpret what is being said to us as we wish, coloring the so called facts as we desire, forming judgments as our minds eye dictates, and allowing politicians to convince us of the truth that they hold is self evident.

Deciding what is real and what is a public relations effort devoted to fostering ones program or position is not an easy task. The truth is it has never been easy to determine what reality is. Methods have always been available to distort the truth, prejudice our sensibilities and confuse our ability to reason. Modern forms of communication have only served to intensify the ability to distort the facts and speed up their delivery to the general public. The methods may have changed, but the ability to distort, alter, and shape the version of reality that we perceive to be the truth remain the same, and make it difficult to grasp what reality really is in America.

Americans today run the same risk of being misinformed, or just plain lied to that they were exposed to over two hundred years ago. Going back to the founding of our nation, people were being told things which were put in evidence as facts, and which have not stood the test of time. The real difference is that today, modern forms of communication have made it easier and quicker to disseminate misinformation, but have also provided the mechanism for uncovering distortions of fact on an almost instantaneous basis.

Bloggers on the Internet will pick up any misrepresentation of the facts immediately after they are presented, and then provide a correction based on what they believe to be true –their own version of reality. Cable TV news shows will via with each other to tell the American public whose version of reality is the correct one on a daily basis. Newspapers will endorse a particular party line depending on whether they hold a democratic or republican viewpoint. Magazines will use their political orientation to promote their own point of view. Competing video games will challenge each other over whose version of death and destruction is the right one to accomplish the complete virtual annihilation of an imagined enemy. Scientists will tell us what they believe reality is based on what they consider to be physical facts of the universe based on formulas, which themselves are based on theories not facts. Religious leaders will tell us what reality is based on their interpretation of what the bible says. But who amongst us can take as gospel which one of their varying interpretations is the only one that we should accept as real.

What is the average citizen to do? Who can you believe? Which version of the various realities one is offered a steady diet of is the truth? I think the real question should be is anyone really looking for reality anymore, or do we just want to hear and see what calms us down, makes us feel good, and assures us that we are doing the right thing.

Make no mistake about it; the new American reality is anything you want it to be. It can be a belief that we are spreading democracy by invading Iraq or Afghanistan. It can be justifying getting divorced rather than staying faithful to ones marriage vows when the going gets rough because of the catchall excuse of incompatibility. It can be an individual being absolutely convinced that only his or her path to God is the right one. It can be the concept that social equality is a form of liberalism, or that the whole concept is a misconception. It can be the ability to confuse want and desire with real need. It can be any and all of these things and much more. The new reality for Americans today is what you make of the information that is put before you. It is whatever you want to believe.

The new reality for Americans today is that as we develop and refine our ability to separate what we believe to be fiction from fact, as we refine our capacity to reason, we will have the opportunity to become more united as one nation, more dedicated to searching out the real truth, and more capable of creating a new reality that will be in our common interest. We can develop a belief system that will provide us with the strength to survive and prosper as one people with different versions of what reality really is, but with a shared vision of what we want our future to be. We can seize the opportunity to make the new American reality a force for good.

The new American reality can be a clarion call for a better future for ourselves, our children, and all the people of the world. It can be a manifestation of our innate desire to have peace. We may reach this new reality through different paths, and by reaching different conclusions about the facts as they are represented to us, but we can share a common goal of drawing a conclusion that will be in the best interests of all of us.

We may differ in our interpretation of the facts and what the new American reality really is, but we can all come together in a common desire to make our American dream come true. That’s what the new American reality should be about, turning dreams into a reality that will help each of us attain our goals in life, changing prejudices that have kept us from realizing our dreams, forming bonds that will protect us from the evils of terrorism, and sharing a common virtue instilled in us by our Creator.

Perhaps the most important part of the new American reality has been shaped in our minds by the natural disasters and acts of terrorism, which have befallen our people. We cannot change this part of the reality that we know to be true, but we can find a better way to deal with our problems in the future. If the new American reality is to be one of great promise, if it is to be within our grasp, we must find it in our hearts to accept that which we cannot change, and to change what inhibits us from achieving true greatness as a nation. We must exhibit the courage to believe that what we stand for as a people is real and has true merit.

We must find a better way to create a new American reality based on the common understanding that one person’s reality may not necessarily be the same as another. Sometimes we will have to compromise if we want to see our dreams of a new American reality take place. Sometimes we will have to take each others good intentions on faith.

The new American reality is within each and every one of us. It holds the potential for providing us with a new perspective that will allow everyone to participate in the great adventure that the new American reality is becoming. It gives us the opportunity to discover the last great frontier of a new world where reality is in the mind of the beholder. It gives each individual a chance to determine what his or her reality is. It gives you a choice of what you want to believe in.

You get to decide what’s real.

Texting Your Way To A Miracle

Are your fingers to short or to slow to text a prayer to God? Don’t worry about it. This will fast become a new age way to express your faith in our common Lord and see your dreams come true. If you can take the time to painstakingly tap out message after message to your friends, how about letting God know that you love him and want him to be a part of your life.

You don’t have to shout it out. You don’t have to mention it at the dinner table or even in church. God knows you’re busy. How about a simple little text to let Him know that you have faith in Him and need his help?

Don’t worry about your spelling or taking linguistic short cuts, God knows what is on your mind. He just wants to hear your prayer to him personally.

Don’t worry about the length of your text or what you are going to say. Let your prayer come from your heart. God will understand. He is always :-) - smiling at you.

Are you ready for a miracle? Does that sound 2G2BT – Too good to be true?

Remember we are all in this together. Our motto is 14AA41 – One for all and all for one.

The best way to get a miracle is to ask God for one. What do you want? What kind of miracle are you hoping for? Maybe what you want is for that special person to text you saying 459 – I love you?

If you are hoping for the miracle of someone’s love why don’t we ask God for His Help?

We could start off, Dear God 143 – I love you. Can you help me get Cindy to say 1432 – I love you too. That’s the kind of miracle I’ve been hoping for.

... You can 10Q, 10Q – Thank you, thank you. My prayers have been answered. It’s a miracle.

It’s almost 2G2BT – To good to be true.

