The Writer's Life 11/19 - This n That

The senate vote for the Keystone Pipeline was 59-41 in favor, yet it didn’t pass. It needed 60 for approval. I don’t understand it, but I’m encouraged that in January there may be enough votes for passage, perhaps even for veto-proof. Am I wrong, but didn't Al Gore as VP once cast a vote to break a tie to get a law enacted?

I find politics exasperating 99% of the time. I got a chuckle out of it today reading an article in NY Post. Yesterday protestors attacked NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio for not appointing Hispanics to positions in his administration. They shouted: “One-term Mayor, one-term Mayor. ” Love it. I doubt de Blasio will be forced out of office, despite the debacle his early tenure has become. I can't see Democrats turning on him, and there is no viable Republican opposition, at least not currently.

A study by Princeton University has found interesting facts. It is common knowledge that colleges lower  entrance standards to allow a more diverse school population. This is true even of the Ivy League. Of the applicants who meet the grade point average requirement to enter these elite schools, the requirement for SAT score is: Asians 1460, Whites 1320, Hispanics 1190, Blacks 1010. This looks like discrimination in reverse. I’m sure academics would argue it is justified, given what Blacks have suffered. I guess Asians have suffered the least of all groups, including whites.

Here’s a link to the latest interview I’ve done: http://bookgoodies.com/interview-with-author-vic-fortezza/ My thanks to the folks at Book Goodies. Lately, I’ve taken advantage of a lot of free publicity at Twitter, following sites that allow an author to tweet about his books. I’m sure thousands, if not millions of writers are doing the same, so it may be just more time on the literary treadmill. But it only takes a minute, so why not do it?

I left the apartment at eleven AM, fully expecting it to be too windy to run the floating book shop. To my surprise, conditions were benign but, of course, frigid. I made hay while the sun shined on the corner of E. 13th & Avenue Z. My thanks to the Asian gentleman who purchased two books on gardening, the Russian who bought a thriller in his own language, and Alan, who bought a discounted copy of A Hitch in Twilight. I also sold a box of nails. There were about 30, including boxes of screws, gathering dust in the basement of the old house. At a buck apiece it's a good deal.

Vic'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://tiny.cc/rP7o9

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/