Clarification On Some Posts.

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The time has come to clear up an issue that has dogged my writing here of late: my feelings on government.

It is my firm belief that the founders of this country would be appalled by the level of surveillance and intrusion that our government (local, state, and federal) employs against its own people.

I refer to domestic surveillance. Frankly, we can’t snoop and spy enough on anyone outside our borders. The more the merrier. But then keep your mouth shut about the results. Quit bragging about what a great job we’re doing in reading other people’s mail. They call it covert for a reason. Let’s keep it that way.

Inside our borders The Constitution prohibits searches without warrants. It’s that simple. Gathering data for future use and then going retro on the use of that data is not constitutional. Period.

I do not dislike cops, NSA employees, CIA employees, or any of the other government workers who keep people safe. I do resent the nonsense that we need to give all of the above the keys to our houses and invite unlawful search in the hopes that it will keep us “safer” if such a thing is even logical.

I’ve been a member of some of the above tribes in my lifetime. Proud of the work I did, proud of the people I worked with back then. I know that 99% of the people doing those jobs are great people today. The problem is the way they are being used and directed from above by politicians.

It is a very thin line that separates tyranny and freedom. Evil, and the pursuit of power for the sake of power, go hand in hand. Some will always crave that control over others for all the wrong reasons. We must at all times observe that line and not cross it willingly. If we see that we’ve stepped across it we’d better hop back and darken the line so we can see it more clearly the next time around. I fear we have crossed the line on a daily basis of late. Let’s hop back, get out the paint brush, and darken the line.

That is all.

Ha! Look Over There – A Flying Moon Robot!

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That quote came from Jay Carney today as the White House continued its strategic campaign of leaks that damage national security (I may have misheard part of that, but it’s close). Today’s whopper, designed to show just how wonderful the National Security Agency is, and how they should be unfettered so that they can spy on us a bit more, is that they nailed down a conversation between Iman Zawahari and his pet monkey in Yemen.

This is part of the “Boy, we couldn’t do much in Benghazi but we sure learned some lessons and now we’re right on top of it” campaign that the White House has launched.

Two little problems with that whole scenario:

1. When you tell the world what a great job you did intercepting a specific conversation between two named individuals you kind of blow that as a resource for the next time around. Millions down the drain, source blown, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. The same thing as when Kid Kourage ran out to the stage and said, “I killed Osama! Ain’t that cool?” just hours after the raid. I’m sure there are still analysts who would like to strangle him for blowing that potential gold mine all to Hades and back.

2. Closing our embassies until the end of Ramadan sends a very clear signal to the swine (yeah, picked that term on purpose) in the terrorist world: You can scare us into running away. We are afraid of you. (This is truly a formidable thing to do on the heels of Benghazi where we just let our people die and we’ve not yet scooped up the culprits.)

I defy anyone with knowledge of SIGINT or the Arab world to tell me anything but that this is a totally failed administration in foreign policy. Any random 50 people from the first half of the Saint Paul phone book could do a better job.

I’m just disgusted with the whole mob. The cowards across the aisle on the Republican side of the house are almost as big a waste of space. They should be baying at the moon over this stuff, but they’re afraid they’ll look partisan.

Guys – that’s what the “Loyal Opposition” is supposed to do in this case.

Cinnamon Roll French Toast at the Daily Diner Frogtown. We needed something positive here.

We Interrupt This Edit –

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to go on a killing spree at my church. I spent some quality time with my weapons this morning and made sure they were in good working order. Put together a package of reloads and I’m wearing the kind of comfortable clothes that you’d pick for your last hours on the planet.

Before you call the police, it’s weeds we’re exterminating. And dogged if I’m wearing a suit to spray Roundup.

But that initial paragraph probably has some people fanning themselves with the vapors. Good. It was an experiment in writing. Christian writing. Let me explain.

Many of the books you think of as Christian literature are probably the ones with cute Amish girls on the cover. Or, perhaps a time out of time novel about Elizabethan England. Have you taken a look at what some of the best authors on the market are writing? People like Janice Cantore and James Rubart? (He’s a good friend of my partner Larry W. Timm) Gritty stuff with tons of action and real plots. Not that the historicals don’t have plots, but mass murder and serial killers are more the work of Alton Gansky than – well, no names. I have friends that write those books and this is not meant to be an insult.

The Christian fiction world has room for everyone, including writers of Steampunk and Alternative History. The entire literary scene is there including zombies, werewolves, and vampires. But not the cute kind you get in the secular world. If you want a book that challenges your perception of Christian fiction and gets you moving you can find it if you do a little bit of looking.

My opening paragraph sounded bloody and violent. But that’s because you filled in the blanks.I was always talking about spraying weeds. At a church. But what happens when I get there and the Deacon is dead in the parking lot? What if the Pastor is covered in blood and doesn’t remember where he’s been since service let out on Sunday? What if a troop of Jihadist scum are planting a bomb under the choir stands when I show up?