I will believe in you 4ever – Forever.

... Yes I know God knows how to text using shorthand, It’s you I’m worried about. I hope you understand this is going to be ADIP – Another day in paradise.

Enjoy your miracle. I hope you know you are AIMP – Always in my prayers.

A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: With A Little Help

A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: With A Little Help

Thanksgiving Without All The Fancy Trimmings

This is shaping up as the Thanksgiving when people return to old fashion values and go sparingly on all the exotic side dishes that have come to signify the opulence of the Holiday and our own sense of excess.

In a lot of respects this Thanksgiving promises to be something special – something we can really be thankful for. In spite of a recession families will once more gather to rejoice in their freedom and the bounty of their table, but this time most if not all of the trimmings will be homemade and not store bought. Is that so terrible? I rather like it, and the smells coming from the kitchen make my mouth water in anticipation.

You do remember the aroma of a home made apple pie wafting from the oven through the kitchen and out into the living room of a home you can afford to live in where a happy group of family and friends are gathered before a roaring wood burning fire, don’t you? Life can be good.

Is eggnog any better when laced with twenty-five-year-old brandy than with cheap dark rum? Does a Ford compact car get you where you want to go as well as a Mercedes Limousine?

What store bought barbequed bird can compete with a twenty-pound turkey basting in its own juices as its skin crisps and the smell of sausage and cornbread stuffing sends the dog whining in anticipation and dancing in circles?

Do the children playing games in the hallway know the difference between Oysters Rockefeller and chestnuts wrapped in bacon?

Is pumpkin and squash soup any less delectable and tasty then lobster bisque from the gourmet store? Are eating fish egg caviar what the pilgrims had in mind for their day of Thanksgiving?

If we are not alone, if we can share the holiday together, what difference does it make if we can’t spend a lot of money on some fancy trimmings? We have more than most people can hope for. We have a bounteous table of our own making, and the family and friends to share it with. We have a lot to be thankful for. We are together. We are free.

Too much emphasis on having all the exotic trimmings we can conger up may be why we got into this recession to begin with. Thank God the American public has enough sense to know when to stop spending on fancy luxuries they can do without, and start saving for their own and their children’s future.

When we all remember the lessons of the past that our parents and grandparents tried to teach us, we will truly have something to be thankful for. Then this recession will really be gone, and the real trimmings of a wonderful life will come racing back to us with our heartfelt thanks. They will always be ours to cherish and remember.

May the trimmings of your heart and mind make your cup full of love to the brim and your sense of joy running over.

Have a Happy, Healthy Thanksgiving.
*****



Hi this is Arthur Levine and Johnny Oops the principal character in my new novel wishing you and yours a very happy Thanksgiving. To read about Johnny’s escapades please join us at http://johnnyoops.blogspot.com.

Interview

Hi everyone, take a look at the interview about me and my novel Johnny oops by Soooz from Goodreads.com

http://sooozsaysstuff.blogspot.com/

Regards,

Arthur

Talking Politics With Twin Baby Prophets

*** Fictional Names changed to protect the not so innocent

Darling and Delicious, the twin baby prophets of Sarhara and her husband the prophet Johnny Oops, had a secret that they shared. Although they were only three months old, because they had genius genes, they had the minds of grown up women, and they regularly argued over politics telepathically. The trouble is that Darling was a republican, and Delicious was a democrat. They argued incessantly over conservative verses liberal points of view. Please keep in mind that their views were not those of normally mature women, but these genius young ladies were determined to solve the major political problems of the United States.

Darling: “We have got to do something about our long term deficit. We have got to balance the budget. Spending is going wild.

Delicious: That’s your fault. You republicans are supposed to be the ones who control the budget and are tough on spending.

Darling: We can’t help it. This war is costing a fortune

Delicious: Who started the war to begin with? I told you it’s your fault.

Darling: Protecting our people from terrorism is more important than balancing the budget.

Delicious: Now your talking like a democrat. We have to spend to protect our people. They are entitled. That’s what’s important.

Darling: It’s your damn entitlements that got us in trouble in the first place. Now see what you’ve done.

Delicious: We are going to have to cut back on foreign spending and the war to save the dollar and protect our economy.

Darling: Now look at who is talking about protectionism. I thought you are supposed to protect us against other countries, not ourselves.

Delicious: That’s not the kind of free market thinking we need. The whole world wants to be our trading partner.

Darling: Then why don’t they trade with us fairly?

Delicious: What do you want – a perfect world?

Darling: This whole discussion strikes me as a classic case of role reversal. What ever are we going to do?

Delicious: We may have to form a third party.

Darling: That would be impossible. We don’t agree on anything.

Delicious. That’s perfect, then we will fit right into the political landscape of the United States.

Darling: I guess when our forefathers fought for individual freedom they did mean it literally.

Delicious: That’s what so precious about our democracy, Darling. Let’s never forget it.

Darling: For once I agree with you, Delicious, but don’t let anyone know. They will start to think we republicans are becoming too liberal, too democratic, and God forbid, too weak.

Delicious: As long as we both agree that it’s America first, I am happy to keep your secret.

Darling: That’s okay, that’s a secret you can tell everyone about.

Darling and Delicious: I think we both should tell everyone it’s America first as soon as we find our voices, and learn how to speak. This growing up thing can be hell. Thank goodness that in our case it is happening quicker than for most.

*****

Hi, I am Arthur Levine, the author of the novel Johnny Oops. To read more about Johnny, his wife and children, and his fictional wild escapades please click on the link to Johnny Oops to the right.

Read All About It

Johnny oops just got featured at the Frugal Ereader. Take a look.

http://www.thefrugalereader.com/2010/10/johnny-oops-arthur-levine-099.html



Arthur

Johnny Oops Just Got A Five Star Rating

Hi everyone. My novel Johnny Oops just got a five star rating from Soooz at the Promotional Assistance Group of Goodreads.com. Check out Johnny Oops by clicking on the name below the cover.

Regards,

Arthur

Kooks & Spooks & Terror-nooks – Halloween Is Here Again

Little painted faces, pointy witch hats, two feet tall clowns, skeleton costumes – it’s that time of year again - Halloween is here.

