Not my Monkeys, not my Circus

What Should I know about you as an Author?

Firstly, your personal likes and dislikes are your business, not mine.

A young author I follow doesn’t hesitate to share her opinions on social media. In her latest rant, she defends the government spending billions on 87k more IRS agents. Her argument is that they need the money to automate the IRS.

They are hiring 87 thousand more IRS agents trained to use guns and be prepared to shoot citizens. They are trained to do the dirty work. If there is an uprising, they will be on the front lines.

That’s not automation; that’s an army paid for by your tax dollars to go after the middle class who cannot afford expensive CPAs and Tax specialists.

Her rant is not formulated around the facts. Her rant is a concoction of half-truths created to sell the plan to the American people. (the check is in the mail…)

Your predilection regarding political affiliations is, again, your business. Again, how you feel about court rulings and specific candidates is your business, not mine.

• What genre do you write?
• Have you won any awards?
• What other books come close to your style?

You often see tweets or rants from authors who have no problem telling you that you should feel the way they do. I am reminded of schoolyard bullies poking each other in the chest while saying stupid shit like, ’it takes one to know one.’

Here is my free advice. Before you post a rant, challenge yourself to take the other side and do your best to defend it.

If you consider that the media’s job is no longer to inform but to drive ratings or clicks, you will quickly see that they use emotional triggers to accomplish that goal. Journalism is dead. Stories must drive ratings even if they are fake news.

Money is the driving force. We will miss the larger picture if we are at each other’s throats over men in girl’s showers. The political class is raping the country, selling it bits and pieces at a time to the highest bidder.

If a story about men in the girl’s locker room is broadcast, men with daughters will go ape shit. You don’t mess with daddy’s girl. The distraction will take several news cycles, and politicians will have buried the proverbial body by the time the dust settles.

Most of the things people will burn a city down for are fake news ginned up by the media for ratings. Ratings equal advertising dollars. I worked in the industry for years; trust me on this one grasshopper.

A perfect example of this is the current war. The Russians have the same DNA as the Ukrainians. They are most likely related in many ways. Now, you have some megalomaniac shell a girl’s dormitory, and you no longer have logical thinking humankind on the battlefield. What you have created is chaos on a massive scale, with each side only ‘feeling’ hate for the other. The rage over war atrocities will drive the very worst in mankind to sideline their humanity over their animalistic tendencies toward violence. Putin and other world leaders know this and use it.

We are so desensitized to man’s inhumanity that they just possibly should torture puppies. I would bet that act would cause kids to pick up arms and fight to the death.

This is how our media controls you. “Democrats are for killing babies! Republicans want to keep all women in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant!”

Neither is true, but if you tell a lie often enough, people will believe it. If they buy the lie, they will vote to put the devil in office, even if he promises to kill you. Yes, hate is much stronger than logic. The media has been successful in destroying Trump. If Biden or Trump were to tour the country handing out $100 bills to people for their vote, how many would not take the money? How many would take the money and lie to them and vote for the other guy anyway?

Ruminate on that last paragraph for a while. How many do you think will look in the mirror and question what kind of person they are? How many would care?

Politicians want to keep their power, which makes no difference if they are an R or a D.  

If you, as an author, take a side, you chance losing half your potential audience.

That, my friends, is why I suggest before you get worked up about an issue, dig deep and make an honest effort to argue the other side.

If you are forced to argue for something you oppose, you must learn the other side. Once open to the idea that you could be mistaken or your previous arguments came from a news report and not from facts, you will see how we can be divided as a people.

A substantial glaring example is race. I know well over 600 people, personally, as in I have shaken their hands, had dinner with them, etc. Out of all those folks, I know nobody who judges people by their skin color.

We are simply not a racist country. Yes, there are knuckle-dragging inbred monsters out there, but they are in the minority of mankind.

Those who willingly use the R-word are probably the ones who should look into the mirror.

Riddle me this… What would the world be like if we just shut off the cable news, the TV news, and so on? What if there were only news feeds that were not designed to trigger people?

‘Arizona is going to be wet for a few days. Heavy rainfall expected.’

What if opinion programs designed to stir up your emotions were canceled?

What if calling someone a racist was tantamount to screaming fire in a theatre?

As a writer, it is easy to write dystopian novels. Why? We are living in one right now. It’s all about money and power. Those at that level only care about their portfolio, not you or me.

My latest novel is on hold because today’s events interfere with my natural writing style. Yes, you can isolate yourself, but eventually, you will be exposed to the stupidness in the world. That ignorance will drive you to blog about it rather than write your novel.

The last advice I would offer aspiring writers or even established authors is this, get rid of the distractions. Take the smart speaker off your desk. Leave your phone in another room.

Think back to how some of the authors of years ago might have accomplished their novels. One author had a shack in the woods. I was thinking about creating a giant tree house with a ladder that I could pull up to stop all intruders.

In truth, I am considering building a cabin on some property I have that is relatively remote. Cell phone coverage is spotty, so that would do away with intrusions by smart speakers, spam calls, and of course, those attempting to sell me an extended warranty.

Now, what do you know about me?

• I am dedicated to the craft of writing.
• I go out of my way to assist other writers or authors.
• I stay informed, I vote, and then I let it go.
• I do not form opinions by what I hear or see from the media.
• I do my own fact-checking. Most online fact-checkers are an opinion of biased individuals.
• Where politicians are concerned, I never vote straight ticket.
• My personal feelings about someone do not predicate how I will vote; their actions do. What are their policies? How do they see Americans vs. the rest of the world?

