1000th Post Coming In February

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Welcome back. My thanks to the many readers who communicated privately after the post about Ranger 12 and my two friends, Patrick Price and Craig Rudolph. It’s always nice to hear from you, but doubly nice when you were friends of friends.

Please follow me on Twitter, and “Like” the Facebook author page. Don’t forget to subscribe (the box is on the right side of the page) to be eligible for free e-books and other benefits! Oh yeah – grab a copy of Assault on Saint Agnes if you’re of a mind.

Today I’ll just throw out all sorts of dreck that’s been accumulating here in the bilges.

First, my dog Stormy really thinks I’m a smart guy. She, as a matter of fact, has accorded me the honor of having special mental powers. It seems that during my wife’s recent winter break in Florida, Stormy decided that not only could I read the meaning in her droppings on the rug, but I was capable, evidently, of reading her special script on the rug – the kind that can only be written in secret urine.

Resting her head on the tablet in question.

Yeah. She was mad that her best friend (mine as well) had headed south to get some sunshine. I even went the extra mile to put out the puppy pads for her. Nope. Off by just 7 or 8 inches every time. This from a dog who can bullseye a womp rat every time. Seriously, there are Marine snipers who aren’t able to put it on target quite like her. Evidently I’m not as smart as she thinks. But I do appreciate her faith in me. Thankfully, my wife returned last week and the decorating spree has ended.

Item next: I’ve started a new chapter in my writing – taxes.

Good grief. The pain in the butt to document everything to the government is mind-boggling. I didn’t make any money as an author last year. Yes, I sold books, but it’s not very lucrative unless you have a huge seller. I was not having fun doing the sales tax calculations (I keep good records, but you do have to cough it up to the state once a year) and spent a lot of hours on the task. But better to do it right than to get fined.

Speaking of fines, Amazon has somehow decided that 5 of my reviews were fakes and pulled them down. Seriously, I’m tempted to open 20 or 30 Amazon accounts with debit cards and flood them with reviews. They seem to think that’s what I’m doing now, so I might as well reap the reward. Not too many things in life make an author more indignant than having a 5 star review pulled because some algorithm says it’s probably fake. To the best of my knowledge, that brings me to 30 reviews they’ve nixed. I made that number up. I admit it. But it’s over 20, and who knows how many more never got posted because of some technical issue.

While I’m whining, let me touch on the subject of Bob Beckel. He’s back on The Five. Bob has the “fingers-in-his-ears-I-can’t-hear-you” thing going on all the time. He is the epitome of the guy who hears your first five words and then starts planning his rebuttal. I think I will be watching The Five a lot less in the near future.

Teaching. Ye Gods, but the wind in my hair is magnificent! Or something. I’ll be teaching at a national writing conference this fall. Very excited about the opportunity to let my experience with weapons and violence – that doesn’t sound quite right, but I’ll let it stand – benefit my fellow writers. If I can infuse some authenticity into their writing, we’ve all won. One of my topics is “How to kill your opponent with a roll of dimes.” Something like that: it’s on personal weaponry. Weapons of opportunity will be part of the lesson.

Writing. Yes, the sequel is in progress. I think it’s very good. I am also working on three other books at the same time. It might be later this year. I’d planned on it being this week, but life has a habit of getting in the way. I do promise to try. I’m optimistic about it happening.

Snow shoeing is a bust this month. Good grief. I live in Minnesota, and the snow stinks for outdoor activity due to the layer of ice under the surface. We had a couple of days of rain this month, and under the 2 inches of snow in my area you will find a two inch layer of solid ice. Even the pair of snow shoes with the crampons built in won’t grab on that stuff. Pray for snow. I have a race to train for this month. 20 days to go and I’m not nearly ready.

I think that’s enough blather for the moment. I promise a real blog later this week.

Thank you, again, to all the new readers who stopped by last week. I hope you’ll stick around for a while. It does get better.

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Assault on Saint Agnes is available here. Just click this link!

When you finish reading any book (especially mine) please review it at www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, and www.goodreads.com. Your review increases the chances of someone looking for a new book greatly. Authors appreciate your review, even if it is just “I thought this was a good read and will give it to my dog to chew. I especially liked the ending, because it made me feel better when he killed all of the main characters. (no spoilers, please)” Those few words (more than 20, fewer than 1,000 is ideal), and a 1-5 rating, make or break how the search engines find us. Thanks in advance.

I Stopped At The Spot Bar For A Drink With My Friends Pat & Craig.

