Yay! - and Thank You!

Approximately 23 hours ago, the announcement of my new Western novel 'went live' here and elsewhere.  It was, of course, ranked approximately nowhere at the time, since no-one knew until then that it was available for sale.

As of a few moments ago, 'Brings The Lightning' was ranked #730 (paid) in the entire Kindle Store at Amazon.com (out of well over two million e-book titles in the store).  It had also reached the ranks of:

• #7 in Amazon's 'Best Sellers' list for all Western books, printed and e-book;
• #11 in Amazon's 'Best Sellers' list for Western e-books only;
• #6 in Amazon's 'Hot New Releases' list for all Western books, printed and e-book;
• and #9 in Amazon's 'Hot New Releases' list for Western e-books only.

Not bad for less than a full day on the market!  Of course, short-term sales trajectory isn't as important, overall, as longer-term sales performance.  Nevertheless, this is a great start.  I hope the book's early success will be sustained.

Thank you so much, everyone, for your support.  As always, it's you, my readers, who make this possible - and worthwhile!

Peter

Why did I publish through Castalia House?

That's a question I knew I'd be asked on the publication of my Western novel.  It's actually a little disingenuous, because what the questioner(s) really mean is, "Why did you publish with Vox Day?"

Vox, a.k.a. Theodore Beale, the Managing Editor of Castalia House, is one of the most hated and vilified members of the science fiction and fantasy community, and roundly rejected by most of those with 'politically correct' opinions.  Personally, I think he's more sinned against than sinning.  He's been the target of vitriolic personal abuse over his non-politically-correct viewpoints, and the object of bitter personal attacks.  He was expelled from the Science Fiction Writers of America, SFWA (arguably illegally, because its own standards and procedures were not followed in the process).  Vox, not being a shrinking violet, has responded in kind and taken the struggle to new levels, particularly with his so-called 'Rabid Puppies' campaign to destabilize the Hugo Awards.

I've been surprised (and disappointed) by the number of people who react negatively to Vox Day solely on the basis of other peoples' opinion of him.  Without ever having met the man, or spoken with him, or corresponded with him, they condemn him out of hand.  A good example came from an author I otherwise respect, and whom I'd met from time to time.  In 2015 Marko Kloos withdrew his novel from nomination for a Hugo Award because Vox Day's Rabid Puppies had supported its inclusion.  On Facebook, he added:

I think Vox Day is a ****bag of the first order, and I don’t want any association with him, especially not a Hugo nomination made possible by his followers being the deciding factor. That stench don’t wash off.

I was profoundly disappointed that Marko would have made such a statement.  It wasn't like the man I thought I'd come to know.  He later apologized, but I think the damage was done - more to Marko than to Vox, I fear.  That's only one example of the extreme reactions against Vox Day that have circulated on the Internet from those who have, as far as I know, never had any direct contact with him at all.  They're taking their cue from others.  That's intellectual dishonesty and moral cowardice.  There's no other way to put it.

I first came into contact with Vox Day over the boycott of Tor Books for which I called last year.  (You can read all my articles on the subject, including quotes from Vox, in reverse chronological order at this link.)  I'd never spoken to him before - in fact, at that point I'd barely heard of him, since I'd never been (and still am not) a member of either the Sad Puppies or Rabid Puppies campaign - but he picked up on my challenge to senior Tor staff members concerning their bias towards and lies about people like me.  He became an ally in the campaign, and a very welcome one too.  I spoke with him on more than one occasion by telephone, and corresponded with him via e-mail.  I found him nothing but gentlemanly, polite and supportive.

Since that time I've continued to exchange e-mails with him from time to time.  When I recently put up on this blog a 'teaser' chapter from my proposed Western novel, he clearly liked what he saw, because he approached me within 24 hours and offered me a three-book contract.  I hadn't expected that at all, but I was honored that he was willing to take a risk on a first-time effort like mine in a moribund genre that had been declared all but dead by every major publisher out there.  I kicked my preparations into high gear.  This morning's publication of 'Brings The Lightning' is the result.

Vox was my editor in getting the book ready for publication.  He stated up front that he wanted to 'make a good book better', not try to remake it in his image, or make it into something it wasn't.  I found him a very effective editor indeed.  He went through my manuscript and made many proposed changes, averaging two or three per page, but did so on the basis that these were his suggestions rather than his demands.  I was free to accept or reject each of his proposed changes.  In about two-thirds of cases, I went along with his proposals.  They did, indeed, make the book better.  In the remaining third of cases, I went with what I'd originally written, or re-wrote a few lines, because I felt it fitted in better with my vision for the book and what I hope will be the series into which it will grow.  Vox accepted that with aplomb.  The man's a gentleman.

There will doubtless be those who'll be disappointed that I've chosen to publish with a man, and a publishing house, that they regard with the same revulsion as the Devil regards holy water.  To them I can only say, go read what my friend Larry Correia had to say about Vox last year.  I endorse his sentiments.  I don't share all - or possibly even most - of Vox's opinions, but then he's never asked me to share or support them in any way, shape or form.  He's merely tried to be the best editor he can be, and help me be the best writer I can be.  I'll be damned if I condemn him because of past history or exchanges to which I wasn't a party, and in which I had no involvement at all.  Not my circus, not my monkeys.  I certainly won't demand that he embrace political correctness.  As you've probably noted from my blog header, that's not exactly a position I embrace myself!

Vox shares my perspective that the 'classic' Western genre is ripe for revival.  I've grown very tired of romance or erotica masquerading as Westerns - to my mind, they belong in a different category.  I'm also fed up with the historical inaccuracies and fantastically high body counts of many so-called Westerns that are nothing more or less than violence porn (and sometimes actual porn as well, given the number of sex scenes they contain - something that would be anathema to every one of the great Western authors).  I tried to write in the classic style, and Vox actively tried to help me do that.  I appreciated his input.

Castalia House is a small publisher at this stage, but it's grown in stature and in the diversity of its offerings.  I'm honored - deeply honored - to join authors such as Jerry Pournelle and Martin van Creveld in its stable.  I've read both men for years, and their books are numbered among those in my permanent library.  (I note with amusement that Dr. Pournelle is a past President of SFWA.  That says a great deal about how that organization has changed since his tenure, epitomized by its treatment of Vox Day, and by Dr. Pournelle's willingness to be publicly associated with him, notwithstanding that.)  More recently, I discovered the work of John C. Wright through Castalia House, and have been enjoying it.  I look forward to continuing this Western series with Castalia and Vox Day, and I may in due course write some science fiction and/or space opera for them as well.  We'll see what readers think of this initial offering through them, and take it from there.

Thanks, Vox, for making my book much better than it would have been without your help.  You are (literally) a gentleman and a scholar, Sir, and I've enjoyed working with you.  I look forward to doing so again.

