My new novel - Neitherworld

Check out my new 2 volume novel, Neitherworld, available on Amazon.

Kirkus Discoveries said of Book One:

"Blending Native American myth, archaeological detail, government conspiracy and a sci-fi flair, Baker covers a lot of ground, but does so with dexterity and grace. The author populates this unique story with alien civilizations, 17th-century Ojibwe shamans, shady government agents and professional archaeologists. In doing so, Baker tries to tap numerous niche audiences...Baker is a talented writer and an adept syncretist. Akiiwan begins in the 1600s, during which time a talented Native American shaman--Voice-in-the-Sky--is contacted by members of an alien race who are interested in living with the Ojibwe people and sharing with them their secrets and talents. Fast-forward to the modern day, when government agents hire skilled archaeologist Samantha Horner to learn more about Voice-in-the-Sky and the mysterious powers he may have possessed. But from the moment her excavation begins, strange occurrences--violent storms, unexpected attacks on crew members and baffling disappearances--suggest to Horner that something strange is afoot. Baker tells Horner's tale with a skillful ease. His prose is elegant and precise and his descriptions--both of his characters and of the natural world--are beautiful and evocative."

And of Book Two:

"Few are the fantasies so peculiar and satisfying as this, a deliciously weird mix of alien races, Native American culture and government intrigue. Ishpiming picks up where the first in Baker's NeitherWorld series (Akiiwan, 2007) left off. This time around is the story of archaeologist Samantha Horner, an Ojibwe expert called in to excavate a singularly unique site in Minnesota. The site--which not incidentally piques the interest of crooked U.S. government agents--houses the body of 17th-century shaman Voice-in-the-Sky, a Native American leader who made contact with an alien race. Ten-year-old Orenda--herself a descendent of Voice-in-the-Sky--has mysteriously transported Horner and members of her dig team to a far-off world. Only here does Horner come to realize that the conflicts surrounding her excavation have taken on interstellar import. Dangers multiply, and Horner and her team learn that the nefarious designs of corrupt Washington bureaucrats are the least of their problems, for humanity is endangered by the Lupok, an alien race hell-bent on conquering Earth and enslaving all who live there. This volume is an even stranger and more ambitious work than its predecessor. Filled with strange creatures, extraterrestrial landscapes and a startling array of alien races vying for galactic ascendancy, Ishpiming taxes the imagination. But much to the author's credit, readers will remain entranced by this strange new world. Like the best fantasy authors, Baker has a knack for fleshing out his marvelous creations, making the oddest of creatures--e.g., the eerie pink caterpillars that inhabit the NeitherWorld--as real and believable as his human characters. He has a strong faith in the power of his fiction, and that faith is strangely infectious. An audacious but thoroughly enthralling fantasy."

Redrawing the Lines in the Sand: a new Approach to solving the Israel-Palestinian conflict

Redrawing the Lines in the Sand: a new Approach to solving the Israel-Palestinian conflict

I'm 50 and this conflict has literally been going on longer than I've been alive. There have been ebbs and flows, ground gained and lost, population shifts, but no new progress. I've come to the conclusion nothing will change unless we change the parts of the equation drastically. I take a 30,000-foot look at this, and most, problems of the world and I believe in turning problems into solutions and in synergy. Keeping that in mind, here is what I see and propose:

The Palestinian people are now de facto split into two regions. For simplicity, let's take the most violent region - Gaza - for now. The basic problem, beneath all the rhetoric and mutual blame is this:
The militants launch missiles, almost daily, and then Israel, understandably alarmed, retaliates with superior force. Geographically, Israel controls access to Gaza from the sea, north, and east, but not south, which is where a lucrative tunneling business keeps the Gaza militants supplied with weapons to fire on Israel. Egypt intervenes only lightly, if pressed, and mostly not at all, because their own population would not stand for them blocking the "tunnel trade" to protect their cold enemy, Israel.
OK, here's how you turn a problem into a solution, though I admit all parties would howl at first suggestion of this.
America should broker a deal to redraw Israel's southern border 50 miles south of Gaza, relocating Egyptian villagers away from there, with money and rebuilding support and in coordination with Egypt.
The benefit for Egypt: Egypt gets this mess off their back door. They can still be pro-Palestine, and anti-Israel, but with only a border with Israel, their peace treaty with that country would apply. They would not have to worry about tunnelers; that would be Israel's new problem. The Muslim Brotherhood etc. would protest, but in the end, they will neither attack Israel, nor do anything more to destabilize Egypt than they are already doing, and if humanitarian aid is provided by the United States (see below), that should mitigate some of this protest.
The benefit for Israel: Control over the access points where weapons are smuggled and eventual reduction in violence through de facto reduction in the factors that cause it (missile parts and guns). Also, perhaps, a chance to move settlers to these new lands and off the West Bank, so that the West Bank might truly become a Palestinian state someday.
The benefit for Gaza Palestinians: Not obvious at first, but there can never be peace if the militants are allowed to fire into Israel indefinitely. This “lifestyle” choice has to end so that a true building up of the bankrupt Gaza economy and an end to the blockade can begin. America, as well as Israel, can help with this, but the shooting has to stop first. This is a war and it has to end before peace can begin.
The benefit for the United States: Taking control of the situation in a novel way that brings peace to both sides would be an immeasurable coup for America, worth almost any price. It would end the “cause,” manipulated by Iran and Syria for their own ends. It would provide a true way forward, and repudiate the poorly drawn and forever controversial British lines in the sand.

