Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Obama

You can sit down with a man of reason and perhaps convince them that some deed they plan is not the right thing to do. If, however, you are dealing with a man without reason, one whose mind is set, one who thinks that his ideas are the only ones that are right; then you are wasting your breath.

I have watched for six months and have found Obama to be just such a man. He is set on a course and no amount of reasoning will change his mind. What makes a man this way? Is in a deep seated anger? I once knew a young man who always smiled when he was mad. He could strike out with his fists and still be smiling.

Judging by all the traditional values Obama has written off as bad or unimportant in only six months, the damage he can do in three and a half more years is unimaginable and frightening.

I don't have to tell you what he has done. The media will give us a steady stream of boasting to carry the message. We must remember that the Roman Empire crumbled from the inside like a building eat up with termites. I will say, that the values he is putting forth are not values that make a nation strong and honorable.

My heart aches but for the second time in my life, I have a president that I am ashamed of. The enemies of our nation will sit back and laugh while Obama plays his fiddle.

Monday, June 29, 2009

State of Mind

Death is not something I smile at. I've dealt with the pain in a very personal way. I feel for those close to the famous people who have died in the last few days. I am also saddened that some never found a peaceful balance in their lives. At least as far as the public eye is concerned.

So my comments are not directed at anyone particular at this time of sorrow for their families.

What I wanted to point out is the near worship much of the public is showing for those who performed for money and fame and not out of compassion to help humanity. It was their job to do what they did for money. People are trying to elevate these folks to a level that belongs to those who served for no personal gain. Well-known does not convert to importance in the plight of humanity. That is not to say that each individual is not important. They are important.

I am not for making every well know money-maker a national hero.

The courts have already dealt with some issues and it is not necessary for me to bring them up here. It is important to remember that talent is one thing and being a good person is another.

I wanted to say something about current events and tried to be as nice as I could about it.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Fictional Neighbor

I wondered why the man had his boy sleeping in the barn. It could get pretty hot and cold out there.

"Oh no, it's better for him," the man said, "he always had trouble getting up in the morning, 'specially in the winter. I'd tell him to get up and he'd just lay there. The floor made his feet cold. He said. Well, I thought up a slution for that one. I let him sleep in the barn where his whole body would be the same temp'tur then he wouldn't notice his feet being cold. He is right next to the cows and it is real convinyat for him. He hurries up more too, milk ain't hardly ever late, no more, getting to the house in the morning. He just brangs it on up and gets over in the corner behind the kitchen heeter. That boy, I tell you. He's a sight."

I wondered iffin he didn't hate sleeping in the barn.

"No," the man said, "he don't complain none. He said it was e'lot better than the back porch where it could get a mite drafty at times. He slept out there at first when he decided it was too much trouble to get up when I called him in the morning."

I noticed his wife was getting in the firewood while we were talking. She had an arm load that would have broke the back of a good mule. I ask him about her carrying so much wood.

"Ah, woman's work. She likes a good warm fire as much as the next 'un. I don't fault her none for wantin' to stay warm. It's just the kind thang to do for ua loved ones. She likes doing for herself. I offered to carry in the wood fer her one time. She said that would be okay but she couldn't carry the slop buckets to the hog pen like I culd. I'd told her we'd swap jobs. She wouldn't have none of it, said she liked gettin' the wood. Feller's got to keep his woman happy."

Couldn't you do both jobs I wondered.

"Land's no. We is a family. Me carrying that wood would be like lettin' that yungin' sleep in his soft bed, it just be deprivin' them. Yes sir, we is a family. We share the loads of life."

Well, what is your job around the farm. I wanted to know. He hadn't move a peg for the past hour. I'd watched the boy come in with two big buckets of milk. I watched the wife struggle with them loads of wood. I started to go help her with the door but the farmer stopped me.

"She's got a tec'nic for that. Watch her stick her toe under the corner of that door. She staggers back toward the edge of the porch sometimes and will have to try it again now and then but she's pretty quick. Ain't fell off the porch in over a week. She's learned to give the wood a toss if she falls. Once she fell with a arm load still in her arms. That banged her up some. Grunted a lot when she mopped the floors. You know, musta pained her a little. Doctor said she ourt to have one arm in a sling after one fall. I 'nform him she couldn' do her work all tied up like that. He understood."