We all have biases. Once you accept that truth, you can begin to see why the ‘other side feels the way they do. How they think does not make them right or wrong, it is just how they feel.

There is no such thing as your or my truth; there is only ‘the truth.’ Some will go to war over nothing more than a half-truth or how they feel.

If you choose to pontificate on social media, be ready to fight with those that follow you and be prepared to lose potential customers. Arguing with idiots is a waste of time.

There was a meme with some milk advertisement regarding the names of the cows from which the milk came. Some fuck wit posted the following. “I couldn’t help but notice that all those names are girls’ names. Misogyny is alive and well at this company.”

Since I don’t argue with unwise people, why should I spend my time attempting to tell her that milking a bull might get you a BFF? It is almost as if people are looking for a fight.

I often feel like starting a group on social media… “What offended you today?” the world is changing and not for the better.

A man attacked a lady in plain sight of several people. Instead of stopping the attack, the bystanders pulled out their phones and attempted to capture the whole fight on video. Once the video is captured, the first to upload it wins. Is that the game? Is that the brave new world we are living in?

Think before you speak. Read history before you espouse your feelings. If you take the time to attempt to argue their point, that puts you way ahead of the rest. Distinguish the facts from more than the TV or Radio. Knowing the difference between a cow and a bull is also good.

As always, Happy writing!

-TW

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HB 196 Texas

Recently a Facebook post announced that there is a new proposed bill HB 196. This bill would amend the Texas Castle Law. Some fear-mongers have modified the post to make it even scarier than it is. 

Even after looking at the original bill, I have a few thoughts.

Currently, the castle doctrine protects the homeowner by giving him or her legal defining rights to defend themselves and their property. 

HB 196 is designed to weaken the castle law.  The creator wrote that (nobody should die for stealing lawn ornaments.)

I agree that nobody should be killed for stealing, period, but it is their choice to steal or not to steal. Where do you draw the line?  Is it one garden gnome and one flamingo? How many flamingoes do we allow them to take before we defend our property?  

Let’s ask this another way. Why should I willingly be a victim?  Why should I choose to cower in a corner while some criminal ransacks my house or my family?  Why should I sit idly by while my cars or property is taken from me? Why should I run out the back door if someone breaks in the front door?

The truth is, his or her life is in my hands when they violate my domain, my castle. Just like the lady who died breaking into the capital, she screwed up and died. She was shot in the throat while entering a window.  An air force veteran was killed because she was with the wrong crowd.  She is the only one of the five that died that day because a weapon was drawn. She didn’t have one; it was the cop.

Nobody could make the argument that the cop was afraid for his life against an unarmed woman, could they? Sure they could; a reasonable defense attorney could make the case in a heartbeat. Just get the right jury and the right judge.

Why didn’t they kill Chewbacca? Why her? What was so special about this petite woman that she needed to be shot in the throat?  Was she the only one that he wasn’t afraid of?  We will never know.

This bill, HB 196, would weaken my rights in a court of law, making it harder to prove my intent.  “Why didn’t you run away?  How do we know you were terrified for your life? Did you pee yourself? Is a life worth a catalytic convertor of tires?

Was her life worth entering a window along with hundreds of others?

Why should the burden of proof be on the homeowner’s shoulders? 

There is a broken door, his fingerprints on the crowbar, and a dead body in my hallway. Case closed.

Not so fast…

The simple facts are; the police seldom prevent a burglary or rape or murder; they arrive in time to write it up while shaking their heads. It takes hours to investigate a crime scene, and they were ready for dinner. The cops come after the alarm has cycled, and the alarm company was unsuccessful at contacting the homeowner.  Three minutes after the door is broken down, the alarm company finally places a non-emergency call to the local police. A dispatcher will find the closest officer and ask them to drive by and check out why the alarm sounded.

Now, this is not like smokey and the bandit, where they are in hot pursuit.   No, no, they will receive the call and casually drive to the neighborhood in question, frequently joined by another unit just in case.

The criminal has done his or her dirty work and is long gone by the time the police arrive. 

Bright lights from the car-light up the door, and they see evidence of a forced entry.  They report this to dispatch, who now asked who is available to back up that unit.

They push the door open while the hinge’s creak is accompanied by the sounds of broken glass under their feet. Bloodstains on the floor; the putrid stench of a coppery odor of blood hangs heavy in the air as they trip over broken lamps, stuffed animals, and a dead dog. Their hearts race in the silence.   Slowly they search the house, listening for movement with their guns drawn.  A grey cat streaks by them, causing them to jump and almost shoot each other from the freight.  Flashlights peer through the darkness to find what is left from the carnage after some people did something.

Ever been to a murder scene?

MS 13 are not the kinds of people taking garden gnomes.  They enjoy killing for sport, and they are here. They do what they do for the sake of terror. Much like ISIS beheads people for effect, they cut people up most horrifically for the fear and terror engendered in the little people’s hearts.   And there are attorneys whose job it is to defend them.  Those who live in gated communities make laws that they might never have to worry about, as they have private duty security looking out for them.

Why not make it easier to defend the criminal?  Yes, let’s cripple the castle law. Let’s narrow the scope so it is easier to defend the bad guy and easier to convict the home owner. We could accuse them of being a racist of bigot because that always plays well with juries.

Those who perpetrate crime don’t worry if their gun is full auto or not.  They don’t fret about the large capacity of their clips, and they certainly don’t care if the weapon is registered to them or not.

