Blogging about Writing---mine and others'

Sour Grapes and Sweet Leaves

2/10/2025

It’s been over three months since I wrote in this blog. There are at least two reasons. One, I simply haven’t been writing anything. The urge to write has been missing. I’ve gone through a phase where I fat-finger everything, even worse than the problem I illustrated here back in July. But now it seems that the problem has been mitigated, somehow, and I can do a little writing again. I’ve been adding to the fantasy novel lately.
The other reason is just depression. I spent time and effort listing reasons why people should not vote for Donald Trump, and many did. I know of at least one person who reads this blog voted for Trump. Very depressing. Very discouraging. Over ninety million people voted for a man who was successfully sued for sexual assault, convicted of 34 felony counts, and indicted on violations of the Espionage Act. A man who was called an idiot by many of the people that worked for him. Many others vowed they would never vote for him again, yet too many did. And now he’s given power to an ex-illegal alien who became a citizen in 2002 and is now tearing apart agencies and services millions of American citizens and others world-wide depend for health and food and financial protection. Many of these moves are blatantly illegal because Trump does not have the Constitutional authority to do what he's doing. Law suits are being filed by many separate entities.
Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of over 1500 people convicted or indicted for their activities at the Capitol on January 6. Men guilty of violent crimes are now running around free. He had originally said it would be only the non-violent offenders, but then he changed his mind (such as there is) and released them all. My opinion: He’s too friggin’ lazy to go through the process of making decisions on each individual. It’s going to get worse.
My prediction over the term of Trump’s Presidency is that many more Americans will be harmed by the decisions of Trump and his henchmen than will benefit.
On a cheerier note, the new publication of my fantasy novel Prophecy of Honor, will be launched Feb. 12. Two days from now!! The link for preorders, plus where and how it will be available (hardback, paperback, digital) is here:
(https://waterdragonpublishing.com/prophecy-of-honor).
Is the book worth reading? Well, it’s been judged by two different publishers as worth the expense of publication, so, yeah, it is.
Prophecy of Honor is an excellent choice for any reader that is curious about fantasy but not sure if they want to tackle the project. Or, someone who doesn’t want to read fantasy because they don’t want to read about dragons, elves, witches, or potions, this is the one for them. This book has none of those things, plus, it’s much shorter than your regular fantasy book.
And for dedicated fantasy readers, despite those exceptions, it’s still a really good story.
Trust me.
Please go to my home page to see the new cover, and thanks for reading.

