Well, it is finished. After writing and researching and researching and writing, I finally finished Ivory, A story of love and murder. It is set in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Jack, an ex-Army Ranger with issues meets a female elaphantologist, Eloise, (all of the greatest champions and researchers of elephants have been women). Jack is trying to outrun  his demons by taking his camera to Africa to photograph wildlife.  They establish  a relationship based on mutual antagonism. But elephant poachers are killing them for their ivory, a vile, murderous practice. Together they seek to put end to the ivory poaching It gets messy

Do They Know It's Christmastime?

Well the holiday season is history. But there is a recurring thing about the holiday that bugs the crap out of me. It's the song by BANDAID titled Do They Know it's Christmastime. A noble effort to raise money for the impoverished around the globe. But there is one line in the song that continues its seasonal wrenching of my soul. It is this: "Thank God it's them instead of you." Really? Is that something you want to thank God about? Wish misfortune on someone else so you can feel better when you open your presents or go to sleep in a warm bed with a tummy full of food? This negates the entire spirit of the song. Later this year when the holidays arrive. Think about this line in the song. You may be repulsed too.

I'm back

It's been a while since I've posted anything on this blog. I don't look anything like I used to. I've grown out my hair out like Jeff Bridges in THE BIG LEBOWSKI and I'm older. Perhaps a bit wiser as well.
I have a new granddaughter who is a delight. Beyond a rift with her parents that lasted nearly a year without communication, her birth seemed to resolve everything as Servpro says: like it never even happened.
I have five books now available as ebooks and in paperback. One is actually a trilogy called BOMBING, the culmination of a life-long dream of telling the story of what it was like to fly bombing missions over Occupied Europe and subsequently about the effort to burn Japan to the ground. The first two chronicle the life of John Hollis, a pilot. The first appropriately titled BOMBING and the second, THE BUSINESS OF KILLING continues his journey. The third is titled WHEN WE WERE YOUNG, the story of Hollis's bombardier after he bails out into France.  The first two have had excellent reviews. While some Facebook critics harp on the fact that there are so many books on bombing in the Second World War already, I've always believed that there can never be enough words written to describe what went on during the war. Very soon those who took part in that cataclysmic event will all be gone and no one will be alive to tell us as eyewitnesses what happened. Someone needs to keep those voices alive. The trilogy was my way of speaking for them.
My book, entitled HOW COULD YOU is the story of  murder and privilege. It is based on true events.
THIRTEEN DAYS is a novella that describes love and loss.
I am currently working on a novel about elephants and poaching. Elephants are so like us, I have found in my research, that killing them is tantamount to murder.  It's appropriately called IVORY. It won't be ready for some time.
There are other projects that will keep me writing till I die.

Islam, the New Black

Islam, the New Black

 

I am confused. Any religion that abides by wonton rape and riot is no ‘religion of peace,’ one of the most incredible, ignorant statements ever made. Rape of infidel women and eradication of homosexuality are codified in the Qur’an. You can look it up.

Holocaust and the Jews? How about Holocaust for the Yazidis or any enclave of Christians in the Middle East?

For a political movement that thinks political discourse is a contact sport and the vagina is the seat of all power and reason, the Left shows rigid, almost visceral intolerance for any opinion but its own.

Which makes their tacit acceptance of Muslim women in subservient roles, child abuse manifested as teenage marriage, lopping heads off as a new outdoor sport and pitching homosexuals off rooftops so mystifying; especially so in the recent era of mandated equality for each small group of aggrieved citizens, real or imagined.  How can they be true to their faith, Progressivism, and abide by these dictates of religion?  Any religion. Failure to protest is implicit approval. Their silence speaks volumes about who they really are. Democrats, I mean

Were Episcopalians to suddenly and inexplicably embrace female circumcision as a tenant of their religion, the outcry would be deafening. Yet the Left steadfastly embraces abortion as if it is one of the Commandments. Is there a contradiction I am not getting?

My explanation is guilt. The Left is driven by an unassuaged guilt. Huey Long guilt. George Wallace guilt. KKK and lynching guilt. Rosa Parks to the back of the bus guilt. For Democrats, it is the byproduct of civil rights self-awareness and the post-Lyndon Johnson America which rendered millions of people subordinate. Today their guilt is a scream only they can hear. Still, with all the sordid history of Democrats and race, such hypocritical acceptance should not be surprising. So, I believe their behavior is either explained by a crushing subliminal guilt or a bizarre mutation in their collective DNA

 

Define Trump

I've heard it recently stated that President Trump is a nationalist. Some, in contrast, say he is a patriot. They say nationalist like it's a dirty word. Nationalist-Socialist. Does it ring a bell? But are they mutually exclusive? Or in subtle ways, do they go hand in hand? Is this some sort of name-calling?

 

After years of being old America is the prime-mover for what is wrong with the world,  many citizens find this new attitude refreshing. Trump's critics have had a withering assault on the man since before he took office. It is hard to imagine what might have happened if Obama had gotten the same treatment in his first month is office.

 

Just sayin'

The NFL's Deflated Balls

 

 

 

 

 

Today is the Super Bowl. Ho hum. Does anybody outside of New England and Georgia really care? Do we really think Lady Gaga will pass up the opportunity to make a political statement on the nation's biggest stage? I now where my money is. Viewership is down and if you look at the stands there seem to be a lot of empty seats. So why the decline? Politics. The NFL has lost control of their game and may never get it back. Why? No balls.

Colin Kaepernick decides he is going to take a knee during the anthem. Soon dozens of others are following suit. Instead of saying 'show respect during the anthem or you are benched,' They turn a blind eye and end up giving it tacit approval. Five Dallas police officers are gunned down and the Cowboys were forbidden to honor these fallen men by putting their names on the backs of their helmets by the NFL. Every October teams wear pink for breast cancer. Laudable, I guess but how about purple for pancreatic cancer or brown for colon cancer?  Their audience is simply tired of it.

I wonder if football's best days are behind them. This season I watched nary a game start to finish.

Don't get me started on concussion protocols or ignoring decades of fan loyalty by moving teams to bigger markets that can afford newer stadiums or all the damned commercials. Even the Romans eventually grew bored of the gladiators. Nice run, NFL. If you had any balls you'd fix this.

Pitchers and catchers report any day now. Go Cubs.

Immigrants

Immigrants

I've heard it said that admitting the immigrants/refugees from the chaos in the Middle East is analogous to taking in the Jews escaping Nazi Germany.  This is specious. No serious person can deny the horror both faced. The Jews were being rounded up by oppressors in an organized, systematic effort to exterminate them. The muslims in the Syria and elsewhere are being killed by other muslims. Not because of any prejudice but simply because they are in the way.  The true analog is the Christians being persecuted by the radical Islamists. My heart goes out to all of these victims. Should we let them in? Sure. As long as they promise not to kill us.