Moral vs. Legal

Several terms are used interchangeably when they are very different and are often in opposition.
What is moral is not always legal and what is legal is not always moral.
Adding to the linguistic problem is how what is moral is not always agreed upon. Different religions, different culltures, even individuals within the different religions and cultures do not always agree.
A few examples of how morality and legality can collide should suffice.
Currently in the USA, it is legal for banks to charge whatever interest on credit cards they think they can get away with and not have everyone cut up their credit cards. These banks are run for the most part by people who will claim to be members of the Christian or Jewish faiths. And yet, the Old Testament condemns usury. Where do you draw the line? Where does the economic need to charge interest pass the line from the cost of doing business and making a profit pass the line to violating the immorality of usury? Is it 5% above prime, 10% above prime or is 20 % above prime okay?
While we have eliminated debtors prisons, we seem to have created a debtors hell for many with interest rates rising (legally) if the debtor has any problem paying a debt. If a person is struggling to pay a debt, is it moral to raise the interest rate further beyond what they were having a problem paying?
One more example. Marijuana.
MJ is illegal. But is it immoral? Or to put it another way. Other than the illegal situation, is there any moral difference between driving while intoxicated by booze and driving while high on MJ? I put it this way because I can see problems with both booze and MJ. Jesus apparantly drank. The Bible says he created wine out of water so everyone could continue to have a good time at a wedding. God created MJ, so it would seem the Creator had no more of a problem with MJ than with grapes.
I can't resist one more example. Thou shalt not kill.
The Bible does not say "Thou shalt not kill except if the government gives you permission." Neither does the Bible say it is okay to lie, steal and kill if National Security requires it.
You may not agree with these few examples but I think you must agree that what is moral and what is legal are not the same thing. The government, any government, can jail and kill people who have not done anything immoral but who have broken a law. That is what happened to Jesus.

Prices Drop

Nothing against Amazon and certainly nothing against the many fine book stores who compete against Amazon and other on-line retailers.
But for those of you who are kind enough to stop by my own on-line retail store at www.lulu.com/ravenwolfpublish I have decided to lower the price on "The Dancing Valkyrie" and "Adirondack Hikes in Hamilton County" so as to offer there prices slightly lower than at Amazon.
"The Dancing Valkyrie" has dropped from $20.89 to $18.99, making it about $1 lower than on Amazon!
"Adirondack Hikes in Hamilton County" has dropped from $19.49 to $15.46, making it 50 cents lower than on Amazon!
And don't forget, some items are only available at my on-line store. There you can find a new 2007 calendar showing monthly photos of Adirondack scenes, plus a DVD and CD with over 100 photos taken of the Adirondacks that make for a great screen saver, plus a free chapter of the next book in "The Dancing Valkyrie" saga.
I can't promise the free chapter will make it into the finished book, but it will give you an idea of where the story might be heading.
Stop in and take a look-see.

Peak Color

Having lived in the Adirondacks of Hamilton County for +18 years, I've come to realize, if I didn't already know, the whole idea of "peak color" is a delusional idea.
The only way there could ever be peak color would be if all the trees were the same species.
Where I live, color starts in mid August with red maples. By early September, the sugar maples begin to change color.
The closest we come to what could be called peak color, if you insist on the idea, is during the time between the last week in September and the first week in October. But even then, peak color can be gone in a day or never even come if we get a good rain or wind storm - both of which are not an uncommon event.
Here it is, mid October, and over 90% of the leaves are down. But not to worry because now the beech and the few oak we have are deep orange. There are also some poplar and aspen still in their yellow colors. The beech never give up all their leaves until spring when new buds push the last off.
The tamarack or larch (your choice of name) are just beginning to turn yellow and will be golden by late this month.
So, although one could say there is never such a thing as peak color in the central Adirondacks, what is lost is gained in having color start in mid August and carry on in varying degrees until the first of November.
Oh, yes. And let us not forget the black, white and red spruce, and the white and red pines that give us green throughout the winter.

Bush hopes for global warming

Now we know why the Bush regiem likes global warming.
I just saw an AFP news item from Canada where it was stated, "The disputes have grown in importance as scientists believe that global warming could open up the Northwest Passage to year-round cargo shipping by 2050, and allow the exploitation of resources like oil and natural gas in the Arctic."
The story was in relationship to Canada and how it plans to deal with the Artic Council.
So now we have the truth of the matter. If the Northwest Passage is open to shipping - and drilling - year-round, many companies can make more money by poluting even more.
To hell with Democracy. Full steam (or should I say "polution") for Capitalism.

