The Writer's Life 8/21 - Heroes & Villains

Here are excerpts from an op-ed piece in today's NY Post by Phyllis Chesler, pared and edited by yours truly: "Oscar Schindler saved thousands of Jews during the Holocaust. He served as a role model to  Canadian Jewish businessman Steve Maman, who has overseen the rescue of more than 120 kidnapped Christian and Yazidi girls in Iraq. Maman founded the 'Liberation of Christian and Yazidi Children of Iraq' a year ago. Sister Hatune Dogan and Hans Erling Jensen have been rescuing Christian and Yazidi girls and women and bringing them to Europe, mainly to Germany, for medical and psychological treatment. Since January 2014, the Hatune Foundation has freed 317 Christian and Yazidi girls from the hands of ISIS. In addition, with the help of partners, the foundation has been involved in 280 additional releases. Right now 200 women and girls are under professional care in Germany, where they can safely recover from having been sex slaves. Most are without family. Many have seen their loved ones brutally murdered. The Foundation is located in Germany because there is a large, active Yazidi community there — and, Jensen says, because Germany is 'into Christianity much more so than many other European countries.' Yazidi women are not waiting for Western feminists or Western military men to come their aid. A Yazidi singer, Xate Shingali, with the permission of Kurdish President Masoud Barzani, just formed an all-female brigade to fight ISIS. They have been equipped with AK-47s and wear military fatigues. Shingali says: 'While we have had only basic training, we are ready to fight ISIS anytime.'” Kudos all around.

The population of Baltimore is 622,000, while NYC's is 8.2 million. There have been 212 murders in Baltimore so far in 2015, 208 in NYC.

In another op-ed article, pared and edited by yours truly, Leon Wolf asks: "Why are police brought into hostile interactions with black people so often in the first place?" He answers: "It’s because of the big-government policies and practices of the supposedly liberal Democrats that the Black Lives Matter crowd is petitioning for help. Don’t take my word for it; take the word of President Obama’s Department of Justice, which set forth, in painstaking detail, in its report on the practices of the Ferguson Police Department, all the ways in which pressure to generate additional revenue to pay for expenses led cops to attempt to maximize city revenue by meeting ticket quotas and goals." He cites that Philadelphia, Chicago and NYC are also doing this. Recall that the selling of loose cigarettes led to Eric Garner's death on Staten Island. Was the 25 mph speed limit in NYC instituted to protect citizens or to raise revenue? I'd say the latter.

My thanks to the gentleman who donated a bag o'books. His timing was impeccable. As I was sorting through it, a woman asked if I had any James Patterson. I pulled out three, which she bought. My thanks, and to the the other kind folks who made purchases on the first day of reasonable humidity in more than a week.

Vic's 5th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/okxkwh5Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tinyurl.com/l84h63j

Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp

Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/

Vic's Web Site: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/