How to Kill a Florida Lubber: Update
Photo by Stephen Shaiken Note: this post was published almost three years ago, and has been the singular most popular piece on this blog, much to the dismay of the brilliant political and social analysis, not to mention the stunning short stories also on the blog. Since the piece was published, yours truly has developed […]
A tribute to an unsung hero of the Revolutionary War
Happy birthday, America! Two hundred forty five years ago, a group of visionaries began the process that led to the most powerful nation in all of human history. There were many bumps and worse along the way, but we managed to keep moving forward and expand the horizons of freedom. The concepts of liberty and […]
FREEDOM FOR WRITERS UNDER SIEGE IN FLORIDA
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is at it again. There’s no bastion of freedom of thought and expression he isn’t prepared to assault. Our anti-science governor found time to take on such non-existent problems like transgender girls in sports (never a single problem case in Florida), sanctuary cities (we don’t have any), critical race theory (not […]
COMING THIS FALL: THIRD NOVEL IN THE NJA SERIES
First things first. Thank you to all who read my book, especially those who review and rate them. Nothing helps a writer more than genuine feedback. (There are times authors don’t feel that way, but good writers learn to appreciate readers’ reactions.) Between sales, Kindle Unlimited readers, promotional giveaway, several thousand copies of each novel […]
“A Borrower Be”: If You Like Shakespeare, You’ll Love This Story
Shakespeare was right about “neither a borrower nor a lender be.” Her’s a short story with a story of its own. Courtesy, National Gallery of Scotland Public Domain Courtesy, wallpaperit.com Every writer has a story they love, but no one else does. Sometimes the piece can be reworked; more often, it ends up stuffed in […]
JORDAN PETERSON: THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING
Photo courtesy of CBS Photo Couresty of The New Republic A BIT OF BACKGROUND When I started this blog, almost four years ago, the idea was to […]
A SIMPLE TWIST (A Provocative Tale of Hate)
Photo courtesy of Zach Vessels, Unsplash. A SIMPLE TWIST OF HATE By Stephen Shaiken ( c ) 2021 This is a work of fiction and creative imagination. Any similarity to actual people or events […]
MY CITRUS TREES HAVE FLOWERED
Taking a break from writing to admire the beautiful flowers on my citrus trees in Tampa, Florida. I’ll be a better writer for it. (Clockwise from upper left: orange, Persian Lime, Kalamandi, calamansi.)
IT’S THE FILIBUSTER, STUPID!
The Senate Parliamentarian ruled that the $15 an hour minimum wage is not properly part of a budget reconciliation, and thus, can’t be voted on as part of that package. This means that the only way to achieve it is a direct Senate vote. The problem is that with the filibuster as a weapon, forty […]
MY VACCINATION DAY
REPORT FROM THE VACCINATION TRAIL I am one of the luckiest people in Hillsborough County, FL. I am one of the 10,500 Hillsborough residents inoculated with the Pfizer vaccine. On January 4, 1500 vaccines were made available to people over sixty five; the website crashed in thirty seconds, and no one answered the phones; no one has […]