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Book Description

Publication Date: May 20, 2013

A novella of 12,000 words and 45 pages. This is a work of historical romance, written by the adventurer and businessman Norman Rogers. It is the story of a British general who has been sent to India to win over the entire country--men, women, savages and innocents.

All Politics is Still Local

Don't you just love it when a Republican is faced with the reality of having to actually live in a world where people have to cooperate with one another in order to get things done?

In the wake of any disaster, a Senator's principled stand against wasteful government spending and for conservative ideology is not going to give people food and shelter. Expecting people who are numbed and dazed and walking through the rubble is not the moment to start spouting off about bootstraps and government is the problem and not in my backyard.

When the Americans affected by Hurricane Sandy were counted, they were counted as Blue State voters from the Northeast, and no one should be confused about how an Oklahoma Senator feels about sending Federal aid to help people of that ilk. They bitched and screamed and voted AGAINST their fellow Americans. Now, with devastation all around, Senators Tom Coburn and James Inhofe have a big albatross hanging around their necks, and that albatross is the dickishness of their own hatred for anyone from a Blue State.

Ethics and values? From Inhofe and Coburn? Get the hell out of here. These two men are self-serving money machines, enriching themselves at the expense of anyone and everyone. What frauds. What crooks. What hypocrites.

As bad as I feel for the people of Oklahoma, why should anyone help them? If they want to keep sending conservative Senators to Congress, I suppose there are some who would say that we should let them suffer for their choices. In reality, no. This country is not going to turn its back on them the way their Senators turned their backs on the people in New Jersey. We don't do that.

A little self-awareness is needed here. If you voted for someone who espouses an ideology of telling people to fend for themselves, then have the decency to acknowledge that someone actually did something to try and help you. The Red Cross is already there. FEMA is on the way. People are going to get taken care of and homes are going to be rebuilt. Americans are not going to let Oklahomans starve or rot.

Maybe, just maybe, in the next election, voters in Oklahoma should think about which party sticks it to Americans in need and which party sends people to help no matter what it costs. Is that asking too much?

You Are Not Going to Mars

What the hell is this about?

A one-way trip to Mars sounds like something you'd wish on your worst enemy — so why would more than 78,000 people from around the world pay up to $75 for a chance to die on another planet?

"I can say I have an ulterior motive," said David Brin, who has written more than a dozen science-fiction novels — including "The Postman," which was turned into a Kevin Costner movie in 1997. "I'd get a lot of writing done, and it might be memorable."

This cannot be happening. Purely from a common sense standpoint, there's no way we should allow for a "one way trip" to Mars to happen. And here's why.

As soon as the trip is over, everyone is going to start bawling. The unfairness of it all will set in. "I had no idea how wonderful this experience was going to be and NOW I WANT TO LIVE." As soon as the thing happens, and it is time to die on Mars, this whole planet is going to be up in arms, emotionally, about sending a rescue mission. "I just want to live! Please save me!" and all that nonsense.

There are not enough hard hearted people around to tell whoever signed up for their trip to Mars to suck it up. We will end up spending $67 billion dollars to save them and then, when all is said and done, we'll see people being recruited for that one way trip to Jupiter.

Did it Occur to Anyone That Sarah Palin Might be Dumb?

You know, I don't think Sarah Palin is even trying anymore.

Sarah Palin is campaigning again. Despite getting defeated five years ago because nobody took her seriously, she still hasn’t thought about changing her tactics.

Since 2008, the former Alaskan half term governor has been the voice and face of Obama bashers nationwide, carrying that torch right into her political grave.

Her latest dumb attention ploy: She posted a letter to President Obama on Facebook, much in the way teenage girls do while complaining Joe Jonas didn’t respond to their YouTube video inviting him to prom. In the letter, Palin, fishing for either a Senate seat or perhaps another job as a Fox News correspondent, said Obama is behind a “scandalous hat trick” in Washington and that he should carry his own umbrellas.

I wrote a few days ago about how President Obama benefits from having incompetent enemies. I don't think Palin could even rise to that level. She's a mere troll, and trolls, like deficits, don't matter.

If you're going to write something about someone, and criticize the fact that there was a person holding an umbrella for them, you should probably think about whether or not there are pictures of you where someone is holding an umbrella over your head. You should really double down for more than eight seconds and think about that. It would inform your commentary and help you build credibility if you did that. Because if you realized, oh, crap--there are published photos of people holding umbrellas for me so I'd better not criticize someone who is trying to give a speech next to an official from a foreign country and conduct some diplomacy like a real adult--I'd better not say anything!

You know, that would be a moment of self-awareness and responsibility. It would be a moment where you could signal the world that you're a thoughtful person. And, hey, then it might be a moment where you could prove that you're not dumb.

That moment passed for poor Sarah, and Princess Dumbass of the North Woods had another FAIL this past week. Forever and ever, the power and the glory, and for thine everlasting, Amen. Or something like that. I mean, wow. Take a knee and breathe slowly.

Sarah Palin is just dumb. That's all there is to it.

Why Did the Policeman Shoot Eight Times?

The death of Andrea Rebello at Hofstra University was an occurrence that is actually becoming more rare all the time. Gun violence is, apparently, decreasing and violent crimes are being reduced all over the country. But this tragedy has taken a serious detour into an area that transcends a discussion about crime and guns.

Rebello was, apparently, shot by the police officer who killed the man who was holding her hostage. Dalton Smith, a violent criminal who had in his possession a gun with no serial numbers, was threatening to kill Rebello. The police officer responded and opened fire when the gun was pointed at him.

This is where you have to ask--why eight shots? Wasn't it possible to put Smith down with fewer shots than that? Was there a struggle in a closed or confined area? He had her in a headlock--should the police officer have backed away? Should he have fired at all?

The police officer hit Smith seven times, but hit Rebello once in the head. If he shot her in the head by accident, while trying to put Smith down, okay. There is probably a reasonable scenario where this could have happened. But the two witnesses who were there are dead and the police officer fired eight times.

It would be interesting to see if someone can speak to what happened. I have no doubt in my mind that Smith should have been shot; I'm left wondering why it took eight shots to solve this incident. Would a single, non-lethal shot have been better?

If so, we need to find that weapon and see if we can get the police to use that from now on.

The German Dialect of Texas

This piece from the BBC is fascinating. It details something that I came into contact with in the late 1990s when I lived in San Antonio.

The first German settlers arrived in Texas over 150 years ago and successfully passed on their native language throughout the generations - until now.

German was the main language used in schools, churches and businesses around the hill country between Austin and San Antonio. But two world wars and the resulting drop in the standing of German meant that the fifth and sixth generation of immigrants did not pass it on to their children.

Still the biggest ancestry group in the US, according to Census data, a large majority of German-Americans never learned the language of their ancestors.

Hans Boas, a linguistic and German professor at the University of Texas, has made it his mission to record as many speakers of German in the Lone Star State as he can before the last generation of Texas Germans passes away.

The population found in the hill country developed a dialect that was distinct, but still German. They brought "oom-pah" music to Texas and this roughly evolved into Tejano music. If you've ever wondered about the heritage of Mexican and Tejano music, think of polka music and add Spanish.

I'm telling you, if it wasn't for the unGodly heat, I'd go back to Texas.

An American Lion

Rampage of the Innocents

Rampage of the Innocents [Kindle Edition]