Glens Falls book signing

Pete Klein, author of the new vampire novel, "The Dancing Valkyrie," and the hiking guide, "Adirondack Hikes in Hamilton County," will be at the Queensbury Hotel, Glens Falls, on Sunday, Oct. 22, from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. signing copies of both books during "The Chronicle Book Fair."

Muslims need to get real.

Muslims need to get real - and so does everyone who isn't a Muslim.
In the NY Times today, John L. Allen Jr., Vatican correspondent for The National Catholic Reporter, wrote, "While Saudis contributed tens of millions of dollars to build Europe’s largest mosque in Rome, Christians cannot build churches in Saudi Arabia. Priests in Saudi Arabia cannot leave oil-industry compounds or embassy grounds without fear of reprisals from the mutawa, the religious police."
Fair is fair. While Muslims are always demanding someone apologize for every perceived slight and offense, they apologize for nothing.
Isn't it time for all who aren't Muslims to demand Muslims either shut up or grant the balance of the world the right to live according to their beliefs and customs without fear of being killed?

Muslims offended

Once again, the Muslims are offended. This time it wasn't cartoons that offended them. It was the Pope.
Personally, I don't see where any human has the right to be offended about anything. No one is that holy or that pure. And if they were, they wouldn't be offended because they would realize being offended falls under the sin of pride.
Be that as it may, while I am not offended by the Muslims being offended, I am sick and tired of their constant whining. To be fair, fundamentalist Christians do a lot of whining too - another group constantly complaining about how offended they are about this, that and the other thing.
I think what all this whining is really about is there is a group of people out there who really hate being human. They would like to be pure spirits. To have a body, offends them. Flesh and bone frightens them.
If they were offended by the Pope - accidentally - let me see what I can do intentionally.
In my vampire novel "The Dancing Valkyrie" one of the vampire characters talks about the real Dracula, Vlad the Impaler, who, as she says, prevented the Turks from turning Romania into the Islamic mess they made of Yugoslavia and Albania. For the Romanians, Dracula was and is a hero! It was fear of the Muslim sword that caused many Christians to convert to Islam and create the problem that still exists in that area.
Yes, Christians should be ashamed of the Crusades. But the Muslim world has much to be ashamed of in their past. Pots and kettles shouldn't be calling each other black.

Vampire poem

Just playing with some ideas for my follow-up to my vampire novel: The Dancing Valkyrie.

And God Created Vampires

And God created vampires to serve as a reminder,
Of love undiminished by chaos,
Of love uncorrupted by death.

The liquid red of blood bleeds,
Sucked as the womb sucks sperm,
Combining blood with blood,
Birthing in the imagination of the mind,
The eternal reality of sex.

The eternal reality of God becoming Goddess,
Goddess becoming God,
Making order out of chaos,
Chaos out of order,
Life out of death,
Destroying the virtual reality of the mundane,
In the true reality of the ecstasy of bloody sex.

For in the mind of humans,
Every act of sex is an act of death,
While in the mind of the Divine,
Every death is an act of sex.

Naked as in birth, the body submits to being flesh,
Disrobing the control of mind,
Freeing the spirit to soar,
As the mind dies into pleasure,
And sees the chaos the God and Goddess enjoy,
Not but for a moment,
But for the infinite eternity of an orgasm shared.

Fear

So many examples of fear. Hardly a day, hardly an hour, goes by without hearing the drumbeat of fear.
Safety. We must protect ourselves. Remember 911. Never again. We must fight the terrorist over there or we will have to fight them here.
Just the other day there was an item in the news about a photographer and writer for Fox News who converted to Islam to save their lives and gain release. Nothing was made of this incident. I guess everyone thought - if they thought at all - that the two men made a smart choice. After all, their conversion was a sham. Right?
But if their conversion was a sham to save their lives, then whatever it was they converted from was also a sham.
You got to give credit to the terrorists. Their beliefs may be wacky but they at least have the courage of their convictions.
Question?
How do we fight terrorism if the terrorists have all the courage and we (the terrorized) have none?