Peter

My first Western is published

My first (and hopefully by no means my last) Western, 'Brings The Lightning', has just been published by Castalia House.

It's been a labor of love for me, because I grew up on a steady diet of what I'd call 'classic' Westerns;  Louis L'Amour, Zane Grey, the 'English Westerns' of J. T. Edson, and the like.  In military camps across Southern Africa, paperback copies of their books were in circulation.  One sometimes had to wait to get hold of two or three copies in order to finish the story, because missing pages at the beginning and end could make the books a little impenetrable;  but one knew there'd be more copies floating around at the next base.

I particularly strove for accuracy and historical authenticity.  I've gotten very tired of reading (and watching) Westerns where the weapons, or the food, or the wagons, or the clothes, weren't period-correct.  The real thing was fascinating;  the impact of the Industrial Revolution on so many areas of life was still making itself felt, so that from generation to generation, lives would be lived very differently.  I was able to take my time while writing it, assemble a fairly decent reference bookshelf or three, and make sure that what I wrote was as accurate as I could make it.  (I may have gone a bit too far in that direction for some readers, judging by early reviews, but it doesn't seem to have stopped them enjoying it.  So far, as I write these words, the book's already garnered four 4-star and six 5-star reviews.  That makes me very happy!)

The initial release is an e-book.  A print edition will follow within weeks, as Castalia House gears up for it;  and there may be some special news on that front, too.  (Later on today I'll put up an article about how I ended up at Castalia House with this book, and offering some thoughts on my experience working with them.  It's been a lot of fun.  You can read their perspective on that here.)

I hope you enjoy reading 'Brings The Lightning' as much as I've enjoyed writing it.  The sequel is already under way, to be published (hopefully) about this time next year.

Peter

That's a thirsty fish!

I was a bit mind-boggled to come across this video from Brazil.

Real or fake?  You decide . . . but it looked real to me.  How on earth does a fish develop a beer habit?




Peter

Newton warned about this centuries ago

I'm not so much amused as depressed by the views of Israel's former defense minister.

Israel’s departing defence minister Moshe Ya’alon has denounced the "extremist and dangerous elements" which "have taken over Israel and the Likud party" as he left office.

Mr Ya’alon was speaking at the military headquarters of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in Tel Aviv amid a growing political storm over the country’s leadership.

He was forced to stand down to make way for Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the hard-right Yisrael Beitenu party, whose decision to join the Likud party-led cabinet has created what Israeli newspapers are calling the most right-wing government in Israel's history. He is now quitting the Knesset, the Israeli parliament.

Mr Ya'alon said he had spent his career fighting extremism, violence and racism, but that they were threatening the "sturdiness" of society and trickling into the IDF.

"The state of Israel is patient and tolerant toward the weak among it and minorities," he said. "But to my great regret extremist and dangerous elements have overrun Israel as well as the Likud party, shaking up our home and threatening harm to those in it."

He added that he had "recently found myself in strong disagreement on moral and professional issues with the prime minister, a number of ministers and several MPs".

Mr Ya’alon’s dismissal as defence minister came after months of disagreements with the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Last Sunday, Mr Ya’alon was summoned for a “clarification” meeting with the Israeli prime minister following a speech in which he urged IDF generals to continue to voice their opinions, even if they contradicted government policy, while warning of increasingly militant views which he said had crept into mainstream Israeli society.

There's more at the link.

My initial reaction to Mr. Ya'alon's claims was a weary, "No ****, Sherlock!"  Of course the Israeli government - and its society in general - have become more polarized.  Just look at the environment they face!  Current threats include (but are not limited to):

• A resurgent Assad administration in Syria, which means growing Iranian influence there - the same Iran that constantly threatens Israel with annihilation;
• Iran's client terror movements, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. They will be more assured of resupply and support, including modern guided weapons and even, possibly, Iranian Revolutionary Guards to join their operations.  In return, it's reported that Iran will seek to use Hamas forces to combat ISIL in Syria, just as Hezbollah is already doing;
• Hamas is trying to rebuild and expand its tunnel network into Israel, to carry out terror operations at times and places of its choosing;
• Turkey has been a long-term supporter of ISIL in Syria.  As the latter teeters on the edge of defeat, Turkey may seek to reimpose itself as a dominant Islamic force in the Middle East, to serve as a counterweight to Assad in Syria and Iranian ambitions in the area;
• Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states are proposing to train and arm opponents of ISIL in Syria, in direct opposition to Iran's efforts in the area.  Israel's right in the cross-hairs if conflict erupts;
• Instability in Iraq continues to threaten the entire Persian Gulf region;
• Iran may abandon its 'nuke deal' with the USA and other powers and 'go it alone', leaving Israel more vulnerable if it should develop a nuclear weapon.

Given that combination of threats and influences, I'd be astonished if Israel as a whole - its government and its people - were not growing more paranoid, more hard-line in their response to the threats confronting them.  It's inevitable.  As Newton's Third Law of Motion put it, "To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction".  That seems to apply in politics as much as it does in physics.

I continue to be astonished that we haven't seen a major international conflict erupt in the Middle East over the past two to three years.  It's come pretty close at times, what with Russian, Iranian and Turkish intervention in the Syrian crisis, but it's always been kept under control.  However, Israel's now on a hair-trigger to defend its own interests and, if necessary, ensure its survival, no matter what the cost.  If Iran puts a foot wrong, I won't be surprised to see Teheran become a glass-topped parking lot in the Persian desert, along with every major Iranian city and installation of importance.

Peter

Too cute!

PawPaw brings us the tale (with photographic evidence) of an adventurous mouse in an unlikely place.  It's just too cute!  Click over there to see it for yourself.

Peter

Water fast and diet update: Week 3

The past week's been pretty much a non-starter for my water fast and diet program.  My blood glucose levels were fluctuating pretty badly at the start of the week, and that's a danger sign I don't want to ignore;  so I didn't start fasting on Monday as I normally would, rather waiting to see if things stabilized after another day or two.

Unfortunately, they didn't.  I had an attack of severe gall bladder pain in mid-week, sufficient to keep me up most of the night, wishing I could rip the damn thing out with my bare hands!  This is a not unexpected consequence of the diet and fasting program - I have gallstones, although they haven't previously manifested any problems, and it's a known risk that they can act up during rapid weight loss.  Oh, well.  I guess I just became that well-known comic character, Statistical Norm.

I've eaten more or less normally this past week.  Of course, my weight's increased slightly, but I've kept off most of what I lost in the preceding two weeks.  On Monday, all being well, I'll start another 5-day water fast, and see about getting back into the routine.  I'm in no hurry.  I expect this process to take most (if not all) of a year, and I'm only three weeks into it.  I'll let nature take its course, and allow my body to dictate the pace at which I press on.  So far, so good.