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Thirty years ago two of my friends died in the crash of Ranger 12 on the U.S.S. Nimitz. They were Cryptologic Technicians Interpretive Third Class Craig Rudolph and Patrick Price. I talked about the story in a previous edition of Commotion In The Pews. Please take a read before continuing.

Please follow me on Twitter, and “Like” the Facebook author page. Don’t forget to subscribe (the box is on the right side of the page) to be eligible for free e-books and other benefits! Oh yeah – grab a copy of Assault on Saint Agnes if you’re of a mind.

Glad you’re back. Most of my friends from the Navy, who constitute most of my friends, knew these guys. Our group was very small, very select in terms of unique skills and clearances. As a result, when that plane went down, people across the globe shed a tear. From Adak, Alaska to Diego Garcia, someone in that Naval Security Group unit knew one of those guys.

Their deaths had a world shaking impact on their families. We were part of that family. On the 25th, many of my friends wrote blogs and posted on Facebook about the loss of this group of men. I did not.

Frankly, I had been dwelling on it for the last few weeks. Every year this anniversary brings to the surface a lot of emotions for me. Mainly of loss. Not only did we lose those guys thirty years ago, but my friend Pete checked himself out over a decade ago. He was with me on my first submarine mission when the deck of the Nimitz became the last sovereign territory of the United States where my friends touched the face of the Earth. Their next stop was the bottom of the Mediterranean. The bodies were never recovered.

Now, three decades later I finally got to have a drink with my friends. I’ve written about it for years, but on the 25th, at about the hour they died, I walked into the Spot Bar in Saint Paul and bought a round for my friends.

If you’ve never been in the military, or a cop/firefighter/EMT etc., it’s probably hard to understand this tradition.

You honor your friends by buying them a drink. You place their name next to the drinks. You make sure the bartender knows that the seat is theirs until closing time. I had a sip of beer and an Ouzo with my friends. It was good. They were guys who’d enjoy a Hamm’s and a shot. Especially since every spook I knew drank Ouzo when they were deployed.

After hoisting my glass, and downing my shot, I bid farewell to my friends until Memorial Day. I’ll think of them in the meantime. Can’t help it. Friends from my youth are getting thinner on the ground, thicker around the middle.

I left the bar in darkness and cold. It wasn’t just winter that enshrouded me: it was 1300 fathoms of sea water and thirty years of memories that they would never share.

Freedom doesn’t come free.

They paid for their seat at the bar 30 years ago.

Thank you, Ranger 12. And all the rest who have paid the ultimate price to give us freedom.
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Assault on Saint Agnes is available here. Just click this link!

When you finish reading any book (especially mine) please review it at www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, and www.goodreads.com. Your review increases the chances of someone looking for a new book greatly. Authors appreciate your review, even if it is just “I thought this was a good read and will give it to my dog to chew. I especially liked the ending, because it made me feel better when he killed all of the main characters. (no spoilers, please)” Those few words (more than 20, fewer than 1,000 is ideal), and a 1-5 rating, make or break how the search engines find us. Thanks in advance.

This’ll Be Brief.

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Now, if you go to a church like mine, you probably pushed away from the screen, went to the bathroom, grabbed a cup of coffee and took your shoes off. No problem with being comfortable for the long haul, right?

This message is to my friends on the left and right. You may not like the language, but I have to say it:

Knock that crap off. All of you! Stop it. Behave like adults. Quit the evil.

To the lefties: it does not help when you post fake twitter messages from Donald Trump. It does not help when you post false items about Melania’s jewelry being available on the White House website. It does not help when you say that Obamacare ended the first day and little children with epilepsy are now without coverage. It does not help when you equate some perceived injustice from the President with all white people. (I’m pretty white. I’m an ex-cop. I worked with the intelligence agencies. Believe me, if there was a memo that we were supposed to turn on all of you, I’m pretty sure I’d get a copy from one of the sources. So far, nothing of the sort.)

To the others (because most of you are establishment republicans, not conservatives, or just plain lunatics that hate everyone else) it isn’t good when you say that the first assassination attempt has failed but Al Sharpton was arrested in conjunction with it. It is not true that Chris Matthews is a simpering idiot who is the secret love child of Satan and Geraldo Rivera… well, that one might be true. But the point is that every time you post one of your nasty pictures of Obama, or some pointless remark about weighty women marching, you are just acting like a little child. Remember how mad you were when Obama and his crew continued to blame Bush for the next 8 years? Yeah. It’s just like that, doofus.

So, aside from picking on Chris Matthews and Geraldo Rivera, my point is that we have a new president. One who has repeatedly said that he wants to improve the lot of all Americans. He has made a point of reaching out the the black community, and is being mocked for that outreach. He has spoken often about the need for all citizens to be treated equally, and treated better than all the other people in the world within these borders. He has not called for harm to come to immigrants. He has not advocated genocide, rape, looting, Sharia law, or the defenestration of cathedrals with heretics.

