Poignant video of a young chimp reunited with his human foster parents

Originally posted at my Facebook page:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5909921/Adorable-moment-chimpanzee-reunited-foster-parents.html


Love is the universal constant that cuts across species. Food and water may feed our bodies, but love feeds our souls. Without it we are like seeds on the moon: unfulfilled potentiality without purpose or hope. We can learn much from our young simian cousin about this one aspect that unites us at a far deeper level than lesser important things such as our species, our race or our tribe. Selfless, unconditional love links our souls for a lifetime and, I believe, beyond the veil of death. Those who seek the answer to the meaning of life need look no further. Everything else is just background noise.

Two July Amazon Giveaways - Copyright Law and SF

Here are my July Giveaway links for two Kindle books. Enter for your chance to win by clicking either on the book covers or on their respective links below them to go directly to the respective giveaway pages [U.S. only --  ends July 8, 2018]:

https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/418dcab0ea0605e0

https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/ef3f8992c394ecb4

June Amazon Giveaway #4: Copyright Law: A Practical Guide -- Ends June 30

Amazon Giveaway - Enter for a chance to win a copy of my Copyright Law: A Practical Guide for your Kindle

This book is based on the material that first appeared in my Intellectual Property Law: A Practical Guide to Copyrights, Patents, Trademarks and Trade Secrets with some updates and expansion. Like my earlier work, it is meant to serve as a resource that provides information in an easy to understand and absorb manner. Unlike my earlier work that offers a survey of intellectual property law, this one focuses exclusively on copyright and will be priced at $3.99 for the Kindle and other eBook editions. It is available from Amazon, iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords and other retailers. To enter the Amazon giveaway, click on the book cover above or on this link:  https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/b1ae016c97e3b656. The Giveaway ends on June 30.

Amazon Giveaway #3 for June - Ends June 30

Enter Amazon Giveaway #2 for June: "The Day the Dolphins Vanished"

Enter for a chance to win a copy of my SF short story "The Day the Dolphins Vanished" in my Amazon Giveaway promotion (Ends June 30). Click on the book cover below or on this link to enter: https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/a19594e9392569b2

This is a short story (2825 words) reprinted from Book of Dreams Second Edition: Science Fiction and Speculative Fiction Short Stories (C) 2012 by Victor D. López and Mindscapes: Ten Science Fiction and Speculative Fiction Short Stories (C) 2014 by Victor D. López.

Human beings are not the only intelligent life forms on Earth and possibly not the most intelligent. Efforts at communicating with marine mammals such as wales and dolphins whose brains are larger than our own have had very limited success to date, less so than the success we've enjoyed in teaching some gorillas and chimpanzees to communicate using sign language despite the fact that their brains have less capacity than our own. This short story explores the possible consequences of bridging the language barrier with dolphins whose larger brains may well provide them with intelligence that exceeds our own. When a dedicated marine biologist/linguist makes the breakthrough in the near future that allows true communication to take place, what rewards may we expect from her research, and what might our aquatic cousins learn about us and teach us about ourselves?

NOTE: The short story collection is available on paperback, audiobook and eBook versions from Amazon, Audible and most book sellers. The short story is also available in various eBook versions, including the Kindle version from Amazon and other book sellers as well. If you like the preview and think you and others may enjoy reading the whole story or short story collection, won't you consider recommending them to your local library? All are available for library purchase, including through OverDrive for libraries that use the popular Live-brary platform.  Thank you!

Enter Amazon Giveaway #2 for June: "The Day the Dolphins Vanished"

Enter for a chance to win a copy of my SF short story "The Day the Dolphins Vanished" in my Amazon Giveaway promotion (Ends June 22). Click on the book cover below or on this link to enter: https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/9fb738aa96e4992f

This is a short story (2825 words) reprinted from Book of Dreams Second Edition: Science Fiction and Speculative Fiction Short Stories (C) 2012 by Victor D. López and Mindscapes: Ten Science Fiction and Speculative Fiction Short Stories (C) 2014 by Victor D. López.

Human beings are not the only intelligent life forms on Earth and possibly not the most intelligent. Efforts at communicating with marine mammals such as wales and dolphins whose brains are larger than our own have had very limited success to date, less so than the success we've enjoyed in teaching some gorillas and chimpanzees to communicate using sign language despite the fact that their brains have less capacity than our own. This short story explores the possible consequences of bridging the language barrier with dolphins whose larger brains may well provide them with intelligence that exceeds our own. When a dedicated marine biologist/linguist makes the breakthrough in the near future that allows true communication to take place, what rewards may we expect from her research, and what might our aquatic cousins learn about us and teach us about ourselves?

NOTE: The short story collection is available on paperback, audiobook and eBook versions from Amazon, Audible and most book sellers. The short story is also available in various eBook versions, including the Kindle version from Amazon and other book sellers as well. If you like the preview and think you and others may enjoy reading the whole story or short story collection, won't you consider recommending them to your local library? All are available for library purchase, including through OverDrive for libraries that use the popular Live-brary platform.  Thank you!

Amazon Giveaway - Enter for a chance to win a copy of my Copyright Law: A Practical Guide for your Kindle

This book is based on the material that first appeared in my Intellectual Property Law: A Practical Guide to Copyrights, Patents, Trademarks and Trade Secrets with some updates and expansion. Like my earlier work, it is meant to serve as a resource that provides information in an easy to understand and absorb manner. Unlike my earlier work that offers a survey of intellectual property law, this one focuses exclusively on copyright and will be priced at $3.99 for the Kindle and other eBook editions. It is available from Amazon, iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords and other retailers. To enter the Amazon giveaway, click on the book cover above or on this link:  https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/bf018efd340c5574. The Giveaway ends on June 22.

Memorial Day

On Memorial Day and every day, let us remember the brave men and women who laid down their lives in both just wars and in unwise ones to preserve the freedoms we enjoy paid for with their blood in lonely places far from home and in battlefields too close to home. May we never forget their sacrifice. May we always honor their memory. May they rest in peace. 

Whatever our differences and despite the current unpleasant polarization that divides us, I pray we can be of one mind on the value of their sacrifice and raise one voice for one day to express our gratitude, and to show them that we may yet prove worthy of their sacrifice.