Star Trek: The Planet of Willing Women

Now that I am leaving the airwaves for health and personal reasons, there is no reason not to share here all of the radio plays I've had in rotation on my PowerTalk 1210 program.  I'll be uploading (or in some cases, re-posting) them one at a time over the next few weeks.  I have so many it will take a couple of months to get them all posted, which gives you a great excuse to visit this site daily!  Below is a riff on Star Trek (The Original Series) and is offered with great affection by a long-time fan, who was there planted in front of the TV when the very first episode aired in 1966.  (And, oh, yeah, I found the misspelling on the video graphic -- AFTER I uploaded the damned thing.  No way to change it now.  Sheesh!)

©2014 by Forrest Carr.  All rights reserved.

The Iranian Nuke Deal: Satire vs. Reality

Which was more ridiculous?  The satire, or the talks it lampooned?

Okay, since I’ve now become the Walter White of bloggers and no longer have to guard what comes out of my piehole, I’m just going to come out and say it:  The Iranian nuclear non-deal/deal is dead.

I know this, or think I do, because the satire I wrote poking fun at the talks has turned out to be only slightly less silly than the—well, than whatever it was that negotiators came up with and announced in Switzerland.  And now Iran tacking on new conditions post-announcement.

So let’s break it down, shall we?  The analysis below compares goals against the satire and the reality that followed.

Life Changes

At the end of this week, I’ll be moving on from PowerTalk 1210.  The purpose of this update is to let you know why that is happening, what’s next for me, and how you can continue to tap into the fun we’ve had on the show.  

What I have to share is personal and rather difficult, but I’ve been keeping readers and listeners up to date on my life journey to this point.  Those of you who’ve been following along deserve to know what the next chapter will bring.

The Pernicious Problem of [fill in the blank] Discrimination

Think you're being discriminated against?  Of course you are. More observations and confessions of a TV news director.

Syndicated Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus assures us she is the victim of gender discrimination.  How does she know?  During an annual evaluation, a supervisor once accused her of having “sharp elbows.”  Well, could the sexism be any more obvious?  What, you don’t see it?  I’ll bet many of you do, but for those who don’t, stand by.

I know I was not alone in thinking, until about last summer, that race relations in this country were improving.  Then Ferguson exploded.  You can debate the merits of the shooting case but you can’t deny the anger on the streets.  Obviously something is going on, and it’s been going on invisibly to some of us.  How could we have been so blind?

Fabulous News! Update for Readers and Listeners

More 5-Star reviews, an unexpected honor, and more.  What a month!

This has been an amazing year so far, and the last two weeks in particular have been stellar. 

First, some fantastic news that I received just today.  Every week Kirkus Reviews features one author to showcase as its “Author to Watch.”  Guess who is this week’s honoree?  Kirkus sends out a weekly newsletter to industry professionals (agents, film producers, that sort of thing) with the “Author to Watch” feature at the top.  You can find this week’s newsletter here.  You can also see the feature by going to the Kirkus Reviews site and clicking on the Pro Connect tab (I will be at the top of it only for a week but will be included in the list of past honorees thereafter).  Is that cool, or what?  Further, I don’t know how often Kirkus features indie authors like me in this fashion, but a quick check shows that I’m in some excellent company and that the past few honorees are with publishing houses (which I by no means knock!)

Iranian Nuclear Talks Reach Major Breakthrough

No final deal has been reached, but thanks to a good will gesture from Iran, negotiations will continue under less pressure.

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (Gloomberg News) — Nuclear talks between Iran, the United States, and five world powers have reached a major milestone, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced Wednesday.  Kerry said serious progress had been made, and that thanks to an extraordinary token of good will from Iran, all seven parties have agreed to extend the self-imposed deadline for reaching a deal until June at the earliest.

“I am happy to announce that an agreement, while not yet in our grasp, is within reach,” Kerry said.  He admitted that the parties still have much work ahead to close remaining gaps in the negotiations.  “But in light of an amazing and very welcome gesture of reconciliation from Iran, everyone involved has agreed to extend the deadline for reaching a deal by at least three months.”

The unexpected breakthrough came when talks resumed Wednesday morning.  Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif astonished delegates with a surprise offer.  He informed Kerry that Iran was willing to sell the Brooklyn Bridge back to America.