But you, Mr and Mrs. homeowner, you need to dot every I and cross every T.  This is the same logic the Obama administration used in sending our boys into combat.  You can guard them, but you don’t get any bullets. Before you engage the enemy, you need to seek permission, and it could take a few days as we have to consult several committees in DC.

After we that we take several polls of likely voters to see if there is support for any action against a particular group. Hang on, we can usually get this done in just a few weeks.

Texas has suffered a rash of burglaries, home break-ins, and vandalized property.  While companies like Ring are enjoying profits from the sale of security devices, the folks who make and sell catalytic convertors are also having good sales.

The quality of the video from Ring is not where it needs to be. Higher res cameras need to be installed in these devices. Yes we can see if was a guy and he wore a cap but that is about it.

Why should we as a people entertain limiting our rights to defend our stuff or make it more difficult to prove our innocence in a court of law?   

There is an uptick in the theft of tires, wheels, and catalytic converters.  Those are not ten-dollar garden gnomes. Are they funding criminal activity with our stuff?  What do you think?

The creator of this Bill knows this, but sluffs it off as garden gnomes. She knows damned well they are stealing things like (tires, convertors or anything else that is not nailed down.)

If this bill passes the homeowner would have to sit idly by while their car is broken into while waiting for the cops to finish their dinner before responding to a 911 call. Wait, can you even call 911 if someone is breaking into your car?

If you look at the Next Door app, you would see that more and more citizens are victims of crime at an alarming rate.  This amendment would encourage more criminals. We have videos of porch pirates, cars vandalized and lawn mowers and other expensive items taken by a criminal. If her bill passes the homeowner would have less legal rights than the criminal.

Reading the post, Americans are becoming more paranoid as they feel that they cannot depend on the police to defend them.  Since Biden took over, the price and availability of ammo have changed dramatically.  Did he pull an Obama and place vast orders to create a shortage, or are people that paranoid?  

I don’t know about the average person but, I work hard for what I have.  The cost to replace a catalytic converter is anywhere from $1000 to $3000, depending upon the car. It takes a few minutes for the criminal to slide under your vehicle with a battery-operated saws-all and take a costly item from your vehicle.

Insurance may or may not cover it, and even if it does, there is a deductible and then the hassle of dealing with a wrecker, the police, the insurance company, and a rental company, and then the dealer, which all takes time. There is the stress of dealing with the fact that you were violated in some way.

Garden gnom, ok, I can live with that; what dollar amount do you place before you pull a gun and shoot the bastard?  While the community would be thrilled to have one less thief in the area, the lawyers would be delighted too.

Some lawyers are sympathetic to the thief. Why? Some might claim they are cut from the same cloth, but I digress.

If you want to create a new law,  create one that makes it harder for criminals to profit from the sale of used (stolen) catalytic converters.  I realize that would cut into the ease at which the criminal would benefit from his or her ill-gotten gain, and it would also cut into the profits of those who purchase such things, but that law would make sense.  That law would save the lives of the criminals who are stealing ‘garden gnomes.’  How?  If it were more difficult to sell what they steal, it seems that would make stealing such things less attractive.

I am confident that insurance companies would offer campaign funding for that kind of legislation.  

Japan did not invade the mainland in WWII because they knew every farmer had a gun.  True story. History is replete with useful information; try reading it.

While some might take literary license with what she is proposing, the hard facts are that when we look at a massive influx of illegal immigrants, our laws should not be made more favorable to the criminal. These folks already have a track record of not respecting our laws or Mexico’s, for that matter. Why would any American Law Maker seek to diminish the rights of Americans?  

This country is a country of laws.  We respect them, and everything works better.

Five years ago, then-Vice President Biden told rape victims to piss themselves.  That way, the rapist would not want to have sex with them. So, piss yourself and possibly dissuade the criminal.  At what point is it reasonable to defend yourself? 

This same person also said if someone is breaking into your house, open the back door and shoot a shotgun out the back door, that will frighten them away.  What is wrong with leveling the gun at the person confronting you in your own home? They can turn around and run or keep the projectiles and consider them a door prize.

At what point will an attorney who makes a living defending rapists and murderers and the like say, oh hell no? What is the line that you, as an attorney, will not cross?  Do you have one?

If you defend yourself, that person had a name and was once someone’s child.  Even if your defense of yourself were legally proper, some attorneys make money by chasing down any relatives and then taking the victim of the crime to a civil court.

In this court, they will do their best to play to the emotions of the jury.  The guy that raped you will be portrayed as god-fearing, good to his mamma, blah blah blah.  They will paint you, the victim, as a short skirt-wearing girl who sent out the wrong messages, so it was your fault. You knew what you were doing when you dared to wear a sleeveless blouse; it is all your fault that this man is now dead.

The jury’s pictures to consider will not be of a tattooed twenty-something but a child with their parents at a birthday party. There will be baby pictures and that of a sad mother who lost her child to some gun-crazed lunatic. This person dared to hang on to their guns and their bibles, putting stuff over the sanctity of life.  The dead person had a name, damnit!

They have no shame.  It is all about winning.

HRC defended a rapist who raped a 12-year-old girl and won.  She bragged about it to her peers. She convinced the rather feeble-minded jurors that the 12-year-old liked sex and knew what she was doing. She was proud of it. 

While there is wisdom in chasing them off, it is even wiser to be judged by 12 than carried by six. Just be prepared to defend yourself against another type of monster.  