That’s what modern Christian literature is about – life. Action. Excitement.

Get out of your rut today and go to the internet for a search on contemporary Christian fiction. Find something with a Christian world view that trips your hammer.

I’ll be out spraying weeds. But when I get home, there’s a book about flamethrowers and a Baptist church that needs further editing.

Sponsorship Sunday – Week Thirteen – Bondja

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Thanks for dropping in for Sponsorship Sunday. We’re up to lucky 13 – no superstitions on that one. Don’t do that whole “unlucky number” bit.

Please follow me on Twitter, and “Like” the Facebook author page.

Every one of the children we feature on this blog is in need of your financial support. Grace Village, the home where they live, is growing constantly and is working on improvements in the medical clinic. If you can’t do a whole sponsorship, or that’s not your “bag” give some thought to going to this link and donating to the clinic on site. Right now they’re fundraising for a digital x-ray machine for the dental clinic.

Thank you in advance for your kindness.

This week’s child is: Bondja

Bondja

Bondja is a happy little boy with an infectious smile. Bondja loves to challenge the other kids at a game of basketball, soccer or just about any playground activity. Bondja is a good student who enjoys math and singing. Bondja loves when they serve rice at the feeding center and he is known to have a healthy appetite. Bondja wants to be an engineer when he grows up so that he can build things. Bondja’s prayer request is that he can finish school.

Bondja came to Healing Haiti in June, 2012. Bondja is an orphan who was rescued from an abusive situation.

Birth Info
Birthdate: Unknown
Place of Birth: Unknown

It is my hope that one of you will find your heart touched by this child and take up a bit of Christ’s work by sponsoring them for an extended period. My wife and I are sponsoring a pair of sisters and we took on the commitment based on having to only gave up a fast-food dinner each day to change the life of a child. God came through with a very lucrative bit of voice over work for me that covered the bill that same day, but it really is as easy as skipping a value meal. Healing Haiti will do the right things for these children and I have full confidence in their work. I am not affiliated with them, they don’t endorse this blog, nothing like that at all. I just love kids (can’t be Santa and not love children) and know that Grace Village is the difference between life and death for many of these children. Please open your heart and prayerfully reflect on the opportunity God’s giving us to sponsor these children. Some of them have come out of slavery and have some of the toughest lives you could imagine prior to Grace Village.

Just click the link and it will take you directly to the page where you can sponsor this week’s child. And if God is particularly good and that child is sponsored when you get there, please grab another smiling face and change their life instead. My goal is to put Sponsorship Sunday out of business as quickly as possible and take that day off each week. Thank you. God bless you for your generosity.

Some of the finest people you’ll ever meet. The hands and feet of Christ.

Wow. I Really Wrote That?

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I’m out on the patio working on an edit of the first book I wrote. I knew that there were some flaws with the way it was written, but I had no idea how much I’d learned in the past three years.

That makes me wonder what I don’t know yet. It’s actually fun to find bad prose and fix it up. This blog is full of bad prose on a regular basis, but I don’t heavily edit before publishing it for consumption. That can’t happen when you hope to sell the work to a publisher.

One thing that truly gratifies me is the core of the work in that first book. I’ve always said, and still feel, that this book was given to me by God. I read the good parts and wonder how that phrase or description ever graced the keyboard of a rookie writer. I cannot take credit for the good parts, only responsibility for the bad.

Closing out this week I’d like to gloat about two things and then leave on a high note:

1. Gee, Benghazi seems to be flaring! I’d written that post yesterday long before the news came out about the CIA in Libya. Maybe I do know what I’m talking about in the Arab world. Those who criticized me last fall for my writing – eh, that would be churlish. I’ll just let my contention that the Obama Administration is lying stand on its own. When the Clinton News Network (CNN) turns on a democrat like that there’s trouble afoot…

2. The readership for this crazy blog has doubled again. It seems to be doubling about every three months. We just hit the 40,000 hit per month mark (edited to take out heavy robot traffic) and I’m optimistic that we’ll see 100,000 per month by the end of the year. I thank you, my readers, for putting out the word and telling your friends and associates. The number of tweets and Facebook postings is going up all the time. I realize that you are the ones making this all work.

With that in mind, I’d like to solicit your input about the direction we travel together. I will continue to write two-five times each week, but I’d like to know what sorts of things you’d like to read. There has been a great response to the short stories I’ve done, the humor pieces, and the political stuff. But by far the dog stories are what you all respond to most. Just leave a comment about what you want to see more of on this site and I’ll try and work it in for the future.

My thanks and appreciation to each of you. The journey is just getting interesting and I’m glad you’re along for the trip.