And your job is, I pursued the question.

"Oh, I have to look after everything. Sloppin' them hogs takes up a few minutes of my time. Guess tothers don't know much on what to do while I'm busy. I go fishin' most afternoons, helps feed the family. Caught a couple just the other day but I went over on my nappin' and the dogs got 'em. Yea, I look after things. Family 'preciates it too. Come Christmas I give 'em some hog money to get me something. One time there was enough left over to get the boy a pair of shoes. He likes 'em too. Had 'em since he was twelve. Goin' nigh on five years now. He borried my knife last yar to cut slits in the toes. Made 'em like new. Wife she don't want much. Says so. Good woman, my wife. She can get by with nearly nothin'. "

I left the farmer standing there under the tree. He never did go slop them hogs. I could hear them as I went down the road. Hollering and squealing for something to eat I reckon.

"Come back when I ain't so busy and maybe we'll have time to talk some." He said as I faded out of hearing.

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Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Net Veins

After a number of years using the Internet, I've noticed that it runs in veins much like minerals in the earth. What you find out depends on the vein you are working.

I've been involved in various marketing, may I say tactics. I stick with the legal stuff. While you are there, it seems that that is the world of the Internet. Then, you quit. Then it seems that that vein does not even exist. The emails stop and unless you do a search for that particular subject, nothing is heard of them.

Take forums or chats, you can get in some pretty hot conversations and they can wreck you day, but get out and away and their importance dwindles quickly.

In the mineral world, of course, if you want gold, you have to go where it is found. Coal is the same. What ever it is, you can get totally involved to the exclusion of all else.

I think the key to complete usability will come when there is a better way than search engines to use as a starting point. I have no idea what that might be. Something that would keep you / us out of just one vein when, actually, we wish to have a broad view of any particular subject.

Maybe that don't make sense, fortunately I don't have many readers.


Monday, June 22, 2009

Books, My Books!

Well, I went to Barnes and Noble and Amazon and found two of my books there. It was gratifying to finally see them in a place where maybe the broader public can have the opportunity to purchase a good read. I've never carved a marble statue but it must surely be somewhat like writing and self-publishing a book.

There are so many obstacles and steps before one reaches the day when the word published is appropriate. Usually, the phrase 'in process' is the applicable term. Writers are always in process. It is difficult to concentrate on a new project or story when there are still so many things to do on the last project. I wish I could just write and and the manuscript to someone to do all that other stuff.

Preserved Intellect (along with its companion story Harvest 2050AD ) is futuristic in nature but not all that futuristic in reality. I try to go behind the scenes and look at those projects governments and scientist will not tell you about. They are projects which cross the line of protecting humanity into a realm of using humanity for experiments. In some case, they are unspeakable experiments. In Mother's Coat, I use a short story to document the life of a young girl born on the street to a mother who lived on the street for an unstated reason. I felt it important to take one child and tell the story of thousands. Acelin is the star of this book. She is trampled on but still she possesses a tender heart. Instead of feeling sorry for herself, she reached out to another child and protected it. The book is short because I could not bare to stay in that world any longer, although I did enough research to make the book much longer. Transient (The Tommy Bookmark Story) came about from a visit to an old hotel in my hometown. I thought the wooden stairs, the old rooms, the dining room an even the wraparound porch held a story. So I filled the hotel with people and told the happenings in their lives. It tells of love, war, duty, crime, faith and down-home living.

So, I am published. My books are not for everyone. Those who expect vivid accounts of romantic encounters will not be happy with my stories. I refuse to write smut. For those who think life is a bed of roses and everything is clicking along just fine will not find my books entertaining. However, for those who have done their reality check these stories may peak your interest. They are all written after digging into the factual archives. I write fiction and take artistic liberties but behind that story are some real things to consider. I think people can have a regular life and still have faith in God. I try to allow my characters freedom to explore their personal needs while they live out the events of the story. It's only fair.

Countdown0 (count down zero) is my storefront where my books are available. Thank you for going there to check out my book summaries.