Peter

This reminds me of Africa

Here's a video clip filmed on Bolivia's Yungas Road, also known as 'Death Road'.  I don't think it's really all that scary, because I've covered many miles on mountain roads in the Kingdom of Lesotho.  The Maloti Mountains (part of the larger Drakensberg chain) are just as steep, the trails just as narrow, and the hazards just as deadly.

And here's what can happen if the driver misjudges a turn . . .

Peter

Getting away from a catastrophe

I'm sure most readers are aware of the massive fire that caused the complete evacuation of the Canadian city of Fort McMurray a couple of weeks ago.  There's a very sobering article by a resident about his family's lack of preparation for such an emergency, and how it's caused him to re-evaluate many things.  Here's an excerpt.

I don’t know if you’re religious or not, but if you believe in some version of hell my family just drove through it. A few hours ago my family and I escaped the city of Fort McMurray, Alberta which as you may have seen on the news is burning.

We drove through the fire, avoiding dangling electrical wires. We are alive, we have found shelter for tonight in a motel. But like so many others we were unprepared to evacuate when we were told we needed to.

I am going to ask you to do what my family did not do, but wish we did: have an emergency kit ready.

Forest fires are not uncommon in Northern Alberta. Each year many fires occur in the vast Boreal forest that covers the Northern Region of the province, but most of them stay contained, or burn a safe distance from inhabited communities.

Living in Fort McMurray for the past three years (past two years for my wife Amanda and son Odin) we have been witness to these yearly events. Each time, my wife and I will say to each other “We should really think about having an Emergency Preparedness Kit”. We talk about it. We say what a good and practical idea it is. Then, like so many others, it gets put to the wayside and forgotten. We’ll get to it, we say, just like how we’ll get to all the other things in life we say we’ll get to eventually.

Today that forgetfulness put us in danger.

There's more at the link.

Another resident of Fort McMurray recorded a series of video clips of the evacuation.  They make for stunning (and very scary) viewing.  Here's the third in the series.  Just look at the numbers of cars all trying to funnel onto already clogged streets, surrounded by flames, to make their getaway . . . frightening indeed!  Watch in full-screen mode for best results.

The other videos, in sequence, are:

Video 1

Video 2

Video 4

Video 5

Video 6

Sobering viewing indeed.  Are you ready for such a disaster?  Can anyone ever really be prepared for something that monumental?

Peter

Doofus Of The Day #907

Today's award goes to a Romanian driver who appears to have fallen asleep at the wheel - while approaching a traffic roundabout at high speed.  The results were filmed from several angles by police CCTV cameras.

Bumpy ride, what?

Peter

An interesting sci-fi experiment from John C. Wright

My wife and I met fellow authors John C. Wright and his wife, L. Jagi Lamplighter, at LibertyCon last year.  They're a delightful couple, and it was a pleasure to get to know them.  I've also reviewed one of John's books here before.

Now John's trying something new.

An internet magazine hired me to write an old-fashioned space opera in the mood and flavor of ‘World Wrecker’ Hamilton to run in fifty or so weekly episodes of two-thousand word each.

However, the magazine folded and returned the rights to me. It is my wish to bring it to my fan (Hi, Nate!) directly.

The title is SUPERLUMINARY.

The plot is this: The sole survivor of an illfated expedition to Pluto finds the Infinithedron, a library of supertechnology from the alien race that created life on earth and guided evolution to produce mankind.

He returns to earth only to discover world war has decimated civilization. Rather than sharing the secrets, he uses them to conquer mankind, impose peace and order, but also abolishing aging, disease, famine.

Lord Tellus (as he calls himself) imprints each of his children with a different branch of the alien science, but the whole of it is taught to none. These Lords of Creation (as they call themselves) are commanded to create life on each of the worlds and moons of the solar system. Scores of artificial intelligent races are fashioned, who adore the children as godlike. The secret of faster than light drive Lord Tellus keeps to himself: mankind he keeps in the solar system. But what is his reason?

He goes mad, and his children rise up in rebellion, and he vanishes, leaving behind mysteries and guesses.

Aeneas Tell, son of Lady Venus, youngest of the imperial family, dreams of overthrowing the his family in favor of a republic, but when he introduces a rebel into the imperial palace for a coup, he is betrayed, and barely escapes with his life, and flees to Pluto.

Here Aeneas discovers the horrific secret his grandfather was hiding, and an ancient evil that sleeps beneath the eternal ice. Aeneas finds himself snared in a labyrinth of intrigue, striving somehow to convince his Machiavellian family to cooperate against a mutual foe none of them credit.

Read the first episode here:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/superluminary-01-5489523

There's more at John's Patreon page.

The idea behind Patreon is that subscribers pay the artist/author/whatever a monthly amount in return for free access to their work.  In John's case, he's asking for a paltry $1 per month.  That's a bargain in anyone's language, although if you're feeling generous, a larger pledge is always an option.  He'll publish one episode of Superluminary every week for a year, hoping that he can make enough money from interested readers to make it worth his while.  (At the time of writing, 34 patrons have pledged a total of $155 per month.  I'll be joining their ranks shortly.)

I think it's a great idea.  If you like classic, well-written science fiction tales that carry a moral and make you think, they don't come much better than John's.  Recommended.

Peter

I would say "Screw them!", but they'd probably like that . . .

I'm furious to read this report.

Hampden-Sydney College has caved to radical gender ideologues who demanded the firing of Ret. Lt. Gen. William “Jerry” Boykin after his criticism of transgender bathrooms.

Boykin – once commander of the Army’s elite Delta Force and currently executive vice president of Family Research Council – has been teaching at the all-male college located in Virginia.

Radical LGBT activists descended upon the college after Boykin’s comment, “...the first man who goes in the restroom with my daughter will not have to worry about surgery.” Through social media, emails and phone calls to the school, the leftwing ideologues demanded Boykin be fired for what they referred to as urging violence against gays and transgendered individuals.

. . .

In a Facebook post Tuesday, Boykin announced his termination:

Because some of you already know and are contacting me about it, let me make it official and let you all know that I have been terminated from teaching at Hampden-Sydney College after nine years there.

. . .

Boykin asserts he has never called for violence against any individual.

“I was referring to perverts who will use these policies to get into locker rooms with girls and women, and I object to that,” he stressed. “Nonetheless, I gave the LGBT community just what they needed to pressure the college leadership to terminate me and they did.”

. . .

Boykin said the real goal of the radical LGBT agenda is to intimidate parents who object to their daughters being in bathrooms with boys and men who claim to be girls. He invites Americans to sign a petition to push back against President Obama’s decree that all schools allow boys to use the girls’ bathrooms and vice versa, according to their wishes.

“Push back against these bathroom laws, and stand up if not for a moral reason, but for the safety of the women and young girls who would be put at risk,” he urges.

There's more at the link.

Just in case there's any doubt about my position on this matter, let me re-state it clearly and for the record.