If you insist on polarizing the situation from day one, you will find nothing gets better. And you will absolutely insure that he’s reelected in four years.

I was wrong about his chances the first time around (early on – later I saw the light) but if you want him sworn in again four years from now, keep up the name calling and belittling of his supporters. Keep saying that only storm-troopers and Sith Lords would vote for him. Keep showing up with giant, plastic sex toys glued to your forehead while telling us that we must be tolerant.

Try, all of you, to be civil to one another. It’s not easy. I fail often. But while you might think some of these things, it’s often best to maintain silence on the topic.

There, that was brief. A mere 572 words.

Weather Forecast: Melting Snowflakes

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Three hours from the time this posts we will have a new President. I will once again capitalize that word on purpose. I hope, and pray, that Donald J. Trump is blessed by God with wisdom, grace, and humor for his full time as President. I also wish good health to the outgoing Barack Hussein Obama. May he enjoy his retirement in privacy and reflection like his predecessors. I have a sneaking hunch that he will not do that, but one can hope.

Why am I thrilled this morning? Because last night I watched the concert and noticed a few things: Trump knew all the words to “God Bless The U.S.A.”, tapped his toe to the United States Army band when they played several marches I’ve crossed parade grounds to, and he got a Toby Keith performance tailored to his personality. (Mr. Keith, you were a class act last night! We have not agreed on politics, Sir, but never did I lose respect for you. Last night proved you are an American over all. I’ll be seeing you this summer!)

In addition, his visit to the Tomb of the Unknowns was moving.

In the audiences, at every stop, there were men, women, Asians, blacks, whites, kids, codgers, gay, straight, and every other dividing distinction. But what happens when you mix them all together? You get America. And America came out to cheer Donald Trump.

The whining, kvetching, and stupid behavior of the losing party are pathetic. I hope they open their eyes long enough to realize that the world didn’t end on November 8, and that this man does seem bent on uniting the populace.

So let’s melt some snowflakes with love for each other. Let’s not label by race, or gender, or income. Let’s gather as our best generations have done, and move to push this country forward. Let’s not support fabulist tales, in the news or social media, that destroy our bond as citizens.

I pray, fervently, that today is the beginning of the return of the best of American values.

God Bless the United States of America.
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Assault on Saint Agnes is available here. Just click this link to find all the options! (I recommend the autographed copy. It’s cheaper than from the big stores, I scribble in it, and you get it mailed within 5 days. We all win.

When you finish reading any book (especially mine) please review it at www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, and www.goodreads.com. Your review increases the chances of someone looking for a new book greatly. Authors appreciate your review, even if it is just “I thought this was a good read and will give it to my dog to chew. I especially liked the ending, because it made me feel better when he killed all of the main characters. (no spoilers, please)” Those few words (more than 20, fewer than 1,000 is ideal), and a 1-5 rating, make or break how the search engines find us. Thanks in advance.

Order For This Week: Lighten Up, Francis.

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This week will be a tough one for the sensitive snowflakes out there. Thankfully, I’m anything but sensitive. I have already put in my supply of popcorn and fizzy water. The DVR stands ready to record the hilarity that will be the next seven days.

Please follow me on Twitter, and “Like” the Facebook author page. Don’t forget to subscribe (the box is on the right side of the page) to be eligible for free e-books and other benefits! Oh yeah – grab a copy of Assault on Saint Agnes if you’re of a mind.

For those of you who haven’t been paying attention, I’m not a fan of the current administration. It pretty much peaked last week when Joe “But I didn’t mean to copy his stump speech and lie about my college education” Biden got a participation trophy in the form of the Presidential Medal of Freedom (with Distinction.)

While I cannot say that every person who ever got the award deserved it, Joe Biden is pretty much at the bottom of the list. I’d quote the Vice President, but it would offend my audience. Yes, Joe, it is a big ****** deal to get that medal. You, sir, are not really what President Kennedy had in mind when it was initiated. John Franklin Enders you ain’t.

So, on we go to the next four years. I just wonder if the press will question/slander the critics of Donald Trump as being racists if they aren’t 70 year old white guys from New York. Because that, sadly, has become the criteria for defaming your opponents: the race card.

I’d like to make a suggestion here: give the guy enough rope to hang himself before you build the scaffold. Strange, if I said that eight years ago I’d be a racist because of the tragic history of lynching in the deep south (and Duluth.) But, I digress.

