Revised Edition Released

A revised edition of my eBook, At What Price? was released today.  Some readers had had trouble with the twist ending, claiming that it wasn't clear enough. Around the same time I had resurrected and old story idea and was kicking it around as a possible basis for a series. I therefore used that idea to help clarify the twist ending and set up the series. This effectively makes At What Price? the first book in that series. I also took the opportunity to add in the original flash version of the story as bonus material.
Copies can be purchased at Smashwords and readers who have already purchased the previous addition from there can download the new version free of charge.

At What Price?

Richard L. Foland Jr.



In 2012 Alexander Vernick killed his fiance after someone proved she was stealing from him. That person then turned him in and he was arrested and tried. He managed to get off but has spent the better part of a decade looking for the person who ratted on him and he's found him. Now he can have his revenge. But what price will he have to pay another ten years down the line?

While not containing explicit language or descriptions this eBook explores mature themes of vengeance, rape, torture and murder and may not be suitable for children under the age of 14. Parental discretion is advised.                

Angry American: Government Ordered Purchases

Obamacare forces the american people to buy health insurance that meets specific guidelines or pay a fine. This is supposed to make healthcare affordable for all. How does it work? It doesn't.

As an example let's look at a similar law. Union City, Pa has an ordinance that says everyone must purchase trash removal services from Waste Management and only from them or pay a fine. If you live in Union City and also have a buisness there you must buy services for both addresses. Waste Management provides the police with a list of addresses purchasing services. If you are not on the list (even if you actually are paying for trash removal and there was a "clerical error") you get a threatening letter from the police chief, followed by a visit and then a fine.

When asked why this law was even put into place the police chief has said that it is because the borough gets a discount. Meanwhile the citizens who live in the borough do not and since there is no competition Waste Management can charge whatever they like. It seems lately, according to residents, that the price goes up almost monthly. Soon no one will be able to afford the service and will be forced to move or pay the fine.

Obamacare will work the same way. The insurance must meet specific guidelines, so the insurance companies can charge whatever they want for that insurance and the people, because our representatives are exempt, will have to pay or be fined. Unless they move out of the country.

Some will, no doubt, point out that it doesn't specify a specific company and therefore there will be competition. I say however that there is no regulation in place to keep the competing companies from colluding with each other to keep the price high.

The government should have no right to make you buy any pruduct or service. Nor should they be able to "tax" you for not buying said product or service. Whether it is the Federal or Local government it is a violation of your right to choose. Some of these same representatives will argue that a woman has a right to choose to murder her unborn child but they won't defend your right to choose not to buy something. Sounds like they're a bunch of hypocrits if you ask me.

Angry American: Federal Shutdown

Some readers of this blog may recall that I had originally planned for it to be political and carry the name "Angry American" but decided to drop that partly because I didn't think I could comfortably confine myself to just politics and partly because I despise the fact that we refer to people from the USA as americans when that is incredibly inacurate. Now fast forward to the present and I suddenly have a lot of political ranting I wish to do. So the next few posts will be more in line with what I had originally envisioned for this blog. For those of you outside the US and those who hate politics, I should apologize in advance but I won't, I'll return to my usual ephemera in a week or two.

So the Federal government is shutdown. I don't know nor am I a non-essential government employee so the only effect of said shut down that I personally have noted is that gas (petrol) prices have dropped somewhere in the area of 40¢ per gallon. This is either a huge coincidence or the people who artificially inflate gas prices are considered non-essential.

I have heard other stories of course. A school that had to suspend bussing because the only safe bus route was closed because it ran through a national park. Disabled veterans kicked out of the national monuments and memorials in DC. I have no proof that these are true stories or not though.

The Republicans blame the Democrats of course for standing their ground and failing to compromise and the Democrats not only blame the Republicans for doing the same but are being extremely venomous about it. The truth is they are all to blame. Republicans and Democrats. House, Senate and President. No one wants to try to compromise they just want to yell, scream and point the finger. It reminds me of the end of my marriage.

So what is the solution? Get them all out of office and start over might be a good place to start. Unfortunately, for the moment, that isn't an option but they should probably watch their backs come re-election time. They need to compromise and get back to work on the real issues and not focus time and attention on what a certain pro football team is named (I'm looking at you Obama). Basically, it is time for our Federal Representatives to piss or get off the pot.