1. I have enormous sympathy for people suffering from a genuine chromosomal or genetic issue that causes gender difficulties.  However, such people are a tiny minority, measured in tenths or even hundreds of one per cent.  Most of those claiming to be transgendered are suffering from psychological or psychiatric aberrations.  I'm sorry for them, but I will not indulge or endorse their self-deception by pandering to it.
2. I regard the whole transgender bathroom issue as a storm in a teacup.  Transgender people have been using bathrooms for one or the other gender for years, and no-one has minded, because they haven't made a fuss about it or tried to use it to make a public statement.  Unfortunately, the issue has now been politicized and made into a cause célèbre.  I will not permit, and I will not tolerate, any attempt to treat it as such in my presence, or on this blog.
3. I endorse Lt-Gen. Boykin's reservations about the current administration's policy on this issue, and agree with him that it's an open invitation to perverts and criminals to take advantage of political correctness to get away with their sick obsession and criminal acts.  It will not happen on my watch to any person for whom I am responsible.  That's a promise.  I can and will do whatever it takes to make sure that no pervert uses any such opportunity to approach them.  If this causes distress to LGBT activists - tough shit.  Get used to it.  That's the way it is, and that's the way it's going to stay.
4. I fear that Hampden-Sydney College has chosen to tar itself with the brush of political correctness, rather than stand up for free speech and normal, common human decency.  I submit that in the light of their decision, any parent who was considering sending his or her child to that college would now be well advised to look for a better institution - one where they'll get an education rather than an indoctrination.

Thank you, Lt.-Gen. Boykin, for taking a stand.  You have my respect, Sir.  I didn't serve in the US armed forces - my service was on another continent, in another war - but you can have a salute from me anytime.

Peter

Cool! - infrared edition

Here's a fascinating video clip from a British Coast Guard helicopter 'cloud surfing' in or near Scotland last week.  The forward looking infrared camera shows the helicopter's 'shadow' as it approaches each cloud, then 'vanishes' inside it.  It's an unusual perspective, to say the least.

I daresay the pilots were having a lot of fun there.

Peter

But what about the syrup?

I don't quite see the point of this, but I suppose the photographer/narrator had fun.

What? No maple syrup?

Peter

A shot across the bows for China's economy

The Telegraph reports on what may be a very significant change of direction for the Chinese economy.

Nobody rings a bell at the top of the credit supercycle, to misuse an old adage. Except that this time somebody very powerful in China has done exactly that.

China watchers are still struggling to identify the author of an electrifying article in the People's Daily that declares war on debt and the "fantasy" of perpetual stimulus.

Written in a imperial tone, it commands China to break its addiction to credit and take its punishment before matters spiral out of control. If that means bankruptcies must run their course, so be it.

Fifteen years ago such a mystery article would have been an arcane matter, of interest only to Sinologists. Today it is neuralgic for the entire global - and over-globalized - financial system.

China's debt is approaching $30 trillion. The fresh credit alone created since 2007 is greater than the outstanding liabilities of the US, Japanese, German, and Indian commercial banking systems combined.

. . .

To put matters in context, leverage rose by roughly 50 percentage points of GDP in Japan before the Nikkei bubble burst in 1990, or in Korea before the East Asia crisis in 1998, or in the US before the subprime debacle. This gauge is an almost  mechanical indicator of a future credit crisis.

As we all know, China is in a class of its own. Debt has risen by 120 to 140 percentage points. The scale of excess industrial capacity - and China's power and life and death over commodity markets -  mean that any serious policy pivot by the Communist Party would set off an international earthquake.

. . .

The rot in the country's $7.7 trillion bond markets is metastasizing. Bo Zhuang from Trusted Sources said more than 100 firms cancelled or delayed bond issues in April due to widening credit spreads.

Ten companies have defaulted this year, with the shipbuilder Evergreen, Nanjing Yurun Foods, and the solar group Yingli Green Energy all in trouble this month.  But what has really spooked markets is the suspension of nine bonds issued by the AA+ rated China Railways Materials, the first of the big central SOE's to signal default. "This has greatly weakened investors’ long-standing expectation of implicit government support," he said.

There's more at the link.

I can't emphasize too strongly the potential implications of this article.  If it turns out to be from a source with the authority to make the new approach stick, it will have a dramatic ripple effect on the entire global economy.  China (and the Asian market it dominates) now manufactures almost half of all the goods produced in the entire world.  That, in turn, drives imports (of raw materials to China) and exports (of manufactured goods from China) around the globe.  A severe contraction of that country's debt-fueled economy would put a very large proportion of that trade in immediate jeopardy, which would have instant effects on the economies of every other industrialized and developed nation.

I've written extensively about the problem of debt, and what it means for everything from national economies, through corporations, to individual consumers.  It looks like someone high up in the Chinese government has 'seen the light', and is trying to act before it's too late.  Trouble is, the debt problem there is already so immense that it may be too late for a 'soft landing'.  I suspect we're about to find out.

Peter

Teaser

My Western novel is getting very close to publication.  Look for an announcement about that early next week.  In the meantime, to whet your appetite, here's the cover.

The publisher's artist adapted Frederic Remington's famous painting 'The Lookout' for the cover, and chose an interesting Old West-type font as well. I think he did a great job. Alpha and beta readers and initial reviewers have said that the book lives up to the standard set by its cover, about which I'm very pleased.

Watch this blog early next week for release information.

Peter

Give a Finn a hydraulic press and . . .

. . . you get the Hydraulic Press Channel on YouTube!  He's squashed all sorts of things, but I had to laugh at his efforts using gummy bears, small and large.

There are many more crushing videos at his channel. Here's one dear to the hearts of frustrated writers.

Funny . . . my computer's been behaving a lot better since I screened that one!




Peter

Old rock star songs

This video link came in via e-mail this morning.  It's chuckle-worthy.

Peter

The Bataclan terror attack, from the stage

During the Paris terror attacks last November, the single worst atrocity was at the Bataclan theater, where the music group Eagles of Death Metal was performing.  Now the lead singer of the group has spoken about it in an interview with Taki's Magazine.  Here's an excerpt.

They were in the venue early. That implies some staff were in on it.

I got in a lot of trouble for saying that. I know for sure that they were in there early. I remember them staring at my buddy. I just chalked it up to Arab envy. You know what I mean? When a Muslim sees a cocky American dude with tattoos, he stares at him. I realized later it was Abdeslam and he was staring at my buddy because they thought he was a threat. There’s no denying the terrorists were already inside, and they had to get in somehow. During the shooting I went outside and the backstage door was propped open. How did that happen?

. . .

I’ve heard you say you credit your childhood with your survival. You had a real dad who stuck around and taught you about guns.