0 Comments

Last on Politics 2024

10/22/2024

0 Comments

Here’s another observation on the big lie told by Trump and other rabid far-right Republicans that insist that “The Democrats” stole the election. Does anyone in their right mind really believe that the Democratic Party could organize so efficiently, across so many states, to actually steal votes from the Republican Presidential candidate without leaving any evidence?
Plus!: A conspiracy so obviously effective that not one conspirator, either before or up to four years after, has ever bragged or confessed their knowledge of the deed? Really?
I saw a funny yard sign today. It proclaimed: Trump—Safe; Harris---Crime.
Pretty hilarious considering that Harris was a prosecutor and Trump is a convicted felon on 34 counts of fraudulent business practices and record keeping, and has been indicted on three more felony counts concerning his theft of official documents.
Yes, Donald Trump, convicted felon, took official documents from the White House and stored them without security in his residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. That was not a crime, it was just malfeasance, or carelessness. Many recent Presidents, and Vice Presidents have taken documents off the property. But the others, when discovered, wasted no time in returning them to the National Archives.
The crime is that Donald Trump first denied having the documents, then refusing to hand them over, and then, after warrants were issued and the Dept. of Justice came to claim them, Trump or his people hid them, but claimed they were all taken. After a year and a half, when the DOJ realized there were still more documents, they found another 36 boxes of classified documents. Further searches later found still more, in a storage room in a bathroom and in desk drawers. Some of these documents were so sensitive, the FBI agents retrieving them had to get additional clearance just to open them to confirm their contents.
So, Donald Trump has hundreds of classified documents, some marked Top Secret, just lying around his residence, available to be read by anyone, including cleaning people, kitchen help, visiting officials from another country. Why would anyone want an irresponsible man like that to be President? Here’s a link to the info on the documents case: https://apnews.com/article/biden-donald-trump-mar-a-lago-subpoenas-b8082283fc599738c92d1f1ec8680924
Speaking of responsibility, let’s not forget Trump’s quote, “I take no responsibility at all.”
Lately, Trump has taken to calling himself a victim. He has said, quote, "No politician in history — and I say this with great surety — has been treated worse or more unfairly," than he has. He has stated that even Abraham Lincoln, who was assassinated, wasn’t treated as bad as he, Trump, has been treated. He is constantly claiming to be a victim. Why would anyone want to vote for a man who constantly whines about being a victim?
Here's a few more considerations to…well, consider.
Liz Cheney is a staunch conservative. She disagrees with Kamala Harris on most if not all policy views. So does her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, yet, they are both supporting Kamala Harris in this election because they are convinced that Donald Trump is an absolute threat to American democracy and the Security of the Unite States. So even if you’re a died-in-the-wool right-wing conservative life-long member of the Republican Party, You can still vote for Kamal Harris without guilt.
Eight people that worked in the Trump White House now support Kamala Harris. I’m not going to include them all here. Plus, Trump’s Vice President, Mike Pence, will not support Trump.
Five people that served at Cabinet level positions oppose Trump’s candidacy for President. Eleven other people that worked in the Executive Branch of Trump’s administration endorse Kamala Harris.
And get this: According to Wikipedia, Andrew McCabe, Acting Director of the FBI thinks Donald Trump may be a Russian Asset.
Please click on this link to check on the information in the previous three paragraphs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Republicans_who_oppose_the_Donald_Trump_2024_presidential_campaign
When he was still campaigning against Joe Biden, Trump implied that 80-year-olds couldn’t be trusted to sign important documents. If elected, Donald Trump would be 80 years old two years into his Presidency. He’s making a case that he can't be trusted to sign anything important. The nonsense coming out of his mouth lately also make the case that he can’t be trusted to say anything important.
Here's an obvious opinion: this Presidential election will be decided by two types of people: the ones that value and respect American democracy and the Constitution, or the ones that vote for Trump. Let’s hope the first far outnumber the second.
Thanks for reading. And if you care to forward or link these blog entries before the election, thank you for that, too.

0 Comments

End of Summer

9/19/2024

0 Comments

Almost immediately after the election in 2020, before all the votes were totaled, at least 100 people—the Supervisor of Elections and the Governor of each of the fifty states—all declared that the election was the most secure and accurate of any election in U.S. history. Again, at least one hundred people, Republicans, Democrats, maybe even some Independents, all declared that the election was the most secure and accurate ever.
Then, after the counts were announced, one man—ONE man--the Loser declared that there was election fraud based solely on the fact that he lost. He insisted that if there had been no election fraud, he would have won; that he could not have lost unless there was election fraud.
Even before the election he declared that , “…the only way we’re going to lose this election is if the election is rigged,” Trump told the group of supporters …” He was setting up his challenge even before the election.
He had no other evidence…no evidence at all, since his childish conclusion that he could not have lost an honest election is not evidence of election tampering.
At no time, ever, has Donald Trump or his lawyers presented any evidence of election “rigging.”
He was challenged on that at the debate. He declared, as he has many times before, that he had lots of evidence, but no judge ever looked at the evidence. Sixty different court hearings, many of them in front of judges appointed by Trump, yet none of them looked at any evidence. There’s a good reason for that. Judges can’t look at something that does not exist!
In over sixty court hearings no one has ever produced any evidence that there was the kind of election fraud that could have influenced the vote to the degree Trump insisted. Even his own Attorney General, William Barr, told Trump there was no indication of the massive fraud it would have taken to skew the vote. During the many total recounts of state’s ballots, most or all of them conducted by Republicans very little voter fraud was discovered, and most of those favored Trump.
His continued insistence of election rigging is a lie.
Here’s another piece of evidence that there was no election interference:
If you’ve voted, you know that all the votes are on the same ballot. If you vote for President, you’ll also vote for Senator, Congressman, and various state and local offices. All on the same ballot.
This means that if, as Trump and his henchmen insist, ballots were thrown out, votes for all those offices must have also been thrown out. Some of the more rabid Republicans have said that the Democrats have stolen the election and plan on stealing the one coming up.
If the Democrats stole the election, why did the Democrats lose ten seats in Congress in that election, and the Republicans gain sixteen seats? Five seats were vacant plus one was held by a Libertarian. All six went to the Republicans.
It is absolutely impossible that those seats were won by the Republicans if the Democrats stole the election.
The obvious fact is that thousands or millions of Republicans voted the party ticket, except for the Presidency, where they voted for Biden.
Kamala Harris was right when she told Trump that he was fired by 81 million people.
That pretty much wraps up the message I’ve wanted to convey. I have a few more points to bring up, but that will be next time.
For this time, please remember that in these last three postings I’ve presented facts, not opinions.