Tell the truth, when you rummage through the basket of your kids trick or treat candy are you checking to make sure it’s safe or are you looking for your personal favorite candy bar to munch on?

Sometimes I think there is still a little bit of the child left in each of us. Who can forget the anticipation we all felt as Halloween approached. Don’t you remember going out in the dark dressed up in weird costumes with your friends, and depending on your age maybe one parent lingering in the background? Don’t you remember the tinge of fear mixed with a tingle of excitement?

Trick or Treat, Trick or Treat, I can still remember the well-intentioned taunt made to smiling parents of your friends and your neighbors. Then there were the nasty older kids who were only out to spoil everyone’s fun and throw raw eggs that splattered on doorways and sidewalks. I wonder if they grew up to be bullies or patrons of some other form of anti social behavior.

Today there are also unfortunately the Kooks. The weirdo’s who place razor blades in candy, who sneak up behind people and punch them and run off with their cherished possessions and rob them of their self-respect. I guess they are a product of the true state of terror we live in. No one is safe any more, not old people or little children, not the infirm or feeble, not the weakest amongst us, and especially unfortunately not on Halloween. And the worst is that there are terrorists lurking out there in every nook and cranny of our economic and social system waiting to take advantage of this era of our discontent.

The term Halloween (and its alternative rendering Hallowe'en) is shortened from All-hallow-even, as it is the eve of "All Hallows' Day", which is now also known as All Saints' Day. It was a day of religious festivities in various northern European Pagan traditions, until Popes Gregory III and Gregory IV moved the old Christian feast of All Saints' Day from May 13 (which had itself been the date of a pagan holiday, the Feast of the Lemures) to November1. In the ninth century, the Church measured the day as starting at sunset, in accordance with the Florentine calendar. Although All Saints' Day is now considered to occur one day after Halloween, the two holidays were, at that time, celebrated on the same day

· Wikipedia

Today carved pumpkins called Jack-o'-lanterns are used to scare off evil spirits and for decorative purposes and the holiday has become popular as a children’s event.

Isn’t it time we all returned to some basic values and helped our children celebrate a holiday of treats and traditions? Isn’t it time we tried to take the fear out of every day living for ourselves and for our kids? Isn’t it time we looked inward to our personal clown and started to have some fun again? Why can’t we just enjoy the moment?

Let’s cherish our traditions. Let’s spend some time with our kids. Let’s bob for apples not problems. Let’s have fun again. Let’s give ourselves a treat and not trick ourselves into forgetting who we really are and what we stand for. Don’t let a bunch of kooks and terror-nooks spook you. The guys behind the masks are the ones who are really scared.

Happy Halloween.

Dazzling Droplets Of Divinity Spewed Forth

Johnny couldn’t believe what was happening. Right in front of his eyes as if by magic, his mouth was spewing forth droplets of the finest hyperbole ever heard. Sounded like the words of God.

It was hard to believe the message that Johnny was delivering was from the Almighty himself, but this is what Johnny maintained as he spoke to a large gathering of the hopeful.

These were people who were hurting and were sinners. They were in need of redemption and salvation, and that’s exactly what Johnny was promising. You could see the eyes of those in the audience widen in wonderment as the fiction of the possible became self-evident and real in their eyes.

Johnny himself was a fiction, a character in a fantasy novel about alternate realities, Quantum forces at work, and the sacrifices and the glories of those who were willing to reach out and touch each other in a spirit of kindness and caring. This was a congress of the willing. And Johnny carried on, believing in the inevitable goodness of our common Lord and his own ability to deliver His message.

One has to wonder whether this Johnny character is indeed a prophet delivering the work of God or a charlatan who doesn’t even know if he is real Is he taking advantage of an adoring and needy congregation of sinners, or showing them a pathway for deliverance from their sins? How did his own religion, Dialectic Spiritualism with its reliance on touching other people in their private essentials play a part? Was any of this real?

Johnny felt a slight shudder as the car he was driving skidded through a paper thin sky high sheet of glass, and a delightful little fellow called Inney appeared as if by magic on the passenger seat next to him. Inney was only one foot tall, an Albino with pink eyes, dressed in a Boy Scout uniform who said he was Johnny’s inner self.

Johnny took one look at him and asked him if he was in his novel too. Inney replied, “Read the book Johnny Oops and you’ll find out.”

Offer Guest Posts

Offer Guest Posts

How To Deal With A Bully

Learn how to deal with a Bully in Chapter 4 of my novel Johnny Oops. Only 99 cents on Kindle.

I tried to run away too, but I froze in fear. Vick taunted me, saying, “Where you going, faggot? How come Mommy let you out of the house?”

Stan pushed me over Don’s outstretched leg, and I found myself flat on my back. The pain creeping over me was a killer. Couldn’t draw a breath. Lungs exploding. When I started to figure out what had happened to me I couldn’t move. I wasn’t functioning. Couldn’t muster the strength to turn over and try to get up. I tried to raise my hands in front of me to protect myself, but I was paralyzed. My muscles tensed reflexively: as I got ready fro the beating I knew was coming. A sense of hopelessness and dread crept over me like a black hole that was sucking my useless body into the ground. Tried to pretend I was somewhere else. Didn’t work. I was in too much pain.

Before I could raise my hands or legs to defend myself, Vick, the leader of the pack, jumped on me straddling my thighs, and smacking me in the bridge of my nose with the palm of his right hand, while punching me in the stomach with his left fist. The blows came nonstop. Vick wore a big silver pinky ring. The damn thing split my lip. Blood flowed everywhere. The air whooshed from my lungs. I gasped for breath feeling I was going to pass out. Wishing I did. The warm, salty taste of my own blood, trickling down my upper lip from my nose, and into my mouth, making me nauseous. Wave after wave of crunching pain racked my body. I started coughing and couldn’t stop.

Your Version Of Reality – Is it a dream?