I’m too old to have much hope that the current dance will ever accomplish anything, except maybe by accident, or worse, by horrific miscalculation costing thousands or millions of lives.

Solving the Derivative collapse

The next president will have the opportunity to assume FDR-like powers. The first thing he should do is to declare all derivatives placed outside of legally regulated markets (90%) null and void. These "bets" - worth $180 trillion according the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in America alone, and up to $450 trillion worldwide - could not have been made in regulated markets because the players did not have sufficient collateral. If the parties object to the elimination of their derivative bets, they should be reminded of the penalty for fraud. Because for every buyer there is a seller, the amounts lost would zero out and no one would gain an advantage. We would just get to reset the clock. What's causing the panic in the markets right now is the realization that the losers have insufficient money to pay the winners. The domino effect of multiple collapses cannot be stemmed by any government, even by running the printing press overtime. The only solution is to wipe them off the books and ensure these bets are never made again by sending those who make them in the future to jail.

Solving the Iranian Crisis peacefully

Bush continues his relentless march to war, at any cost. Now that he's checked off his to-do list "Talk to Iran," he'll continue pressuring the rest of the world for sanctions. This will continue to get us precisely nowhere, as China will continue to buy Iranian oil, and Russia will continue "doing business" with Iran, whatever THAT means. Then, after election day, when all this chest-thumping all but ensures an Obama victory, Bush will act the spoilsport and either give the green light to Israel to bomb, or make some sort of cross-border incursion into Iran in the name of defending Iraq that will virtually guarantee an Iranian military counter-response, and then it's off to a full middle east war and $200+ oil.
Sanctions won't work - unless the world is willing to stop buying Iranian oil, and stop shipping them refined gasoline. Nothing else matters much at this point.


Here's another way:
1. Acknowledge, as even Dick Chenney did in his unguarded moments, that Iran has the right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes under the NNPT they signed. Of course, we need MUCH better inspection capability and that really is a basis for negotiations.
2. Make a formal declaration that we will respond with full military force if Iran attacks Israel - i.e. we will "wipe Iran off the map." If it comes to that, I think even the arabs will not blame us for destroying such a dangerous neighbor.
3. Continue to assist Israel in every security measure they need, and make it publically known we are doing so.
4. Investigate and encourage Iran to develop alternative nuclear power producing methods that do not produce plutonium, such as pebble bed reactors. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pebble_bed_reactor
We have to keep up with the latest technology, especially when it can lead to a more peaceful world. This technology is proven, more efficient, and less dangerous to operate and doesn't produce plutonium which can be used in nuclear weapons. God/Allah help us if McCain gets elected; ha can't even "do a google" as he puts it.

I've given up expecting innovative solutions form this administration. I hope we can avoid WWIII until the next one.

The Atheist's Lament

I get so tired of holier-than-thou holy men like Mitt Romney (what kind of name is Mitt anyway?), preaching that you have to believe in Him (not Her) in order to be a moral person. People have committed and ARE committing the worst imaginable atrocities in the name of religion. Religion gives one an excuse to do anything to one's fellow human beings. Perhaps that's what makes it so enduring - that, plus the promise to eliminate the certainty of Personal Extinction, to ascribe conscious intent to random events (or, at least events where we can answer the "How" but never the "Why" because there is no intelligence behind them), and that somehow, there is fairness in the universe, though, oh boy, it can be awfully mysterious. It's been shown that Atheists are no less moral than anyone else - and perhaps slightly MORE moral. That's not surprising given thelatest scientific discoveries that show morality is hard-wired into the human brain, except in the case of sociopaths and certain church leaders. Think of it this way: if you believe in God, you can always blame Him, or better yet, the Devil, for making you do something. But if you believe there is no God, the buck stops with You.