0 Comments

Labor Day Labors

9/2/2024

0 Comments

First, I want to point out the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the Constitution. Quote: No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State. The Foreign Emoluments Clause prohibits federal officers from accepting foreign emoluments without congressional consent.
It’s important to understand that vocabulary in the 1770s was different that it is now. However, the italicized portion is pretty clear, and the last two words are key. No person holding any office may accept any emolument of any kind from a foreign state.
Emoluments are defined as payment for product, labor or service. Service is the key in this case, because that includes staying at a hotel. When you stay at a hotel, motel, bed and breakfast, or even paying for a portion of land for camping, you’re paying for a service. So, every time that an ambassador, consul, attorney, secretary, or other employee of a foreign power paid Trump Enterprises for staying at a room in his hotels or playing at his golf club, some of that money went to Donald Trump and Trump, thereby, was in violation of the Constitution. And he knew that very well. How do we know that the fee for that stay wasn’t enhanced by, say half a million dollars in exchange for political favors, or maybe military information?
We don’t.
In September, 2016, I’d predicted that Trump would drop out of the election because the Emoluments clause of the Constitution would require him to divest himself of his income properties—hotels, golf courses, etc. At the time I had not accounted for the fact that Trump did not care about what the Constitution demanded. He turned the administration of those properties over to his children or family, but he did not remove himself from the profit-taking of all income from those properties.
There is also a Domestic Emoluments Clause, also known as the Presidential Emoluments Clause, which states that the President will get paid for his service, but will not receive any other Emolument from the United States, or any individual state. But the Trump properties charged the Secret Service (The U.S.) for staying at the properties. That was a willful violation of this Emoluments Clause.
Another violation of the Constitution was on June 1, 2020, when Trump ordered the dispersal of a crowd of peaceful protestors outside the White House so he could walk over to St. John’s Episcopal Church for a photo op, thus violating the First Amendment’s provision for freedom of Assembly.
Donald Trump, like every President before him, or since, took an oath to defend the Constitution. A person can’t defend it if he’s violating it.
Yet, millions of people in this country are willing to forgive or ignore those violations, or refuse to believe them because their favored news sources don’t mention them.
Lastly, for now, in December of 2022, Donald Trump, still insisting on the Big Lie Of his election loss, declared that, quote, “… Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution,”
I have said in the past, vocally and in writing, that if you support Donald Trump, you cannot support the Constitution, and if you support the Constitution, you cannot support Donald Trump. This quote, plus his violations of the Constitution as listed above, are the reasons I insist this is the case.
Next time, I’ll point out a few things about his Big Lie concerning his election loss. In the meantime, please read.

