The Writer's Life 2/18 - Dimension

I almost always side with the private sector in its battles with government. The one constant exception is in the fight against terrorism. Is Apple right in refusing to provide a program that will allow the Feds to get into the phone of a dead Muslim fanatic? It claims that providing a key will make the Iphones of everyone who owns one vulnerable to hacking. What a great product it must be. The FBI hasn't been able to find a single person capable of cracking the code. As far as who I'm backing on the issue, I hate to say it, but it's the government. Although I doubt any intel of real significance would be recovered, one can't be certain there wouldn't be. Then again, I don't own an Iphone that would be vulnerable to hacking, so the choice is rather easy for me. Meanwhile, another story on the cyber front is a concern, though not quite as troubling. An L.A. hospital's computer system was hacked recently. Staffers were unable to communicate with each other. It had been taken over by someone whose genius includes criminality. Officials decided to meet the hacker's ransom demand, $17,000 in bitcoin, which can't be traced. I'll be surprised if this doesn't become common until authorities find a way to stop it. Heck, the creep might shake down the same hospital as soon as his money runs out.

Memo to high-priced call girls: Eliot Spitzer is not being charged enough. Having to be touched by such a sleaze should carry a minimum price tag of a million bucks.

So the Marxist pope has branded Donald Trump a non-christian. Who has employed more people -- the Donald or Francis? It's not even remotely close. I really miss John Paul II.

I feel like I really got away with something. Since it was so windy at my usual book nook, I decided to take the show to Bay Parkway and 85th, where the Chase bank usually blocks the wind. I waited and hour-and-fifteen minutes for parking to open up, narrowly missing out on two spaces. I decided to try one more sweep and lucked into the best unmetered spot available. "Now stop whining," I told myself. And business started with a bang, a repeat customer buying all six of the children's books I had on hand. Later, a woman who has purchased two of my books, bought Jennifer Weiner's Fly Away Home. She said her husband liked both Rising Star and Killing and has been passing them on to friends. Then a woman with a thick Russian accent approached. She is unable to resist books and prefers to read in English. I suggested Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. To my surprise, she seemed completely unfamiliar with it. I said it was a very famous book from the 1960's, and she bit. So the day had gone from near bitter disappointment to moderate success. Then Joe came along. His autistic son is a freshman at Pace University. He has a natural gift for the piano, able to play songs without reading sheet music. At Disney World, the resident pianist let Joe Jr. take over and the kid dazzled the crowd with ragtime. He has also self-published a sci-fi opus, cover below. His dad warned me that it is hard to follow. Since Joe Sr. was kind enough to buy A Hitch in Twilight, I decided to reciprocate by downloading the Kindle version of his son's novel. My thanks, sir, and to the other kind folks who bought. Good luck, junior.

Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc

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
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Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tinyurl.com/l84h63j

Website: http://vicfortezzaauthor.my-free.website/