I am currently working on another project but I'm at a stage where my characters are 'swimming' in the plot and I have to choose who survives and the path the others take. I like all the characters, so hence, my problem. Maybe I'll get hard at work on it soon.

Iran

Iran is hopefully changing. The current government will either demise or end up closing off the country so no one knows what is happening there. The only problem with a religious sect running a country is that it may not be the preferred religion. It is better to leave politics to politicians and voters. I remember the last revolution they had in Iran. Not long after, there was the hostage situation. With the old man stepping up to take charge, it proves that the president's job is just a puppet show anyway. I sort of wish they would take out all the television cameras so the big shots would stop showing off for the world like they were on some talent contest. I do wish they would just stop fighting over their ideologies so the world could have a few days peace for a change.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Guns

I'm not promoting it either way, guns or no guns. Let me say that a person that has no respect for a weapon should not own one. They are not toys. They should be studied to learn their use. Buying a gun and sticking it in a hiding place to be picked up in an emergency is a good way to become the victim. If someone owns a gun they should learn how to use it safely. I certainly can see though that people are arming themselves. Just a brief visit to a street where pawn shops stand told me that people were checking them out. I went in a couple looking for a Winchester 30-30 because my daddy use to have one and I wanted one to keep. I saw someone looking at one of those mean looking shotguns that showed no signs of being made for squirrels. Down the street 4 young fellows went into another shop with their shirttails out and pants barely hanging on. Wonder what they were looking for?

The gangs are armed and regular folks are getting armed. I hope that means absolutely nothing. It is apparent that the police are unable to stop the gangs or the drug trafficking. Oh they catch a few users but the network is alive and well. The cold hard fact is there is money in drugs and people will kill to keep that money flowing.

I don't know what it will come to. The police have the sworn duty to protect citizens. So what happens when they do not. When gangs wonder around intimidating people in stores, parking lots and on neighborhood streets it sort of puts people in a bind as to what to do. I know as a husband and dad myself, I have a higher responsibility to protect my family. Another fact is you can't fist fight people with guns.

In reality it is not a world of sweetness where you can just be nice to everyone and they will be nice to you. There are times when force must be meet by force. Governments know that. That is why they got armies and such. I hope there is no shooting. Bullets leave a mess and take lives. It is not glamorous like in the movies where the actors get up to make another movie. Death is final. Maybe, the reaction will be that when the good guys are armed and the bad guys know it, maybe, there will be respect for each other and peace for us all. We can pray that it be so.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Things that Make PawPaw Fight a Tear


Change

The heart of America did not vote for the president who would 'change' the country. Looking at the map, the votes came from primarily, the coastal areas, New England to the Great Lakes and West. There is a large swatch of red where people knew that change is not necessarily a good thing. Many laws and traditions in this country were long coming and hard fought for. Many have fought and died so that we would be different from the rest of the world. We go our own way.

We now have a president who wants to be everything to everyone, except traditional family values, even though, he himself enjoys a seemingly normal family life.

So were those values, that are being removed by the stroke of his pen, worth all the blood that has been shed for them? Does it make sense to make sense?

In all his frenzy of activity, I cannot see one thing he has done that has made us safer in the world. His dog and his wife's clothes get more attention than world events or rather his actual actions to restrain the bad guys.

I think, in our day, we are witnessing the breakdown of the nation that was formed by brave men long ago. It is a sad time.

I must say it now, our president is not a liberal, he is a radical. His ideas would have been shrugged off not many years ago. Now he is in a position to make dangerous changes and is doing so. I only hope and pray that our nation is strong enough to endure his term in office and that a great person of integrity will replace him and one with the strength and wisdom to again put us on the right road of honesty, nobility and strength.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Pocket Knives and the Bill of Rights

Guess I will get stopped tomorrow by Mister Law but here goes anyway.

There is a stipulation in the Bill of Rights which is part of the Constitution of the United States, by the way, that protects citizens from having law enforcement walk up and say I'm going to search you. All you were doing was going out to spend your hard earned money anyway.

