Return of Thor (not the movie)

Thor, as in the dog, has returned.

Which to most people doesn't matter, but it's a big deal with my friends and his friends.

He's a popular dog. If allowed to run for political office, he'd win.

Thanks to all the folks at Hardin County animal shelter, Hardin Animal Rescue Transition Team, J&J Tractor Supply and all the good people out there who helped me look for him.

There's nothing worse than a German Shepherd who hates thunderstorms and runs like hell trying to avoid them.

He's calmed down now that's he's back home.

I guess I'll have to put bars on the windows, otherwise, he goes right through them.

We all have our fears, storms are his.

Mark Twain aka Samuel Clemens on Slavery of all types

It's amazing what is written in some books.
Hidden away to jump out at you.
Literary ambush.

I expect to find a sci-fi tale of time travel into the past (A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court) but discover that Mr. Clemens has hidden discourses on the stock market, employment, social attitudes and military matters in the book.

Would you be surprised that he's spent many pages on the various forms of slavery?

Mr. Clemens would be disappointed to see our current conditions.

In which slavery has been taken to a new level.

Economic bondage for the majority.

Can I get you a loan for that bauble you desire?

You'll just love the arrangements and it'll only leave you indebted for life.

Slavery without the chains is still bondage.

Colbert Nation vs Amazon Bezos

Oh boy, now they've done it.

Amazon has picked a fight with known authors, like J.K. Rowling and Stephen Colbert.

What were they thinking?

It was OK when they were not recognizing (and paying royalties to)  minor players or even lesser authors like yours' truly, but going after a major power player like J.K. Rowling?

Woe unto thee Mr. Bezos.

Have you crossed the line into territory where you'll not win?

This is going to be interesting, to say the least.

Too bad we can't get the poor workers at Amazon to realize just how bad they're being treated and do something about it.

Mr. Bezos and company may have bitten off more than they can chew this time.

Don't Tread on Me

Life is full of surprises.

I try to be polite when dealing with people I don't know. You never know who they might be or what they're up to.

Unfortunately, we have a few people on this planet who haven't adjusted their attitudes to calm, they're too busy bullying others. It's obvious in the current relationships that some countries have with the USA. Everyone is jockeying for position, trying to be the controlling factor.

Power is an elusive quantity. it comes in many forms, from economic to military to spiritual. Money, might and doing right. All can be corrupted.

At this time, money has been a defining factor for many groups to use to wield power. It's a fluid item, able to be flowed where the most good, from the point of view of those using it, can be done. The most good for their agenda, not necessarily the good of the rest of the community, be it local or worldwide.

Down through the ages, there has been a much more powerful force that money. It's been a factor in shaping the world we now have because it's timeless.

That's the power of the word.

I found that out yesterday when someone tried to pick a fight with me.

He evidently felt that he could threaten to beat me up and I'd just cower and fold.

I told him one thing, to get the point across.

"No."

He was surprised, but he backed off and left the property.


"No"

It's what we need to tell the people who've manipulated the news, the government and information outlets that they're now using to further agendas for their personal power groups.

We had a flag in this country many years ago. It had a simple motto:

Don't Tread on Me"

Any questions?

There always is never enough time

So many of my previous posts gave start dates for various projects. Like most people, some got done, others are in limbo and some will never get finished.

I've just gone through a very difficult period of my life. It won't be recounted here. Let it be said that it's given me a new perspective on what I want to do for the rest of the time I have on this planet.

My writing work is getting done.

Now it's time to get it out to readers.

Meanwhile, in lieu of death

It's been an interesting year. Too much to relate in this blog. It will be available later, when I've time to comment on the various incidents, organizations and personalities who've recently impacted my life.

You've heard the old phrase, "That which does not kill me, makes me stronger."

Believe it. I've recovered and am feeling fine.

I'm in better shape now than I've been in years.

Updates on "Going Dutch, Trials of a Wage Slave" and my other books, including the new one, which a kick-off for a 'New Adult' series will be posted in the coming weeks.

Surveillance is Slavery

Call it what you will, but if anyone is watching you, even in a benign manner, that's an invasion of privacy.

I consider any attempt to harvest information without the subject's permission to be akin to slavery.This attitude of 'You gotta watch them people, you can't trust them' is now being applied to ALL people.

You know how people are, they can't be trusted to stay in line. Never know what they're gonna do next. They might not like you, the nebulous watcher, watching them.

After all what do they think they are? Free or something?

So, when presented with the opportunity to sign a petition today, joining other authors in a protest against the digital surveillance we are now under, I signed up.

Didn't check the background of the site, who really owns it, what their manifesto might be. Just put my name on the internet, along with other personal information and was added to the list of known persons. People who don't like being spied upon, no matter who's doing it.

Does this make me a 'person of interest'? Probably not, with the boring life I lead.

I've always liked that phrase, considering that it's used to indicate that someone is under suspicion for an alleged act.

Hell, here I was thinking that they might actually be an interesting person, one with a fascinating background, not some potential criminal type.

IF a 'person of interest' might be a criminal, does that make US, as a nation under surveillance, a 'people of interest'?

Now, I don't know what to think.

Is this what the governing elite want?

Of course not, they want to do your thinking for you.

Just do everything they say and you'll be fine.

They aren't watching you, they're protecting you.

Now, don't worry, be happy.

Remember, what you don't know.....

is none of your business.