I knew what gunfire was. I was able to think through it. I was also able to remember practical lessons of my life because I had to be in fights as a kid. My mom didn’t go sue anyone. I didn’t have playdates. I had some practical upbringing growing up in the desert where you got to get yourself out of your problems.

Also, the reason I’ve done well with this healing process is everything I was raised to believe was affirmed that night. In a way, that’s a blessing of God. When the first bullets started being fired, people looked at me. I remember that. It pissed me off because I knew right then and there it was going to be bad. I knew these kids had no idea what was coming. None. They’d never heard a gunshot in real life and it hit them so hard.

. . .

You went to the hospital?

I had pieces of teeth and human bone pulled out of my face. A girl got shot right next to me by the shooter at the top of the stairs who I had met earlier. She stepped one step in front of me and her head just exploded. It blew pieces of her teeth and skull into my face.

. . .

Do you think a percentage of the security staff was Muslim?

I know they were. Look, security guards backstage are notorious for being dicks. They check your ID every few minutes and nobody goes back and forth without being checked, even if you’re in the band. This guy didn’t care what we did. He didn’t even look at me.

The only time he seemed remotely interested in us was when he said to my girlfriend, “Do you speak French?” and “Where are you from?” She said she was from Texas and he was getting frustrated because that’s not what he meant. Then she said, “I’m American” and he lost interest. I honestly think he was trying to determine if she was Arab or not. She’s Mexican and she could easily pass for Lebanese and I think he was going to warn her if she was Muslim.

. . .

Maybe one of the reasons the cops are so much more pragmatic about this threat is that they are the ones who have to go into Les Banlieues and confront these people. Naïveté is a luxury they can’t afford.

When the cops went in after the attack, they shut down, what, 450 mosques? They found recruitment material in every single one of them. What the **** is wrong with us that we don’t know about that?

There's more at the link.

In view of what is, in my opinion, the absolute certainty that more such attacks are coming, I highly recommend reading the whole interview.  There are lessons to be learned that might save your life someday, or the lives of your loved ones.

Peter

Doofus Of The Day #906

Today's award goes to an unfortunate fellow in Australia, courtesy of a link provided by reader Snoggeramus.

A MAN was left red-faced when firefighters had to be called to hospital to remove a tool from his penis.

The man became stuck after his penis swelled up in the ring spanner on Monday and was he unable to remove it.

Tweed firefighters say it not uncommon for them to be called to such jobs where people leave it too late to ask for help.

. . .

“We use a tiny angle grinder that’s air operated and use measuring tape to protect the skin and slowly zip away at it while keeping water running on it so it doesn’t get too hot.

“It’s a pretty delicate operation especially where it is, there’s a lot of blood vessels.

“We do quite a few of them.”

There's more at the link.

If he used a ring spanner, clearly he was nuts about someone . . . this time to the detriment of another kind of nuts!

Seriously, though:  I've never, ever been tempted, not even in my wildest imaginings, to stick portions of my anatomy where they were never intended or designed to go.  What is it with these people?

Peter

Consumer-grade padlocks aren't all that good

Here's one way to get through them, using equipment any moderately prepared intruder can carry with him in a backpack (like this example).

If you've got to secure something important, use a security-rated padlock rather than a general consumer-grade one - and even then, be aware that it can be defeated.  If it's claimed to be unbreakable, don't believe the claim;  and also consider that if the padlock resists penetration, its hasp and the door behind it may not.  I've been at more than one crime scene where a very expensive, highly-rated padlock was on the ground, still locked, with the hasp from which it had hung sawn in two on the door behind it.

Peter

Heh

Courtesy of By Other Means:

No ****, Sherlock!

Peter

Hooray for used books on the internet!

In my quest for research materials for future Western books, I've had great luck locating scarce, rare and hard-to-find books and information at Amazon.com and the individuals and stores selling through that portal.  These are books that simply can't be had for love or money through local bookstores.  Even many libraries have divested themselves of them, because there simply wasn't enough demand for them to justify the shelf space they were taking up.  However, for writers and those interested in the period, it's a gold mine out there.

The latest example arrived this morning, accompanied by a dirty look from the poor Post Office driver who had to lug the (very heavy) box to my front door.  It's the complete 26-volume set of 'The Old West' from Time-Life Books.  (I've ordered the Master Index to the series separately.)  Originally published in the 1970's, it's a pretty decent reference source for the period, not just in its text but in the hundreds upon hundreds of authentic photographs that show the reality of life in those days in all its grittiness.  You can't get that anywhere else, not even on the Internet, without a heck of a lot of searching.  The series concentrated it all into one convenient location, and I paid about $4 per volume!  That's what I call a real bargain.

The same has applied to books on specific subjects (for example, 'The Gunfighter - Man or Myth?', 'Language of the Railroader', 'The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in the Wild West from 1840-1900', and so on).  Many are available used for only a few cents per volume;  others for a few dollars.  Hugely expensive reference works such as 'The Value of a Dollar 1860-2014' ($155 for a new copy of the current 5th edition) can be had used for less than a third of that sum, and in an older edition (still perfectly usable for my needs) for just two cents!

I notice that many thrift shops all over the country, including branches of national chains such as Goodwill, are now using Amazon.com to advertise their used books. In many cases they'll offer them for just 1c apiece, trusting in Amazon's $3.99 standard shipping charge to make a dollar or two on each sale.  Some individuals I know are thinning their libraries in the same way.  Others are using web sites such as Abebooks, Alibris, Bookfinder, etc.  When I can't find what I want on Amazon.com, I'll usually find it on one or more of those competitors.

I don't buy light reading or fiction in this way - I've spent a lot of time and effort cutting down my library to a manageable size, and I don't want it expanding again!  I'll stick to e-books for light reading.  Nevertheless, when it comes to reference books, this is a great (and very economical) way to gather resources.  I'm having a lot of fun.

Peter

I didn't know robots went back that far

It seems a robot designed and built during the 1920's is about to be resurrected.  The Telegraph reports:

Britain’s first robot, Eric, is to be rebuilt and sent on a world tour after curators at the Science Museum tracked down lost plans while researching a new exhibition.

The automaton was built by First World Ward veteran Captain William Richards and aircraft engineer Alan Reffell, to replace the Duke of York in opening the Exhibition of the Society of Model Engineers in London in 1928.

On September 28 1928 Eric stood up at the Royal Horticultural Hall, bowed, looked right and left and moved his hands as he proceeded to give a four minute opening address as sparks flashed from his teeth.

The robot was so successful that after his appearance he embarked on a world tour, amazing crowds in Britain, UK and Europe, before vanishing forever.

There's more at the link.

I'm not sure whether Eric could be described in the same terms as a modern robot.  I suspect he'd more correctly be classified as an automaton.  Whatever the classification, though, it's very cool from a techie perspective to see a piece of history like this revived.  I imagine the steampunk brigade will be thrilled!