Are you ready for something unique, something with an edge to it, something that questions your version of reality? Johnny Oops doesn’t know if he’s a charlatan, a prophet, or even if he’s real, but he believes he’s delivering the word of God. As he crosses the country from coast to coast, it’s hard to decide if he’s more intent on spreading a message of caring and kindness, or in the personal dalliances he has with various women. Decide for yourself if the Dialectic Spiritualism religion he proposes, which promotes touching others in their private essentials, is a philosophical concept, or an excuse for his unending escapades.

In my novel, Johnny Oops, the surprises come non-stop. Walk with Johnny as he lives with the raging aggressive genes of a genius, spawns a seven-foot tall giant of a son, two precocious telepathic twin daughters named Precious and Pretty and a one-foot tall inner self named Inny. Join him as he races from one reality to another. Discover whether Johnny really is a prophet who can offer salvation and redemption or a phony who pretends he has experienced various rebirths and second comings.

Only 99 cents on Kindle. Just click on Johnny Oops under his picture.

Alien Writer Offers Nirvana To The Masses

Johnny is always testing life’s borders. Join him and discover how far you are willing to press your own vision of reality. Is God really a Game Master? Are we all bit players in a giant virtual reality game?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) – Oct 01, 2010 – Alien Writer Offers Nirvana To The Masses


New York, NY – A force so gifted with the ability to phrase things in a way that appeals to the masses—as if he were speaking to each of you individually, and offering you a heavenly service at the same time—is foreign to our understanding.

This alien force presents itself in a way we can all comprehend, and take pleasure in the story being told. No wonder people marvel at the grace and attention getting capabilities of this entity who writes with such passion and conviction that you assume it must be an alien force from out of this world.

Take heart it is only me. I am here to deliver a message to you from Johnny Oops, the principal character in my new novel. I am here to introduce you to something wonderful, something spectacular; something that only someone as brilliant as you can comprehend. I am here to help you immortalize your understanding of the different realities that face us.

It isn’t every day that you get an opportunity to read something that will help you start thinking about the art of the possible. This is the time to create a positive buzz about what you’re reading and learning. This is the time to infuse the public with the beauty and symmetry of what you are beginning to understand.

Johnny is always testing life’s borders. Join him and discover how far you are willing to press your own vision of reality. Is God really a Game Master? Are we all bit players in a giant virtual reality game? Is your sexuality inhibiting you from fulfilling your dreams?

No alien or foreign influences can keep us from our appointed duty. My words and I are at your service. Johnny Oops is available at a low introductory price of just $.99 on Kindle and Smashwords, and in print on Amazon at $14.95.

*****

Do You Test Life's Borders?

Johnny is always testing life’s borders. Join him and discover how far you are willing to press your own vision of reality. Is God really a Game Master? Are we all bit players in a giant virtual reality game? Is your sexuality inhibiting you?

Johnny's Virtual Reality World Becomes Real

Johnny is tired of living in the now, but he has little choice. He starts off as a fictional character in the novel Johnny Oops. Along the way his virtual reality world becomes real—at least to him. For the rest of us it’s hard to decide what’s real and what isn’t, just as in real life. How do you know you’re real, or if you are part of a new virtual reality that we don’t understand? Are we all part of a giant game constructed by some Game Master for his or her own entertainment or are we all God’s children?

Johnny Oops doesn’t know if he’s a charlatan, a sex maniac, or a prophet, or even if he’s real, but he’s convinced he’s God’s messenger. Don’t be shocked, but sometimes his actions are so outrageous, that he feels out of this world. He’s searching for his true identity and questioning if he’s real—scandalous goings on for someone who presumes to be a prophet and a messenger from God.

Johnny Oops is about our quest for reality. How our sexuality affects what we do. Reaching out to others to validate ourselves. The random acts of nature that rule our lives, and the ability to make choices that affect our destiny.

It’s about searching for the meaning of life. Trying to get closer to God. Keeping faith in the jungle and chaos of life. Trying to decide who is this higher power we seek salvation from, and determining our sense of the hereafter and immortality?

It’s about discovering our Promise—the ability to make a positive contribution to society, and the desire to do good that defines our actions. It’s about redeeming virtues, human weaknesses, and sometimes it’s about just plain sex.

Johnny’s actions all come down to the search to discover who and what every man really is, and why we react the way we do to our circumstances.

Unique and imaginative, Johnny is always testing life’s borders. Join him and discover how far you are willing to press your own vision of reality.

*****

Virtual Reading

Hi everyone. I will be giving a virtual reading at The Spinning wheel: An old fashioned cafe and bookstore for authors and readers at Kindle on Oct. 12, 2010. Please join us at:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/cd/u/Fx1D7SY3BVSESG/-/Tx76EEQZ3C6U3D/178/-qz1m03o757n8

Johnny Oops In A Virtual Reality World

It had been a long painful time in the making, but Johnny finally discovered that he could no longer live in the now. He was being pushed inexorably into a new virtual reality world of the future. Not a world of his making, but delivered all shiny and new by some Game Master who must have populated this new world with people to entertain him and keep him from the boredom that only a superior intellect could understand.

Johnny could only speculate on who this superior intelligence was or how he or she could construct a whole world in the blink of an eye and a flash of comprehension by one of the populous that things had changed, and the world he had thought he knew all his life was not as it had ever been.

"How could this have happened? Where was I all this time? How could I not know?" Johnny said out loud, but no one was listening. "Was it ever thus? Am I just some bit player in another person's game, a mere puppet to satisfy some deity's fancy? Am I nothing but a fiction," Johnny said out loud again?

This time some one was listening. Johnny heard a roar in his ear as if a trumpet was blaring, "How dare you? If not for me, you would not exist. If not for me you would have no cognitive thought. Without my blessing you would be nothing."
Fear came over Johnny and he started to shake as the question formed on his lips, "Who are you?"

Then there was thunder and lightning. Johnny felt a giant hand on his shoulder, but wasn't weighted down. He was relieved and felt a wonderful sense of calm come over him. And he heard a soft voice saying, "You know me. You know my virtue. Do not be afraid. Step lightly, and with joy in your heart into our new world for I have built it for your enlightenment. I have brought you forth into a new reality so that you may learn to believe in that which is beyond your comprehension to understand, but you are free to move into whatever sense of reality holds the most promise in your mind's eye. for I am the ultimate Game Master, and I gave you the ability to have independent thought. It's up to you to decide how to play the game, What ever world or reality you chose to live in, I will always be with you."
*****

Hi, this is Arthur Levine the author of the novel Johnny Oops. To see what Johnny’s doing please join us at http://johnnyoops.blogspot.com.