“Were you terrified for your life?  How did you know this person intended you harm?  Did you see a weapon? Did he shoot at you?  Only once, how do you know that wasn’t just a warning shot or the gun didn’t miss fire? Why didn’t you run away?  Did you realize that he was using that money to feed his kids and his elderly mother? Now how is his family going to live?  Pfft ! 

If you have not ever sat in a court of law, do it.  OMG!   You will quickly realize just how screwed up the system is. Once you do this you will never vote for a politician that is seeking to limit your rights.

Percy Foreman was a friend of mine. Unfortunately, I know the way the system works. People like Percy would defend the indefensible and win more times than he lost. Winning was their reputation, it didn’t matter what the person did; it was all about twisting the law enough to get an acquittal.

 He once told me while looking me right in the eyes, ‘it is easier for me to get you off if I know you are guilty.’  Cold chills ran up my spine with that admission, and I lost much respect for not only him, but our entire legal system that day.

The day he died, the criminals lost a friend.  That is the sad truth.

No, the Castle Doctrine should be strengthened, not weakened.   A castle is a bastion of freedom for the occupants, and the law is already too mailable.   

Americans are witnessing higher amounts of crime.  There are efforts to defund the police and restrict what kinds of guns Americans can own. The innocent are under attack by the system that is supposed to be there for them. Why would we entertain any bill that would weaken our legal rights to defend ourselves or our property?

Any member of a governing body that puts forth an argument that restricts law-abiding citizens’ rights over those who don’t respect our laws, or our rights to protect ourselves or our property, should not be in office.  

Don’t mess with Texas, and don’t mess with Texans. We do cling to our bibles, our God, and our guns.

-Best

Texas Roads, Drivers, and Climate Change

 

As we age, funerals are more commonplace.  Saying so long to a friend or family member is tough.  Traveling the last two weeks to funerals well over 200 miles from home only to turn around and return, makes for a long day.

Driving down 30 to 20 going out west I was amazed at several things.

Speed limit 60.  What does that mean?

When I was in Drivers-Ed that meant that you did 60mph or under it but not too much under as you don’t want to impede traffic flow.

I stayed right around 60, and I was impeding traffic.  Most drivers were well over 70 and many over that.

Part of the problem I think is that there are too few speed limit signs posted on 30.  This makes it easy to forget yourself, and before you know it, you are going much faster than 60.

I have lived here for many years, and I am not stupid enough to keep up with traffic.  Just about always there is a cop outside of the city of Ft. Worth who sits there running radar. Today there was one about a tenth of a mile before the speed turned up to 65 waiting for someone to go faster.

We need more signs alerting us of the speed and a little more law enforcement visibility.

I wanted to know what person designed the roads and decided what speeds that they should be in the country?  There are really good roads with slow speed limits, and then there are these “shithole” two-lane roads that are 70.  FFS really!

If you look at the roads carefully, you will see tire marks on the turns where some driver took them too fast and didn’t make it.  Are you working with the grim reaper to get the soul count up, or are you just that stupid?

My favorite is this, you are on this two-lane pothole-laden road doing 70 as to not get run over, in the blink of an eye, the speed goes from 70 to 30.  Yes Barney Fife or the 80-year-old version of him is sitting there waiting with his number 2 pencil and big chief tablet waiting for you.

“What does it cost to go 70 in a 30?” 

You got to be kidding me Cross Plains!  Is that how you generate revenue? Some attorney needs to file a class action lawsuit against the town of Cross Plains for this practice.   I am damned serious because they are not the only cities or towns that do this.  Tickets should not be revenue generators.

Now we have the good folks in Arlington Texas.  On a Saturday mind you with the temperature of 113 degrees on Hwy30, traffic comes to a standstill.  “Why?”

Piss poor planning on the engineers or contractors part leaving road construction idle in an area that is congested anyway.  Arlington should be pissed as they host the Cowboys, the Rangers and then there are Six Flags and a water park all right there.

It took 45 minutes to go less than one mile. Never mind that it is 113 in the shade and never mind that peoples tempers were even hotter but, if you really are pushing climate change wouldn’t thinking things through like idle construction be a good place to start?

Are you only serious about climate change when you can sell carbon credits?

How much Carbon monoxide do you think tens of thousands of cars idling for 45 minutes each puts into the atmosphere?  Now factor in the large trucks billowing out black diesel fumes. Arlington, you can do better. The Rangers and Cowboys should be pissed.

“How can you do better?”

“How about a flashing sign at the 820 split warning of the 45-minute wait and you might consider taking 820 to 183 or stay on I 20 or take some other alternate routes? ”  With all the tax revenue you collect how about doing something constructive with it. Save a tree or the planet or the climate! How about saving me from my head exploding! What the hell happened with common sense?”

One fellow who also sat through that mess passed the traffic doing over 100 mph in a poorly maintained car.  Zipping in and out of vehicles the back of his vehicle swayed violently many times as he drove very erratically.  I see those guys on crotch rockets doing that but, that car is not built for that nonsense and he will not only kill himself but probably someone else.

Hello officer Smith, it might be a good idea to have officers around the areas past the congestion like that, as people will be pissed and late and might be tempted to do stupid stuff, like this clown.

KRLD where were you with traffic on the 8 ’s? 

To round out the fun of today in the 113-degree heat I want to speak to you truckers out there.  Now maybe this will never get to you but just in case…Put the damned phones up!