Peter

"How to measure corporate welfare"

That's the title of an article over at Captain Capitalism's place.  Here's an excerpt.

I need statistics.  I need facts.  And I need good methodology so I know, as accurately as possible, precisely what the hell I'm talking about.  And one of the few economic stones I have left unturned with empiricism has been "corporate welfare."  Specifically, how much is there?

This is an important statistic to know because when debating leftists they always claim that if we "just got rid of corporate welfare" then we wouldn't have a budget deficit nor (consequently) a national debt.  That if we just stopped giving all those nasty corporations all that government cheese we'd be able to fund everything and everyone, from free education, to free jobs, to free house, and free healthcare.

Of course, when you try to peg them down on precisely how much in "corporate welfare" me and the other taxpayers give to these evil corporations, none of them have any figures.  And so, as always with leftists, you can't rely on any kind of constructive debate that advances our understanding and moves us closer to a practical solution, simply because the left has no freaking clue what they're talking about.  They're merely regurgitating talking points (usually lies) they heard from some other equally misinformed leftist and the real adult work of getting to the bottom of things and conducting research begins.

. . .

I have come up with a cool $225 billion in annual corporate welfare (it should be noted however, this does not include TARP as - hopefully - that was a one time anal raping of the American taxpayer).

There's more at the link.  Well worth reading.

I found it interesting to see how the Captain came up with his figure.  I think he's probably close to a minimum figure;  it wouldn't surprise me if it were higher.  In other words, it's probably at least one-sixth of the annual US budget, and possibly higher than that.  (I daresay companies such as Archer Daniels Midland, Lockheed Martin and Halliburton couldn't survive in their present form [or at their present size] without corporate welfare.  There are hundreds more like them.)

Something else that needs a budgetary axe, as quickly and as ruthlessly as possible.

Peter

Boys and their (explosive) toys

Thanks to reader B. D. for sending me the link to this video.  A young man decides to throw a pound of sodium into a river.  The results are . . . well, see for yourself.  Watch in full-screen mode for best results.

Of course, by chucking that much sodium into the water, he also poisoned that stretch for fish and other wildlife, at least until the concentrated solution got diluted . . . but I guess he wasn't thinking about that.

Peter

Gender and the law - a fascinating fight is shaping up

I see that North Carolina's gender issues are raising some intricate legal problems.  The Charlotte Observer reports (bold, underlined text is my emphasis):

The Obama Justice Department contends that sexual orientation is not a personal decision, but is based on an array of factors affecting an individual’s sense of gender and is protected by civil rights laws enacted 40 and 50 years ago. In slapping the state of North Carolina with a suit charging HB2 violates sex discrimination provisions in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a 1972 education law and the 2013 Violence Against Women Act, Attorney General Loretta Lynch accused North Carolina officials of “state-sponsored discrimination against transgender individuals.”

. . .

But Ed Whelan, president of the conservative-leaning Ethics and Public Policy Center and head of its program on the Constitution, the Courts and the Culture, says laws like North Carolina’s “do not involve by any conceivable measure discrimination on the basis of gender identity.”

North Carolina’s law disregards gender identity by defining gender as a person’s biological sex at birth, Whelan, a former law clerk to the late conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, said in a phone interview.

. . .

McCrory told Fox News that Obama administration officials are “trying to define gender identity. And there is no clear identification or definition of gender identity.”

Perhaps, but [Pamela] Karlan [who teaches public interest law at Stanford University] said the medical profession has recognized that “people’s sex is made up of a complex group of factors, and for most people, the factors tend to reinforce each other.”

For most people, she said, “their chromosomal sex and their external genitalia and their sense of a social role, and the hormones that are coursing through their bodies all kind of align. For transgender people, their chromosomal sex and external genitalia at birth don’t necessarily correlate with their internal sense of gender.”

There's more at the link.  It's well worth reading in full for an explanation of all the issues.

The core of the problem, to me, is how one deals with what the article calls individuals' "internal sense of gender".  There are (as I've pointed out before) some people (vanishingly few, as a proportion of the general population) who suffer from genuine, physical medical problems in this area;  sex chromosome abnormalities and the like.  (For example, a European study showed sex chromosome abnormality rates ranging from 1 in every 1,934 persons [0.05%] to 1 in every 14,828 persons [0.007%].)  For such people, I have enormous sympathy.  It must be a hell of a burden to carry through life.

However, that doesn't extend to blind, unthinking acceptance of psychological or psychiatric issues with gender identity.  Sure, those suffering from such issues need treatment as much as those suffering from physical abnormalities, but the appropriate treatment is psychological or psychiatric - not surgical, and not tolerance of their delusions!  Just because someone thinks they're male or female doesn't mean that they are male or female.  With vanishingly few exceptions (as outlined above), medically and physically, the chromosomes determine gender.  Period.  Someone's "internal sense of gender" does not.

That's why I don't find North Carolina's law a problem.  It states baldly that bathrooms are reserved for the gender determined by one's biology - one's chromosomes.  For those very, very few people with mixed-up chromosomes, I daresay this might cause issues, but I don't think they're so severe that they can't be overcome.  For a start, the law, by referring to the biological gender of one's birth, implicitly acknowledges that some people's gender is biologically indeterminate at birth.  I don't see the law excluding them from consideration.

On the other hand, I have very strong objections to the administration's attempts to legally define gender according to non-scientific, non-medical, touchy-feely, politically correct factors.  That's simply unacceptable.  Period.  To my mind, it's nothing more or less than using the law as a club to ignore medical and physical reality and impose ideology instead.

One hopes sanity will prevail in the courts.  If it doesn't, I daresay it will on the streets . . . because many of us will never accept or obey laws and regulations that fly in the face of nature and common sense.

Peter

Here's what a million-dollar rifle looks like

My thanks to several readers who sent me the link to this Washington Times article.  Click the images for a larger view.

It has a fine walnut stock, a blue finish and a very simple inscription that reads “Albee to Lawton.” But this 19th-century rifle has become the most expensive single firearm ever sold at auction according to the Rock Island Auction Company, which recently sent the historic piece to a new destiny with an undisclosed buyer. The price: $1,265,000.

“Other guns have sold higher as a pair, but no other single firearm surpasses this new world record. It was an honor to be entrusted with an American treasure,” said Kevin Hogan, president of the Illinois-based company.

The rifle itself was a gift from one Congressional Medal of Honor winner to another. U.S. Army Captain Henry Ware Lawton and Lieutenant George E. Albee had been brothers-in-arms during the Civil War. The former continued his military career and saw combat in the Indian Wars, the Spanish American War and the Philippine American War. The latter went to work as a designer for the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.

After Lawton led a grueling but successful expedition which resulted in the capture and surrender of Apache leader Geronimo in 1886, his old friend was inspired to find a suitable recognition for the deed. His choice? The “Winchester Model 1886 Sporting Rifle (serial number 1)” which he obtained by virtue of his standing in the company. The gun survived in excellent condition.