On Another Planet, Far, Far Away

On the planet of Esperanza in the fourth galaxy from the dark side of our moon, the resident homogeneous race of that planet, the Gnirac, looked down upon us humans in confused and bemused amazement. They had little sense of humor, but a keen sense of perception, and what they saw us humans doing made no sense to them. Who could blame them?

The Gnirac were a small people by our standards measuring about four feet in height and weighing scarcely a hundred pounds. They were color blind, but could see sharp contrasts, varying shades of purple by our vision spectrum, and received sustanance by breathing in their nutrient rich atmosphere. They had four to eight arms depending on how well they were perceived to understand their environment by their peers, and sex between different members of this unisex race was usually consummated while their subconscious minds were in control of their bodies, and no one seemed to remember much about it except that it felt good and produced offspring from both participants.

Mating selection rituals were a mystery even to the Gnirac. It just happened. Sounds like a gigantic relief to me. Theirs was a society that was thankfully short on details.

I almost forgot to tell you that their heads contained two brains so that they could alternate from one reality to another at will. It was rumored that some of the secret elite, or high-minded as they called them, had more than two brains and were constantly tripping from one reality to another. I guess that’s what accounts for so many different worlds and concepts and different versions of reality.

They were rumored to live forever, but since they had no recorded history it was hard to tell. They relied on a meeting of the minds for a sense of their history and the important order of things big and small. It was rumored that their hearing and sight was so keen that they could see and hear things thousands of light years away. They had no sense of technology and relied primarily on their instincts.

The Gnirac couldn’t understand our problems between races of different colors. They wondered why we didn’t all become the same color whatever that was and avoid the conflicts. Their preference was for purple. They also didn’t understand our wars fought in part for religious reasons. From their perspective there was only one universe and one God no matter how differently we perceived Him to be. Why not just learn to pray to Him together as one people they thought. Their basic credo was of non-interference with the affairs of other worlds except when their elite were tripping so they didn’t tell us their thoughts. I wish we had this type of policy in regards to the various nations of our own world. Maybe we would all get along better.

To the Gnirac it was difficult to understand how a race of people such as us humans could be so technologically advanced and yet so emotionally immature. They decided it must be a genetic shortcoming and might account for our frenzied scientific attempts to understand our own genetics in the laboratory. They just took it for granted that they were perfect, and saw no reason to fight about anything. As someone who has been privileged to observe these Gnirac through the roaming of my imagination, I am prone to agree with them.

How about you? Wouldn’t you like to make peace rather than fight wars, or make love rather than argue? Why not agree that there is one God and pray together for our salvation. Why not view each other as different shades of the same color. Wouldn’t you like to be perfect, or at least think that you are like the Gnirac?

I don’t know about the concept of living forever in this world, but doing so in the next sounds like something we all want.

What do you want? How about coming together as one people? How about becoming part of a new reality? Imagine how wonderful that might be. Let’s use our brains to dream up a fantastic new world. Maybe the example of the Gnirac can show us the way.

Did you know that Gnirac spelled backwards means caring in English? Maybe it’s time to start looking in the mirror and caring about our fellow human beings.
*****

Are You Part Of A New Reality?

Has your life changed recently? Do you find new meaning in what you do? Have you experienced real change? Is this the kind of change that leaves you trembling with anticipation that your life is changing for the better? Are you prepared to meet the new you? Maybe this is all part of your new reality. Maybe you are ready to experience real change. You can do it.

Is your new age reality of your own making, or is somebody manipulating what is happening to you. Maybe some supernatural Game Master is pulling your strings. Maybe God is dictating the change. Maybe they are one and the same. How will you ever know the truth? I guess it’s a matter of conviction and faith. You have to believe in a Supreme Being to guide you as you change to a new reality. You have to have faith.

Are you happy now? Do you feel things more strongly? Have you found new purpose to your life? Maybe your new reality was always there, but you didn’t recognize the possibilities. Perhaps you weren’t looking for the beauty all around you. Maybe your eyes were closed to the infinite possibility of real change that could bring you a new and better reality. Maybe this whole new world was always available to you if you just had more faith and opened your eyes to the potential you have to make something wonderful happen.

It’s here now. Take advantage of it. Rejoice in the potential you have to be a better person and do things that will make you and the ones you love celebrate your new beginning. It’s your choice. You can make it happen. Open your eyes. Relish the moment. Find inspiration in your newfound reality. Find your self.

If you sit around and do nothing you won’t experience the glory of a new start. You won’t be able to change your life for the better. Take action. Do something worthwhile with your life. Find a better way. Charge in to the future with a true sense of optimism. Use your imagination. Let God guide your hand. Enter your new reality with the wisdom and confidence of someone embarking on a new adventure. Have some fun. Your new reality is all around you. Go for it.

Who Says Poor People Don’t Want To Be Free?

I’ve been reading a lot of articles lately that when illegal immigrants get amnesty and then citizenship they will automatically vote for the party that got them legal.

I don’t buy that. Most of the immigrants that come to this country are escaping dictatorships or so called democracies that are masquerading for an elite controlling element, group, party, or dictator in disguise. They are running away from the lack of opportunity that such governing bodies present. They are running away from governments that are telling them what to do, what to eat, how to take care of themselves, and what to think,

They are coming to America to be free. Can we answer their dreams and give hope to their desires? Is America still the land of the free, or are we sliding into socialism and chaos just as Europe is reversing its trend towards socialism having learned their lesson? Are we pinching and squeezing our free enterprise system with new taxes and regulation to the point of strangling it?

What happened to the pioneering spirit in this wonderful Country of ours that our forefathers fought for and inculcated in a constitution that has served us well for hundreds of years? Are we losing our way in a frenzy to redistribute wealth to those less fortunate than ourselves? Are we going to become a third world country where everyone is poor except for the governing elite and what we are redistributing is a one way ticket to perennial universal poverty?