I remember when men used to pass the time comparing the pocket knives they carried. Often, they would trade and bargain between themselves. You let a bunch of men pull out pocket knives in public nowadays and the National Guard would be called in to put down a terrorist attack. Really! On the farm, a pocket knife was a necessity. Maybe you couldn't afford a toothbrush and had to use baking soda and a clean cloth, but you had to have a pocket knife. There were feed sacks to open, splinters to get out, fishing poles to cut down...lots of important stuff. If you reached into your pocket and could not find your pocket knife, well, the kids were called together for a detailed search and they better find it. "I didn't loose it there, look over there."

Well, I hope I have established the importance attached to carrying a pocket knife back then. Many of us carry on the tradition which is as American as 'hog-killing-time'.

(Insert: I believe a society must have law enforcement to protect us. I also believe that a society should have safeguards to protect us from over zealous law enforcement. There you go.)

Now to the nullification of that part of the Constitution that protects us from illegal, unnecessary and down right rude searching of our home and person by law enforcement...... (next paragraph)

.... A very important tool that law enforcement uses these days (or nowadays) is to ask a person if they have a knife on them. Dah! I'm a guy, of course I have a knife. They know that. 'Okay, I'm going to have to find that knife and hold it while we talk.' The justification is that the officers life could be in danger if the person has a knife while they talk. This practice opens the door for the officer to pat down a person all over until they find the knife. Of course, they know that about any of us country boys carries the knife in the left pocket because our right hand is busy holding the 'pig by the ear' or something else. Anyway, they pat the person down all over, whoops! then something illegal is found, then they go to the knife and arrest the person.

The problem with this procedure is that number one they did not have reason to suspect the person, they were just looking for the knife in a round-about-way and came across something else. Now they can say, 'probable cause'. The only problem is the 'poison tree' case way back at that lumber company. They went in and found evidence then came back and got a search warrant after the fact. No. No. That is against the Constitution. Another problem is, there are few constitutional lawyers in small towns who will go to bat for the little guy. Guess most people say, 'Well they was guilty anyway.' No wait a minute, you can't have one side of the 'coin' going by the Constitution and the other side making it up as they go along.

Okay, so the officer feels he could be in danger. He ought to know that when he pens on his badge. He has a dangerous job. A military man knows he stands between the bad guys bullets to protect citizens. Law enforcement bare the same burden. I don't go for unnecessary danger for those guys. But when they are out there protecting the very document that allows them to enforce the law, they can't go bending it around just for their benefit.

That reminds me of a joke I will not tell about the guy who pulled a knife on someone. The someone pulled out a gun and told the guy with the knife: 'just like you to bring a knife to a gun fight'. Well I almost told it but that's the point. An officer standing at a proper distance with a gun is pretty much safe even if they other guy pulls a knife.

It's okay in the movies where we can see inside walls and want the hero to smash down the wall to rescue someone. In real life, the Constitution must be protected or we are all lost to the whims of everyone else.

Maybe if we call our pocket knives, splinter getters (put a nice sticker on it saying so), we could tell the officer honestly: 'No I don't have a knife.' thus protected our rights against those unnecessary intrusions into our private life and persons. Otherwise if a bad cop wants to run up his numbers, he can visit the evidence room, pull out some stuff and palm it while doing his search. 'Hey, look what I found.'

(Insert: By the way, I despise illegal drugs and those who produce and transport them. I have more compassion for those who are addicted, even if they are not a movie star with a high priced lawyer. On that note: Why is it a sickness for those with money and a crime for those who have to use a public defender? Huuh?)