I know that some have genuine concerns in their minds about what Donald Trump and his government hold in store for their group. I’ve talked to a few of you about it, privately, and I listened. Now, I beg you, listen to me for just a few minutes on my view of this impending change in our culture.

Sometimes the only way to get someone to quit shouting foul things at you is to shout back much louder than the other person. That is what the voters did last November 8th: the people who had been shouted at for being racist, misogynist, homophobic, and isolationist had hit the end of the tether. They are not, for the most part, any of the above. But they saw their core values being blown away for almost a decade, and much longer if you were to take popular culture into the account. Consequently they selected an imperfect man (which is true of all of us) to represent them for the next four years in the White House.

Trump, if you actually listen to him, is none of the above. He is, however, an example of a guy with a big pile of money and a low tolerance for nonsense – unless it’s his own. Is he/has he been a pig with some women? I’d say the odds are good as it’s currently defined by society. Then again, most men (not all) that I know have failed to meet the bar for every moment of their lives. Me included.

The other thing that is out of control is the “Trump did ….” Uh, nope. He didn’t do whatever it was. Did some loudmouth, drunken imbecile invoke his name in furtherance of their own quest for stupidity? Yes. Most of the incidents I’ve heard of about Trump’s supporters being evil/hateful are actually people who were evil/hateful before Trump was famous. Some go back centuries: the stupid among us who will use anything as their excuse for bad behavior. If you ignored them when their fathers invoked Ronald Reagan, and their grandfathers invoked Jack Kennedy, you can probably just figure they’re young/ignorant/drunk/jealous in some fashion of what others have. Again, usually related to being stupid.

Before you post it to your Twitter feed, or slam it up on your Facebook wall, do a little thinking. Wait an hour. See if reality sets in. If you’re honest with yourself, most of what you see that involves exclamation points and shouting is nonsense in the final analysis.

Here’s my final thought: Give him a chance to do the right things. So far, it seems that all the hate is based on supposition. I promise I’ll be yelling loudly if he breaks any laws. Probably more loudly than I did the last eight years, because I’m done being intimidated by the race card.

Yes, the race card. For eight years I’ve been too polite to go there, because it was a hair-trigger for some people. Instead of it going away with benign neglect, it became a weapon unlike any other I’ve seen in my time.

Most people in the United States, no matter the hue of their skin, are not haters. Troubled, afraid, nervous, but not likely to purposely hurt someone else based on race. I may be naive, but that’s what almost six decades have told me. Until eight years ago, you might have had a point about race being the core issue for some voters. Then a bunch of white people elected a black president.

A few months ago, a bunch of white people, and a substantial number of black people, who elected the first black president elected the next white president. If I continue to frame this based on race, I’ll be as obsessive and stupid as most of the press.

Brothers and sisters, we have to quit it. Quit seeing skin color as the deciding factor that other people use to make decisions. It’s no longer relevant. Besides, you aren’t a mind reader, and short of a Nazi salute, it’s kind of an iffy argument.

I despise a great number of people on political and ethical points, most of them white. I don’t think I could like Nancy Pelosi any less if she was bright blue and sucked salt out of your body.

Before you invoke the race card, make sure it’s the card you see being played. I disliked the last eight years for political, not racial, reasons. If you know me, you know that’s the truth. I’m with the guy, whom we celebrate today, on judging a man by the content of his character, not the color of his skin.

You see, it is entirely possible to be a white, Christian, heterosexual, veteran without giving up your ability to love your fellow man. We all lose sight of that on occasion when looking at “the other.” I don’t assume it because of your skin color, sexual orientation, or nationality. Please accord me, and Donald Trump, the same courtesy.

Now, go about your business. Go to work. Go to church. Go fishing. Get on with your life and quit fretting about what the idiot in the Oval Office is up to this day. Trust me, it’s not productive in the least.

Do your best. Pray. Be blessed. See you next week. The world will still be there, probably none the worse for the events of the coming seven days.

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Assault on Saint Agnes is available here. Just click this link to find all the options! (I recommend the autographed copy. It’s cheaper than from the big stores, I scribble in it, and you get it mailed within 5 days. We all win.

When you finish reading any book (especially mine) please review it at www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, and www.goodreads.com. Your review increases the chances of someone looking for a new book greatly. Authors appreciate your review, even if it is just “I thought this was a good read and will give it to my dog to chew. I especially liked the ending, because it made me feel better when he killed all of the main characters. (no spoilers, please)” Those few words (more than 20, fewer than 1,000 is ideal), and a 1-5 rating, make or break how the search engines find us. Thanks in advance.