The African man in his late fifties bowed his head and cupped his hands to form a bowl at waist height, seeming eager to accept the coin I was offering.  Newly arrived in Southern Rhodesia, (Zimbabwe)  in the 1960s, I was exhausted and wanted to thank him for helping with my luggage

I gave up my car not long ago and needed to call my automobile insurance company to cancel the policy. Having misdialed, I found myself talking to a bot.  It asked numerous questions–everything from my age to whether I owned my home. By the fifth question, I realized I’d stum

I used to think I was a reasonably informed person, but President Donald Trump has taught me what passes as information can often be fake.  Take the banana, for example. In the ‘60s and ’70s, it would never be mistaken for a work of art. But since Trump has been in office, realit

My near-death fantasy is to be conscious as I depart not only this earth but also the world-wide-web. To be honest, the web hasn’t been kind to me of late. First, the Russians attacked my blog in 2016.  Then Facebook became positively hostile and banned me from its pages for severa

Who doesn’t like a good fairytale? Few. I suppose that’s why when Jeff Bezos sent me an email announcing my four novels could be translated into foreign languages for free, a smile crept across my face. Long years have taught me it’s best to keep my hands in my pocket whenev

For several months last year, I received more robot calls than there are fruit flies in a banana republic.  I let them ring without answering and, recently, they’ve stopped.  I don’t know if ignoring them is the reason, but I’m grateful for the silence.  To say these interrup

Let me assure doubters that mud at the bottom of a pond is as dark and deep as any to be found in a lake.  By mud, I’m talking about power games as they are played from rural Alabama or New York. Near the end of my final term as a county commissioner in a midsize city, I became pri

Not long ago, a company where I’d done business for many years rejected the password to my account. Frustrated, I sent  an email, asking if there was trouble on the site. There was none.  They confirmed my password by return message.   Frankly, I was stunned.  I wasn’t aware t

Is the Bible the word of God or manmade?    A Kenyan minister and I were debating that point on Facebook, recently.  During the course of our exchange, I pointed out European missionaries had brought Christianity to Africa.  For some reason he refused to accept that reality and t

As one writer recently observed about Wikipedia, when it began it  was “the dumbest idea in history.” (“The Great Upwelling,” by Kevin Kelly, Wired, October, 2018, pg. 43.)  The reason?  The service was free.  How can an enterprise make money when there’s no fee? I wonde