The Big Ones

by on March 6, 2025 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Raconteur is publishing another anthology this week. This one is about men of sterling courage, broad shoulders, and big ray guns. Regular Buck Rogers types out to fight the big bad evil overlords of time and space. I don’t have a dog in that hunt, but I do write stories about men such as those.

The Big Ones tells many stories about battles that never happened in World War II. In the Last Ride on the Asia Express, the evil Empire of Japan has a dastardly plan. One that could kill millions if it goes off without a hitch. But Captain William Carter rather enjoys being the hitch in other people’s plans, and his Marine Raiders are all kinds of Gung Ho for that action.

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A Nation of Culture

by on March 5, 2025 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Nations are formed from a people with a common culture, language, and border. You speak the same words. Protect the land and each other. And when it comes to those other people out there, you like your neighbors more. You do the same things. Your culture is the same.

America is different in that we started with the idea of coming from many cultures and peoples. Our first national motto even said it. “Out of many.” But it ended with the normal idea of nationhood. “Out of many, one.” The idea was that we would welcome people from all nations, as long as they were willing to become one with us.

The America we are now is not one. We are divided, and that is not good. One party opened our borders and brought in as many violent criminals as they could, and now they release those criminals back on the streets to commit more crimes. Where they hurt or kill more Americans. One party sparked a war in a foreign land, and then they tell the President of that land not to accept our new President’s path towards ending that war and putting an end to the killing.

And then there is the speech our new President just performed. Some turned their backs on him and walked out. Shouted him down when he spoke. Tried to stop him from speaking freely.

One party wants to silence all dissent. And one party values free speech. There are many other differences between the two parties, many of them fundamental in nature. How does a nation survive when it is not made of one culture, but more than one, and when one of them wants to silence and kill the other one?

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What Makes a Nation Strong?

by on March 4, 2025 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

The three things that make a strong nation are a common culture, language, and borders. A people who talk to each other, agree with each other on the larger parts, and are willing to defend each other, are a strong people. The most visible of those is the defense part. A strong nation must be willing to defend itself, and that willingness is shown through the people ready to fight. Sometimes this is a standing army. Other times it is a citizen army ready to stand up when an invader comes. The key point is that the people in general must be ready to fight and die to protect their people. A nation filled with men such as these will stand when times grow hard.

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What is a nation

by on March 3, 2025 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

What is a nation? It is a collection of people consisting of a common culture, common language, and common border. It allows for mutual understanding, mutual communication, and mutual protection. Most nation states are around the size of each of our American States. Why do you think that is?

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People Have Changed

by on March 2, 2025 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

The lockdowns changed people. I work in the hospitality industry and I have seen it first hand. I work in a professional town filled with blue and white collar workers but even here I see the crazies. The people who snapped and lost all reason when they got locked up for momths on end. Now they see hotels as the place to go, cut loose, leave the kids behind in the room, and party with friends at the bars until it is time to drag their drunk butts back to the hotel to yell at the front desk. In the twenty years I worked before the lockdowns, I called the police on a guest once. I have lost count of how many times I’ve called the police in the last five years. People have changed, and not for the better.

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