It is bad enough when cars are all over the road because unlike the rest of humanity they are more capable of texting and driving at the same time, FFS!.  Cars are not driverless yet.  Trucks, on the other hand, I genuinely do not understand.  You cannot get on the highway and not see it.  18 wheelers all over the damned road.  When you pass them, you can see them with the phone in hand.  FFS, you are going to kill someone with that thing and while you may be ok with it, the person or persons you kill I assure you will not be ok.

Why don’t trucking companies have cameras in their vehicles so they can spot idiots like this and take them off the road?

I don’t know the answer to the problem but, I have an idea…

I would encourage people to get a dash cam and when you capture something like this, post it to youtube and tag the company that the truck represents. Now if you have a passenger, then they can use their camera and get it.  If you are driving and you do not have a dashcam or passenger, do not become part of the problem, just steer clear of the maniac and hope he or she doesn’t kill someone.

In summary: if you are upset with climate change, do something about having tens of thousands of car sitting in one place idling for hours on end.  Plan your construction projects better.  If you are the engineer who has anything to do with traffic lights, synchronize them when possible, so cars do not have to sit and idle on busy motorways.

You who figure out what the speed should be on the road, my god, put some common sense thought into the process! The inconsistencies boggle the mind.  It is almost as if you tossed a dart at a bunch of numbers when you were planning it.

You need more speed limit signs on 30 and 20.  You also need more police presence driving the posted speed limit setting the example.  When a car doing the speed limit is impeding traffic, that is a bad thing and indicative of piss poor planning on someone’s part.  More signs!

Finally my last bitch for the day…. Road construction zones.  I have traveled this great nation to all states but one. I must tell you that when I see these bogus road construction signs, fines double and there is nobody around or in many cases, not one spade of dirt overturned it just smells of extortion. Yes, Extortion.  To take miles of a perfectly good highway and have everyone do 55 instead of 75 only because some orange signs are posted needs to stop.  Tickets should not be a source of revenue.

I would call on the state legislature to introduce a bill making this practice illegal.  I would also ask to have the lower speeds in constructions zones not enforced on days when the workers are not present, again, a flashing sign.

If two-lane roads in BFE can be 70, I think a stretch of highway with no workers present can be 70 too.

Folks it is just common sense, and we seem to be short on supply…

For those of you who follow me, as I am a writer, I wanted to tell you that my latest thriller is finished.  I love it!

The name of the work is called “Presidential Assassins.”  The manuscript will now go to editing, and the cover art still has to be created.

The story is so good, you’re going to love it!

Follow me on Twitter for more updates @authortwscott

Follow me here on WordPress to keep up with my thought of the day.  Sorry if you don’t like my terse tone but my god, it is time someone uses that gray matter between their ears for something other than to hold up their hat.

 

Much Love -TW

How do you feed your characters?

One e-mail that resurfaces from time to time is, where do you get these ideas?  I alluded to this not long ago in a blog such as this one. You must live your life!

I get in trouble with some of my friends when I tell them I don’t watch TV. “But there is this show or that show, and this one is funny, and that show is stupid but worth watching… Pffft.

One of the most painful things that I do is leave my house and the keyboard but guess what.  I must, and so must you.

Writers are one of the few people who I know that enjoy being alone.  

I know way too many who find new reasons to not leave their home.  There is the laundry, or the kitchen floor needs mopping or pick an excuse.   My go-to excuse is “I have too much work.”

“Folks, you must live your life.  This moment will not come around again ever!”

Yesterday afternoon I closed up my office, threw a bag in the car and headed to East Texas.   I love East Texas.  From the Canton trade days to the small little towns with less than a thousand people, they all have a story.

Most of the time the people that you speak with are friendly and helpful and don’t make too much fun of accents.  “Not that they have room to talk.”

Checking out some antique malls or “junk stores” was on the list as well as quaint little places to eat.  Today was ride the train day.

There is this train that takes you from Rusk Texas to Palestine Texas with an hour layover and then takes you back.   It is a 25-mile journey through the piney woods and then 25 miles back.

This was the first time they pulled the train with this engine.

As I sat there listening to people talk I heard stories that might make it into my novels.  Today had very few young people as it was a school day.  Love kids, just not what I call relaxing to have them running up and down the aisles.

On the way back to Rusk they offered to stop after the main bridge and allow those of us “of age” and ability, to exit the train and enter the train without those little step platforms a photo op of the drive by.

Now, we got some excellent pictures.  A few that wandered a little far from the track I feel sure will have discovered as I write this what a Texas Chigger is.  One young lady wearing capris went off in knee tall weeds… Others were too busy looking at the train to see where they were walking.

I, on the other hand, know to look where my feet are going.

These guys were about .8cm in length, and if you stepped on them, in no time at all, you would be aware that you were not welcome.  They are known as Fire Ants, and there is a good reason for that.

It was a beautiful day and a pleasant journey.  I enjoyed getting to know some new folks, and I hope that nobody tonight has little red spots on their body causing them to scratch their hide off.

Oh, I feed my characters by living my life and talking with people.  Everyone has a story.  Can you meld what you learn into what you are writing?  I was mulling over a story about train robbers, but that too has been done to death.

Much Love- TW

We Hold these Truths to be self-evident …

I was amazed to read that Louis Lerner wanted her testimony sealed.  The head of the IRS that targeted conservative groups during the 2012 election process now wants her statements sealed as she is afraid for herself and her family if the public were to have access to them.

Let’s think about this one.  She used the most powerful agency in the United States, the IRS to swing the outcome of the 2012 Election to the Democrats, and she is only now worried about her actions?  The New York Times in a show of actual journalism should publish the entire transcript on the front page!