0 Comments

Politics...and other stuff

8/11/2024

0 Comments

Okay, first of all, the optimism for publication by Water Dragon Press has been renewed. I get a monthly newsletter from them, and Prophecy of Honor was included among their future publications. No cover yet, but I’m hopeful it’ll see publication in time for the Christmas market.
I’ve continued to work on Lying Swords, Book Two, but slowly. Or perhaps that should read “slloooowwlly.” I think about it for a few days, write what I decided, then think about it for a few more days, write, and repeat.
My reading continues on Book Two of The Dreamers series by Eddings and Eddings.
Now, as promised(or threatened), politics: Both Republicans (“Rethuglicans”) as some left-wingers call them, and Democrats (“Demon-crats”) as some right-wingers call them, both insist this is the most important Presidential election of our lifetimes. They may be right; though, depending on your age, there may be a more important one somewhere in the future.
As for this one, I have advice and a plea. The advice is Do NOT get all your election information from Fox News, Newsmax, or other right-wing sources. Same goes for social media. If you listen (or, better, read) to right-wing sources, also get contents from left-wing and moderate sources.
I’ll tell one fact that is absolutely for sure. Fox News lies. They had to pay about $7 million for lying about the Dominion voting machines in the 2020 election. One of Fox’s best (for them) strategies is to tell their viewers that other media, what they call the “mainstream media” tells only lies or won’t reveal all the story that is beneficial to right-wing purposes. This is called political gaslighting. I’m not saying that the left-wing or moderate media do not do this, but there is no doubt that Fox News and other right-wing news sources do.
Back in the days of the Soviet Union, there was something called Radio Free Europe, that broadcast primarily to the satellite nations of Russia, and Russia itself, broadcasting the truth about the western countries, including America, Great Britain, France, etc. At the same time, the Russian propaganda machine, called Pravda (the Russian word for “truth.”), broadcast their insistence to their citizens that everything they heard from the West was a lie, or that the West never told all the truth. Fox now uses that same tactic, declaring that the Main Stream Media should not be believed.
For example, people that depend only on right-wing media believe that Donald Trump doesn’t lie any more often than the other candidates, nor did he lie more than others during his Presidency. In fact, Trump told over 30 thousand lies, misstatements, or gross exaggerations during his four years in office. That number is from professional fact-checkers that are not interested in any political agenda. Their only agenda is revealing the misstatements (intentional or not) of public declarations, political or not.
Those broadcasts from Radio Free Europe had a role in the West winning the Cold War.
If you want to check any statements made by any politician or candidate, please go to Snopes.com., Plotifact.com, Truth or Fiction.com or many others. I know that many Fox devotees will say that one or more of these sites, especially Snopes, are liberal sites. Not true. They are all interested in just the facts for the purpose of keeping people informed of the truth and not misinformed by lies. As some have pointed out, facts have a liberal bias.
I noticed that when that young man tried to shoot Donald Trump, many Republicans and especially MAGAts (MAGAts is a contraction of MAGA and hats) were quick to blame “them” and, of course, Democrats. The fact that the young man was a registered Republican took the wind out of those sails. They still don’t have a clear motive. My own opinion, developed in the first two days after the shooting, is that it was similar to the John Hinckley motivation. Not that he wanted to impress Jodie Foster, but I suspect he wanted to impress somebody or somebodies. He'd have done better if he's just spent a lot of time at a shooting range and marked up some really good target sheets.
Next time, hopefully in two weeks or less, I’ll get into some specifics about former President Donald Trump and just some of how extensive those concerns might reach.

0 Comments

<<Previous

Sour Grapes and Sweet Leaves

Last on Politics 2024

End of Summer

Labor Day Labors

Politics...and other stuff

Author

I'm a former teacher and current warehouse grunt that loves writing.

Archive

Categories

Sour Grapes and Sweet Leaves

Last on Politics 2024

End of Summer

Labor Day Labors

Politics...and other stuff

AuthorI'm a former teacher and current warehouse grunt that loves writing.

Archive

Categories

Author

I'm a former teacher and current warehouse grunt that loves writing.