Maybe countries like Brazil and even China in their own ways are becoming more capitalist societies than we are. What a shame to squander our heritage and deny our birthright. When will we ever learn? Is it too late?

I don’t think so. I have a lot of faith that the poor people, and the immigrants in this Country and the middle class know what they are doing. I think they want their own chance to build their own businesses and to become independently wealthy. I think they don’t want any political party telling what to do and how to live their lives. I think they want to be free, and to have a chance to build their own lives and their own businesses.

Whose choice is it anyway? Is it ours – the people, or a political elite that think they know better and think they know what’s good for us?

Are the powers that be not listening to us or have we lost our voice?

What’s good for us is the right to be free, and to make our own choices about how we want to live without anyone legislating how we are supposed to do what.

Let’s not give up our freedom in return for some government sponsored benefit like health care. Let’s retain our independence and our God given right to breathe free. Let’s not become a nation of people who are permanently living on unemployment benefits and food stamps. Let’s get our private enterprise system going again. Please pass the incentives and hold off on the controlling, stifling regulations and taxation that are squeezing our middle class businesses into a hiring freeze out of fear of what regulation or tax will come next.

You don’t need some politician telling you what to do. You can figure this out for yourself. You can still make your own decision and your own choice. You can still choose to be free.

Dreaming Up A New And Better World

It’s not that I’m tired or bored or unhappy with the world we live in, it’s just that I’m aggravated because I think we could do so much better.

Every time I turn on the TV and hear about congress or the administration proposing some program that will cost us or our children money they can’t afford to spend, I start dreaming about living in a world that wouldn’t make all these mistakes and wouldn’t put our families and us at risk.

I have so many ideas to make things better that I think would cross party lines. Maybe you have ideas too that can help us create a better Country and world to live in.

To start with I would like to change election to both houses of Congress to run for only one year. If our elected representatives can’t do something in our best interests in a year than why should we trust them to ever get anything right? One year, they perform, or they’re out.

Both houses of congress must vote by a two thirds majority in favor of any bill including spending money or raising or lowering taxes or changing or creating any entitlement program before it can become law, and presidential vetoes in these cases are out.

If congress sits frozen and can’t enact any needed legislation like the budget, a twelve person citizens committee elected by Internet vote on five days notice to the public will have the people’s power to make the necessary decisions by fifty percent vote or by national Internet referendum if they can’t make up their minds.

On the international front:

No country in the world should be allowed to create a trade deficit. Either we trade even or else we stop trading when we reach an imbalance and learn to rely on our own resources both natural and man-made.

We will not purchase any goods made with child labor or products manufactured in foreign countries to obtain lower labor costs.

We will not go to war or fight on foreign soil for nation building purposes, or to bring our culture of democracy to anyone, but only to protect out national security interests in defense of our nation.

Let’s go viral with our new world. Let’s build a better place to live in for our families and for ourselves. Let’s try and preserve our democracy, our freedom, and the principles of our constitution that made this Country great.

Hi. I’m Arthur Levine, the author of the novel Johnny Oops. I’m sure a lot of you have even better ideas. Please add them to the comment section and we will use them as part of a revised article. Let’s go viral on http://johnnyoops.blogspot.com.

Brand Your Product.

It's time to charge into the future and electrify your potential customers with the brilliance of your new product.

Contact me to get the PR you're entitled to. Together we will make it happen.

Regards,

Arthur

Contact me: arthurlvn20@gmail.com

Immigration -- Can We Use God’s Inspiration To Solve The Problem

Is our current policy providing a fertile hunting grounds for terrorists or is the spirit of “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” still alive and well in God’s country?


Talk about “huddled masses”, what do you call twelve million illegal immigrants? Is this what the poet Emma Lazarus had in mind when she used the term?

I have an idea, why don’t we just impose a huge illegal immigrant tax. We could probably eliminate our national debt in no time at all. The only problem with this self defeating strategy is that then no one would want to come to this country. Perhaps we should make it a both ways border tax. That way we could charge these illegal immigrants coming and going. There is nothing illegal about that is there?

We could also double the minimum wage, in which case the farmers might automate and eliminate the need for cheap labor. Our food prices would rise, inflation would set in, unemployment would grow, and our own citizens might become more willing to take low paying jobs again, thus eliminating the need for immigrants altogether except from a ‘do the right thing’ point of view. What about granting them all amnesty? Amnesty from what? I thought everyone has a right to pursue the American dream. So many choices, it is hard to know which to choose

Perhaps if we stopped offering illegal immigrants free health care and schooling for their children we could reduce the flow substantially, but I am afraid we might run the risk of growing our own illegal immigrant terrorists from this formerly hard working lot who would become upset at the lack of equal social services being supplied to them. Besides, we probably don’t have enough buses in this country to send twelve million people home and we surely can’t expect them to walk although that is how many of them got here. Do you think this whole problem is part of a French conspiracy? After all they sent us the Statue of Liberty on which Emma Lazarus’s poem is inscribed. I doubt it. It seems unlikely given that they have their own immigration problems.

What does the temporary or guest worker program proposed by the President and by some in congress really mean? Does it mean that illegal immigrants will have to work in this country until they are granted citizenship and then can stop working and go on welfare or refuse to take the low paying jobs that some corporations originally hired them for? What’s to stop these twelve million illegal immigrants from forming their own unified union and going on strike for higher wages and pension plans? Can illegal immigrants have 401K plans? Can they take tax deductions on their tax returns for foreign travel as a business expense? So many questions and no one seems to have all the answers. What would happen to our trade deficit if these people stopped buying American goods that are made in China? This thing has ramifications that none of us may have thought of. Is this what Emma Lazarus was alluding to when she said, “I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” Are we the golden scapegoat for the world? Why not try to reverse the trend by helping Mexico employ their own citizens at a good living wage. We could even institute a buy Mexican policy. It might be cheaper than buying goods from China considering that we wouldn’t have to pay long distance freight charges.