If Hillary had won would the public know about this blatant attack on democracy by our own government?

She is a criminal and has forfeited her rights to ask to have her crimes hidden. Why is she not behind bars? Her safety from upset citizens should be the least of her worries!  I bet Martha Stewart is pissed.  Her crimes were child’s play in comparison to that of this person.

CNN and MSNBC have been talking Russia for the last ten months, and now we have actual proof that the IRS targeted conservative groups to stop them from helping Romney and other conservative candidates in 2012. Yes, that is collusion with the then current Obama administration.

It makes no difference which side of the political divide you find yourself, you too should be aghast by this, and demand that people like Louis Lerner are exposed and prosecuted.  One of the things that make the US such a great place to live, is we have fair elections.  Don’t  we?  Are they truly fair?

Hillary said in an interview not long ago that if Fox News had been around when her husband was running, he would not have won.  Now let that sink in for a moment.  What she is inferring is that Fox news is not fair and balanced, that they are not journalists.

What she really is saying or admitting to, is that they would have investigated his every dealing, and just possibly talked more about his predatory sexual predilections, which have dominated the news these last few weeks.  Women do not like men who are in power to rape them.   I know of no woman who likes being raped in the first place!  Had Fox news been around then, she is right; he would have been exposed as the creep that he is, and Monika would not be a household name associated with a semen stain on her blue dress!

The larger question is, where were ABC, CBS and CNN and MSNBC?  Why were they not on top of this story?

Fox news like all news agencies has journalists who are biased, but if you look at their stories, they will call out the Republicans as well as the Democrats.  Do they play to their base, of course, but they do report more middle of the road, than does their competition.  This fact has been statistically proven, it is just not my opinion.

If it is truly about money and market share one would think that CNN would be more middle of the road instead of so far left leaning.  If Fox is doing so well, why not lean right?

Negative stories garner more attention so spinning the news in a negative format sells more air time.  CNN and MSNBC are two of the companies who have more negative coverage on our current president than anyone in that market. If you hate Trump and want to feel good, watch them.  If you would like the actual truth you might look elsewhere.  Russia Today is more unbiased than they are.

News like anything else is all about ratings.  Ratings attract advertisers. Commercials pay for the airtime that the talking heads use to pontificate on their particular take on the stories of the day.  CNN and MSNBC I don’t believe are as biased for political reasons that many think that they are.  What they are doing is playing to their base, keeping their ratings alive through spewing out reasons to hate Trump.  Emotions are easy tools to manipulate you with.  People love bad news about someone that they do not like.

“Gees TW that is a harsh claim!”

Really? If a football team that you don’t like has a key player that is injured, do you not get some feeling of joy from that as now your team which will be playing them next might have an advantage?  It is our secret but, think about it.  We love bad news when it is about someone we don’t like.

Not only do we eat up bad news but we will more readily spread the bad news on social media if it will play to our base.  That is a sad commentary on the human race, don’t you think?

If you have made it this far, good for you.

The only way to fix a problem is to admit that it exists and then identify it.  Once you can identify it, you can name it and figure out how to dismantle it. People who are what I call “asleep” don’t want to hear it.  They certainly don’t want to read it.

The truth of the matter is that if people are biased one way or the other, they do not want to hear opposing thoughts. It does not make a difference if it is the truth, they don’t want to listen to it.

Still don’t believe me???

How many times have you heard some parent say, “not my kid!”  Maybe you have said it yourself, “my kid would never do that!”

Some good friends of mine said that about their kid.  It is called denial… When they heard that he was seen doing drugs with some other children, they asked him about it. “Oh no mom, when I saw what they were doing I left them, I will never even see them again!  Drugs are stupid just like you always say mom.” They believed the lies because to quote Jack Nicholson; they could not handle the truth.

Two weeks later they went up to his room to get him up, as he was late for Church.  They found him dead in his bed.  Cause of death, he drowned in his own vomit due to overdosing on the very drugs that he denied he was taking.  True story, very sad. I grieved with them but, I knew the problem then as I do now.  We don’t want to hear the truth!

It is our nature not to want to hear that which we find repugnant unless it is about the other guy.  The scream from his mother was indicative of the looks on the faces from the Hillary supporters the night that she lost to Trump.  Ten months later we still have a divided country because many cannot handle the truth.

Some perfectly dishonest politicians are still trying to float impeachment proceedings to play to their base so they will get re-elected.  It is foolish showmanship but some hateful folks out there will buy it.

Hillary was a flawed candidate and never should have been the DNC pick!  They underestimated the appeal of a populist and were more worried about Bernie, than Trump.  The mere fact that she rigged the election to screw Bernie is more than the proof you should need.  The Billy Bass tape was their ace in the hole.  They were wrong.

Today we read that many of the FBI agents that were investigating Hillary’s emails were huge supporters of hers.  They hid the evidence against her, rather than do their jobs.

Government officials just like white cops cannot be prejudiced against the other political side, or different colors of humans.  The tapestry of America is weaved together with all different kinds of humans who appear and think a little differently.  It is called diversity.  From race to political affiliation they are all necessary and make up the whole of who we are as a people, Americans!

I don’t have to hold your beliefs to be kind and respectful of you as a human.  The converse is also true.

Why is that concept so hard to embrace?

We hear all this talk about racism and bias but, we do nothing about it other than perpetuating the atmosphere that begat it in the first place.