There's more at the link.

You'll find more images on the auction Web page.  Here's a video clip from the Rock Island Auction Company giving some background information about the rifle, and about then-Captain Lawton's achievements in the Apache wars.

You'll find a more detailed account of Lawton's chase and capture of Geronimo here.  Lawton went on to become a Major-General, and was the only general officer to be killed during the Philippine-American War.

Now that's a rifle worthy of pride of place in any collection of American firearms.  I'd love to see and handle it someday, not because I want to own it, but purely for the history involved.  Its condition suggests that Lawton valued it highly, because he obviously didn't take it into the field where it could be beaten up and weathered.  It's about as pristine as a 130-year-old rifle can possibly be.

Peter

I see no problem with this

Courtesy of The Feral Irishman:

Yep.  I'll even contribute a quarter beer to the tooth fairy in this case!

Peter

"Ten things no one tells you before you lose a limb"

That's the title of an article in the Telegraph by a Royal Marine who lost his leg.  Here are a couple of excerpts.

2. Kids will stare

Much to their parents’ embarrassment, children are welcomingly tactless and often stare open mouthed before pointing out the obvious.

I smile and reassure them I am aware that my leg has fallen off and my offer to give them a detailed look at my prosthetic is rarely refused. However, I’m glad to say I’ve yet to fight a seven-year old for my leg back.

. . .

6. You will forget that it’s gone

Protracted wearing of a prosthetic can be painful, so I usually remove it when seated. This habitually results in me falling over when I stand back up as I keep forgetting I don’t have a right leg any more.

Conversely, when sat down I instinctively stretch out my missing leg to stop my prosthetic toppling over. How ironic.

There's more at the link.  Interesting, often amusing, and thought-provoking.

Please God none of us will end up in a similar situation;  but if we do, this man's advice might be worth hearing.  I imagine Murphy's Law and Joel, each of whom has lost a leg, will probably have similar things to say.

Peter

Well, if you insist . . .

I can't imagine who first thought of doing this.  My initial reaction was "Why?"  Still, it has a certain entertainment value.

Boys and their toys, indeed!

Peter

Giving Mama Nature a helping hand?

I'm intrigued by the news that large African mammals are to be relocated to Australia in an attempt to save the species.

Eighty South African rhinos may soon be on their way to Australia in part of an ambitious effort to establish an 'insurance population for the world.'

The Australian Rhino Project, spearheaded by South Africa-native Ray Dearlove, plans to fly 20 rhinos per year between 2016 and 2019 to Australia, where they will make up a breeding herd to protect against possible extinction.

. . .

Ultimately, Australia is serving as a secure place for the animals to live and breed - for now. If and when Africa becomes safe for rhinos again, the animals will be repatriated to their homeland - a feat that may not occur for generations, Dearlove believes.

There's more at the link, and at the project's Web site.

I have some misgivings about this.  It'll be fearsomely expensive, for a start - so much so that the costs may be insurmountable.  I don't know Mr. Dearlove at all.  If I were still in Africa, I'd be regarding this proposal with a jaundiced eye, wondering whether the same investment might not make more sense closer to home, and achieve better results for the animals.  Is it a boondoggle?  Hard to say, from the information available.

The other intriguing aspect is what happens if African genes cross-pollinate, so to speak, with Australian ones.  A cross between a rhinoceros and a kangaroo?  A two-ton bouncer!  What about a cross between a rhinoceros and a duck-billed platypus?  I don't know what the offspring would be like, but I bet you'll salute and call it "Sir!" before you argue with it . . .




Peter

A possible scam at Kickstarter?

I don't venture over to Kickstarter and similar crowdfunding sites very often, so I'm not sure how many scams or con artists are to be found there.  However, Christopher Burg has uncovered what he claims is an obvious scam.

This is what a scam looks like. The product being offered is not only impossible but the entire writeup makes no sense within the framework of the market they’re aiming at. Scam might not even be the correct word for this. I would hope a scam artist would put some effort into making their scam at least appear somewhat believable. The people involved in this page didn’t even accomplish that much! DataGateKeeper’s team are scam artists who couldn’t even create a convincing scam. They’re basically failures who failed at failing.

At this point, when social media backlash destroys any chance of this Kickstarter getting funded, I’m expecting them to claim that this was all an elaborate troll. It really is their only option.

There's much more at the link.  Click over there and read it for yourself, particularly if you're a computer security geek.

I suppose we can't rely on Kickstarter to evaluate such projects.  After all, their disclaimer states:

"Kickstarter doesn't evaluate a project's claims, resolve disputes, or offer refunds — backers decide what's worth funding and what's not."

Peter

Political correctness, race, and policing

PJ Media has an interesting analysis of a report by the Police Accountability Task Force in Chicago, and its efforts to blame institutionalized racism for friction between that city's police department and its black residents.  Here's an excerpt.

The history of race relations in Chicago is long and complex, and no serious discussion of the city and its Police Department would be complete without addressing that history.  But the Task Force surrenders much of its credibility on the matter in its nakedly dishonest effort to blame the city’s ills on racism in the Chicago P.D. ... The city’s population, the report points out, is almost evenly split among whites, blacks, and Hispanics.  Thus the uninformed reader is led to believe that the disproportionate number of shootings and Tasings involving blacks and Hispanics can only be ascribed to racial animus among police officers.

In this the Task Force has engaged in a common subterfuge among those who turn a blind eye to the reality of crime, to wit, comparing the number of people shot or Tased (or arrested, or stopped and questioned, or what have you) to the overall population rather than to the pool of criminal offenders.  As the Chicago Tribune’s map of shooting incidents demonstrates, the incidence of shootings across the city corresponds quite neatly with each neighborhood’s demographics.  The uncomfortable truth is that in Chicago, as in any other American city you could name, those neighborhoods with the highest concentrations of blacks and Hispanics see the highest levels of violent crime.  One may argue why this is so, but not whether it is.  If the police are asked to address this crime, officers will of necessity be deployed where it occurs and come into contact with those responsible for it.  Some small percentage of those contacts will be acrimonious; some still smaller percentage will be violent.

In Nashville last month, a white police officer attempted to arrest a black man for assaulting a black woman, an effort that might have been applauded in many places.  But this incident took place in a housing project, and as this video (warning: coarse language) makes clear, the prevailing sentiment among the many witnesses was clearly on the side of the alleged lawbreaker as they cheered his escape.  Some in the crowd went so far as to attack the officer and assist in that escape.  Taking race completely out of the discussion, what conclusions should a police officer – or anyone – draw about a place where such appalling behavior seems to be so common?  Yes, this was Nashville, but cops in Chicago and many other cities know the same thing could happen to them in some neighborhoods.