Thanks Tom and crew for a fine piece of literature, hope we don't end up ignoring it altogether.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Politics "Knock, Knock, Knock"

We have the same people, with the same ideas either running the country or wanting to do so. For a new person to get in, they have to play to the old timers to the point of loosing their focus and the fresh ideas they may have had. So, knock, knock, knock, but getting in without playing the game is not going to happen. The same people have been running things so long that I am about ready to think that they have a cloning factory in D.C. The Republicans didn't want Palin to speak because they were afraid she would upstage someone they had scheduled. Dah! Isn't a new bright light what we want? Well she showed up anyway to be polite and still upstaged every body. You can't blame the girl for having it together. It is not a question of whether Sarah Palin will be a star. It is a question of whether the Republican Party will have her as their star or will they stay in their old party ways and miss the boat again.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Getting Hits

I never liked trickery. You know those messages in websites that do not really say anything but they include all these keywords so search engines will notice them and index them. For example, if I wanted folks in Chatsworth to pick up on my website, I might mention the name Chatsworth a couple of times and throw in the fact that I write books and have several in the marketplace with Lulu. I might mention that I recently donated a copy of Transient to the Whitfield-Murray Historical Society after communicating with their new executive secretary Erik Gallman who is a well know artist as well and a good one I might add and a really likable fellow. I could go so far as to say that my wife contacted the Daily Citizen in Dalton and subsequently sent them a news release about my titles.

When search engines started charging people for prime positions on results pages, the idea of the website with the most hits gets top billing went out the window. Now many of the top sites have paid to be there. At least, that is the way I understand it. I admit my understanding is lacking when it comes to indexing and spiders and crawling stuff.

Perhaps I should not call it trickery, since I don't like trickery. Perhaps, it is just learning how the Internet works and capitalizing on that knowledge. I must understand that I opened this blog just for kicks. Who is going to be interested in pigs feet, squirrel brains and chicken necks? They are and have been a part of American culture for many years. But then we call a wrecking bar a crowbar around here and who would care about that bit of information, either?

So, you think you can't write! Here I have just sat down and rambled on for paragraphs and really had nothing to say when I started. The evidence of the foregoing is contained therein.

TEA Party

I've often thought the United States needed another political party with viable candidates to run for public office. I reckon others think the same thing because there are some third parties that are trying.

I thought TEA Party might be a good name with government trying to recoup tax revenue they lost when people stopped driving so much. They are trying to figure out other things to tax to make up for their loss. Parking at state parks have gone up in our state. Tobacco tax as jumped. I'd like to think they were concerned for our welfare but it is so obvious that they want to keep their routine of wasteful spending while bankrupting the everyday family.

Did you hear? They are starting to charge a tax on grocery bags. Oh, they say it is to help out with the landfills and to save the trees but you can write it down, it is to get more revenue for their coffers.

I betcha, (if I bet) that if you told a dozen government works to report to a certain place, they would all arrive in twelve different gas guzzling eight cylinder cars with room for six in each one with government tags on them.

Tax grocery bags! We can barely get money to pay for the groceries that go in the bags. I think it is just a plot to keep us from using them in our trash cans so someone can sell regular trash bags for trash cans.

Here's the mess: Government cannot afford themselves so they tax businesses and people into poverty then borrow money from China to bail them out. I guess they are all hoping to die of old age before the chicken comes home to roust.


Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Keyboard

Next time you all build a keyboard, I wish you would put a delete button on the left side at the edge. Perhaps a bar that could be tapped with the side of the hand. I always have to look to find the one in the middle of everything. Thanks.

Map

On my Bible Study blog there is a map (compliments of Bravenet) that shows the hits the site gets from around the world. There are always blank spots. I wonder about those places and the people there. In our country, we know what happens just about everywhere, a few minutes after it happens, if we are watching and reading or listening. So many ways to stay informed. I wonder about those people who do not have access to the world of information that we have. Are they happier for it? Do they wonder what is going on? What kind of picture is painted in their mind about how the world really is? I understand the language barriers that exist. Technology has done a lot to remove those barriers with translation software, etc.

I noticed also that the activity in most countries that hit on the site is along the coast line. I suppose that goes back to the age of discovery when about everyone lived on the coast of new found land. But is this just the world we see. Perhaps we are the ones that are blinded to what is really happening in most of the world. Those people who do not participate in the technology revolution are perhaps the ones that got it right. Just maybe they find happiness in the land and evenings around the table. Perhaps they know how to appreciate a meal of freshly grown vegetables or a warm hug. Of course, we are much to busy discovering the secrets of the universe to discover what is behind that smile or frown of a child or a neighbor.

Should we feel sorry for those 'ignorant' people who just don't know what's going on? Or should we pity ourselves for knowing so much and having so little wisdom to deal with our knowledge?