• Journalists are to report the events, not create them.
• The IRS is to enforce the tax laws as they are, not make them up for different groups.
• Judges are to enforce the laws and the constitution, applying them equally to all with a blind eye to race, sex or political affiliation. They are not to change the meaning of the constitution for some political agenda.
• Police are to protect and to serve without any racial partiality or bigotry.

You the people, the citizens, are who pay them, they work for you.

You cannot fix what you cannot or refuse to identify.  With many, it is a heart issue.  If you do not believe what I am telling you, and I get that many will want to write and tell me how full of it I am, do this first.

If you are a Fox news person, watch CNN and MSNBC.  I know that you will be angry and upset at watching the hate and contempt from the other side but listen for any truths.  Could there be some truth to what they are saying?

Mika Brzezinski was caught on camera talking about what they do.  She said and I quote, “We tell the American people what to think.”  That my friends is arrogance run amuck! No honey, you report the facts whatever they are period.  It is called journalism.  Anything else is called propaganda!

If you are in the camp of CNN and MSNBC and of course Bill Mahar and the other nightly comedians that pass off their acts as news, you watch Fox News and do the same exercise.  Could there be any truth in what any of the folks are saying?  Sit through the evening line up and make notes. Yes, watch Hannity as well.  He is entertaining at least.

When you are all sick of the biases that you will have no doubt spotted, go and find OAN news.  The news media that both sides of the spectrum hate.  They are doing whatever they can to get them removed from the cable lineup.  Why???  They merely report the facts, no spin.  Some of their talent is rather sophomoric but, the facts are just the facts.  You are smart enough to make up your own minds.

The press is indeed our eyes and ears on the goings on in our country.  We depend on them to report the facts.  We need the true facts so we can make informed decisions.  Folks we are not getting that.  Journalism is all but dead in this country, and we as a people need to demand better.  How?  Stop watching them, watch or listen to OAN.  Support agencies that provide the unbiased truth.

Back in the early days of civilization, there was one entity which all came from. Do you know what it was?  No, not god but close, it was the Catholic Church.  They were the spiritual leader of all the people.  They were the teachers of everything that they thought you needed to know.  They were also the government which would have you killed if you defied them.  I kid you not, this was one powerful bunch of people and the citizens were slaves to them.  They did tell them what to think, with death or prison being the option for anyone that dared not fall into lockstep agreement.  Did you know it was illegal in the day to own your own bible?  It is true, can you guess why?

They did not want you thinking for yourself much like it was illegal to educate slaves in early American history, the same was true back during the early church.  Today in N. Korea this is still true.  Not the church but the government is the ultimate supreme authority with brainwashing as their main industry.

How do we fix this country???

We start by hearing and accepting the truth no matter how ugly it is. You cannot fix what you don’t acknowledge.  It is like going to the doctor with pain, and he tells you that you have cancer.  Do you say ok, I have cancer what can we do about it?  Or, do you say, that is not possible and leave his office not dealing with the diagnosis?  Many in this country are leaving cancer untreated, which will be the death of this country as we know it.  Many who have pain will not go to the doctor for fear that it is cancer.  They just don’t want to know the truth.

Learn to look for and embrace the truth no matter what it is.  If some facts are unbelievable, check many sources before you re-post on social media a lie, perpetrated by some other country or a hate-filled moron.  Snopes is not a reliable source of information BTW.

These ANTIFA criminals are one more symptom of this cancer.  They believe that what they are doing is anti-fascism, but in reality, they are the fascist and also criminals. They have bought the lies from hate-filled professors who are spewing it and are acting on it. All they have to do is trigger them emotionally, and they will respond.  Their actions will seem just, so that they will commit to them and act on them.  They will destroy their own campus and prevent the very free speech that they say that they are fighting for.  They are in fact misguided youth under the control of evil people.

The men who flew the planes into the twin towers killing thousands felt that their actions were just, and were determined to their cause.  They too believed in their mission.  There is no difference. If you think that there is, you are mistaken.

Civilized debate on the topics are necessary, and that cannot start until you are ready to listen!  You must be willing to hear that you have cancer.  Until then, the violence and unrest will continue, and the barbarians both in DC and in positions of power elsewhere will continue to prevail.  The useful idiots of the power brokers will fight their battles, helping cancer to win.  The power brokers must be identified and held accountable. Mrs. Lerner is one and needs to be behind bars.  An example needs to make out of her and her ilk.

Her testimony needs to be on the front page of some paper, that has a smidgeon of integrity left.

As always I am interested in your take on my blogs.  Spending much time writing them, it is always nice to at least get a like or a new follower.  Feel free to disagree but please keep in mind that I ignore truculence or perfidy of any sort.

My novels are just about always uplifting and enjoyable, so if you are not already a reader, please check one or more out.  From Science fiction to romance to erotic naughtiness, it is all out there for you to enjoy.

Thanks for the follows and re-tweets.  While much of what I do is for you, this is a marketing tool for my novels, and I unabashedly admit it.  These blogs are full of useful information, or thoughts or ideas to pontificate over around the water cooler or dinner table.

My novels are certainly more entertaining and are selling nicely worldwide. Be one of my followers here so you can say you knew me when.  My goal is to quit the day job and write full time.  Number #26 is almost finished, and then we have to decide what the subject matter will be for #27  … Ideas?  What would you like to see or read?

Much Love -TW

 

Churches and Other Soft Targets Why?

Every time I go into a place that is a “gun free zone,” I shudder, as I know that I am now entering a soft target.  The world we live in is not our grandfathers’ world.