What should we do to protect ourselves from foreign terrorists who might sneak across the border with all the peaceful and hard working immigrants? Perhaps we should install an honor system instead of a wall. We could ask all the illegal immigrants to report any terrorists crossing over with them – anonymously of course. Another approach that might work is to require all illegal immigrants to travel lightly. We should limit them to one small carry across the border type bag and allow nothing big enough to conceal a bomb. Probably something the size of a passport wallet would be safe.

Another approach would be to make Spanish our primary language instead of English. That way so many of us wouldn’t be able to understand our utility bills that we might have to migrate to England to find a commonly spoken language, then let’s see who revolts against whom. The only problem with this scenario is that the Muslim minority in England might object to being overrun by a new bunch of migrating American Christians. I almost forgot to mention the negative affect this transmigration might have on our national sovereignty, but then we are not talking about a flock of birds, are we? We are talking about a mass of humanity. When Emma Lazarus spoke of “the wretched refuse of your teaming shore”, do you think she had us, or the illegal immigrants in mind?

You might well ask where God comes into this whole mess. I believe it goes back to my belief that this is God’s homeland every bit as much as it is ours. I can almost see Him using the poet Emma Lazarus’s famous words, “send these the homeless, tempest-tost to me” as His own. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if God put those words in Emma Lazarus’s mind. Maybe we should find a way to honor the words of the poet and the thoughts of God at the same time. How about making all these illegal immigrants legitimate citizens of God’s world. They are anyway, aren’t they? There has got to be a better way to protect the rights of American citizens and at the same time give comfort to these struggling masses of immigrants. Can we look to God for the inspiration to find the answers?
***

Arthur Levine is the author of The Magic of Faith. Check out more of his writing at http://www.faith123.com

Does God Use Flash?

Please feel free to use this article as long as credit is given to the resource box.
(C) Copyright Arthur Levine, 2010
Words: 827
Keywords: God, Flash, Reality, Sun Bathing, Immigrants, Food, Smoking, Pills, Forefathers, Independence, I Pad


I’ve been wondering lately if God uses Flash to get our attention, or is he an I Pad kind of Almighty Being? Everything is moving so fast; it’s hard for me to tell. Sometimes what’s happening doesn’t seem real. I’m getting an other world feeling.

Maybe God finds all our attempts at technological invention funny. After all, He must have put all these ideas in our heads, or we would never have thought of them.

I hope this is not some form of game competing Deities are playing with our minds. There is only supposed to be one God no matter what His religion, right?

How do you know what is real and what is fiction these days? We are being told so many conflicting theories by the scientific community that it is hard to decide which ones are right and which ones are just figments of their imagination. I think the Media is at fault.

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting very tired of taking various foodstuffs off the food pyramid just when I was getting used to their taste because some genius has decided it causes cancer.

Someone has to make a decision about whether Sun bathing is going to give us much-needed vitamin D or give us skin cancer. I don’t want both for the price of one.

And before I pass away from a brain tumor, I would really like to know whether cell phones give you tumors or just a headache from talking or listening too much. I’m the kind of guy that talks too much because it is hard for me to hear on the darn things. Has your Grandmother told you that your fingers are going to fall off from too much texting yet? Wait until you get the bill.

Some people say that we can get very sick from the casing some of our pills come in and we should take our medicine orally in liquid form. I thought that was what I was doing until someone told me to stop drinking – it wasn’t good for my health.

Then there’s the whole smoking scenario. Being the stubborn self willed type of person that I am, I stopped smoking cold turkey with no patches or any type of crutch. Now I’ve blown up like a huge stuffed turkey myself, and if I don’t stop eating too much I’m going to need a real pair of crutches to get around. I bet I’m eating the wrong type of foods too. Probably going to kill myself from too much carbonated soda if the gas attacks or new government taxes don’t get me first.

When you stop and think about it, I believe that too much science and too much technology is probably the cause of a lot of our health problems. I bet we would all live longer if we walked more like our forefathers and only ate what we grew or hunted or fished for. Can’t fish anymore anyway because of the oil in the Gulf I guess.

That’s another thing, why are we so dependant on oil? Our forefathers didn’t need to fill their tanks with gas. They knew better. They didn’t even have tanks, but they did have taxes. That’s why we have America today. The British were slow to figure out we didn’t like to pay taxes. Somebody in our government better wise up. I can sense another Tea Party coming, and this one might be the big one we’ve all been waiting for.

Our forefathers didn’t have any immigration problems either. They were all immigrants, but then they came here on ships across the ocean, not by sneaking across the border, Sort of a process of natural selection I guess. If you could make it across the rough oceans on one of those leaky ships, immigration services weren’t about to send you back. My Grandmother came here on a tramp steamer lasting for fourteen days on bread and water. Someone stole all her belongings and provisions. She was thirteen at the time and lived in the US as a naturalized citizen until she passed at the age of 96. I’m really glad she made the trip.

What happened to our independence? It seems like it was gone in a Flash, or was that just a fleeting image I caught on my I Pad. One thing’s for sure, I need a new App. Something that will show me what to do, how to survive, something that will teach me right from wrong.

Oops, I forgot -- that’s God’s job.

What Is The New American Reality?

Reality show survivors eating mealy worms and bugs to win a competition, cartoon video game characters using guns and swords to kill each other, lonely people developing virtual friendships on the Internet, and politicians espousing their version of the truth: are these all new forms of reality that the American public has come to accept as fact today?

Whose reality is it anyway? Is it the reality of the producers of reality shows, the script writers of video games, the originators of Internet networking Web sites, or the talking points of government officials hoping to get elected, gone awry? Perhaps it is all of these things combined into what is presented as fact to the viewers and readers of these varied forms of modern day communications.

Modern day forms of communication such as radio, TV, magazines, newspapers, blogs, and video games serve as agents that afford us the opportunity to process information and interpret what is being said to us as we wish, coloring the so called facts as we desire, forming judgments as our minds eye dictates, and allowing politicians to convince us of the truth that they hold is self evident.