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Tuesday, June 2, 2009

No Place to Hide

I remember when bomb shelters were the thing. Then it was the Soviet Union and us pointing nukes at each other. The destruction capability on both sides was enough to keep leaders from pushing the button. In both cases, the legacy of the nations were more important than any individual leader. I don't know what would have happened if war could have been carried out without mutual destruction. I'm glad they had the sense to not push the button.

Today we have North Korea with a leader who seems to think more highly of himself than he does his nation or perhaps there is no separating the two. It appears he would like to make a statement before he dies and is doing a pretty good job of doing that. I suspect the roots of this question go back to the young life of the nations leader. I wonder what happened back then that would make a man so angry at the rest of the world. It could have been different for me as well, I was bullied and was very poor. There is nothing magic that happened to keep me from holding a grudge into my old age. For me, I found the grace of God that softened my heart.

Regardless, we are under a dark cloud these days. I received an addendum from my insurance company the other day that they no longer cover damage due to radiation. I wonder what they know that I don't.

Iran continues to defy international pressure to stop their nuclear programs. I suppose North Korea and Iran are working together to build something. The fear or concern I have is that these old men in charge of these two nations are planning to make a big splash in the world before they kick the bucket.

A leader is a guide during his lifetime. He is not the nation. The nation goes on to help the world and its people. When a leader begins to think that they are the nation, they are simply satisfying their own ego at the expense of their people.

We all want to be the big star in the sky. Unfortunately, that is not possible or practical. Often, the little stars have the nicest twinkle. I do know that in these days of globalization, a nation can reap great rewards by 'playing along with the big guys' so to speak. The world has food and technology. All it takes is an open door to let it in. I guess it goes back to the old saying: You can get more flies with sugar than not. Well, who wants flies but you see the point. I think nations who have much are anxious to show their generosity to other nations. Of course, they may do it for ego's sake but the food still fills the stomach. Who knows, someday people may do nice things for each other because they are friends.


Monday, June 1, 2009

Our Day

Someday, historians will look back on our day and puke. They will be like the new intern at their first autopsy. Perhaps, when they recover, they will look at us and ask "Why did those stupid people mess up such a great country?" or perhaps they will shake their head and say "They had so much!"

I have often wondered who 'they' are. You know people say 'they said' or 'they did it'. So we have the often asked question "Who are 'they'?

Take a normal day or two in life. Someone breaks in line at the store. Someone tailgates you on the road and does not take advantage of several passing lanes. Someone throws trash out their window in front of your house. The clerk acts like you came to rob the place when you pay for your stuff. You know those people who, it seems, should have some inward voice that corrects such behavior. Truth probably is, they have no enter voice. It has been replaced by self-absorption. As in, these ants (people) are here to make my life miserable so I will torment them every chance I get.

So are those people the 'they' we wonder about.

Then, we turn to the people who seem to be bent on running this country into the ground. Could they have the same attitude as the tailgater or litterbug? Could it be that they think the world was made just so they could have their way at the expense of others?

Yes. Our day is a different day. People have different attitudes, different ways. We have become a nation of dollars instead of a nation of values. We have become a nation where a man's word means nothing unless he has a load of money to back it up. Hard work and a good name use to count more than money. Companies use to want people to pay off their purchase, now they prefer people to charge their purchase so they can make more on credit than they do on the product. Credit is a more important commodity to them. Credit use to be a liability.

Life use to be important to people. Not just a person's own life but the life of others. If a neighbor had a problem, it was the communities problem. Nowadays, we know less about our neighbor than we do about movie stars.

I don't want to sound bitter. I'm not really. I'm disappointed that we are wasting our nation. The very nation that young men and women have given their lives for. Some of 'they' have set out to change the face of America, the ideals, the values, the lifestyles, the image, the love for fellow man. They are being successful. Our grandchildren will not know the America that has been written about in books worldwide. They will see a different nation. They will see a nation with no individuality, no uniqueness. They will see a nation in debt, a nation where we are all strangers.

Our day is a sad day. Our day is when America started to mean something different.

Followers