But, as we’ve discussed previously here on PJ Media (here, here, and here) in Chicago, as in many other cities, officers are coming to the conclusion that the risks of these violent contacts are prohibitive and that a prudent regard for one’s livelihood demands a less zealous approach to combatting crime.  No, the cops aren’t afraid of getting shot or stabbed or otherwise injured in an altercation, they’re afraid of becoming the next YouTube sensation when an arrest goes wrong and fails to unfold in a manner approved by cowardly department brass, unprincipled politicians, and ignorant “community leaders,” all of whom exhort the cops to go out in the streets and stop the madness, but to do so without hurting anyone.

There's more at the link.  Highly recommended reading.

Here's the video referred to above, of a Nashville police officer trying (and failing) to arrest a suspect, thanks to mob intervention.  The language is not polite.  (Euphemism.)

That's not the behavior of civilized, law-abiding people.  That's the behavior of thugs and animals.  That's the sort of behavior that the Chicago task force is trying to blame on police racism.  Yeah, right!

I've said often in these pages that too many law enforcement departments and individuals have forfeited the trust of the public through their overbearing, arrogant, uncaring behavior.  However, there's also the other side to the coin, as the article and video above bear out.  To quote an old law of physics, 'To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction'.  That's pretty much valid in social dynamics as well.

• If cops treat citizens like dirt, citizens will treat cops like dirt.
• If citizens treat cops like dirt, cops will treat citizens like dirt.
• In neither case is racism the problem.  It's attitude and behavior.

The Good Book has an answer for both sides. 'Behave towards others as you want them to behave towards you.'  That's as valid today as it's ever been.  Perhaps those protesting the loudest might wish to consider it.

Peter

Water fast and diet report-back: Week 2

Following a slight setback last week, I returned to my water fast for a 5-day period, which will end this evening.  I'll be following a 5-2 fast plan, fasting for 5 days from Sunday evening (after supper) until Friday evening, then eating (low-carb, high-fat, controlled portions) from Friday evening until Sunday evening, then repeating the pattern.  I hope this will help to avoid the blood glucose crash I experienced last week.

So far, the modified approach seems to be working well.  I've lost just over 6 pounds this week, for a total weight loss of just over 25 pounds since beginning this exercise 15 days ago.  (A lot of that was water weight, of course, but I've maintained a greater or lesser degree of fasting ketosis since Day 3, so plenty of fat is also being burned, with minimal muscle loss.) My blood sugar has dropped steadily since starting the water fast again last Monday, but it hasn't had enough time to reach dangerously low levels;  and by starting to eat tonight, I'll push it back up again, so that when I resume the fast next Monday, it'll have recovered to a level sufficient to cope with the following 5 days (at least, that's the idea).  I'll be monitoring it daily to make sure of that.

I found it necessary to increase my water consumption this week, as the weight was slower to come off.  Last week I drank at least 60 ounces of water each day, over and above black coffee, black tea, or the occasional cup of bouillon broth.  When the weight didn't shift as quickly this week, I increased my water intake to 80 ounces (2½ quarts) per day.  That seems to have done the trick.  I don't want to drink too much water, though, because then one might run into the problem of water intoxication. I'll watch my rate of weight loss, and prudently adjust water consumption as needed.

I found the craving for food was much less this week than it was when I began the water fast.  Perhaps one's mind and body become more accustomed to the idea of doing without food for an extended period.  I've also found that a little cheating here and there doesn't seem to hurt - but I do mean a little cheating.  For example, yesterday I found myself craving some sharp cheddar cheese.  I resisted it for several hours, but it was becoming a problem;  so I cut off less than an ounce of cheese from a block in the fridge, and nibbled on it slowly for the next half hour.  Result:  my craving was satisfied, I didn't eat enough calories to affect the fast (or my state of ketosis), and I was able to carry on with the fast with no trouble after that.  I don't mind that sort of 'cheating' at all.

So far, so good.  I've got a long, long way to go, and I expect to continue the pattern of fasting-then-eating until at least the first quarter of next year.  There'll be longer breaks in the fast from time to time, to enjoy holidays or functions with friends . . . quite apart from Thanksgiving and Christmas, there's the incomparable City Diner in Chattanooga during Libertycon in July, and then there's Blogorado in October, where the food's always to die for!  If I put on a bit of weight during those 'cheat periods', well, I'll just have to fast a bit longer afterwards to take it off again, won't I?




Peter

You couldn't pay me enough to do that job

From Accuweather, here's a video of a tornado near Wray, Colorado, a few days ago.  Watch it in full-screen mode for best results.

I can't believe the storm chaser idiot in the car shouting, "Get closer!"  Does he have a death wish, or something?




Peter

Heh

Courtesy of The Lonely Libertarian:

I've been that grubby before . . . but my mom, and currently Miss D., would never let me eat with hands like that!




Peter

Doofus Of The Day #905

Today's award goes to a man in Florida who really needs to change his clothes more often.

A man accidentally shot himself in the arm while cleaning his gun but did not notice until two days later, according to Florida police.

Michael Blevins, 37, of Deltona, said he did not feel pain from the bullet, which pierced skin and muscle before exiting his body, according to an incident report from the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.

He also told a deputy that he did not notice the bleeding until he replaced a black shirt he was wearing with a brown one, and the wound created a stain.

There's more at the link.

Absent some sort of nerve damage that prevented him feeling the penetration and pain of the hit, I can't for the life of me imagine how one can "not notice" being shot!




Peter

Situational awareness - he haz it

My blogbuddy Murphy's Law recently had an . . . interesting . . . sort of encounter in New Orleans, where he and his two canine companions are settling down after moving there from West Virginia.  He's written about it on his blog.  Go read, and learn from his reactions and response.

Well done, sir!

Peter

I'm back - and there's book news

The Internet problem seems to be sorted out on my ISP's side, after several hours' downtime and another couple of hours of, "We're up!"  "No, we're not!"  "Yes, we - oh, dammit!"  It seems to have been a pretty widespread problem, covering quite a bit of north central Texas and involving telephone as well as Internet circuits run by my ISP.  Here's hoping things are back to normal.

I'm very pleased that during one of the "up" periods, I was able to e-mail back to my publisher the final publication draft of my Western novel.  Since we last spoke of it at any length, I've been working like a dog on getting it ready, with some equally hard work coming from my publisher's side.  It's been poked, prodded, folded, spindled, mutilated and revived, only to go through the process once more.  I've greatly enjoyed my first experience of working with a publication editor, and I'll have more to say about that in a short while.

As soon as I have a cover image and a definite publication date (we're talking weeks, not months, and not many of them either), I'll post more details here.  Considering the moribund state of the Western genre right now, I have high hopes of being 'in on the ground floor' of a potential revival.

I hope normal posting will resume as of later today, when I can catch my breath.

Peter

No Internet access

My internet service is down. Blogging will resume ASAP.

Peter