Hollywood has been pumping out nightmares on elm street, long enough that they have skewed the thinking of average people.  Video games are incredibly graphic and violent, where killing with some sort of gun or other imaginary weapon is glorified.  These games are simulators for death and destruction. The movies are so graphic that for all we know, some of these kids could have PTSD!

The kid who killed all of those in Sandy Hook was so “efficient,” because he practiced day in and day out with such a “game.” Do you really want to buy that game for your 8-year-old?

Between the two, and the lack of morality that pervades our music industry, or our entertainment industry as a whole, we have the perfect storm.

Many on Twitter are asking WHY?  Blaming guns and gun control and other talking points, pinning the blame squarely on the GOP and the NRA. That is not true and does not help.  It deflects away from the real problems I outline in the previous paragraph.

Look no further than Chicago for all the proof that you need regarding laws and gun control.

The trolls are out there as well pumping out hate on both sides, trying to divide us as a people even further. “Never let good crises go to waste.”  Manipulate the masses with their emotions, strike while the iron is hot, for tomorrow they will forget about it.

It has only been five weeks and we have stopped talking about the 58 killed in Vegas.  We still don’t know the motive and the case seems cold.  There is a total lack of information about this case.

Just possibly they should look at mental health.

Mental health is the issue.  The vitriol between the politicians trying to paint the other in the worst light possible is part of the problems we face. Actors and Actresses who deny any complicity in this depravity calling for the NRA’s head on a platter are not helping.

Simple facts are that logical debate will prompt thinking people to devise solutions.  Emotional rhetoric will prompt some into action.  Actions based on emotions and biases are unpredictable and just about always a bad thing.

The recent advertisement in the Virginia governor’s race depicting the republican as a man in a pickup with a rebel flag running down immigrants, with his pickup is such a hateful, vile, despicable, trashy, indefensible ad, that it boggles my mind.  Who thinks up this shit! Not only are they attacking the Republican candidate, but the entire south!  It is a lie!

You want to see the south, look at those people grieving their losses, that is the south!

“Use fear and terror to manipulate the masses.”  Who in their right mind would vote for such a contemptible man, that would approve that kind of garbage!

This shooter, not unlike the person in Las Vegas, was a disturbed individual.  He had a long history of abusive behavior and yet somehow he got a weapon meant for killing.

While a good guy with a gun prevented him from creating more carnage in that small town, we should ask the question why, or how, did this 26-year-old have such a weapon?

My heart breaks for those people.  It truly does.  We are still reeling from the evil in New York, not to mention the Las Vegas shooter, and now this.  Is this the new norm?

Soft targets need to do what it takes to, not be soft targets.

We can no longer afford the luxury of leaving our houses and cars unlocked.  We cannot afford the luxury of not being armed.  Had those people not checked their guns at the door, I dare say the outcome would have looked different than it did.

This guy hated his X mother in law, who was an attendee at that church.  He probably knew that they would be unarmed. Coward!

Actors and other elites who call out for Gun control have bodyguards who are armed. I discard their arguments, as they are the ultimate hypocrite, who have no dog in this fight.  It matters not to the wealthy what laws are passed, as they will find a way around them.  They live in their ivory towers behind large gates and issue mandates in the way of song, stage, or tweet, of how the little people should conduct themselves.

You are out of touch with the “little people” and have no idea what they go through just to make ends meet.  Obviously, I am not talking about every thespian, just the activist who promote their brand of exclusive snobbery!  “Let them eat cake kind of activist.”

Similarly, it matters not to the criminal element what laws are passed, as they don’t care about laws.

Laws only affect the law-abiding.  Let that sink in.

When there is such an event with bad people and guns, the police rarely are there to stop them. Usually, they show up in time to write up the carnage and start an investigation while the bodies are being removed by the coroner.

This is true in this small town, and in most home invasions.

A good Samaritan put an end to it! A good guy with a gun!

“If you can pass a background check and are not the ruling class of elites, you should probably buy a gun, and learn how to use it.”

Some person on twitter posted that “those who were killed probably voted for 45, and Karma is a bitch!”

This is the mindset of some out there.  I could not believe that someone would write such a thing but by looking at his posts, he truly is a demented person and has a long history of such.  He is also ANTIFA.

Fascist who pretend to be anti-fascist.

Does our MSM have any culpability? I think so.  I think they promote the hate and bigotry that exists in this country and possibly in other countries as they are all acting like petulant children.  Is this the result of generation X in control of some form of power?

I listened to MSNCB for twenty minutes before I heard the word Russia yesterday in the height and fervor of this event. They actually went 20 minutes without talking about Trump and Russia!

The sad part of this is, between CNN, Fox, and MSNBC, MSNBC had the best coverage of the events as they were unfolding. I wish the MSM would stop trying to create the news, and just report it!  So here are some question to find the answers to MSM…

• How did he get a gun?
• Were there any warning signs, notes, behaviors etc that someone should have noticed?
• Did this kid play violent video games?
• What happened in his military career, should any of those years have told us anything?
• Did he take mind-altering drugs, prescribed or otherwise?
• Did he suffer from any mental aberration such as depression?
• Who were his friends?
• Who were his Facebook friends?
• Who did he associate with both at work and after hours?
• Was this preventable in any way and if so how?

There are no words that will make things better, ever!

If you see something say something!

If you have a few extra dollars I know they could use it.

https://www.gofundme.com/SSFBC

Much Love -TW