Deciding what is real and what is a public relations effort devoted to fostering ones program or position is not an easy task. The truth is it has never been easy to determine what reality is. Methods have always been available to distort the truth, prejudice our sensibilities and confuse our ability to reason. Modern forms of communication have only served to intensify the ability to distort the facts and speed up their delivery to the general public. The methods may have changed, but the ability to distort, alter, and shape the version of reality that we perceive to be the truth remain the same, and make it difficult to grasp what reality really is in America.

Americans today run the same risk of being misinformed, or just plain lied to that they were exposed to over two hundred years ago. Going back to the founding of our nation, people were being told things which were put in evidence as facts, and which have not stood the test of time. The real difference is that today, modern forms of communication have made it easier and quicker to disseminate misinformation, but have also provided the mechanism for uncovering distortions of fact on an almost instantaneous basis.

Bloggers on the Internet will pick up any misrepresentation of the facts immediately after they are presented, and then provide a correction based on what they believe to be true – their own version of reality. Cable TV news shows will via with each other to tell the American public whose version of reality is the correct one on a daily basis. Newspapers will endorse a particular party line depending on whether they hold a democratic or republican viewpoint. Magazines will use their political orientation to promote their own point of view. Competing video games will challenge each other over whose version of death and destruction is the right one to accomplish the complete virtual annihilation of an imagined enemy. Scientists will tell us what they believe reality is based on what they consider to be physical facts of the universe based on formulas, which themselves are based on theories not facts. Religious leaders will tell us what reality is based on their interpretation of what the bible says. But who amongst us can take as gospel which one of their varying interpretations is the only one that we should accept as real.

What is the average citizen to do? Who can you believe? Which version of the various realities one is offered a steady diet of is the truth? I think the real question should be is anyone really looking for reality anymore, or do we just want to hear and see what calms us down, makes us feel good, and assures us that we are doing the right thing.

Make no mistake about it; the new American reality is anything you want it to be. It can be a belief that we are spreading democracy by invading Iraq or Afghanistan. It can be justifying getting divorced rather than staying faithful to ones marriage vows when the going gets rough because of the catchall excuse of incompatibility. It can be an individual being absolutely convinced that only his or her path to God is the right one. It can be the concept that social equality is a form of liberalism, or that the whole concept is a misconception. It can be the ability to confuse want and desire with real need. It can be any and all of these things and much more. The new reality for Americans today is what you make of the information that is put before you. It is whatever you want to believe.

The new reality for Americans today is that as we develop and refine our ability to separate what we believe to be fiction from fact, as we refine our capacity to reason, we will have the opportunity to become more united as one nation, more dedicated to searching out the real truth, and more capable of creating a new reality that will be in our common interest. We can develop a belief system that will provide us with the strength to survive and prosper as one people with different versions of what reality really is, but with a shared vision of what we want our future to be. We can seize the opportunity to make the new American reality a force for good.

The new American reality can be a clarion call for a better future for ourselves, our children, and all the people of the world. It can be a manifestation of our innate desire to have peace. We may reach this new reality through different paths, and by reaching different conclusions about the facts as they are represented to us, but we can share a common goal of drawing a conclusion that will be in the best interests of all of us.

We may differ in our interpretation of the facts and what the new American reality really is, but we can all come together in a common desire to make our American dream come true. That’s what the new American reality should be about, turning dreams into a reality that will help each of us attain our goals in life, changing prejudices that have kept us from realizing our dreams, forming bonds that will protect us from the evils of terrorism, and sharing a common virtue instilled in us by our Creator.

Perhaps the most important part of the new American reality has been shaped in our minds by the natural disasters and acts of terrorism, which have befallen our people. We cannot change this part of the reality that we know to be true, but we can find a better way to deal with our problems in the future. If the new American reality is to be one of great promise, if it is to be within our grasp, we must find it in our hearts to accept that which we cannot change, and to change what inhibits us from achieving true greatness as a nation. We must exhibit the courage to believe that what we stand for as a people is real and has true merit.

We must find a better way to create a new American reality based on the common understanding that one person’s reality may not necessarily be the same as another’s. Sometimes we will have to compromise if we want to see our dreams of a new American reality take place. Sometimes we will have to take each other’s good intentions on faith.

The new American reality is within each and every one of us. It holds the potential for providing us with a new perspective that will allow everyone to participate in the great adventure that the new American reality is becoming. It gives us the opportunity to discover the last great frontier of a new world where reality is in the mind of the beholder. It gives each individual a chance to determine what his or her reality is. It gives you a choice of what you want to believe in.

You get to decide what’s real.

Who Am I – Who Are You?

Do you sometimes wonder if you are real, if the world we live in is real, or are we all part of some virtual reality game being master minded by some alien game master for his or her own purposes?

Do you get the nagging feeling that you’ve been here and done the same thing before?

Do people you just meet remind you of someone you remember or thought you knew?

Are you repeating the same mistakes, having the same emotions, worrying about the same old fears? Thinking the same old thoughts?

How do you know that you are real and not just some bit player in a universal game being controlled by a game master for his or her own entertainment.

Maybe the game master is what we think of as God. How do we know the truth? How can we be sure we are real?

Maybe we are all part of some giant quantum computer simulation. Are new age computer techniques ruling our lives?

Is everything we do preordained? Maybe our lives and our thoughts are being manipulated by a supreme being, but to what purpose?

Are we here merely for his entertainment or do we serve a higher purpose? Why bother with all this scurrying around: falling in and out of love, having children, having illicit affairs, having evil thoughts, trying to make a difference, trying to be successful, searching for recognition, craving acceptance, feeling pain, feeling joy.

If we’re not really here than how can we make a difference?

So many questions and what I really crave are answers, but how do I know that I really want the answers. Maybe the answers are to frightening for us to contemplate. Maybe we don’t want to know the truth.

And whose truth is it? Is its God’s truth? Am I real because I believe in Him?

I like to think I can make choices in my life. The choice I make is to believe in God and believe I’m real. It’s a matter of faith. It’s a matter of personal belief. It’s a matter of religious indoctrination. It’s a matter of spiritual conviction. It’s a matter of how I choose to live my life. It’s my reality.

What other choice do we really have?


Hi, this is Arthur Levine, the author of the novel Johnny Oops. To read more of Johnny’s views please access http://johnnyoops.blogspot.com